Women Breaking Barriers: Remarks by H.E. Nicola Clase at the UN General Assembly

Distinguished guests, Excellencies, colleagues,

But most importantly - 
to the young people in this room:

Let me start with a moment that almost didn’t happen.

In December 1945 shortly after the UN was founded, a woman received a message from the President of the United States.
Would she represent her country at the UN General Assembly?

Her answer came quickly:
“Oh no -  it would be impossible.”

She didn’t feel ready.
She had no formal training in diplomacy.
No experience in international negotiations.

And yet -

She said yes.

That woman was Eleanor Roosevelt.
And that single “yes” helped shape the world we are standing in today.

Because what she understood is something every young person here should hear:

History is not made by people who feel fully prepared.
It is made by people who decide to step forward anyway.

Let me share something personal.

Each morning on my way to work, I pass her former home. It is easy to miss - quiet, almost hidden.

But I never miss what it represents.

Because I am reminded that history is not only made in grand halls like this one.
It is also made by individuals - walking forward despite doubt.

Eleanor Roosevelt did more than participate in history.

She helped write it - through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as the first Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

And she asked a question that still challenges us today:

Where do universal human rights begin?

Her answer was powerful in its simplicity:

In small places, close to home.

In neighborhoods.
In classrooms.
In workplaces.

In the everyday lives of women and girls - who seek not special treatment, but equal opportunity.

Because if rights are not real there, they are not real anywhere.

Years later, Eleanor Roosevelt met another pioneer: The Swedish diplomat Agda Rössel.

In 1958, Agda Rössel became the first woman ever to serve as a Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

One woman helped define universal rights.
Another walked through the doors those rights opened.

And that is how progress happens.

Not in isolation - but in connection.
Not in one moment - but across generations.

And yet – today - we must be honest.

Millions of women and girls still face barriers.

Barriers in law.
Barriers in systems.
Barriers enforced by violence and silence.

When a girl cannot safely go to school,
when a woman cannot find justice,
when violence goes unanswered - 

We lose more than individuals.

We lose futures.

But we also see something else.

We see a lot of courage among people like you.

By stepping forward you are expanding what is possible for others.

Here at the United Nations, we often debate words - and words matter.

But experience teaches us something deeper:

Opening doors is important.

Keeping them open - 
that is the real work.

Progress is not guaranteed.

It must be built.
Protected.
Renewed - by each generation.

In the future you are already shaping.

Let that be the work that unites us. 

You are the future.

Thank you.