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Opinion
President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock
– We have heard it all:
• When a woman raises her voice, she is too emotional.
• When you stand your ground, it is too difficult. • When she leads, she is too ambitious.
• If you wear dark suits, they whisper ‘why do you always look like a man?’
• But my God! If she appears in colorful dresses and high heels….
• When women lead nations through crises, they are lucky.
• However, if they stumble, it becomes the world’s biggest crisis.
Yes, we have heard it all.
As generations of women before us have done, even more directly and with this tone:
“You act like a woman.” “You run like a girl.”
As if it were something to be ashamed of. However, history has proven otherwise.
The facts are very clear.
We don’t have to negotiate them again.
• When girls stay in school, economies grow around the world.
• When women participate in the workforce, productivity increases around the world.
• When women sit at peace tables, agreements last longer around the world.
• When women lead institutions, they are more resilient.
So, ladies, it’s time to turn the narrative around. Today we claim #Likeawoman, with courage and pride.
As sports star Serena Williams once said: If you call us crazy, we’ll show you what crazy people can do.
Especially in the midst of a backlash, when it seems like we are forced to fight the same old battles over and over again.
Battles from 80 years ago, when another so-called “difficult woman”, Dr. Hansa Metha of India, demonstrated what #ChangeLikeA Woman can achieve.
By insisting on changing one word in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he changed its entire meaning: affirming that “all human beings,” and not just men, are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Especially, dear girls.
Next time they will tell you again that gender-sensitive language or the defense of our reproductive rights is something that “awakened” resistance like women.
Resist #LikeHansaMetha and remind them that women’s rights are nothing new, but have been built into the DNA of this institution from the beginning.
And commemorating International Women’s Day in 2026 #LikeAWoman means that we will not stop fighting for equal representation and women’s rights (in fact, #LikeAwoman: empathetic and ambitious) in colorful suits and dresses.
Until the women of Afghanistan are free and girls around the world are no longer forced to marry before finishing school.
Until we see justice for survivors of sexual abuse, whether it occurs in the home or as part of slave sexual exploitation rings, as exposed in the Epstein files.
Until women receive equal pay and representation, whether in newsrooms, boardrooms, governments and, yes, at the head of this institution: our United Nations.
IPS UN Office
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