Sri Lanka, March 13 -- The United Nations says the highest levels of political power remain the furthest from achieving gender parity in an increasingly male-dominated power structure worldwide.

Women serve as Heads of State or Government in only 23 countries (10 women Heads of State and 13 women Heads of Government out of 193 UN Member States), while 119 countries have never had a woman leader.

At the current rate, says a new report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, parity at the pinnacle of power will not be reached for another 130 years (based on calculations of UN-Women data, as of November 1, 2020).

But this triggers the question: Does this also apply to the United Nations, which has never had a woman as Secretary-General,...