Category Archives: WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Nigeria: IWD2023 Group Supports Women In Peace Building

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Glory Ohagwu in Voice of Nigeria

The USAID-funded Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) being implemented by Mercy Corps has organised one-day women in peacebuilding virtual conference themed “Women Peace and Security in the Digital Age”  in support of the Women Peace-building Councils in commemoration of the 2023 International Women’s Day.

The virtual convergence which celebrated women for the entrenching culture of peace and promoting gender equitable communities in their communities had participants from Women Peacebuilding Councils across the North West and North Central geopolitical zones of Nigeria deliberating on women’s leadership role in peacebuilding and the need to leverage the digital technologies to accelerate the achievement of the women, peace and security agenda in this digital age.

The women agreed that While  ICT provides a platform for amplifying the voices of women and promoting their greater role in peacemaking and peace-building; despite the important role women play in conflict prevention and peace-building, women still experience entrenched socio-cultural norms and a myriad of factors including poverty, illiteracy and inherent biases limiting women’s ability to access and leverage on the digital platform, to spread peace messaging and advocating for their rights thereby hindering their meaningful participation in peace and security decision making.

They pointed out that even though the digital gender disparity reduces opportunities to unlock technology’s full potential to address women’s peace and security in society, there is no data to show its impact on women’s peace and security agenda. They observed that women’s poor access to digital technology seems to deepen gender inequalities and marginalisation thereby impeding their access to decent and rewarding jobs and valuable information needed to gain social, economic and political empowerment.

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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Addressing the virtual converge, David Gatare, CIPP’s Chief of Party at Mercy Corps Nigeria said CIPP has facilitated the establishment of women peace-building councils in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue and Kogi states to expand women’s network and influence in peace-building.

“Women’s participation in the digital space could potentially accelerate the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment and build an inclusive, equitable and peaceful society,” he added.

Contributing to the discourse,  Zainab Baba, a peace builder and social media influencer said ‘The digital space can better serve as a platform for increasing the visibility of the work of women peacebuilders, especially change the perception about women’s leadership; strengthen the relationship and social networks along lines of division; counter misinformation; advocate for women’s rights and shape peace in the society.”

For, Hajiya Saadatu Aliyu, founder of Shamrock Innovations, “duty bearers need to be deliberate about training, mentoring and increasing school enrolment of a significant number of women and girls in science and technology through scholarships scheme and promote their meaningful engagement in decision making in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”

Key recommendations at the end of the virtual convergence among others include the need to engage civil society organizations and women-led groups in designing and implementing context specific digital literacy training programmes to close gender digital divide to increase the number of women and girls participating in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) decision making and supporting locally-led initiatives focused on building the capacity of young women peace builders to leverage the digital space to counter negative narratives and influence at-risk youth to promote peaceful behaviour and resilient communities, enacting  and enforcing policies and laws that drive the adoption of gender responsive and inclusive Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) to promote digital inclusion .

The International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March annually to spotlight the  achievements, challenges and struggles of women around the world.The theme for 2023 DigitALL: Innovaation and technology for gender equality  pushes for greater gender equality in innovation and technology.`

Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) is a peacebuilding program that seeks to improve the local community’s ability to address violent extremist recruitment tactics, improve local capacity and skills to manage disputes, strengthen women’s capacities to prevent and resolve conflict.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Women Hold Up Half the Sky

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Peacekeeping

Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, assistant secretary-general for Africa at the United Nations, reflects on several inspiring examples of women overcoming differences and leading movements for peace, gender equality and women’s rights.

In 2015, I became Ghana’s first female ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations  in New York. As we celebrate International Women’s Day  on March 8, I reflect on this life-changing experience.

I remember feeling the thrill of this new recognition in my career, which was applauded by many in Ghana—but also my dismay at the number of people expressing surprise at seeing a woman take on this post.  They thought that New York would be too difficult for me—irrespective of my training in multilateral diplomacy and 26 years in the Ghana Foreign Service—and that it should be a male ambassador instead.

In much of my career, I have had to go the extra mile, and perhaps double of what my male colleagues did, to be recognized as capable. I strongly believed that I could bring the same determination and confidence to bear on the task of representing my country at the U.N. It took five years of hard work in New York but was well worth it.

But the challenges for women do not start or end at the workplace. As the United Nations  assistant secretary-general for Africa, I know the immense challenges women face in conflict situations. But I also have firm belief and appreciation of the important role they play in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and lasting peace.

Yet women face many barriers to their participation in political and peace processes. Some are cultural and others are the result of institutions not making room for them to participate, let alone to lead. This means women are often shut out from conflict resolution and peace negotiations.

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Questions related to this article:

UN Resolution 1325, does it make a difference?

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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In my role at the U.N., I have had the opportunity to visit several countries in Africa affected by conflict. During one such visit to visit Bamako, the capital of Mali, I met women from all over the country who shared with me their experiences and the challenges in making their voices heard. In the country’s initial peace talks in 2012, women were not invited, but they demanded a seat at the negotiating table. This courageous step paved the way for a very different situation today, where women make up 38 percent of the Peace Agreement Monitoring Committee  in Mali. Hearing their inspiring stories and seeing what they achieved, even in the worst possible circumstances,  humbles and inspires me. These women had a vision of peace and fought for their inclusion in efforts to secure that peace and ultimately a better future for their country. 

In South Sudan, we have women like Alokiir Malual  who, after immense efforts and advocacy, made history in 2015 as the first woman to sign a peace agreement. Her signature set a precedent for future women’s representation and participation in peace processes in South Sudan.

On the other side of the border, in Sudan, our political mission facilitated consultations with women’s civil society groups and leaders on bringing the country back to a civilian-led transition. They successfully pushed for women’s rights provisions in the Framework Agreement, signed between civilian and military forces on Dec. 5, 2022, and 15 percent of signatories were women. The hope is that Sudanese women will continue to lead change and bring women’s rights to the negotiating table.

There are countless women’s participation in peace negotiations  brings human security to the fore and is beneficial for the whole of society. Peace is also more likely to last when women are part of the process, and we can rest assured that matters pertaining to the protection of civilians, food security, health and education will be given due primacy.

Women hold up half the sky, and consequently they have a fundamental right to be part of discussions and decision-making that define the future of their families, communities and countries.

The international community has over several decades adopted norms and conventions for women’s inclusion in all aspects of national life. It is now time to live up to those commitments and walk the talk. We need to bring the voices of women to the negotiation table in political and peace processes. We must empower them through capacity-building and provide the support they need to be heard. This is a must for sustaining peace.

Africa, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Women’s Peace Leadership Programme: Bojana Mumin, Bosnia and Herzegovina

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Bojana Mumin is one of the 12 mentees from around the OSCE area and Afghanistan, participating in the OSCE Women’s Peace Leadership Programme. The Programme aims to strengthen the ability of women to meaningfully engage and influence peace processes at all levels. It is a part of the OSCE’s flagship WIN for Women and Men  project, which covers the Networking platform for Women Leaders including Peacebuilders and Mediators. The WIN project works with OSCE-supported networks and gives rise to new networks, fostering women’s participation and leadership, as well as broader men’s engagement in achieving gender equality.


Bojana Mumin (left), during the kick-off week of the OSCE Women’s Peace Leadership Programme with Irma Pidtepa, a Mediator and participant from Ukraine. (OSCE/ Vera Djemelinskaia)

An experienced peacebuilder, Bojana has been supporting peacebuilding organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through her advocacy work at the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, which promotes women’s rights in conflict-affected areas. The work of the Foundation’s 140 local partners span the Middle East and North African region, sub-Saharan Africa, the South Caucasus, and Europe. Bojana is focusing on achieving lasting peace in her own country through the implementation of the Western Balkans EU Advocacy Strategy.

The necessity of continuous learning

I am experiencing the repercussions of what happened 30 years ago on a daily basis. Peacebuilding is more than a profession; it is something to which I am personally connected.

As someone who has been supporting local peacebuilding initiatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than 16 years, I know that this work, above all, requires motivation. This is not an easy process and very often we feel exhausted. There is a lot of divisive political language, and even hate speech, dominating the public spaces, with peace rhetoric mostly missing from the political agenda. This complicates the work of the peacebuilders and, honestly, it is simply tiring.

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Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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I also constantly need to learn how peacebuilding is approached in different contexts: what are the good practices, and what didn’t work. Unsuccessful stories are especially valuable. I am grateful to be able to pass on these lessons and learn others’ challenges and perspectives within the OSCE Women’s Peace Leadership Programme (WPLP). We worked through real-life and hypothetical scenarios, sharing how we would approach the challenge and reflecting on the different solutions. It is a win-win because I see how others find my experience helpful too.

What brings peace that lasts

‘Peacebuilding’ as a word is worn-out in our context. Over the years, there have been different peace initiatives, programmes, and actors coming to do the peacebuilding work and contributing to some extent to creating a better society, but we still live in very divided communities. There are three different narratives in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on ethnicity. Now when I have kids and I realise that if we were not doing this work, one of these narratives would become a part of their education. But now we have actors who offer alternative narratives. I am proud that there is a civil society working on peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that I am part of it.

Through a feminist lens

Being a feminist and a peacebuilding activist is an important part of my identity Being a peacebuilder is not popular, so taking on this identity is quite an achievement for me.

In our country, it is usually seen as something that women work on. During the 90s and early 2000s, peacebuilding was receiving a lot of support from international donors and many men were engaged. However, when donors shifted their focus to other areas, women were the ones who actually stayed in the field. Women were the first peacebuilding actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina: they were the pioneers and now they are the seniors.

Being part of Women’s Peace Leadership Programme

I now have ‘sisters’ from different regions I can reach out to for assistance, but above all, for information – sometimes this is all that is needed. It gives you a different perspective when you read reports and when you hear directly from the people who were there.

Let me give you an example. I tried to understand better the situation in Afghanistan, so I wanted to speak to a local woman who was in the conflict and could share how this experience influenced her and the community. And here I am, speaking in person to one of the WPLP participants from Afghanistan, Elham Kohistani, and other women peacebuilders from so many different regions about their experiences in mediation, leadership and peacebuilding efforts. This is one of the key benefits of being part of this programme: knowing that I can tap into the expertise of this incredible network of women leaders and also offer my support should anyone need it.

Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Sri Lanka adopts first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Women

Sri Lanka has adopted its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), for the period 2023 – 2027 with the support of the Government of Japan and UN Women. The Plan adds to the country’s legal and policy frameworks to protect and empower women in line with international commitments set out in the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1325 (2000). It also aims to strengthen coordination between stakeholders of the women, peace and security agenda, which is vital to sustainable peace and development in Sri Lanka. 


The plan was approved by Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers on 27 February 2023 and ceremoniously launched on 8th March 2023, on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

The newly adopted National Action Plan was developed through a consultative process with input from provincial and district level public sector officials, civil society, community-based organizations, women leaders and others with direct and diverse experiences of conflict and crises. It was developed with technical support from UN Women as part of a joint partnership between the Government of Japan and the Government of Sri Lanka.  In 2018, the Government of Japan signed a partnership agreement with Sri Lanka under the G7 WPS framework.

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Question related to this article:
 
Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

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Speaking on this, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that while the “status of women in the Asian region is not satisfactory, Sri Lankan women are ahead compared to other countries in the region, and efforts will be made to further expand their rights”. He emphasized that the ‘National Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment’ and the ‘National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security’ will aid in achieving this goal, and the progress made so far was revealed on International Women’s Day. “Sri Lanka will host a meeting of leading women activists from SAARC countries (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) this year to advocate for the inclusion of women’s rights within the organization’s framework. Sri Lanka is committed to working towards achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in all areas and will take a leadership role in championing the rights of women in the Asian region”.

Highlighting the importance of the National Action Plan, Hon. Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasinghe, State Minister of Women and Child Affairs said: “With the adoption of this action plan, Sri Lanka is equipped for the first time with a policy framework to implement the women, peace and security agenda, which calls for greater participation and representation of women in governance and peacebuilding processes.”  

The National Action Plan further aims to provide targeted support for women who have been and continue to be, directly harmed by conflict, violence and climate insecurity.

In addition, it aims to strengthen the security of marginalized women and girls, and the economic empowerment of women through access to equal opportunities and resources.  

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s progress, H.E. MIZUKOSHI Hideaki, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, stated: “The Government of Japan welcomes the timely adoption of this National Action Plan, which will help Sri Lanka’s commitments to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through our longstanding partnership with UN Women and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Japan is committed to supporting the furtherance of the women, peace and security agenda in Sri Lanka.”  

Prashani Dias, Head of Office a.i. at UN Women Sri Lanka, said: “To help the implementation of this important policy framework, UN Women, with support from the Government of Japan, has provided training on women, peace and security to public-sector officials. Through these programmes, work plans have been jointly developed at the district level to address issues that affect the well-being of women and girls during times of crisis.” 

Apart from these efforts, UN Women has strengthened women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship trainings, recognizing that women’s access to employment plays a key role in ensuring their security, and provided women leaders including youth, with skills to promote social cohesion in their communities. 

The adoption of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security marks significant progress in furthering gender-responsive conflict and crisis response, while also strengthening the role of women in peacebuilding and conflict-preventative leadership. 

South Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Morocco: Launch from Essaouira of the Women’s World Forum for Peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Le Matin (translation by CPNN)

The Women’s World Forum for Peace was launched on Tuesday in Essaouira by the “Warriors of Peace”, a movement of Jewish and Muslim women for peace, justice and equality, on the occasion of international women’s dayl . The meeting took place in the presence of André Azoulay , Adviser to His Majesty the King and founding president of the Essaouira-Mogador Association , the governor of the province, Adil El Maliki, the president of the communal council of Essaouira, Tarik Ottmani, elected officials and other actors from various backgrounds, that the founding act of this World Forum has taken effect.


Video of forum which was sponsored by UNESCO and the UN. One of speakers was Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate from Iran.

Women from all over the world, activists for peace and committed to justice, emancipation and freedom, including Jessica Mwiza, activist for Memory (Rwanda), Huda Abu Arquob, president of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (Palestine), and Nuith Hagragh, Women Wage Peace (Israel) , together delivered a common message, a call for peace to the world. Speaking at this meeting, a dozen activists representing Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Liberia and Israel , presented captivating testimonies in which they shared their respective experiences, their actions and peace initiatives.

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(Click here for the original article in French.)

Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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Speaking on this occasion, Hanna Assouline welcomed the organization of this conclave in “such a magical city, on African soil, in Morocco, a country which for years has opened a way, a path of lights” . “It is this recognition of otherness in itself that drives us all here. This is what Morocco has decided to reaffirm for years now, in particular with the inclusion in its 2011 Constitution of the plurality of Moroccan origins (Arab, Amazigh, Hebrew, African and Mediterranean), “she continued. , adding that this commitment by Morocco is a “precious message for the world”. 

This forum brings together women from all over the world, some of whom have never left their country, and who met in Essaouira , to jointly launch this appeal and challenge the world in favor of peace, in a city that “wonderfully embodies the values of dialogue and reconciliation,” Ms. Assouline explained in a statement to M24, MAP’s continuous news television channel. For her part, Fatima Bousso indicated that these women from various regions of the world “came to bring to Essaouira, this city of openness, culture and sharing, a common appeal to the world for peace”.

Subsequently, the participants in the forum gathered in front of the ramparts of the Sqala, in the center of the medina of Essaouira to execute “a human chain” in favor of peace . Previously, they paid a visit to Bayt Dakira , an opportunity for them to follow exhaustive explanations presented by Mr. Azoulay on this spiritual and heritage space for the preservation and enhancement of Judeo-Moroccan memory. On the menu of this event is also the screening, on Sunday, in Bayt Dakira, of the film ” The warriors of peace “, directed by Hanna Assouline ., and a march for peace that will depart from Bayt Dakira to the beach where a peace footprint will be left. 

Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

New report of Inter-Parliamentary Union shows that women MPs have never been so diverse

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

A press release from the Inter-Parliamentary Union

According to the latest IPU report, Women in Parliament 2022, women’s participation in parliament has never been as diverse and representative as it is in many countries today. And for the first time in history, not a single functioning parliament in the world is male-only. 


Celia Xakriaba, a climate activist, is one of 4 indigenous women to be elected to the Brazilian Parliament. Photo from Wiki Commons.

The findings in the annual IPU report are based on the 47 countries that held elections in 2022. In those elections, women took an average 25.8% of seats up for election or appointment. This represents a 2.3 percentage point increase compared to previous renewals in these chambers.

Brazil saw a record 4,829 women who identify as black running for election (out of 26,778 candidates); in the USA, a record number of women of colour (263) stood in the midterm elections; LGBTQI+ representation in Colombia tripled from two to six members of the Congress; and in France, 32 candidates from minority backgrounds were elected to the new National Assembly, an all-time high of 5.8% of the total.  

Other positive trends include technological and operational transformations, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which have increased the potential for parliaments to become more gender-sensitive and family-friendly. The influence of gender issues on election outcomes, with increased awareness of discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as alliances with other social movements, also helped drive strong results for women in some of the parliamentary elections.

However, overall progress towards global gender equality remains painfully slow: the global share of women in parliaments stood at 26.5% on 1 January 2023, a year-on-year increase of only 0.4 percentage points, the slowest growth in six years.

Mixed regional findings

Overall, six countries now have gender parity (or a greater share of women than men) in their lower or single chamber as of 1 January 2023. New Zealand joined last year’s club of five consisting of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the top of the IPU’s authoritative global ranking of women in parliament.

Other notable gains in women’s representation were recorded in Australia (the strongest outcome of the year with a record 56.6% of seats won by women in the Senate), Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Malta and Slovenia.

High stakes elections in Angola, Kenya and Senegal all saw positive strides for women. Wide divides characterized results in Asia: record numbers of women were elected to the historically male-dominated Senate in Japan but in India, elections to the upper chamber led to women occupying only 15.1% of seats, well below the global and regional averages.

The Pacific saw the highest growth rate in women’s representation out of all the regions, gaining 1.7 percentage points to reach an overall average of 22.6% women in parliament. Every Pacific parliament now has at least one woman legislator.

In the 15 European chambers that were renewed in 2022, there was little shift in women’s representation, stagnating at 31%.

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Questions for this article:

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

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

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In the Middle East and North Africa region, seven chambers were renewed in 2022. On average, women were elected to 16.3% of the seats in these chambers, the lowest regional percentage in the world for elections held in the year. Three countries were below 10%: Algeria (upper chamber: 4.3%), Kuwait (6.3%) and Lebanon (6.3%).

Bahrain is an outlier in the region with a record eight women elected to the lower chamber, including many first-time lawmakers. 73 women ran for election to the lower chamber (out of a total of 330 candidates) compared with the 41 women who ran in the last election in 2018. Ten women were also appointed to the 40-member upper chamber.

Quotas work

Legislated quotas were again a decisive factor in the increases seen in women’s representation. Legislated quotas enshrined in the constitution and/or electoral laws require that a minimum number of candidates are women (or of the under-represented sex). Chambers with legislated quotas or combined with voluntary party quotas produced a significantly higher share of women than those without in the 2022 elections (30.9% versus 21.2%).

Women’s leadership on climate change

Women in Parliament 2022 gives several examples of female climate leadership including Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, who has pushed for net zero by 2035, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, who is aiming to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.

At COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference, Senator Sherry Rehman, the Minister of Climate Change in Pakistan, was one of the prominent advocates which led to the successful establishment of a loss and damage fund to support poorer countries who are greatly affected by climate change. However, despite this leadership, women continue to be under-represented in decision-making positions on climate. For example, women accounted for less than 34% of country negotiating teams and only 7 out of 110 Heads of State present at COP27.
 
Quotes from IPU leadership

Lesia Vasylenko, President of the IPU Bureau of Women MPs.

“Every woman who is elected brings parliaments one step closer to becoming more inclusive and representative. And it’s great to see much more diversity this year in many elections around the world. But overall progress is far too slow, with half the world’s populations still vastly under-represented. There is an urgent need to change this to strengthen democracy everywhere.”

Duarte Pacheco, IPU President

“The only way to make real progress toward achieving gender equality in parliaments is to share the responsibility between men and women. I call on my male colleagues in every parliament in the world to work with their female counterparts to move forward and accelerate the pace of change.”

Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General

“Our research shows that there are still too many barriers preventing women from entering parliament or indeed forcing them to leave politics, as we have seen recently. We have the data, tools and solutions to make gender equality a reality by, for example, making parliaments gender-sensitive and free of sexism, harassment and violence. What we now need is the political will at the highest level to make it happen.”

***

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 133 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 178 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more representative. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

United Nations: CSW67 Opening statement: Digital rights are women’s rights

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

Opening statement to the Commission on the Status of Women at its 67th session, by Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

A new kind of poverty now confronts the world, one that excludes women and girls in devastating ways—that of digital poverty.   

The digital divide has become the new face of gender inequality, which is being compounded by the pushback against women and girls that we see in the world today.    


Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, delivers her opening statement to the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters in New York, 6 March 2023. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

That is why the work of this 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) could not be more timely nor more critical.   

We meet to do what this Commission does best: develop norms and standards for an urgent issue of significant importance that offers both opportunity and challenge.  

The CSW mandate is exemplified in the priority theme of this year’s Commission. 
  
The digital revolution presents unprecedented opportunities for women and girls.  At the very same time, it has also given rise to profound new challenges, compounding gender inequalities in severe ways.   

The Secretary-General’s report is unambiguous. We will not achieve gender equality without closing the digital gap. 
 
The data are sobering.  Women are 18 per cent less likely than men to own a smartphone, and far less likely to access or use the Internet.  This past year alone, 259 million more men than women were online. Only 28 per cent of engineering graduates and 22 per cent of artificial intelligence workers globally are women, despite girls matching boys’ performance in science and technology subjects across many countries.
   
In the technology sector globally, women not only occupy fewer positions, but they also face a gender pay gap of 21 per cent.  Nearly half of all women working in technology have faced workplace harassment. 

The gap in access to digital tools and opportunity is widest where women and girls are often most vulnerable. This gap disproportionately affects women and girls with low literacy or low income, those living in rural or remote areas, migrants, women with disabilities, and older women.  It jeopardizes our promise to leave no one behind. 
    
These differences have serious consequences for women and girls.   

The digital divide can limit women’s access to life-saving information, mobile money products, agricultural extension, or online public services.  In turn, this fundamentally influences whether a woman completes her education, owns her own bank account, makes informed decisions about her body, feeds her family, or gains productive employment. 
  
At its heart, the digital gap is pervasive because technology is pervasive in all aspects of our modern lives. 
  
We must also squarely face the threats to the safety and well-being of girls that technology can present when abused.  Even where they enjoy access to digital tools and services, discrimination has taken a foothold and continues to find new ways to deny them their rights. 
  
Research has shown that 80 per cent of children in 25 countries reported feeling in danger of sexual abuse and exploitation when online, with adolescent girls the most vulnerable. 

A survey of women journalists from 125 countries found that three-quarters had experienced online violence in the course of their work and a third had self-censored in response. 

Afghan women who spoke out through YouTube and blogging had their doors marked by the Taliban, with many fleeing their country for safety.  
 
In Iran, and as noted in the Secretary General´s report on the situation of human rights there, many women and girls continue to be targeted because of their participation in online campaigns.  
 
We continue to see radical groups and some governments use social media to target women, particularly women human rights defenders.  

Women’s rights activists cannot play their role in advancing equality if they fear reprisals.  They become, in effect, invisible.   

This is the new, digital repression and oppression. We stand in full solidarity with women and girls subjected to repression and oppression worldwide. 

The reality is that those forces and actors who would deny women and girls their rights are as adaptable as they are evil. 
  
So, we must adapt faster and more effectively than they do, with stronger responses, protections and ultimately, greater resolve.  
 
Technology and innovation are indeed enablers.  What they enable is up to us. 

At the same time, the digital revolution offers the potential for unprecedented improvement in the lives of women and girls.  We must not spurn it. 

Research by UN Women and DESA shows that global progress towards the SDG targets has become more precarious than ever.   

We live in a world of poly-crises that make progress ever more uneven including in the digital space, creating new and unique barriers for women and girls.   

These crises span from the still-unresolved challenges of COVID, to the global economic divide advancing unprecedented inequities across food and energy access, to conflict and instability such as that in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine and Yemen. 

We need every advantage we can find to bring the SDGs back on track. 

Technology and innovation are proven accelerators to drive concrete progress, once again, across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

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Questions related to this article:

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Is Internet freedom a basic human right?

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Harnessed effectively, technology and innovation can be the game-changers to catalyse poverty reduction, decrease hunger, boost health, create new jobs, mitigate climate change, address humanitarian crises, improve energy access and make entire cities and communities safer and more sustainable – benefitting women and girls. Now is the time to shape the outcomes of CSW67 to inform the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future in 2024 and the Global Digital Compact. 

In countless ways, the Sustainable Development Goals depend on the world’s ability to leverage technology and innovation for good.   

Consider social media.  It allowed women, desperately seeking help in the face of rising domestic violence during COVID-19 lockdowns, to access information and support.   

It has generated ‘heat maps’ to focus disaster response, most recently in the tragic earthquakes of Türkiye and Syria.  

Social media has been a crucial connector for the women’s movement within and between countries. 

Technology has facilitated our work across UN Women’s bold mandate.   

In countries such as Niger and Haiti, we have been able to digitalize data collection in Rapid Gender Assessments, saving time and money, as well as offering new, more powerful data management and visualization. 

In Ukraine, national authorities, civil society organizations and the private sector are working together to build digital solutions that support gender-responsive aid, economic recovery and reduce digital gaps.   

From artificial intelligence to virtual reality, to the blockchain – possibilities to harness technology, to save and improve lives and achieve the vision of the United Nations Charter, where every member of the human family lives a life of freedom and dignity, seem truly limitless.  

It is up to us to decide the course we wish to chart, and whether, ultimately, we use the opportunity being afforded us to build a better world, leaving no woman or girl behind in the digital revolution.   

Let me turn to the way forward. 

Our challenge is not to train more women or distribute mobile handsets.  Rather, it is to fix the institutions and the harmful gender stereotypes surrounding technology and innovation that fail women and girls.   

The Secretary-General’s report offers us solutions that I hope will be reflected in your Agreed Conclusions.   

First, we must close the gender digital divide.  Every member of society, especially the most marginalized, must have equal access to digital skills and services.  Digital services, especially e-government services, must be tailored and accessible for all women and girls. 

Second, we must invest in digital, science and technology education for girls and women, including those girls who missed out on education first time around.   

These opportunities cannot merely be the provision of basic computer skills. They must extend to the whole suite of capabilities needed to secure 21st century jobs in a digital world.  

Third, we must ensure jobs and leadership positions for women in the tech and innovation sectors.  As the Secretary-General said: “There is a great danger for gender equality, misogyny is embedded in the Silicon Valleys of this world”.  This demands profound institutional change.  That burden lies in large part on the leaders of the technology sector.    

Fourth, we must ensure transparency and accountability of digital technology. By design, technology must be safe, inclusive, affordable, and accessible.  This includes ensuring that unconscious or conscious bias is not embedded into new technologies and in the field of artificial intelligence.   

Fifth, we must place the principles of inclusion, intersectionality, and systemic change at the core of digitalization.  

If women are not included among technology and artificial intelligence creators, or decision-makers, digital products will not reflect the priorities of women and girls.    We must ensure that women and girls are a central part of the design, development, and deployment of technology.   

Sixth, we must confront misinformation head on, and we must work with men and boys to foster ethical and responsible online behaviour and make equality a cornerstone of digital citizenship. 

Finally, we must make the necessary effort and investment to ensure that online spaces are free of violence and abuse, with mechanisms and clear accountability to tackle all forms of harassment and discrimination and hate speech.   

We have turned a blind eye to their damaging effects for too long.   

Technology should liberate, it is instead aggravating violence, with online behaviours that seek to control, harm, silence or discredit the voices of women and girls.  

If we do not leave this Session having said collectively, unambiguously, “enough, no more”, then we will have failed. 

All these solutions demand the concerted actions not only of governments but of the whole of society, and in particular the private sector.   

The Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation, launched as part of the Generation Equality Forum, is one example of a platform that cultivates multi-stakeholder partnerships dedicated to advance gender equality through alliances between governments, private sector, youth, civil society, and the UN System.  We need to see this reflected at national levels and extended further. 

The issues of which this Commission is seized have always evolved, but rarely has that evolution been so dramatic, the opportunities it presents so transformative, the threats accompanying it so alarming, yet the solutions so clear.   

The pace of change demands that we contribute a global normative framework that ensures we harness technology towards the achievement of gender equality –  and that we do it here and now.   

We cannot indulge in distraction when presented with an opportunity to achieve something so necessary and so timely.  
 
I am confident we will spare no effort in showing that this Commission is of one mind and asserts with one voice that “digital rights are women’s rights”.  

This must be the vision and the outcome of CSW67.  

I look forward to working with you all to that end. 

I thank you. 

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

UN Security Council: ‘Radical change of direction’ needed in women, peace and security agenda

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the United Nations

New goals and effective plans on women’s involvement in peacebuilding are needed before it is too late, the head of the UN agency leading global efforts to achieve gender equality warned the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, was speaking during a Council meeting to reaffirm the importance of Resolution 1325  on women, peace and security,  adopted in October 2000, and to take stock of implementation since it turned 20 nearly three years ago. 


UN Photo/Manuel Elías Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique and President of the Security Council
for the month of March, chairs the Security Council meeting on
Women and peace and security.

“As we meet today at the mid-point between the 20th and 25th anniversaries, on the eve of International Women’s Day, it is obvious that we need a radical change of direction,” she said. 

No significant change 

Ms. Bahous noted that although several historic firsts for gender equality occurred during the first two decades of the resolution, “we have neither significantly changed the composition of peace tables, nor the impunity enjoyed by those who commit atrocities against women and girls.” 

She said the 20th anniversary “was not a celebration, but a wake-up call,” pointing to situations from across the globe that have emerged since then.

They include the regression of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover, sexual violence committed in the war in the Tigray region in Ethiopia, and online abuse targeting women opposing military rule in Myanmar. 

Women and children also comprise a staggering 90 per cent of the nearly eight million people forced to flee the conflict in Ukraine, and nearly 70 per cent of those displaced within the country.
 
Military spending increasing 

Furthermore, women peacebuilders had hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would cause countries to rethink military spending, as the global crisis revealed the value of caregivers and the importance of investing in health, education, food security and social protection. 

“Instead, that spending has continued to grow, passing the two-trillion-dollar mark, even without the significant military expenditure of the last months,” she said. “Neither the pandemic nor supply-chain issues prevented another year of rising global arms sales.”  

The way forward 

Ms. Bahous outlined two suggestions that show what a change of direction could look like for the international community. 

“First, we cannot expect 2025 to be any different if the bulk of our interventions continue to be trainings, sensitization, guidance, capacity building, setting up networks, and holding one event after another to talk about women’s participation, rather than mandating it in every meeting and decision-making process in which we have authority,” she stipulated. 

Her second point focused on the need to get resources to women’s groups in conflict-affected countries, particularly through the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. 

The UN-led partnership was established in 2015 and has so far supported more than 900 organizations. 

“We urgently need better ways to support civil society and social movements in these countries. That means being much more intentional about funding or engaging with new groups, and especially with young women,” she said. 

(Article continues in right column.)

Questions related to this article:

UN Resolution 1325, does it make a difference?

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column.)

Women’s involvement equals success 

The meeting was chaired by Mozambique, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month.
  
The country’s Foreign Minister, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, expressed hope that the debate will lead to action, such as stronger strategies on gender equality, as well as women’s effective participation in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. 

“There is no doubt that by involving women in the peacebuilding and peacekeeping agenda in our countries, we will achieve success,” she said, speaking in Portuguese. 
“Under no circumstances do we want that the people who bring life into the world are negatively impacted. We must protect them. Use women’s sensitivity to resolve conflicts and maintain peace on our planet.” 

Respect international law 

Currently, more than 100 armed conflicts are raging around the world, according to Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
 
The organization sees the daily brutal impacts of armed conflict on women and girls, she said, which include “shocking levels” of sexual violence, displacement, and deaths during childbirth because they lack access to care.
 
Ms. Spoljaric upheld the importance of international humanitarian law during conflict and urged States to apply a gender perspective in its application and interpretation. 

“Respect for international humanitarian law will prevent the enormous harm resulting from violations of its rules, and it will help to rebuild stability and reconcile societies,” she said. 

States also must ensure that the clear prohibition of sexual violence under international humanitarian law is integrated into national law, military doctrine and training. 

“Engaging more boldly and directly weapon bearers on this issue – with the ultimate goal that it does not occur in the first place – should become a de facto preventive approach, supported and facilitated in times of peace to prevent the worst in times of war,” she added. 


African women leaders network

Bineta Diop of the African Union Commission also addressed the Council, highlighting its work in getting countries to accelerate implementation of the resolution.
This is being done through a strategy focused on advocacy and accountability, and in building a network of women leaders on the continent.

“We are ensuring that women’s leadership is mainstreamed in governance, peace and development processes so as to create a critical mass of women leaders at all levels,” she said.

“We need to make sure that they are in all sectors of life. not just in peace processes.”

Partner with women activists 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee from Liberia called for amplifying the women, peace and security agenda. She recommended steps such as engaging and partnering with local women peace activists, who she called “the custodians of their communities.” 

Women must also be negotiators and mediators in peace talks. “It is amazing to see how only the men with guns are consistently invited to the table to find solutions, while women who bear the greatest brunt are often invited as observers,” she remarked. 

She also urged countries to “move beyond rhetoric” by ensuring funding and political will, because without them, Resolution 1325 “remains a toothless bulldog”.
  
Ms. Gbowee stressed that women, peace and security must be seen as a holistic part of the global peace and security agenda.  
 
“We will continue to search for peace in vain in our world unless we bring women to the table,” she warned.  “I firmly believe that trying to work for global peace and security minus women is trying to see the whole picture with your one eye covered.” 

Africa, global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY, ,

Mexico: Tlaxcala has first place in the list of Women Builders of Peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Arled Jarillo in El Sol de Tlaxcala

As of February 9, 2023, Tlaxcala occupies the first national place, out of 28 states that participate in the program Women Builders of Peace (Mucpaz), with 214 networks in the 60 municipalities, integrating 8,208 women and allies,


Photo: Courtesy – State Government

(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions related to this article:

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

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

Those responsible for installing, training and monitoring all the networks that are carried out in the state are the Executive Commission of the State Public Security System, as it forms part of the “Prevention of Family and Gender Violence” project, of the National Institute of Women and the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

Read more: Sesnsp recognizes Tlaxcala as example of peace-building in the country.

Making women aware of their rights, promoting gender equality, detecting the main problems in each environment, proposing solutions, promoting solidarity and community work, among other actions, are the main work of these networks.

The municipalities with the most networks are: Huamantla, with 27; Tlaxcala, with 24; Ixtacuixtla, with 23; Tlaxco, with 13 and Apetatitlán, with nine. 32 municipalities have from seven to two, and 23 only one.

Other Mucpaz networks are those of policewomen, civil protection, at the National Pedagogical University of Apetatitlán, another at the Tetlatlahuca Technical High School 47, in addition to that of women with relatives with autism. All of them share the purpose of preventing family violence. and gender, through strategies focused on creating environments free of violence and promoting a culture of peace.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Vatican: Women raise their voices for peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Linda Bordoni from Vatican News

Pope’s powerful appeal for peace in Ukraine resounded at the weekly General Audience on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. Participating in the audience were three young women who felt particularly encouraged and comforted by his continuing closeness and prayers. The women from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus told Vatican Radio about their own dreams for peace and of their continuing pacifist commitment.


From left to right: Olga Karach, Linda Bordoni, Kateryna Lanko and Darya Berg

Darya from Russia, Olga from Belarus and Katya from Ukraine are in Italy bringing the voices of millions of their countrymen who oppose the ongoing war in Ukraine and the increasing militarization of the world.

They have been invited by the Italian Non-Violent Movement (Movimento Nonviolento) which promotes demilitarization and peace-making activities.

Speaking to Vatican Radio after having participated in Pope Francis’ General Audience on Wednesday morning, the three women reiterated their commitment to work for peace. They expressed gratitude and admiration for the Pope’s tireless condemnation of the absurdity of war, for his appeals to world leaders to pursue negotiations and peace-making, and for his spiritual and concrete closeness to those who are suffering.

“It is my aim,” Darya Berg explained, “to find a way for Russian people to live without blood on their hands.”

‘Go by the forest’

Representing the “Go by the forest” project, she explained it is a nonviolent civil resistance project working “to help Russian people avoid this awful war that Russia started in Ukraine.”

Darya, who has had to flee her country in order to be able to pursue her pacifist ideals and commitment, said she would be in jail today in Russia for her words and actions.

She is here, she added, to represent them and to tell Europe and the whole world that there are “a lot of Russian people who are against the war, who don’t want to kill anybody who wants peace.”

It is important to hear the voices, she said, even if they are silent.

Darya explained that “Go by the Forest” has a double meaning in Russia: it means “We don’t care about what you think,” and that, she explained, “is what we say to the government in our country.” It is also an invitation to “go by the forest” to find ways to cross the border and escape military conscription.

That’s what we do, she said, to help “people who don’t want to kill anybody in this bloody war,” helping them understand their rights, helping them by providing legal information, psychological support and hiding places in Russian territory as well as crossing the borders.

(Article continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

(Article continued from left column)

It is still legal, Darya explained, to exit the country; however, it is very difficult for people, especially from villages and small towns who do not have passports and who have never been out of Russia.

They are threatened, she said, “by the government, by the military, by the army. They don’t know what they can do, what they cannot do.”

‘Our House’

Belorussian Olga Karach heads an organisation called “Our House”. She said it is currently running a campaign to help Belarussian men avoid enrolment in the Belarussian army and the war in Ukraine.

She noted that just this week the Belorussian president passed a law approving the death penalty for army deserters.

Like Darya she is campaigning to raise the voice of those men “who don’t want to go to the army, who don’t want to take up weapons and who are now in a very marginalised space.”

Olga said that although media attention shifted following the peaceful revolution in 2020 in which thousands of anti-Lukashenko citizens were jailed or exiled, “still, we have a lot of terror and operations in our country.”

Today, she said the people of Belarus “need much more solidarity and much more support because now Lukashenko is under unbelievable pressure by Vladimir Putin to send the Belarussian army to Ukraine.”
She is in Italy now, Olga added, because she wants “block and prevent a second front in Ukraine from the Belarussian side.”

“We need the attention of Europe for the Belarussian situation,” she said, “, especially for Belarussian men who are trying to avoid participation in the army.”

The closeness of Pope Francis

Completing the trio is Kateryna Lanko from Kyiv in Ukraine, whose aim, she said, is “to make peace in Ukraine, to stop the war, to make a stronger peaceful movement in Ukraine and help our conscientious objectors.”

Commenting on Pope Francis’ powerful appeal for peace during the General Audience and on his words regarding the fact that “Whatever is built on rubble can never be a true victory,” she said she felt encouraged and warmed by them.

The strength of unity

The three women reaffirmed their common commitment stemming, they said, from common problems and the belief that together there is much they can do.

Their Italian tour aims to raise funds for their work, but more than that, to be heard. Olga recalled with gratitude the solidarity shown by so many Italians for Belarussian children in Chernobyl who were orphaned or affected by the nuclear disaster in 1986.

She hopes Europe will take notice of the fact that Lukashenko is currently organizing military training camps for children as young as six “to teach them to shoot, to use military equipment” and to be prepared as child soldiers.

“All three of us really need your help, Darya concluded, “and we really need to be heard. I believe that together we can end the war and that it’s very important for our countries to save as many people as possible.”

“We are here to say that there are people who don’t want to fight, who don’t want weapons in their hands who don’t want to kill and to die.”

Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITY