Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 15: India beat China to become a member of the United Nation's Commission on Status of Women (UNCSW) a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Afghanistan was the other Asia-Pacific country to have been elected as a member along with India. Of the 54 ballots, India secured 38 while Afghanistan received 39 ballots. On the other hand, China failed to even cross the halfway mark and managed to get only 27 ballots.
The victory for India at the UNCSW is important as it comes in the silver jubilee year of the Beijing World Conference on Women (1995).
Taking to Twitter, India's permanent representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti wrote, "India wins seat in prestigious ECOSOC body! India elected member of Commission on Status of Women (CSW). It's a ringing endorsement of our commitment to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in all our endeavours. We thank member states for their support."
India will be a member of the United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, 2021-2025.
The UNCSW is described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. Earlier on June 18, India was elected as one of the non-permanent members to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with an overwhelming majority of 184 votes out of 192, where the minimum requirement was 128.