Category Archives: WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Gabon: Panafrican Women’s Network presents its action to the Senate

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from L’Union, Gabon

The Gabon section of the Pan-African Women’s Network for the Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development recently met with women senators.

Conducted by the resident coordinator of the United Nations system, Stephen Jackson, the Gabonese section presented, its plan of action to the network of women senators of Gabon (Refeseg). The plan of action is articulated around two axes .

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(Click here for the original article in French.)

Question for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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The first deals with the culture of peace, the appropriation of Resolution 1325 and its corollaries, citizenship, education, training, peace and security, respect for human rights, respect for democratic principles, equality between men and women in positions of responsibility, the fight against the discrimination of women.

The second axis includes sustainable development, economic independence, environmental law, law and health, inclusive growth, leadership and association, art and traditional education.

The office of the Gabon section, headed by Victoire Lasseny Duboze, intends to mobilize more women from Gabon’s civil society throughout the country.
 

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

UN Women’s Org. hosts North Darfur peacebuilding workshop

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Radio Dabanga Sudan

The United Nations Women’s Organisation and a Sudanese training centre organised a workshop on strengthening women’s participation in peace building in Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur yesterday.

The two-day workshop, focused on peace building and the Darfur peace dialogue, launched in the camp south of El Fasher city. The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (‘Women’ in short) and the Maamoun Buheiri Training Centre hosted the session with the participation of more than 50 people, from women leaders in the camp to representatives of civil society organisations.

Question for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

Manal El Aseil is the director of the Women and Family Department of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of North Darfur. The director told the Sudanese press: “The workshop aimed to raise awareness and promote a culture of peace. We discussed a number of working papers presented by a number of professors of El Fasher Univeristy and Omdurman Islamic University.”

A representative of the Maamoun Buheiry Centre explained that this workshop comes within a series of 50 workshops which the centre organises in cooperation with women partners in various Darfur states. They are financed by the African Bank in Sudan.

Last week, a number of Khartoum-based women’s and human rights organisations launched the #WeAreMany campaign to combat violence against women and youth, child marriage, and forced marriage. A Sudanese human rights organisation recently highlighted an increase in sexual and physical violence against women and children in the country, as well as endemic female genital mutilation (FGM).

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

France: More people marched in the demonstration #NousToutes than in the demonstration of the “Yellow Vests”

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Huffington Post (translated by CPNN)

SEXISM – “Down with Rape!”: Tens of thousands of women and men, according to the organizers, took to the streets in France this Saturday, November 24 at the call of a collective that had called for a “feminist tidal wave” against sexist and sexual violence a year after the start of the #MeToo movement.


Video of the demonstration

In contrast to the “yellow vests“, demonstrations in France [editor’s note: demonstrations against the rise in gasoline prices that turned to violence], the women’s demonstrations are adorned with purple, the color chosen by the movement #NousToutes for the actions organized on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence to women.

Similar events took place in other European cities, including Rome, Athens and Geneva.

“This is the biggest feminist mobilization that we have known in France,” said its organizer, Caroline De Haas, who announced that 50,000 people took to the streets, including 30,000 in Paris. Last year, there were 2000 in the Paris demonstration, according to police source.

On Saturday, police and prefectures estimated 12,000 demonstrators in Paris between Opera and Republic, 2400 in Lyon, 1500 in Marseille, 950 in Rennes, 850 in two processions in Nantes, 600 in Toulouse …

Many demonstrators carried placards “Down with rape!”, demanding the end of “the impunity of the aggressors” and “sufficient financial means” for the fight against this violence.

Muriel Robin, Eva Darlan and Vanessa Demouy were present

Personalities from diverse backgrounds, including actresses Muriel Robin, Eva Darlan and Vanessa Demouy, joined the Parisian march.

“I’m here to support all the victims and continue this fight that began well before me,” said Muriel Robin, wearing a purple scarf on her arm. She had gathered more than a thousand women in Paris in October against domestic violence.

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Click here for the original in French)

Questions related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

How effective are mass protest marches?

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From Rennes to Lyon and Toulouse, the processions were composed mostly of women of all generations, but also of men. For Tanguy, a 19-year-old Rennes student, “it’s a movement that has no sex”, “a fight of both men and women, together, against inequalities”.

Rirette, 84, came to protest in Lyon for “equality of pay, rights and sexual behavior.” “Non-consent is a horrible thing and it is judged (by the courts) too lax,” denounced this former administrator.

“The street is ours”

“Sexism kills”, “You are not alone”, “The street is ours”, “No means no”, could be read on the signs in Lille, along with flags of political movements (Generations , EELV) and trade unions (CGT and Sud).

In Toulouse, the entire event sang with one voice several slogans carefully prepared: “Proud, ‘venerable’, not ready to be silent!”, “Freedom, equality, sorority”, “Your hand on my ass, my fist in your mouth “,” Tax cons, not tampons”…

Born in September and supported by a number of associations, the #NousToutes movement was “moving from testimony to action” one year after #MeToo, which boosted the number of sexual violence cases reported to the police by 23%.

In France, in 2016, 123 women were killed by their spouse or ex-companion, about one every three days. Each year, nearly 220,000 women experience violence from their spouses or ex-companions, according to official 2017 figures. In addition, more than 250 women are raped each day, and one in three has been harassed or sexually assaulted at work.

Equality between women and men “great cause of the five-year electoral period” Macron

A year ago, President Emmanuel Macron decreed equality between women and men “great cause of the next five year electoral period”, during a speech at the Elysee.

But “if there is no money, public policies will not follow,” said Caroline De Haas. Funds earmarked to help women who are victims of domestic violence are expected to rise to at least € 506 million a year from 79 today, five organizations including the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC) said this week.

Hundreds of personalities and trade unionists – women and men – joined Saturday’s movement.

In Paris, men were excluded from a “small non-mixed space” to reassure” women victims of various forms of violence who did not feel comfortable to march with men around them. This initiative was criticized on social networks, including by feminist activists, and it attracted only five people, according to the person in charge of this space.

Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Sierra Leone News: Women’s Movement reinforces

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by By Ophaniel Gooding in Awoko

A two-day national conference with the theme “the women’s forum we have the woman’s forum we need” concluded with the authoring of a communique by representatives of women’s group nationwide. The national conference which was organized by Campaign for Good Governance and the Women’s Forum Sierra Leone is to strengthen and reinforce the “Women’s Forum Sierra Leone and celebrating our Silver Jubilee of women’s movement,” said Maude R. Peacock the president of Women’s Forum Sierra Leone. 


Photo from the facebook page of the Women’s Forum Sierra Leone

This conference, funded by Trocaire, brought together women and women’s community based groups and Civil Society Organizations, across the sixteen Districts, with the aim of examining the strengths, opportunities and challenges affecting the women’s movement in our country; Reaffirming that ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’ and the fundamental rights of all as enshrined in Chapter 3 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, including the elimination of all forms discrimination against women. 

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Question for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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CGG Executive Director, Marcella Samba explained that effective women’s participation in the democratic processes of any developing country is the foundation for good governance, gender equality and sustainable development; Reminding the Government of Sierra Leone of its duty to protect and promote the rights and advancement of women and girls in Sierra Leone. She applauded the efforts made over the past years by the various women and women led organizations to promote women’s advancement, empowerment and access to basic socio-economic services, despite the challenges. Also, appreciated the efforts and invaluable contributions made by the older women generation and urging the younger women generation to join the Women’s Movement, with particular focus on making Sierra Leone a better place for all. 

President of 50\50 group Dr Fatou Taqi acknowledged the challenges hampering the effective functioning, networking and collaboration of the Women’s Movement from having a formidable voice for change and transformation. 

YWCA Sierra Leone National President, Bondu Manyeh welcomed the new initiative of self- assessment and internal reform. Some of the recommendations in the communique were to ensure the promotion and strengthening of intergenerational dialogue among women and women’ groups across the country, and reinvigorate all aspects of the Women’s Forum Sierra Leone. Also to develop and implement a clear road map of the roles and responsibilities of the Women’s Forum of Sierra Leone and member organizations, and that emphasizes participation, communication, and empowerment of women. To promote the culture of peace and tolerance among the various women’s groups to improve interpersonal relationships and to solidify and achieve their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Also to Provide capacity building of women for women’s groups for gender engagement and civic participation on a continuous basis. However, some of these recommendations are expected to be actualized within a 5 years time span, disclosed CGG Program Director, Bernadette French

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Google’s ‘#metoo’ moment: Workers walk out over women’s rights

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Jane Lanhee Lee and Paresh Dave in Thomson Reuters (reprinted by permission)

Thousands of Google employees around the world briefly walked off their jobs on Thursday [November 1] to protest the company’s response to sexual harassment and demand that the world’s largest search engine address rising concerns about workplace inequality.

The protests took place in waves, beginning in Asia and then streaming across Europe and North America, with the final wave occurring at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.


Frame from video on article website

The protests, which drew Google contract workers as well as employees, followed a New York Times report last week that Google in 2014 gave a $90 million exit package to a senior vice president, Andy Rubin, after he was accused of sexual harassment.

“This was the $90 million straw that broke the camel’s back,” Celie O’Neil-Hart, one of the protest organizers and who works on YouTube marketing, told reporters as she joined hundreds of other employees in the courtyard of Google’s Mountain View headquarters. “But there are so many stories that we’ve heard for so long, and it’s time for action and change,” said O’Neil-Hart as she teared up.

Rubin denied the allegation in the New York Times story, which he said contained “wild exaggerations” about his compensation. Google did not dispute the report.

Organizers said about 60 percent of Google’s offices participated, including Dublin, the company’s largest site outside the United States, as well as London, Zurich, Berlin and Singapore. They shared photographs on social media of hundreds leaving offices.

Many employees at the Mountain View walkout chanted “Women’s rights are workers rights,” and some wore blue ribbons in support of sexual harassment victims.

Seven U.S. employees who organized the demonstrations called on Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) to make harassment investigations fairer for accusers, share pay-equity data with workers and add an employee representative to its board.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, speaking an hour later at a New York Times conference in New York, said he was taking note of the “concrete steps” workers presented to improve the company’s culture and human resources processes.

“I want to make sure Google sets the bar,” he said, noting that a lack of gender and racial diversity was part of the issue. “We’re grappling with it, as with many places.”

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Question for this article

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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Organizers and other employees said Google executives, like leaders at the dozens of companies affected by the #metoo movement, have been slow to address numerous structural issues such as unchecked power of male executives.

They want Google to publicly report its sexual harassment statistics and end forced arbitration in harassment cases. They also have asked that the chief diversity officer be able to directly advise the board.

Rana Abdelhamid, who works in Google Cloud’s marketing division in San Francisco, told reporters that the walkout was “about safety of women in the workplace,” adding that Google’s historical support for women’s causes caused her to be shocked when she learned of the multi-million-dollar payout.

“The numbers and facts don’t match with the intentions” of Google on equality and safety for underrepresented groups, she told Reuters. “We need to reprioritize energy and really focus on these issues.”

MONTHS OF BUILDUP

Since its founding two decades ago, Google has been known for its motto “don’t be evil,” a dictum preserved in its worker code of conduct, and its transparency with employees about corporate strategy.

But employees have internally organized for months to increase diversity and improve treatment of women and minorities.

Those issues have been top of mind since the 2016 election of U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, stunned Silicon Valley, where liberal and libertarian policies are popular.

Tech workers have become more vocal to protest both the president’s and their companies’ stances on immigration, defense and discrimination. Workers have said that they are driven by the sense that their technology pioneer employers should also be standard bearers on socioeconomic issues.

“We all know that the status quo is unacceptable and if there is any company who can solve this, it is Google,” said Thomas Kneeland, a Google software engineer in New York.

The dissatisfaction among Alphabet’s 94,000 employees and tens of thousands contractors has not noticeably affected the company’s share price. But employees, who warned they would demonstrate again if needed, expect Alphabet to face recruiting and retention challenges if their concerns go unaddressed.

Alphabet shares closed down 0.4 percent to $1,085.98 on Thursday.

Around the world, Google workers walked out carrying signs reading “Time’s up Tech,” “Happy to quit for $90M – no sexual harassment required” and “Not OK Google,” a reference to the “OK Google” phrase used to activate Google’s voice-operated Assistant.

Cathay Bi, a Google product manager, speaking through a megaphone before hundreds gathered in a bustling pedestrian plaza in San Francisco’s financial district, talked about the engines of change.

“This is what it means to be ‘Googley,’” she urged the crowd to chant, invoking a widely used term for the company’s culture. “People don’t change because of law and policies. Laws and policies change because of people.”

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Women in Iceland have walked out of work to dispute the gender pay gap

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from the World Economic Forum

Imagine if you worked a full day but stopped being paid at 2.55pm.

That’s the fate of women in Iceland, according to a protest group that organized rallies  across the country this week [October 21-27], demanding equal pay and rights and declaring “Don’t Change Women, Change the World!”


The sitting Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir, joined the demonstration, according to the Bloomberg News Service.

While the protestors at ‘Kvennafrí 2018’, Women’s Strike, acknowledge that Iceland has made progress – it has the smallest overall gender gap of 144 countries ranked  by the World Economic Forum and has enacted the world’s first equal pay  law – they say they want faster and more meaningful progress.

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Question for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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Demonstrations were held in 16 towns and cities and the largest was in Reykjavík, where female musicians, poets, actresses and a 230-strong choir performed.

“Pay discrimination is wage-theft,” Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, former Prime Minister of Iceland told the rally

Finding a voice

Social media is creating a wave of protest where women are speaking out, repeating #MeToo and telling the world that they have had enough.

That underscores the themes in the Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2017, which estimated it will take another 100 years  to achieve gender parity at the current rate of change and 217 years to close the economic gender gap. The 2018 report is due for publication in December.

Such themes have also been highlighted on social media via campaigns including #TimesUp  and #MeToo and the Forum’s ongoing work shows how addressing these issues is more than an ethical or moral concern.

“Gender parity is also fundamental to whether and how economies and societies thrive,” the report said. “A variety of models and empirical studies have suggested that improving gender parity may result in significant economic dividends.”

Iceland has the smallest gender gap, according to the Forum’s report, which focuses on four areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The nation has topped the rankings for the past nine years, reflecting a strong political and cultural will to change.

Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Adobe boasts gender equality in terms of salary across 40 countries

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Development Discourse

Software giant Adobe Monday [October 22] said it has achieved pay parity between women and men globally across 40 countries.

The company defines pay parity as ensuring that employees in the same job and location are paid fairly, regardless of their gender or ethnicity.


Shantanu Narayen, photo from Money Inc.

As a core element of its gender pay parity initiative, the company analysed its employees’ pay within job family and location, and then made some adjustments to employees’ pay based on that review.
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Question for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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These global pay adjustments, including those previously made in the US and India, impacted less than five per cent of Adobe employees and less than 0.2 per cent of global payroll costs, a company release said.

“I am proud that we have taken this important step towards fair recognition of all our people’s contributions — achieving this milestone is fundamental to who we are,” Adobe president and CEO Shantanu Narayen said.

In December 2017, Adobe announced US gender pay parity, followed by India pay parity in January this year. In 2016, Adobe announced pay parity between white and non-white employees in the US.

Adobe is committed to maintaining pay parity through its hiring, acquisition integration and annual pay review processes, the statement added.

“We are proud to continue creating a culture that fairly rewards and recognizes the contributions of all our employees across the globe,” said Donna Morris, executive vice president of Customer & Employee Experience, Adobe.

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

USA: Planned Parenthood Strikes Back: Preparing for the Worst in the Wake of Kavanaugh’s Confirmation

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

A blog by Miranda Martin for MS Magazine

Planned Parenthood isn’t waiting to see if the worst has yet to come for Roe v. Wade in the wake of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Instead, they’re planning to launch a multi-million dollar, nationwide campaign to ensure that abortion remains accessible—even if the landmark decision legalizing it nationwide is overturned.


Photo John Bright / Creative Commons

Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Court  tips the scales against Roe  for the first time since it was decided in 1973; he would likely cast the fifth vote necessary to overturn the decision  and give states the power, once again, to criminalize abortion providers and their patients. Kavanaugh’s record shows that he is hostile to reproductive freedoms. Should Roe be overturned, women in over 20 states across the country could lose access to safe and legal abortion overnight.

According to Planned Parenthood, overturning Roe would leave over 25 million women with access to safe, legal abortion in their own state, including over 4.3 million Latina women and almost 3.5 million Black women of reproductive age.

Planned Parenthood has been preparing for such a moment since President Trump’s election in 2016. Trump ran on a platform of outlawing abortion and talked about “punishing” women who elect to undergo the procedure on the campaign trail; his administration has consistently attacked women’s access to reproductive health care and undermined their bodily autonomy.

“We know that we’ll need an ironclad network of states and providers across the country where abortion will still be legal and accessible,” Planned Parenthood executive vice president Dawn Laguens told the New York Times,  “no matter what happens at the Supreme Court.”

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Questions related to this article:

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

Abortion: is it a human right?

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The “Care for All” campaign, at face value, is simple: In states where abortion access is at risk, Planned Parenthood will mobilize against legislation that further restricts or outlaws abortion. In states where abortion access will likely remain in place even with Roe, they’ll work to expand access, opening more clinics and hiring more staff in order to keep them open for longer hours in order to accommodate women crossing state lines in pursuit of care. They’ll offer women traveling long distances transportation assistance through a Regional Access Network and push to expand telemedicine abortion access, in place now in 14 states, for those who can’t make the trip. The organization’s efforts will manifest first in states where abortion policies fall short of those in place along both coasts, specifically Illinois.

“In 2018 alone, advocates introduced 869 positive measures expanding reproductive health care—the highest number of policies introduced to advance reproductive rights in a single legislative session ever,” the organization noted in a press release announcing the new multi-pronged effort. “In tandem, advocates and pro-women’s health legislators blocked or delayed 93 percent of the state-level abortion restrictions introduced in the 2018 legislative session. Now, Planned Parenthood Action Fund will kick off the 2019 legislative session by doubling down on this work.”

Abortion access remains at risk even if Roe remains in place as long as a majority of Justices sitting on the Supreme Court are opposed to reproductive freedoms. Rulings in smaller cases on abortion and contraception are now likely to result in outcomes which further inhibit access, allow for obstruction and increase the burdens imposed on women seeking care.

In order to proactively shift cultural perceptions around abortion—and thus provide a buffer against further attacks on women’s reproductive rights—the organization also plans to engage with media more effectively and more often in order to smash stigma and break the silence around what is a safe and common medical procedure with widespread public support. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that Planned Parenthood is popular even amongst conservative voters: 57 percent  of Trump voters oppose women being restricted from accessing birth control, healthcare and cancer screenings.

In advance of their 2019 campaign kick-off, Planned Parenthood is doing all they can to mobilize pro-choice voters with a 20 million dollar  effort in coalition with other like-minded organizations. In total, they predict that they will engage 2.5 million voters  before the midterm elections on November 6.

“We know this is a winnable fight,” the organization told the New York Times  in a statement. “Each of us deserves the right to control our own bodies, including the right to decide if and when to become a parent.”

HUMAN RIGHTS, North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Executive Director remarks at the UN Security Council open debate on women, peace and security

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka presented the Secretary-General’s report on women, peace and security to the UN Security Council on 25 October, in New York.

Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018
(As delivered)

It is an honour to address the Security Council and to present the Secretary-General’s report on women and peace and security. I thank Bolivia for all the support they have given us in preparing for this debate

This report is a loud alarm bell on systemic failures to bring women into peacemaking in a meaningful manner.

The trend is, women are being excluded from the peace processes. The ones who do not wage war seem to be disqualified from making peace, while those who may be implicated in making war, seem to find it easier to be at the peace tables. 

I together with DPKO, have just come back from a joint UN/AU mission to South Sudan. The women we met there told us how they long for peace and to resume their lives, after nearly five years of suffering from a civil war that they are not responsible for waging. They said, “we are here because we want to reconcile even though we have never quarreled.”

While they still fear for the future, they appreciated the ‘Revitalized Agreement’ on the resolution of the conflict, which offers new hope for the country and an unmissable opportunity to build peace, with a 35 per cent quota for the representation of women. 

Their fears are however bolstered by the fact that, in these early days of the revitalized agreement, in the National Pre-Transitional Committee – there is just one woman among the ten persons nominated to be members of the committee, this is not the agreed 35 per cent. 

The report today details inescapably how this is not an exception but the rule. How there is at the same time hope for progress, and how we are failing to make it a reality.

But hope is something that we cannot and must never lose.
It shows us undeniable possibilities with undeniable failures, which are costing the lives of women and girls.

They do not wage war, but they die and suffer from it.
A year ago in this chamber, I raised the alarm at the numbers shown by the indicators we track yearly on peace processes and mediation.

Today I want to raise the alarm once more with the hope to jolt us into greater action, as indicators show numbers have stagnated or dropped again. 

For that reason, we focused this year’s report on the need for women’s meaningful contribution to peace, and we call on you to take the much-needed concrete actions. 

We need you to be vigilant about ending superficial efforts to include women that do not genuinely extend the opportunity to influence outcomes. 

We wanted to show that the extreme political marginalization at peace tables is often worse in the institutions set up to implement those agreements. 

And we wanted to spotlight the many ways in which women are keep on being active and resilient. They are active in negotiating ceasefires, civilian safe zones, demobilization of fighters, or humanitarian access at the local level, or drawing up protection plans at the community level, like in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan or the Central African Republic. 

We want the UN membership to pay due attention to these dynamics, make them visible in forums like this one, and use them to support the women’s political agency, provide financial resources and enable women to do even more.

The continued tolerance for the limited recognition of women’s expertise and lived experience is a setback for all of us. Statistics on women’s involvement speak for themselves.

Between 1990 and 2017, under our watch, women constituted only two per cent of mediators, eight per cent of negotiators, and five per cent of witnesses and signatories in major peace processes. Only three out of 11 agreements signed in 2017 contained provisions on gender equality, continuing last year’s worrisome downward trend. Of 1,500 agreements signed between 2000 and 2016, only 25 raise the role of women’s engagement in the implementation phase.

In Yemen, current efforts at resuming dialogue do not include women, beyond setting up observer bodies to advise the UN Special Envoy. Even in a consultative meeting in London this summer organized by the UN, convening 22 prominent Yemeni leaders to discuss the peace talks, there were only 3 Yemeni women invited.

In Mali, women average a dismal three per cent of the membership of the multiple national committees set up to monitor and implement the peace agreement.

In the Central African Republic, mediation efforts are focused on the presidency and the 14 armed groups and exclude women altogether.

In Afghanistan, the government and its international partners invest efforts in including women in the High Peace Council and provincial peace councils, but when it comes to actual talks with the Taliban, women’s absence is noticeable.

Undeniably, there are possibilities, but also undeniably there are failures and determined women.

In 23 rounds of Afghanistan-Taliban peace talks between 2005 and 2014, women were at the table just twice. Now that there are offers to resume peace talks without pre-conditions, Afghan women peacebuilders want to be at the table and want to make a difference.

Finally, here is a number that is more positive. Security Council decisions about country-specific or regional situations that contained language on women, peace and security increased from 50 to 75 per cent. This must lead to increased action on the front lines. 

The number of women leaders and civil society representatives who briefed the Security Council also increased significantly. 

I thank Council members for these efforts and their continued participation in the Informal Experts Group on Women, Peace and Security, currently co-chaired by Sweden and Peru, in collaboration with the United Kingdom. 

But we need to use all available diplomatic channels and political influence to ensure that these decisions in New York are making a difference on the ground. This is simply not happening in the most meaningful way.

The bigger picture of gender inequality in conflict and post conflict countries is something we need to continue to watch.

Today’s report gives us a broad picture of the many remaining areas of challenge to reach equal representation of women in the vital processes of our nations.

For example, only 16 per cent of parliamentarians in conflict and post-conflict countries are women – same as last year, and the year before that. 

There is 20 per cent representation of women in countries that use quotas and just 12 per cent in countries that do not use quotas. It is for that reason that we appreciate the leading from the front demonstrated by our Secretary-General and call for special measures in the manner in which he is driving the parity process within the United Nations.

This Council just visited the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of crucial elections. Only 12 per cent of registered candidates are women, just like in the previous elections seven years ago. And women are suffering intimidation.

Of the 17 countries that have elected a woman head of state or government, none are post-conflict countries at this point.

I ask again, as I did last year, we need to heed the call and address the patterns these numbers show us. On our part we will continue to follow up with you on to address this situation with vigilance and make a significant difference.

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Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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It is not only women whose opportunities are being limited. In many conflict settings, girls are one and a half times more likely to be out of primary school and whole communities are set back. The numbers of children lacking education in conflict areas calls for a concrete response and solution, with schools and second chance education.

Child marriage rates are also affected by war. In Yemen, the rate of child marriage was 66 per cent in 2017. It was 52 per cent last year. And 32 per cent before the recent conflict erupted.

Unsurprisingly, but tragically, maternal mortality rates are almost twice the global ratio in conflict and post-conflict countries. Of the 830 women and adolescent girls who die every day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, 507 die in countries that are considered fragile because of conflict and disaster.

To address these issues and support the regeneration of families and communities, we need strong and targeted investments in women in conflict areas.

This is just not happening enough, despite undeniable goodwill towards the women peace and security agenda in countries that are affected.

The clear gender inequality in women’s access to resources is not simply caused by the presence of conflict. It is also a reflection of non-prioritization of women’s needs and the relegation of women to small-scale and local peripheral initiatives. 

In the Sahel, where we visited with Deputy Secretary-General, the African Union and Minister Wallstrom, we saw the dire poverty of women and communities in the Lake Chad basin. 

We saw households with no electricity in a part of the world which has the highest penetration of the sun on earth and is more suitable than anywhere else in the world for sustainable energy generation from solar power.

Yet clinics lack power. Women have no cold storage for their fish and the fresh produce needed for food security—which contributes in some cases even more to peace than the military.

In conflict-affected countries, only 11.5 per cent of landholders are women.

Although bilateral aid to promote gender equality in fragile country situations rose by 17 per cent compared to the previous year, it still only amounts to five per cent of total bilateral aid spent on programmes with gender equality as the primary objective.

In the DRC, for example, aid from OECD-DAC to gender equality was only 8 USD per capita last year. The same year, the UN documented a 56 per cent increase in sexual violence.

The share of the aid channeled through non-governmental women’s organizations has stagnated.

Our financial commitments do not match the extent to which we rely on these groups.

Yes, there has been undeniable progress, because the actions undertaken with civil society continue to be favoured as a way to operate. This must turn into concrete action and better investment in these groups.

Civil society and women’s organizations have been failed in the midst of record-breaking numbers of side events at intergovernmental meetings. Our plea is to refocus our energies and resources. I believe there is goodwill and we all want what is best for women and girls.

While we have disappointing indicators on women and girls, global military spending has reached 1.74 trillionUSD, a 57 per cent increase since 2000. Some countries allocate more public money to the military than to education or health.

Ninety per cent of grassroots women’s organizations working in areas directly impacted by terrorism and violent extremism state that current counterterrorism measures have an adverse impact on work for peace, women’s rights and gender equality.

We must respond to the many violations against the human rights of women and girls within these groups, and to the social stigma, economic hardship and discrimination women and girls experience when returning to their homes and communities when they have been part of violent groups.

These challenges are best addressed by actions that protect and promote the rights of victims and are fundamentally based in human rights law.

Women human rights defenders, who are on the front lines, are fighting a lonely battle. Many die a lonely death from weapons that are meant to protect them.

Let us look ahead with hope, and the knowledge of what we are capable of together.

This includes what we can do with women such as the African Women Leaders Network, which has been given a boost by the support of Germany and has focal points already in more 30 African countries.

We are already gearing up for the 20th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325, which will be an opportunity to shape the agenda for the next decade with new commitments and priorities.

We have to start now to gear up towards better results.

We need more positive signs such as those I saw in Somalia where we need to help accelerate positive change.

There will be opportunities for everyone to weigh in, including at next year’s meeting of the Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network in Windhoek, Namibia, which will carry a special symbolism for those that have been in this movement for a while. 

For now, I want to share three priorities for 2020.

This August, the world mourned the loss of Kofi Annan. Part of his legacy was that the UN debated and decided to stop supporting peace agreements that included blanket amnesties. I think that, two decades later, it is time for the UN to have a similar conversation about supporting, brokering and paying for peace negotiations that exclude women. This is in your hands. This was raised by women from civil society at the forum this Council was invited to earlier this week, at the initiative of Sweden.

Secondly, one of the many positive examples in the report is the UN Peacebuilding Fund’s steadily growing support to projects advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Finding ways to make the 15 per cent minimum target a reality across all relevant entities and other peace and security funds is a point we can all focus on. Joint programming on rule of law in conflict and post-conflict countries, and addressing educational and Economic resilience, or multi-partner trust funds in fragile settings, should be at the start of all conversations about financing.

And finally, we need to do much more to protect women activists, peacebuilders and human rights defenders in conflict-affected countries. We applaud the historic participation of a Palestinian woman representing civil society in addressing this Security Council for the first time. 

We commend the Nobel Committee’s recognition to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their advocacy on behalf of victims of wartime sexual violence. It is an example of the importance of this issue, to which my esteemed colleague SRSG Pramila Patten devotes all her time and energy. 

I met many exceptionally courageous women in my recent travels to Somalia, South Sudan, the Sahel and the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Many of them are here today. But many could not be here. 

In 2017, half of the women honoured in the annual tribute of the Association for Women in Development were murdered in conflict affected countries. 

But the list is much longer when we include women political leaders, journalists, justice actors and security sector personnel, and those perceived to be LGBTI or who challenge traditional gender roles simply by their involvement in public life. 

It is my strong wish that we will find the political will to do much more about this epidemic of killings of women over the next decade than we have in this past one.

Change is within our hands. Let us work for positive indicators for the next report and let us make sure that next Secretary-General’s report will be able to show that we are turning the corner.

Thank you.

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Women Human Rights Defenders Gather in Bougainville

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from the International Women’s Development Agency

Almost 200 women leaders from across Bougainville have come together to advocate for peace in their communities and gender equality for all. [Editor’s note: Bougainville is an island of Papua New Guinea.]

The women leaders are part of a network of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in Bougainville, supported by IWDA’s partner Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation (NCfR). WHRDs work tirelessly to defend women’s rights, acting as educators, advocates, counsellors and activists in their communities.


Women leaders gather at the 2018 Bougainville Women Human Rights Defenders Forum

The Bougainville WHRD Forum was coordinated by NCfR in partnership with IWDA. This year’s forum was unique, with local WHRD groups hosting events in several locations across Bougainville, and thousands of community members watching on.

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Question for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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Discussions focused on issues of family and sexual violence, community safety and security, poverty reduction, leadership, and recognition of the work of WHRDs, particularly those in rural communities. The women also discussed sexual reproductive health and rights, access to education and services and the need for action on climate change, among many other important issues.

Other organisations attended to share information with women leaders on critical topics, including representatives from the law and justice sector who discussed the Family Protection Act (FPA). The Act states that Village Magistrates have the power to issue Interim Protection Orders, encouraging women to access justice through the court system. The FPA criminalises family and sexual violence with these matters no longer considered a family issue.

Sister Lorraine Garasu, Director of Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation, said responding to and preventing violence remained an urgent priority.

Participants of the forum had the chance to share their stories directly with high-level government officials, including the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Honourable John Momis. Women leaders raised their concerns about the rights of women and children in Bougainville and other issues affecting their communities.

IWDA CEO Bettina Baldeschi was at the forum, and said she was inspired by the women’s courage and determination to stand up for change.

At the end of the forum, Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation and IWDA officially launched the second phase of the From Gender Based Violence to Gender Justice and Healing  project.

This project is funded by the Australian Government in partnership with the Government of Papua New Guinea as part of the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program. The first phase of the project ended in March, and reached almost 22,000 people in Bougainville through counselling, trainings, awareness raising and initiatives focusing on prevention of family and sexual violence, as well as on support and services for survivors.

East Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY