UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday that there is now gender parity among UN resident coordinators, the world body's team leaders on the ground around the globe.

"This milestone builds on the achievement in gender parity among the UN senior management team. Taken together, that means that the UN's top leadership both at headquarters and the country level is now 50-50," said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman.

UN resident coordinators are pivotal to the success of the United Nations in supporting countries to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Increasing the proportion of women in these positions is essential to reflect and respond to the interests of the broad range of people the world body serves, Dujarric told a daily press briefing.

"The secretary-general regards gender parity at all levels of the United Nations to be a priority, not only to improve the effectiveness of our work, but to end the power imbalances that contribute to sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse."

The secretary-general will continue to press for fast progress on gender parity at all levels across the UN system, he said.