Time to remedy costs of gender inequality

At the 2005 World Summit, governments of all nations agreed that "progress for women is progress for all". Yet the 10-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action revealed a serious gap between policy and practice in many countries.

A lack of political will is reflected in the most telling way of all: lack of resources and insufficient budgetary allocations. That is why the theme of this International Women's Day is "Investing in Women and Girls".

This failure of funding undermines not only our endeavors for gender equality and women's empowerment as such; it also holds back our efforts to reach all the Millennium Development Goals.