Working towards attainment of MDGs: Countries urged to prioritise actions
The 58th session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) opened in New York on Monday with a call on countries to ensure that they prioritise actions on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving the lives of women and girls.
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“Gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the success of the post-2015 development agenda”.
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, who made this statement when he opened the session, said “We have come a long way but there is much still to do and little time to do it”
He said “More girls are in school, but we are far from ending gender disparity at all levels of education. Gender gaps are particularly stark among rural populations and for persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and other marginalised groups.”
The conference, which is taking place from March 10 to 21, 2014, has the theme, “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”, and is being attended by representatives of UN-member countries, UN entities and United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and accredited non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The Secretary-General, who called for more focus on quality education in preparing girls and women for the 21st Century job market, also said, “there has been progress in narrowing the gap in employment between women and men” but added that “women are more likely to be in vulnerable employment with low pay, poor working conditions, no health or pension benefits, and no protection by labour laws.
More actions and policies
Mr Ban also called for more actions and policies that would nurture and include women’s talents, skills and energy from the factory floor to the boardroom, adding “we also need to see more women in government” . He added, “ the share of women in national parliaments has increased in several regions, but deep inequality persists at all levels of representation”.
The Executive Director of UN Women, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in an opening statement said, “equality for women is progress for all! No solutions to our world’s most pressing challenges – to end poverty, reduce inequality, bring sustainable peace and address climate change – can be achieved without the equal and full participation of women”.
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According to her, “There are high expectations that the nexus of the end of the MDGs, Beijing+20 and the looming post-2015 agenda could create a moment in history for a great leap forward that would change for the better, the lives of girls and women everywhere in the world, no matter who they are”.
Next generation
“The next generation, our young people, men and women, need us to hand them a better world, as well as to allow and support them to make it better for men and women, once and for all, ending the discrimination of women as an achievement of the early part of the 21st Century. This will be a milestone for all of humanity. The younger generation and all of us share a deep responsibility for a greater purpose,” she said.
The challenge for gender equality and women’s empowerment, she said, was not just women’s issue but rather an issue for humanity, which could not leave out men and boys who also formed half of humanity.
The UN Women, she said, had therefore launched the ‘He for She Campaign’ so that men and boys could raise their voices, take a stand and be on the right side of history. She, therefore, urged men and boys to come out and embrace the campaign as well as take action in their own spaces.