29 September 2017: The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Miroslav Lajčák, reaffirmed his commitment to advance gender equality during the 72nd session of the UNGA. Lajčák announced two commitments for his Presidency when joining International Gender Champions (IGC) Initiative.

The President’s team is 70% women and has gender parity at the senior level.

The UNGA President announced that he will maintain gender parity within his own office, including at senior levels. Currently, the President’s team is 70% women and has gender parity at the senior level. Second, Lajčák said he will strive to achieve gender party in the selection of co-chairs, co-facilitators and moderators of UNGA high-level meetings and processes. Lajčák also took the Panel Parity Pledge, a core commitment of the IGC Initiative that aims to ensure an active conversation on the composition of panels, including discussion on the role of women and men speaking on the panel and efforts to achieve gender balance at the event.

The IGC Initiative aims to achieve gender equality by breaking down gender barriers in practical ways. Since the launch of the IGC New York, US, chapter in March 2017, over 50 Permanent Representatives to the UN, heads of UN agencies and others have joined the initiative in New York. The ICG was initiated in Geneva, Switzerland. [UNGA Press Release] [Panel Parity Pledge] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on IGC Vienna Initiative Launch]