REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called on world leaders to take actions as well as make commitment to secure gender equality throughout the world.

At a summit on gender equality and women's empowerment here at the UN headquarters, Ban said the world cannot achieve sustainable development without full and equal rights for half of the world's population, in law and in practice.

Noting this year marks the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, Ban said, "While we have progressed in many areas, we still have a long way to go."

"Far too many women and girls continue to be discriminated against, subjected to violence, denied equal opportunities in education and employment, and excluded from positions of leadership and decision-making," he noted.

According to the data by UN Women, developing countries have almost achieved gender parity in primary education; at least 50 percent of the world's women are in paid wage and salary employment, an increase from 40 percent in 1990; and the percentage of women in parliament has nearly doubled in the last 20 years.

However, statistics also show that gender disparity widens at the secondary and tertiary school level in many countries; women earn 10-30 percent less than men for the same work; and only 22 percent of all national parliamentarians were female as of August 2015.

In this regard, Ban called on world leaders to create and implement coherent gender equality policies, provide financing for gender equality and monitor progress of this cause.

China and UN Women co-hosted the summit on gender equality and women empowerment, which gathers world leaders for a universal message to address problems facing women and girls.

The UN chief thanked China for organizing the event and expressed his appreciation for China's generous support for UN women.

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