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UN chief Ban Ki-moon has marked the upcoming International Women’s Day with a plea for equal rights and opportunities to women around the world.

International Women’s Day is observed on March 8 but Ban chose to recognize the occasion on March 3 during a gathering of dozens of government ministers and more than 2,000 women activists at UN headquarters to review progress since the 1995 Beijing declaration on women’s empowerment.

Fifteen years after the call for gender equality at the 1995 world conference on women in Beijing, the UN secretary general lamented the fact that “injustice and discrimination against women persists everywhere.”

He described women’s empowerment as “an economic and social imperative”, recalling that the Beijing declaration had “sent a clear message to women and girls around the world that equality and opportunity are inalienable rights”.

And noting that the world body must lead by example, he urged the UN General Assembly to finalise plans for setting up “a dynamic entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment within the UN system”.

Last September, the 192-member assembly tentatively agreed to establish a powerful new department consolidating the activities of several existing bodies dealing with women’s issues.

The entity would have a substantial budget and would be led by an under-secretary general reporting directly to Ban.

A number of prominent women, including outgoing Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, are said to be under consideration for the post.

(VNS/VOVNews)