UN staff launch petition & protest over choice of Wonder Woman as empowerment ambassador

Cristina Gallach, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, explained the choice of Wonder Woman on Friday: “I don’t need to tell you Wonder Woman is an icon.

“She has been known for justice, peace and equality and we are very pleased that this character will help us reach new audiences with essential messages about empowerment and equality.”

Shazia Rafi, former Secretary General of the Parliamentarians for Global Action, disagreed. She told CBS: “There are enough credible living models. We don’t need a mascot or a cartoon.”

One of the protesting staffers told The Guardian anonymously: “For something that is this important, you need a woman or a man who can speak, somebody who can travel, somebody who can champion these rights, somebody who is able to have an opinion, somebody that can be interviewed, somebody that can stand up in front of 192 member states and say this is what we would like you to do.”