Commitment of CSW to gender equality commendable — Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has commended participants in the 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60) and global activists for their commitment to gender equality and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).
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Speaking at the end of the annual high-level gathering of global leaders, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and activists on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the UN Headquarters, New York, Dr Phumzile said, “The empowerment of the women and girls of the world has become stronger and firmer because of what you have pledged to do tonight.”
Needs of women, girls
She also said the session welcomed the recognition of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its Programme of Action in relation to the rights and the health needs of women and girls, as well as the linkage made to highlight the educational, health, humanitarian and economic needs of women, and the extreme needs for finance, with all of these linked to Agenda 2030 and its importance for women and girls.
“We are extremely appreciative of the reference to indigenous women, disabled women and rural women, and to the youth, all of which highlights the importance of recognising the intersecting challenges that millions of women and girls face. We also in particular appreciate the affirmation of feminists and women and community-based organisations, as well as the understanding of the challenges faced by women human rights defenders,” she stated.
“I want to thank civil society, who also burned the midnight oil alongside the delegates and encouraged the delegates to keep on keeping on. I want to thank the UN Women team for keeping their eyes on the ball and paying attention to details,” she said, and also thanked the Deputy Executive Director, Mrs Lakshmi Puri, and the team that she led, made up of many UN Women staff at the headquarters, capitals and in regions and country offices who supported the work in different ways.
At the first year of the implementation of the 15-year global development roadmap, known as Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, which is the successor framework to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), the 2030 Agenda, seeks to address the key challenges of the 21st century, such as poverty, inequality and climate change and women’s empowerment, which is recognised as a pre-condition to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Essential services
Dr Phumzile said the provision of essential services such as sanitation and water, also played significant roles in facilitating the empowerment of women and girls and making sure that women and girls who lived in the worst conditions were also put first so that no one would be left behind, and stressed that, “This is a document that has involved a lot of compromise and a lot of accommodation. No one got everything they wanted, but everybody got something that is important to them.”
She said the UN Women did not get everything that they wanted, “but we are very happy with most of what is in the document. We will ensure that the bold and ambitious vision of the Sustainable Development Goals is capitalised on through the implementation of the whole agenda that has been captured in this agreement. This agenda is indivisible and it is universal. It is critical for us to ensure that 2030 arrives with women and girls in a different place; in a world where there will be substantive equality.”
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In her remarks, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the SDGs could not be achieved without gender equality, and stressed that if countries acted immediately to translate the goals into action, and closed many remaining gaps in implementing the landmark 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, the world could reach gender equality by 2030.
“We need women for peace, we need women for development. This is what we emphasised at this year’s G7 Summit with our commitment to women’s empowerment and initiative to provide vocational training and entrepreneurial opportunities for women in developing countries,” she stressed.
Ghana’s commitment
Ghana’s Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, who led Ghana’s delegation to this years’s session, spoke about the launch of a campaign to end child marriage, in addition to a series of ongoing national and community dialogues with key stakeholders and decision makers working towards the goal, with civil society groups all playing key strategic roles in responding to sexual and gender-based violence.
At the country’s side event during the 60th Session in New York, which was chaired by Ghana's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Mrs Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, she also said as part of institutional arrangements, the Ghana Police Service offered one-stop service for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, while the Judicial Service had established three specialised gender-based violence courts.