Guterres has made unprecedented progress promoting women's rights but isn't "pulling all the levers of power at his disposal"
By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - After one year heading the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres was given a C-plus for making the global organization a feminist institution by a coalition of women's groups on Tuesday.
The Feminist U.N. Campaign, which consists of women's rights groups, advocates and U.N. staff, said Guterres has made unprecedented progress promoting women's rights but little impact on getting member states to reach gender equality.
The group said he also needs to tackle the "patriarchal culture prevalent" at the U.N. in addressing sexual harassment and take a stronger stand on abuse involving U.N. peacekeepers.
"Guterres is a leader who consistently talks the talk with regard to women's rights," the group said in a report.
But he has not been "pulling all the levers of power at his disposal," it said, adding: "This is an admittedly tall task."
The group gave him an overall score of 78 percent or C plus.
The former Portuguese prime minister was sworn in December 2016 after a campaign in which many countries urged selection of a woman. The U.N. has not been headed by a woman since its creation in 1945.
During his tenure, Guterres has stressed the importance of women's rights more than any other secretary-general, the group said, and done well laying out a feminist agenda, often citing equality and women's rights in speeches and reports.
But has not been so forceful in championing access for feminist views or campaigning for gender equality funding.
The group said it realized he is constrained by budget issues, political tensions and member states that resist women's rights but he missed many opportunities to link gender to such major issues as security and migration.
The group said he has been weak in implementing global gender equality, one of the 17 global goals adopted by the U.N.'s member nations in 2015 that aim to tackle global problems such as poverty, climate change, and inequality.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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