How do we end inequality? Women's rights activists speak out
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Version 0 of 1. Six months ago today, the UN general assembly adopted the sustainable development goals (SDGs), an ambitious agenda to end extreme poverty and tackle inequality and climate change by 2030. We asked some of the activists attending the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York to share their views on what is needed to achieve the 17 goals and 169 targets. Jeanette Suka Ila, World Young Women’s Christian Association peer educator, Papua New Guinea One of the priority areas we should look at is putting girls at the centre of development, meaning girls should take part in decision-making. They should sit at the table because most of the issues we are talking about now are women and girls’ issues. If we put girls at the centre then we will achieve some of the sustainable development goals. Girls need mentors. I never knew how to be a leader, but as I grew, involving myself in the YWCA, coming to work as a peer educator; because of the training I went through, building me up; and because of mentors, who have guided me, I became a person who is taking part in decision-making. This is my first time at CSW. If we allow young women to participate in these types of important meetings, then the world will see the value, and hear the voices, of women. Ezgi Koçak, youth activist working on LGBTI rights, Turkey We need gender-responsive implementation of the sustainable development goals, to use them as a tool to make the voices of peace heard. We can use the inclusion of women on peace processes and conflict resolution. On Syria and the refugee crisis, they are all men talking, but we have strong women’s rights organisations who want to get involved in the process. We can’t think about the SDGs without considering peace around the world. Kate Lappin, regional coordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Thailand There are so many things but … the SDGs can’t be implemented until we address the global economic, political and social order. Governments simply can’t meet those obligations if they sign up to trade agreements that keep countries indebted … All of the goals are at risk unless we have a global economic system that allows governments to have funds and the policy space to meet their obligations. The SDGs are not binding. They have important strong targets, but if they are not binding and other agreements are … then we will never meet them. There are no consequences for not meeting the SDGs. Patricia Munabi-Babiiha, executive director of the Forum for Women in Democracy, Uganda We need to think outside our usual boxes, especially to meet this ambitious agenda. To meet the SDGs, I think we need two things. One, the elephant in the room, is political will and second resourcing … to build capacity and human resources. These are really big things that need to be in place for the SDGs to be met. At country level, I think we have come a long way in terms of resourcing for gender equality, and the combination of advice from civil society and better understanding on the part of government on the need to finance gender equality has led to increased commitment in terms of resources allocated. I’m not saying this is enough, but progress is being made. Mónica Novillo Gonzáles, executive director of Coordinadora de la Mujer, Bolivia We believe the SDGs 2030 agenda is an ambitious one. It tries to include a lot of things in a holistic, comprehensive way … The millennium development goals were not enough. Now it’s another chance for our government to commit. We expect to be engaged in this process, to look at how the private sector is going to engage. We need to know how they will play a role in development. We need to see this agenda as an opportunity to find linkages between every SDG, so we not only focus on one of the goals but how one is related to another. If we only focus on goal five, we’re going to find some holes and it [SDG agenda] is not going to be completed. There is no way we can achievement political empowerment if we don’t have the right to work, and particularly decent work with decent wages. If we suffer violence, how can [we] work? Or if we have to spend so much time getting water in rural areas or don’t have access to our rights, or land? We have to understand the ambitious agenda and not lose this focus on all of it. Everything is related. |