Urgent Call to Action: Closing the Gender Gap – What Can We Do to Bring Equality Sooner?
- yanabijoor
- Sep 24, 2024
- 2 min read
The United Nations published its Sustainable Development Goals Snapshot Report this month (September 2024), revealing a stark outlook for gender equality. Without urgent action, a girl born today won't see women achieve equal representation in parliament until she is 39. She'll be 68 before child marriage is eliminated, and it will take 137 years to eradicate extreme poverty for women and girls. Last year, 612 million women and girls (15% of the global population) endured the harsh conditions of armed conflict, which saw a staggering 50-percent rise in conflict-related sexual violence against them.
There are six priority drivers for gender equality and the SDG:
End violence against women and girls;
Secure women’s leadership
Unlock finance to support the care economy and reduce women’s unpaid care work;
Bridge the gender digital gap;
Link economic empowerment to climate action and transitions to green and blue economies and
Ensure accountability to the women, peace, security, and humanitarian action agendas.
Another consortium of young feminist organizations, under the umbrella of What Girls Want (WGW), has said the United Nations SDG priorities are not enough. WGW calls for 12 priorities to erase the gender gap.
1. End Inequality and Discrimination: Eradicate systemic barriers that create unsafe and unfair societies for girls, ensuring respect and opportunities for all and providing a foundation for equal opportunity and respect regardless of identity, helping to build a fairer society.
2. Invest in Gender-Sensitive Policies: Governments should allocate resources to policies that promote girls’ health, education, and well-being, ensuring that policies ameliorate gender-based disparities, boosting girls’ overall development and opportunities.
3. Fund Girls' Work and Activism: Flexible, long-term funding supports girls’ leadership and community activism, empowering girls to drive change and sustain movements for societal improvement.
4. Codify Girls' Rights: Legally recognize and protect girls' rights to a safe, supported childhood free from violence and discrimination, enforcing protections and ensuring a secure upbringing, fostering long-term well-being.
5. Ensure Decision-Making Power: Include girls in decision-making at all levels to shape policies impacting their futures, validate girls’ perspectives, and ensure their interests are represented in policymaking.
6. Strengthen Accountability: Demand transparency and accountability from governments and institutions regarding commitments to girls, ensuring that policies are implemented and produce real, measurable outcomes.
7. Combat Climate Change with Sustainable Practices: Involve girls in decision-making about sustainable practices to address climate crises, mitigating the disproportionate impact of climate change on girls and fostering environmental justice.
8. Ensure Reproductive Justice: Guarantee access to comprehensive, stigma-free reproductive health services, empowering girls to make informed decisions about their bodies and promoting health and independence.
9. Guarantee Full and Quality Education for All: Ensure free, safe, and inclusive education for every girl while removing systemic barriers and providing foundational opportunities for personal and professional growth.
10. Build Peaceful Societies: Create inclusive societies where girls actively participate in peacebuilding, free from violence, establishing a secure environment essential for girls’ development and fulfillment.
11. Freedom from Violence: Eliminate all forms of violence, exploitation, and discrimination against girls, ensuring the safety and mental health necessary for development and freedom.
12. Economic Justice: Promote equal employment opportunities, fair wages, and economic independence for girls, facilitating economic empowerment and contributing to broader societal equity and growth.
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