No investment can be greater than that in women

As a boy growing up in post-war Korea, I remember asking about a tradition I observed: Women going into labour would leave their shoes at the threshold and then look back in fear. “They are wondering if they will ever step into those shoes again,” my mother explained.

Over 50 years on, the memory continues to haunt me. In poor parts of the world, women still risk death in the process of giving life, female babies are subjected to genital mutilation, and widows are shunned.

We can only address these problems by empowering women as agents of change. For over nine years, I have put this philosophy into practice at the United Nations. We are sweeping away the assumptions of the past so women can advance across new frontiers. I appointed the first-ever female Force Commander of United Nations troops. When I arrived at the UN, there were no women leading our peace missions in the field. Now, nearly a quarter of all UN missions are headed by women.

I have spoken out for women’s empowerment in universities, at rallies, in talks with world leaders, and in tough conversations with powerful men ruling rigidly patriarchal societies. When I took office, there were nine parliaments in the world with no women. We helped to drive that number down to four. I was the first man to sign our HeForShe campaign, and over a million have joined since.

On this International Women’s Day, I remain outraged by the denial of rights to women and girls — but I take heart from the people who act on the knowledge that women’s empowerment leads to society’s advancement. Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future.