There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a

Hear, O children of tomorrow, the voice of Kofi Annan, a servant of peace and a herald of wisdom, who declared: “There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a whole—women and men alike—than the one which involves women as central players.” In these words, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations drew not from fleeting opinion, but from the enduring law of harmony, that no nation may prosper when half its strength is shackled, and no people may advance while half its wisdom is silenced.

From the dawn of time, humanity has walked upon two legs: man and woman. Yet, too often, one leg has been bound, and societies have limped where they might have run. Annan’s call was not merely political but eternal: the progress of society depends on the full participation of its women, not as bystanders or servants, but as leaders, creators, and builders of destiny. This is not favor, nor concession—it is the recognition of truth, as natural as the rising of the sun.

Consider the ancient kingdom of Nubia, where queens known as Kandakes ruled with might and wisdom. These women led armies, negotiated treaties, and guided their people through prosperity and strife. Their presence did not weaken the throne; it strengthened it. Their leadership showed what Annan proclaimed centuries later: that involving women at the center of power multiplies the resilience and benefit of the whole community.

History also tells of the struggles when women were cast aside. In Europe’s Middle Ages, when most women were barred from learning, the flame of knowledge flickered low. Only when women reentered the halls of study, during the Renaissance and beyond, did the fires of invention and creativity blaze anew. Annan’s words remind us that this lesson is not confined to the past: every land that denies its women denies its own future.

Yet mark this well: Annan does not speak only of politics and rule, but of every strategy of development. In villages, when women are educated, children survive and thrive. When women earn, families rise out of poverty. When women lead, conflict gives way more often to cooperation. The evidence of the world bears witness: to involve women is to unlock the greatest benefit for all—men and women alike.

The teaching, then, is clear: never design a future that excludes half of humanity. Let men and women labor side by side, not in rivalry, but in partnership. Let every society seek out the voices of its daughters as eagerly as it does the voices of its sons. Let every leader remember that a plan without women at its heart is no plan at all, but a shadow of what could be.

In your own lives, live this truth. Honor the women who surround you, not with words alone but with opportunities, respect, and the space to lead. Support their education, their ambitions, their voices. In your communities, do not tolerate silence imposed upon them; instead, lift them into the center, where their gifts may shape the future. For in empowering women, you empower all.

Thus remember Kofi Annan’s wisdom: the surest path to progress, the truest strategy of development, is not war, nor conquest, nor wealth hoarded by the few. It is the full and fearless inclusion of women. Build upon this foundation, and your society will be strong, stable, and radiant for generations to come.