Brussels — Governments and societies should do more to include the contribution of women in finding solutions to global challenges, the United Nations appealed as the world prepared for the International Women's Day on Saturday.

This year's theme is: 'Investing in Women and Girls.'

The Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said here on Thursday that women are disproportionately impacted by global challenges yet are uniquely prepared to find solutions to them.

"Women, who know the price of threats to human security so well, are also often better equipped than men to prevent or resolve them," she said in an address to a European Union Commission conference entitled "Women: Stabilizing an Insecure World."

Equality between men and women is the ultimate tool with which to tackle issues worldwide, Tanzanian-born Migiro said.

"So long as women are not fully empowered, so long as we do not have true gender equality, women will always be more vulnerable to the next new challenge our globalizing world throws at us."

She pointed out that poor women contribute least to but are most affected by climate change, and urged scaled-up investments to curb food shortages and vulnerability to natural disasters.Religious extremism and intolerance also "indisputably takes its most devastating role on women," she declared, with extremism curbing women's human rights.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation said investment in women and girls not only contributes to socio-economic progress, but is also an investment in health development.

"Protecting and promoting health, we can help improve life conditions for women and girls. We can help make women and girls fit to perform their higher roles in families, communities and society at large," WHO said.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA said in a statement that investing in women and girls is one of the best investments governments can make. "In every region, increased women's participation and earnings result in reduced poverty and faster economic growth."