wow,

pinch me, am I really here? And you sit there with women and men from almost every country in the world, all listening to the same, all having the opportunity to ask questions and to push the United Nations on the issues that really matter around gender equality.

This year, one of the opening speeches was given by Malawa Yousafzai, and she spoke, obviously, about her experience and Afghanistan in particular.

And she made a comment which really stuck with me where she said, we have to call out what's going on in Afghanistan for what it is, it's gender apartheid.

And she's right, that's what it is.

But then on the other side of the coin, we went to panels and sessions where we heard from the Nordic countries who can really tell strong stories, you know, fully funded childcare, 12 months paid leave, all these things and policies that really underpin genuine gender equality across society.

So you get both bookends.

And what can we do to bring men into the conversation more, both for their sake and for women's sake?