UN Women's head: 'Historic shift' needed to find concrete ways to end gender inequality

The resolve of world leaders to end gender inequality will be tested at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women, the head of UN Women told delegates during the opening session on Monday. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the annual two-week meeting in New York would be critical in finding concrete ways to implement the ambitious sustainable development goals (SDGs), a blueprint for development to 2030 that member states adopted in September. She urged leaders to make “an historic shift” in agreeing ways to implement the goals – specifically goal five, which promises to end gender inequality and empower women and girls. Activists call on world leaders to make gender equality pledge a reality Read more “This commission is the largest and most critical inter-governmental forum, with diverse women’s voices that can influence the road to 2030 … This session marks the beginning of the countdown to 2030, to the future we want, where no one is left behind, the future where we have substantive gender equality,” she said. “This is not a moment to reopen what was already agreed to in 2015. CSW is the first test of our resolve and an opportunity to make an historic shift.” She said efforts to close the gender pay gap and get more women in leadership positions must be accelerated. Mlambo-Ngcuka paid tribute to Berta Cáceres, the feminist activist from Honduras who was murdered on 3 March. To applause from delegates, she said Cáceres, who won the Goldman environmental prize last year, had paid the highest price in her fight “to assert different values against the power structures that could compromise agenda 2030”. Ban Ki-moon addresses the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ban Ki-moon addresses the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images This year’s CSW is the first since leaders pledged to end extreme poverty, address inequality and conserve the environment over the next 15 years. Advertisement For the first time, a youth forum of the CSW was held over the weekend, bringing together more than 300 young people from across the globe to discuss ways to achieve gender equality. Concerted efforts are being made to get more young people engaged in the SDGs. There are about 1.8 billion 10- to 24-year-olds in the world. Mlambo-Ngcuka said the development agenda “is largely about them and for them”. The CSW youth forum has called for education about gender equality and the rights of women and girls to start early. Representing the forum, young activist Vanessa Anyoti told delegates: “The SDGs are about our lives now and our collective tomorrows. We stand with you in finding innovative and lasting solutions to achieve gender equality by 2030.” The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, pointed out in his speech to the commission that there are still five countries with no women in parliament and seven countries with no women in the cabinet. Less pay, more work, no pension: the 21st-century woman's lot laid bare Read more “I am not going to disclose the names of the countries today but I am urging them: they know who you are. I will be checking every day until the last day of my mandate as secretary general. I will keep pushing until the world has no parliaments and no cabinets without any women,” he said. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Haiti, Micronesia, Qatar, Tonga and Vanuatu have no female MPs. Ahead of the CSW, campaigners said they want this year’s outcome agreement, signed by member states at the end of two weeks of negotiations, to show strong commitments on how governments plan to implement and finance the goals. Although the draft outcome document was initially quite light on detail, member states have begun to firm it up with suggested inclusions, and strengthen some of the language to better reflect previous gender equality agreements, such as the Beijing platform for action. In light of Cáceres’s murder, several countries are trying to ensure strong language about protecting people who defend human rights. Thanks for reading.

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