Since the United Nations (U.N.) was founded 70 years ago, there has never been a female secretary-general. However, the “glass ceiling,” which is metaphor for a barrier in women’s career advancement, may be broken.
In 1995 at the U.N.’s Fourth World Conference on Women, 189 state representatives set a goal to achieve gender equality by 2000. However, many qualified female candidates have not been given fair chances to be considered for global decision-making positions. A U.N. ambassador from Colombia, Maria Emma Mejia, started a campaign, saying “the time has come for a woman to hold the highest position.”
So far, 42 member states have officially signed up to support the idea of electing a woman as the next U.N. Secretary-General. Ban Ki-moon, the current Secretary-General, has mentioned several times that it is “high time” for a female secretary-general. It will be interesting to hear the final decision of the U.N. permanent council members ? China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States ? at the end of 2016.