UN chief challenges all countries to achieve equality for women by 2030, saying men are key

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is challenging all governments to reach the goal of equality for women by the year 2030, saying the key is getting men to change their “mindsets.”

Twenty years after 189 nations adopted a platform to achieve equality for women at a groundbreaking U.N. conference, the secretary-general said progress is too slow “and our gains are not irreversible.”

“Our goal must be: 50:50 by 2030,” Ban said Monday at the opening session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women which is reviewing progress toward gender equality since the conference in Beijing in 1995.

Ban challenged all governments to work for women’s equality, warning that “without changing the mindset of men we may not be able to change this current situation.”