Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and

Hear now the wise words of Ban Ki-moon, the elder of nations and the humble servant of peace: “Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility.” These words ring not as mere counsel, but as a summons—a call to awaken the sleeping conscience of humankind. For too long, the burden of equality has been carried by women alone, as though the struggle for justice belonged only to those who suffer its absence. Yet Ban, with the calm authority of truth, reminds us that freedom shared is freedom strengthened, and that a world divided by silence can never be whole.

In the days of old, the philosophers spoke of balance—the harmony of earth and sky, fire and water, sun and moon. So too must the balance of man and woman be restored if the world is to know peace. For where one half of humanity is bound, the other half limps beside it. The great mistake of ages past was to believe that men could rise while women remained chained. But injustice, like a poisoned root, spreads its sickness to all who drink of its soil. Thus Ban Ki-moon spoke not to women alone, but to the hearts of all people, declaring that the path to equality must be walked together, hand in hand.

Look, then, to the story of HeForShe, the movement born during Ban’s time as Secretary-General of the United Nations. It began with a simple truth: that men, too, must be part of the struggle for justice. One day, a young woman named Emma Watson, standing before the world, spoke for this cause. Her voice trembled not with fear, but with passion. She called on fathers to fight for their daughters, on brothers to stand beside their sisters, on sons to learn respect before power. And thus, from that spark, thousands rose—men and women alike—to declare that gender equality was not a women’s issue, but a human issue. This was Ban’s dream taking shape, like dawn rising over a long and weary night.

There is wisdom here for every age. To achieve equality, one must first recognize the invisible walls that divide. They are built not only by laws, but by habits, jokes, customs, and silences. When a girl’s ideas are dismissed, when a boy is taught that strength means domination, when mothers carry burdens unacknowledged, the cycle of imbalance continues. Ban Ki-moon’s words pierce through this fog of tradition: it is everyone’s responsibility to see, to speak, and to change. For what is justice, if not the shared duty of the just?

Think of a small village in Nepal, where men once forbade women from attending school. One day, a young father defied the old ways. He sold his ox, his only source of income, to pay for his daughter’s education. When the elders rebuked him, he said, “If my daughter can read, she can lift the world.” Years passed. The girl became a teacher, and the village, once bound by ignorance, began to blossom. This, my children, is the living flame of Ban’s vision: when one person dares to act for another’s equality, the whole world begins to change.

Equality, then, is not an act of charity—it is the natural order of justice. And responsibility is not a weight but a calling. Men must learn to listen; women must be unafraid to speak; children must grow knowing that worth is not bound by gender. The work is not done in parliaments alone but in homes, classrooms, and daily choices. Each respectful word, each fair opportunity, each hand extended in partnership becomes a stone in the foundation of a more balanced world.

So, let this truth settle deep within your heart: to ignore injustice is to accept it. And to act for equality, however small the act, is to serve the great harmony of humanity. Ban Ki-moon’s wisdom teaches that no soul stands apart in this struggle. Whether you are man or woman, young or old, you are a bearer of the sacred duty to uplift others. Let your actions—your teaching, your compassion, your courage—become the bridge across the ancient divide.

And when future generations look back, let them say: “They were the ones who listened. They were the ones who stood together.” For only when women and men, girls and boys rise as one will humanity fulfill its truest destiny—to live not in dominance or division, but in shared dignity, harmony, and light.