Comments due by April 6, 2018
International Women’s Day comes at a pivotal moment, and with a wave women’s activism – from the #MeToo movement to #TimesUp and beyond – exposing the structures that have allowed women’s oppression to flourish, the United Nations is urging the world to stand with rural and urban women activists to topple the remaining barriers to gender equality and empowerment.
“The historical and structural inequalities that have allowed oppression and discrimination to flourish are being exposed like never before,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message on the Day, marked annually on 8 March.
From Latin America to Europe to Asia, on social media, on film sets, on the factory floor and in the streets, women are calling for lasting change and zero tolerance for sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination of all kinds, said the UN chief, declaring that achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls “is the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world.”
“The activism and advocacy of generations of women has borne fruit,” he continued. “There are more girls in school than ever before; more women are doing paid work and in senior roles in the private sector, academia, politics and in international organizations, including the United Nations.”
However, some remaining serious obstacles include that more than a billion women lack legal protection against domestic sexual violence; over the next decade millions more girls will undergo genital mutilation; and women’s representation in parliaments stands at less than one quarter – and even lower in boardrooms.
“Where laws exist, they are often ignored, and women who pursue legal redress are doubted, denigrated and dismissmantled,” he lamented.
Noting that the UN should “set an example for the world,” Mr. Guterres recognizes that this is not always the case.
He did, however, point out some changes to address it, saying “We have now reached gender parity for the first time in my senior management team, and I am determined to achieve this throughout the Organization.”
Totally committed to zero tolerance of sexual harassment, Mr. Guterres added the UN’s plans to improve reporting and accountability, elaborating how the Organization is working globally to prevent and address sexual exploitation and abuse by staff in peacekeeping missions.
“We at the United Nations stand with women around the world as they fight to overcome the injustices they face – whether they are rural women dealing with wage discrimination, urban women organizing for change, women refugees at risk of exploitation and abuse, or women who experience intersecting forms of discrimination,” maintained the Secretary-General.
Noting that women’s empowerment is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, he affirmed that progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) means “progress for all women, everywhere.”
“Gender inequality and discrimination against women harms us all,” he underscored, saying that that gender equality “is not a favour to women,” but a human rights issue in everyone’s interests.
He asserted that investing in women lifts up communities, companies and countries.
“Women’s participation makes peace agreements stronger, societies more resilient and economies more vigorous,” he detailed, adding that discrimination against them is “detrimental to all.”
The UN chief stressed the need for transparency and accountability if women are to reach their full potential to lift up communities, societies and economies.
“Stand with women, listen to them and learn from them,” Mr. Guterres urged.
Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives
In her message for the Day, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women explained that this year’s theme captures the life of the women activists whose passion and commitment have brought change over generations and won women’s rights.
“What we see today is a remarkable gathering of strength among women all over the world, demonstrating the power of speaking with one voice, as they call for opportunity and accountability, drawing momentum from grassroots networks and coalitions that stretch right up to government leadership,” she said.
She credited feminist leaders, spotlighting Asma Jahangir of Pakistan and UN Women’s Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa Jaha Dukureh of the Gambia for their powerful work.
She pointed out that healthy societies have a mix of voices that provide checks and balances – important for good decision-making – and saluted those who speak out for justice.
“We commend the women who spoke out in the International Criminal Court where their testimonies have held to account those who used rape as a weapon of war,” Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka asserted.
“We celebrate activists who campaigned for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, and we recognize those who advocated for legal reform,” she added.
The feminist movement must continue to increase its diversity to support and shape the agenda – including young men and boys, who will learn to value and respect women and girls and change the way men behave.
Recognizing the power of stereotypes to influence how people are valued, she held sway that a movement of women that can address these issues is critical, “but we also need a movement of male feminists” as a means to alter the way women are heard and seen.
“Today’s activists must empower those most likely to be left behind, the majority of whom are women, as our latest report, Turning Promises into Action reveals,” she said.
She encouraged stronger support for women’s political activism and a broader space for their civil society voices as a combined effort will better target those who need change most.
“The culture of gender-based poverty, abuse and exploitation has to end with a new generation of equality that lasts,” Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka concluded.
DeShawn McLeod
ReplyDeleteIt’s surprising that when a minority group asks for “equal rights”, who actually does have equal rights? That varies depending on the territory. Specifically speaking about the U.S., those who have “full rights” are cis-gendered white men. When people ask for “equal rights”, why are those who have equal rights not exploited? What’s preventing women from having equal rights? These are questions I wish were answered during the fight for women’s rights. It seems disenfranchised groups aren’t making blatant political remarks in order to move forward anymore. The moves they are making are calculated and they’re trying to work within in order to bring social change. I wonder if those who have “full rights” can accelerate the time needed in order for either biological gender to have an equal playing field.
This is essentially taking power away from closely knit factions, that have maintained power and influence for very long times in their respective areas. How does this happen? Like the article eludes to, the aggregation of women protesting, congregating, speaking out, and educating leads to make way for female groups to have a say in what rights they bare.
It’s commendable to see so much work being done in order to have equal rights for women, even though its a tedious process that is essentially for tomorrow’s woman.
Women's rights is an issue that is very prevalent in today's society. The #MeToo movement shares a great message, and the powerful women in Hollywood who are using their large platforms to speak about it deserve a great deal of credit. One thing that I worry about with the #MeToo movement is that attention is only being paid to powerful women, and women in low income situations are still being ignored. The feminist movement needs to focus on women from all walks of life. It is also important to note that, like Mlambo-Ngcuka said, men must be included in the feminist movement. I took a feminism class in college and it was one of the most eye-opening classes I have ever taken. Feminists can sometimes be extremely misunderstood, as a group of women who hate men. This is not the case at all. The fight for women's right has nothing to do with demeaning men's rights. Women need to be raised up to the level of men. I've seen so many articles over the years that women need to dress a certain way so as not to draw attention. Men are never told how to dress, yet women are all the time. Female activists in todays society are brave and important, and the work they are doing will last throughout the years to come.
ReplyDeleteIn order for our economy to operate at Full Employment and maximum output, gender inequality must be disintegrated. We are moving towards a society that is one of a kind in history, one that is accepting of all. Even in 2018, we are still struggling with the term 'equality'. Not only do women play a key role in the existence of sustaining human life, they also play key roles in private sectors, industries, companies, etc. Without gender equality, we are cutting women short of their accomplishments and goals by not rewarding everyone equally. Therefore, why push oneself to achieve their full potential if it will not be acknowledged the same way as towards a different demographic. With the concept of gender equality, all persons will feel the need to be the best person they can be because regardless of their gender; your rewards are based off of your output/accomplishments. While the Feminist movement is gaining momentum; when I think of this movement I always perceive a negative connotation. I'm not sure if it is because of the way the media illustrates these movements or if because the actions of radical feminist groups seem so negative compared to the actions of level headed feminist movements. I do agree however that in order for these movements to keep growing in momentum it is important to get young men and boys on board so society can start respecting women equally from the get go. In order for this movement to completely operate efficiently, I feel that it is important for there to be a focal voice and not many voices that are drowning eachother out and defeating their purposes. Just like all historical movements, time and public education will be the light in order for things to come full circle and for society to understand the importance of these movements.
ReplyDeleteNichoals Arciszewski
By Mr. Guterres stating that “gender inequality and discrimination against women harms us all”, he is making an important point about something that needs to be more understood widespread. It is true that with more equality, communities, companies, and countries can be lifted economically and socially, which is where gender equality relates to sustainable development. In order for an economy to be thriving and successful, employment must be diverse and equal. As we know, people are often motivated by incentive. Currently, women experience hardships and are discouraged in the workforce, leading to a lack of incentive, therefore leaving a hole in our economic development. Like Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka mentioned, healthy societies have a mix of voices leading them in order to implement good decision-making practices. Without this diversity in power, a society or company cannot act to its full potential. This is an important discussion that needs to become integrated into the feminist movement’s rhetoric to bring attention to the numerous benefits that come with gender equality. I believe this strengthens the argument and makes it more inclusive, so that more male feminists can become involved, which Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka expressed the importance of. The feminist movement needs to continue gaining momentum and begin tackling negative female stereotypes from their core, which is through the young (both young boys and girls).
ReplyDeleteYANG Peidong
ReplyDeleteGender equality plays a vital role to the sustainable development and our future. Gender equality has a direct influence to women’s fundamental interests and it is also a basic human right. Women almost account for the half population of the world, and in order to achieve the goal of sustainability, joint efforts and wisdom from men and women is imperative. Pandurangarao & Kumar (2016, p.1) states that causes and consequences of unsustainability is deeply intertwined with gender inequality. The first reason is that women can’t get social or natural resources as men because women normally have less power than men in decision-making. In most important sectors, including military, education, and politics, men tend to hold higher positions than women and the number of male officers also overwhelms female. This will result in the unfair allocation of resources as well as the waste of resources. The second reason is that the injustice in workplace as well as unemployment of women also make the potential of women unutilized. Compared than before, growing number of women is accessible to higher education, and this not only increase the female knowledge reserve and also promotes the civilization of the society. Allowing more women to enter in work market, can both activate the economy and explore the potentials of the half world’s population. According to the report of European Institute for Gender Equality (2016), if women have more equal opportunities in job market, the employment rate of EU is estimated to 0.5-0.8 percentage points by 2030 and by 2.1-3.5 percentage points by 2050. Despite massive advance in gender equality in the 21th century, continued efforts are still required to help women to enjoy the same right as men in many areas, especially those women in poor countries. The progress of gender equality will definitely promote the development of these third world-country.
Reference:
European Institute for Gender Equality (2016), Pover¬ty, gender and intersecting inequalities — Review of the implementation of an area A: Women and poverty of the Beijing Platform for Action, Publications Office of the Eu¬ropean Union, Luxembourg.
http://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/ti_pubpdf_mh0416244enn_pdfweb_20161208181320.pdf
Pandurangarao, J., & Kumar, K. N. (2016). Gender Equality and Sustainable Development. PARIDNYA-The MIBM Research Journal, 4(1), 1-11.
In many of my social science classes, we have discussed feminism and the struggle for equal rights worldwide. The most poignant statement I ever heard is that, by including women in politics, you are bringing in a very valuable perspective to the table of peace treaties, economic discussions, and laws in general because it is a view of peace, equality, and nurturing. While I value those qualities, especially in terms of world politics, this kind of ideology is why women still struggle to gain a foothold in the political realm. Too many people see politics as a battleground and think it is necessary to have people who will fight in office as opposed to people who will default to equality and truce, as counterintuitive as this may sound. This is why many of the women we see in politics today take on male qualities to try and succeed in this male-dominated field.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would like to see the fight for feminism continue in the United States, I believe too many low-income women and women from poorer countries are being ignored in this battle. While we hear their stories and sympathize with them, I do not hear about enough being done to help them, especially in terms of the UN who have had several sexual assault cases come out against their foreign aid agents recently. If we cannot even trust an organization who is supposed to be there to help foster goodwill between people from all countries, how can we trust our own people and politicians to fight for equal rights for all?
Gender equality is something women have been striving for quite some time now. In the past several centuries, we’ve come so far, and overcome so much, but imperfections remain. We must continue to improve in order to see the day when women and men are held to the same standards and treated as equals. A typical issue in the United States is the well known differential of payment between men and woman. It has been proven that a woman only earns an average of $0.78 to a men’s $1. Women should be entitled to equal pay if she works the same amount of hours and performs the same tasks as a male. Achieving gender equality is not only a goal and human right, it is good for the economy, helps deepen democracy, and enables long-term stability. In the last few months, we have seen significant strides for the anti-sexual assault and women’s empowerment movements, #MeToo and Time’s Up. Their goal is to fight for legislative change, push businesses to achieve gender parity, and provide legal funding to help less privileged women fight workplace harassment. Due to the rise and dominance of social media in today’s society, women and girls worldwide have been given a new voice that has never been heard before. Gender equality isn't something that can be achieved overnight. Reaching gender equality, it a multi step process that will take everyone, both men and women. Ending gender stereotypes and accepting feminism for what it means, are only steps towards reaching overall gender equality.
ReplyDeleteGender equality has always remained a very important concern for women worldwide. Despite some progress in this regard, there still remains an inevitable large scope for change and development. During the1960’s, 70’s and 80’s women achieved some remarkable freedoms like increase in gender equality at the workplace, improvement in reproductive health care available to them, rights against sexual discrimination etc. If you were to take into account the perspective of the founding fathers of America (i.e. the beginning of capitalism), they originally saw women as citizens with rights but yet they could not represent themselves. Instead they were represented by their fathers, brothers and husbands. Today, women are still exposed to this scrutiny on a somewhat alternative scale (ex: constructs of marriage, limitations of mobility within the economy). This obviously poses significant pressures which are related to women's education, career, family, personal lives etc.
ReplyDeleteIf the Sustainable Development Goals are able to properly implement an efficient morale in our current socio-economic paradigm for gender equality, many of the pressures that women face worldwide would be alleviated. Without these constraints, many aspects of our paradigm would be affected, specifically the economy within the context of gender equity. If gender equity within the economy (workspace, etc.) was properly implemented and executed, there would be an influx of diversities of perspectives and would allow for an enhancement of quality throughout the economy here in the US (and worldwide).
The only issue that is constantly gleaming at me is that capitalism itself has always been heavily influenced by a patriarchal agenda, deeming the SDG of complete gender equality almost impossible in this period of history. Although there is definitely enough momentum in the women's movement of today, there needs to be a shift within the power-paradigm that controls the entirety of our market-based economy.
The UN’s push to create and advocate for gender equality comes at the perfect time. Because the UN is a global entity that encompasses practicality, growth, and moral obligations, the attention to women’s empowerment will hopefully motivate global activism. Secretary General Guterres statement “Women’s participation makes peace agreements stronger, societies more resilient and economies more vigorous,” perfectly ties together what our future objectives need to be. With women involvement actions will be more durable and more individuals will stand behind it. By bringing attention to women’s issues such as rape as a weapon of war, or the need to balance out genders across all professional boards, the more nations can prosper and meet their full potentials. By excluding or degrading a huge part of the population, there is a social and logical aspect that will be missing. Economic prosperity is the forefront of most societies, yet how is that possible when there is a stigma against women since childhood? Social justice aids in economic growth, therefore it should be a primary focus from early on. In order for nations to prosper equality needs to become like second nature; we cannot spend more time reinforcing something that should be obvious. By encouraging women to speak up, by respecting women’s strengths and knowledge, and by teaching young children the correct behavior, our world can grow in ways that we have not seen before.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it is sort of crazy that “women’s empowerment is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda,” because this is a topic that has been being addressed for the last 170 years, but sadly this is the ugly truth. Women have been fighting for equal rights as men since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, and here we are many, many years later where this is still a prominent issue today as seen in the Times Up and the #MeToo movements. Both movements are centralized around women with particularly different goals in mind. The #MeToo movement dates back to 2006, back then known as Just Be, Inc., which was started by activist Tarana Burke, but later became more known as the #MeToo movement after several sexual assault violence victims were coming forward with their stories. The movement gained national attention in the United States after allegations of sexual assault and harassment by the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein began in a domino effect. Since then, the movement has blown up and continues to grow. If we look at the Times Up movement, this movement is concerning women, but with a different, more specific goal regarding them. In this movement, the goal was to create a change, which would lead to safety and integrity in the workplace. This movement began in late 2017, by a group of over 300 women in Hollywood. Some of its high profile leaders were Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and Shonda Rimes. Christy Haubegger states, “Time’s Up was founded on the premise that everyone, every human being, deserves a right to earn a living, to take care of themselves, to take care of their families, free of impediments of harassment and sexual assault and discrimination.” This movement is centralized around anyone and everyone in a push for equality in the workplace—and all aspects of life. This movement calls for diversity in its supporters, where many men also in Hollywood, are in support of Times UP. As a part of the Time’s Up initiative, the prominent figures in Hollywood encouraged the attendees of the Golden Globes to wear black as a way to express solidarity for the innumerable victims of sexual assault and misconduct. I believe that the Sustainable Development Goal of “progress for all women, everywhere” will only be reached if people do come together in solidarity to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteDaniella Antolino
ReplyDeleteEqual rights for women have been an ongoing problem within our society. We've grown and it has gotten better but it is still problematic. For society to grow economically and achieve sustainability there is no room for gender inequality. There is no room for inequality in race or gender. Women are almost half of the worlds population, if we are bias against women, pay them less, and don't give them the opportunities White males get there will be some hostility. Investing in women lifts up communities, companies and countries. “Women’s participation makes peace agreements stronger, societies more resilient and economies more vigorous,” discrimination against them is “detrimental to all.” If we had world peace and grew the economy like a family and treated everyone equally and respectfully we would be more sustainable as a society and country. Men have the power but if it was shared with women we could see an enormous change. We underestimate women's ability, strength, and intelligence. In some fields it would be way more beneficial to have women advocates. We not only have this problem between gender inequality but race and ethnicity as well. We need to grow as a society together without tearing other people down, without taking resources/opportunities away from others. If we eliminate this attitude we can gain sustainability within our society and country.
Xin Jiang
ReplyDeleteFrom the perspective of economics, gender equality emphasizes equality of opportunity. Equal opportunity does not necessarily guarantee equality of results, but equality of opportunity is the most important. For example, we do not require that the husband and wife share the same housework, cook together, and dump the garbage together. In fact, the division of labor between the sexes is necessary and can improve efficiency.
Gender equality is not to allow men to have breast-feeding, not to completely obliterate the physiology of men and women. Gender equality respects each individual’s own preferences. Some women prefer to stay with their children, and some women prefer business. If women enjoy living at home with their children, it is not a problem that they choose not to work. However, if women want to do a great job in the workplace, but her gender causes the employer to refuse employment or promotion. This is discrimination. In the same way, if men are enjoying home cooking and accompanying their children, but they are worried about public pressure. It is also a kind of discrimination.
Therefore, what we want to achieve is not to make men and women exactly the same, but the equality of opportunity. If a job requires both men and women, but it states that the job requires only boys and no girls. This is discrimination and unfair.
Liyuan Zhang
ReplyDeleteGender equality seems like a social issue for people to strive for, yet it has much more profound influence. The concept of gender may not be a set notion since it is not only based on biological traits, but also it concerns about how a society determine the gender identity. As a result of this, social influences do play an important role in shaping the construction of gender. There is an old Chinese saying suggesting that women make half of the population, thus they deserving the equal treatment as their male counterpart. However, what lies behind this seemingly right proposition is that gender equality shall be a basic human right. And it should not be something people strive for.
To advocate gender equality is of profound meaning. For one thing, it empowered both men and women alike with equal voices to express themselves, equal choices when concerned about their future and equal opportunities to shape their lives. Only in this way, we can hope a future with reduced gender-based bias and violence. There is no denying that women are one of the most vulnerable groups to climate changes and consequences of the unsustainable development. Thus, to achieve gender equality to enable them to find out solutions and make decisions on sustainable development can be useful.
Since I work in peace building, I am at the UN for most high-profile events like CSW62. This year, I found the theme of uplifting rural and urban communities particularly important because we live in a time where it is so important to use gendered lenses to view the world around us. For me, this year's biggest take away was the emphasis on women as not a superior gender, but that something about the experience of being a woman creates for more superior outcomes in political processes. For example, when women are included in all levels of Constitution building, the chances of forging a sustainable path to peace and sustainability increase by a wide margin. In addition, gender parity is a much better indicator of peace than a country's amount of wealth or ability to be democratic. On International Women's Day, I particularly enjoyed Danai Gurira's words on sharing rural women's stories. I also appreciated the focus on creating a global sisterhood to bring change to the lives of all women and people. For us to build a sustainable world, we must continue to work towards creating a balance between men and women - not having a gender dominate the other. One way we can do this is to increase the representation of women in all political processes - not just when constitution building.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that the Secretary-General's Senior Management Group has reached parity, but that doesn't change that when I walk into a room full of diplomats in the same building he works in, the overwhelming majority of diplomats are male. I work in the disarmament field, which is a field that really showcases the divide between women and men in the diplomatic and political world. Women in my field make such an effort to take stands together to counter the power imbalance we see every day when we walk in the doors of the Secretariat. In addition to playing active roles in each other's events and meetings, we all have our own initiatives as well. For example, the NGO Reaching Critical Will works extremely hard to continually assess the level of gender parity in meetings by actually counting how many women vs. how many men participate in meetings then releasing those numbers. Reaching Critical Will also has a ton of other measurements and initiatives, and they're a great organization. I really enjoy working with them every opportunity I can. I have also been impressed with the Permanent Missions of Trinidad and Tobago and Ghana's dedications to gendered involvement in small arms processes. I found it empowering when a representative from the Permanent Mission of Canada actively sought feedback on recently released plans to involve women in small arms processes. Work is being done - I see it when I walk in those doors. It's just hard to compensate and make up for centuries of power imbalances.
Overall, the UN needs more of a gendered balance of power in all fields - not just disarmament. Even when I worked at the United Nations Development Programme, my office was male dominated. All of the most senior personnel I worked with were male, and it was extremely rare to work with women. This said, work is being done. We need to continue to talk about the gendered power imbalances that are so evident at the UN and around the world. Women's empowerment is a key to unlocking sustainability.
Mark Shkreli
ReplyDeleteWomen's rights has always been a big issue in the world dating back decades to when they fought for the right to vote. Now we fast forward to the 21st century when women are breaking barriers left and right. We look at sports for example, with the US womens soccer team and US womens hockey team making history with world championship wins and demanding equal pay. Then we look at athletes such as Ronda Rousey, who has broken so many barriers and shown that women can be on the same level as men. The introduction of the MeToo movement has made such a big impact on industries such as hollywood that it gives women around the world a reason to speak up and further demand equality, and break down any doors in front of them. I think the UN 2030 agenda having gender equality being a priority is a great move forward, I hope that it will follow through because with one step, a chain reaction will ensue. I like many others hope that we can see progress continue as the years pass by.
Great post !! Thanks for sharing valuable content.
ReplyDeleteClick here to know more Gender Equality for Sustainable Social Development.