Discurso do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Sérgio França Danese, no evento para comemorar o legado da igualdade de gênero por ocasião do 80º aniversário da assinatura da Carta da ONU - 26 de junho de 2025 (texto em inglês)

Statement by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, at the event to commemorate the legacy of gender equality on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter
June 26th, 2025

Your Excellencies:

Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Ms Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women,

Ambassador Fu Cong, Permanent Representative of China

Ambassador Darío Bencosme Castaños, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic,

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Along with my colleagues from China and the Dominican Republic, I am honored to open this event to mark the fundamental contribution of women delegates to the UN Charter as we celebrate today 80 years of its signing in San Francisco, on June 26, 1945.

It is no small achievement that the Charter states in its preamble that “We the peoples of the United Nations, [are] determined […] to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”. And that article 8 translates it into equal access of men and women to the UN secretariat and bodies when stating that "the United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary bodies”.

As the world faces daunting challenges to international peace and security, we must say, loud and clear, that some women pioneers in 1945 already knew that no lasting peace would be possible without the decisive participation, on an equal footing, of the female half of the world's population. And they fought for it.

Also, in a moment of strong pushback against gender equality worldwide, it is more important than ever to combat false narratives that seek to portray it as an imposed, ideological agenda and to remember the role of women, most importantly from the Global South, in promoting the principle of equality by enshrining it in the UN Charter.

It is striking the extent to which the story of the women who helped write the UN Charter is still unknown. And women from Latin America and Asia are insufficiently accounted for in texts and events pertaining to the 80th anniversary of the Organization.

Indeed, we are often reminded that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 includes equal rights of men and women. Three years before that, however, a harsher battle was fought by a handful of women delegates to include that language in the UN Charter.

That story is little known. And we are proud that a Brazilian woman was a main character in it - Dr. Bertha Lutz, a member of Congress, a laureate scientist, and one of our plenipotentiaries in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Conference was attended by six plenipotentiary women delegates out of a total of 160 delegates, or 3.75 percent. A few others were alternate delegates. Virginia Gildersleeve, from the USA; Wu Yi-fang, from China; Minerva Bernardino, from the Dominican Republic; and Bertha Lutz were the only plenipotentiary women to sign the text of the Charter.       Bertha Lutz brought a large experience in previous international conferences. In 1922, for example, she participated in the first Pan-American Conference of Women, in Baltimore, where she advocated for what is now the Inter-American Commission of Women.

She recognized these events as an opportunity to forge alliances with foreign partners, to gain visibility in the press and, at the same time, to establish a diplomatic agenda through which she aimed to persuade the Brazilian political establishment to pass egalitarian laws. Bertha Lutz was, therefore, keenly aware that the role women played in foreign policy would influence domestic policies as well.

In San Francisco, she also negotiated Article 8 of the Charter, on unhindered access for women and men to functions in the Secretariat and other UN bodies. In her memoirs, Bertha Lutz recorded: “Article 8 is a Latin American contribution to the constitution of the world. It was written by the women of the Delegations of Uruguay, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and of Mexico, presented by Senator Isabel de Vidal of Uruguay […]. It is not a mere indication of the rights of women, though I am a firm believer in such rights. It is more than this. The women Delegates to the Conference are the forerunners of women’s contributions to world affairs”.

She also presented a declaration to the committee negotiating the terms of UN’s economic and social cooperation, requesting the creation of a commission in charge of the situation of women. Among the topics to be studied were the deprivation of rights and the collaboration of women in peace and security issues. The Brazilian proposal became a reality in 1946, with the creation of the Commission on the Status of Women — CSW, as a subsidiary body to ECOSOC, in operation ever since.

Regrettably, women's full, equal and meaningful participation in multilateralism is still restricted. It requires changing deeply entrenched gender norms and stereotypes that tend to perpetuate women's exclusion and marginalization.

Ignoring, disregarding or downplaying their contribution is not intelligent nor wise. Neither is it a favor to ensure that women - irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or social class - shape policies directly impacting their well-being and that of society at large. It is simply their right and our collective gain.

 As we approach the 25th anniversary of the WPS agenda, Brazil echoes women’s organizations and many other Member States that agree that it is high time the UN selects a woman as Secretary General next year. Recalling the basic principle of equitable geographic distribution and the established practice of regional rotation, Brazil reminds that experienced and seasoned women leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean are more than prepared to face that challenge.

Distinguished guests,

More than ever, the world needs strong multilateral institutions willing and able to foster peace. As the legacy of Bertha Lutz shows us, we will not achieve it without the full, equal and meaningful participation of women. Let us remember her and her fellow women plenipotentiaries as we review the first 80 years of the United Nations and contemplate the future of our Organization.

Please join me in watching a short documentary on the contribution of women delegates to the San Francisco Conference. I hope you enjoy it and the photographic exhibition illustrating that participation.

Thank you for your attention and for your participation.