“No country in the world has achieved gender equality”- UNFPA Executive Director

Mar 18, 2015 News

At a recent United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) forum, held under the theme “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!” the Executive Director of UNFPA reported on global statistics that indicate slow progress in the recognition of the international human rights of women.
The forum followed last week’s observation of International Women’s Day, and the twentieth Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The Director’s report, (read by UNFPA Programme Officer Ms. Bhagwandai Persaud-Giddings) provided a detailed analysis of the current status on global promotion of human rights and dignity for girls, and their full and equal participation in society.
It stated, “no country in the world has achieved gender equality, and discrimination in the law persists in many countries.”
This was said to be the current situation, although world leaders proclaimed sexual and reproductive rights as human rights, which are integral to gender equality and women’s dignity and empowerment.
Various representatives from other Non-Governmental Organisations, Religious communities, Women’s Rights and Youth Activists, and other relevant persons present at the forum, were informed that today’s world provides more opportunities for women and girls.
“Today more girls are going to school, more women are in the labour force, and more women have access to sexual and reproductive health services including family planning. More women are in national parliament, more women are playing a role in advancing peace and security, and maternal deaths have been cut in half.
Global campaigns against genital mutilation and child marriage are gaining momentum, and we also see growing global movements to end gender-based violence, and more boys and men promoting gender equality.”
However, it was noted that while these trends hold great promise, the overall progress in executing the new available rights for girls and women all over the world, has been slow, with regression in some countries.
This occurs despite the fact that world leaders, during the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD), at the fourth world conference in Beijing, “boasted of the progress of women’s right to make their own choices for their bodies and their future,” the Director explained.
Those very world leaders contended that sexual and reproductive rights are basic human rights which are “integral to gender equality and women’s dignity and empowerment.”
These rights were said to be essential for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights for eradicating poverty, and for achieving social justice and sustainable development. Yet, they remain unrecognised and ill-established in many cases.
For this reason, the Director’s report stated, “We will not stop until we cross the finish line, and realise equality between girls and boys and women and men.”
The report went on to address the alarming statistics, which indicate that one in three women remain victims of domestic violence today. It went on to highlight the fact that, one in three girls are being married before they attain the age of 18, more than 800 women die from complications from pregnancy and child’s birth; 225 million women live without access to modern contraception and, if the world continues on its current path, 15 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19, will be subjected to genital mutilation between now and 2030.
The director’s report called for an end to all of these human rights violations. As the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action comes to an end in this its twentieth year, and a new universal initiative is set to take its place, calls are being made to close the gap for women and girls, by making them the centre of the framework of the new development agenda.

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“No country in the world has achieved gender equality”- UNFPA Executive Director

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“No country in the world has achieved gender equality”- UNFPA Executive Director

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