Day 5 - Normal service resumes
"You never know how important you are until you have been recognised."
The recognition of one women's story could change the perceptions of many. Hearing the stories of both women and men today has broadened our understanding and altered our preconceptions about prevalent issues women face. Gender based violence, child marriage, human trafficking. It isn't until we heard women share their stories, that we began to realise these women are not just shocking statistics, they are real people facing real issues which must be tackled.
At the morning briefing in the United Nations building, we heard a review of the agreed document and negotiations taking place. It was agreed that a call for gender responsive budgeting within the UN is necessary. It is our role as members of civil society to lobby on this issue.
"It is complex to talk about abortion as the tendency is for countries to have sovereignty." said Phumzile Mlambo - execute director of UN women. However, does that we should not discuss the importance of safe and legal abortion? The idea of restricting abortion presents to me, the fundamental, ideological opposition by men, fuelled by the typical notion of men having control over women's bodies. Indeed, more negotiations must be done, and more dialogue must take place within civil society in order to ensure that women's reproductive rights are not ignored.
After an early morning briefing, we headed off to our parallel events. In an event sponsored by 'Save the Children' I learnt of the importance of investing in every girl. Not only this, but from a more practical perspective, how we can encourage private sector businesses to invest in girls, as well as lobbying the ministry of finance and aid to pay for the investment in girls.
"We need better data for better investment in girls, as we can build the budgets that meet their needs." Currently, we do not hold our governments accountable for their lack of data which has led to a lack of direct investment in girls.
Shockingly, only 34% of all aid takes gender into account. Yet if women had an equal share in markets then the number of people in poverty would decrease by 17%. Not to mention, the descrease in child marriage in developing nations if more money is put into girls health, education and training.
We came up with 5 main strategies to increasing the investment in girls in order to ensure they are economically empowered.
1. Empowering girls with information, training, skills and support networks.
2. Educating and mobilising parents and community members.
3. Enhancing accessibility and the quality of formal schooling for girls.
4. Offering economic support and incentives for girls and their families.
5. Fostering and enabling legal and policy frameworks.
"If not me, who? If not now, when?"
We understand what needs to be done, now we must ensure that actions are implemented upon our return from CSW!
