Editor’s Note: CNN is committed to covering gender inequality wherever it occurs in the world. This story is part of As Equals, a year-long series.
Amina Mohammed grew up in Nigeria with four sisters.
“We had very strong women on my father’s side in the village. In the background it was always about equality, it was always about rights,” Mohammed said.
When she became Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2017, she drew up a list of 17 sustainable development goals for 2020 – one of those was gender equality.
“How is it that women don’t have equal pay for equal work. There are women who can do the jobs that men are doing and can do it even better. And I think that when we bring our skills into a boardroom, onto a factory line, into the media, things change,” she said.
CNN spoke to Mohammed about her zero tolerance policy toward gender inequality, and work to empower women around the world.
The As Equals reporting project is funded by the European Journalism Centre via its Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme. Click here for more stories like this.