Commonwealth Statement – Gender Issues in Economic Crisis +
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: July 22, 2005
WUNRN
54 Commonwealth Member States: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/142227/members/
Commonwealth Information: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/191247/the_commonwealth/
STATEMENT
Commonwealth
Partners’ Forum
9th
Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting
Gender
Issues in the Economic Crisis Recovery and Beyond:
Women as Agents of Transformation
Barbados,
4-5 June, 2010
PREAMBLE
We, the representatives of Commonwealth
organizations, professional associations and civil society organizations, convened
at Bridgetown, Barbados from 4-5 June, 2010 to deliberate on the special theme
– Gender Issues in the Economic Crisis Recovery and Beyond: Women as Agents
of Transformation for the 9th Women’s Affairs Minister’s Meeting (9WAMM);
Noting that 9WAMM is the second meeting
since the unanimous accession to the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender
Equality and that the 10WAMM should report its achievements;
Concerned that while most Member States have
National Gender Machineries, their policies, state budgets and national
development plans have not delivered on commitments made for women’s
empowerment;
Recognising that the challenge of promoting
gender equality can only be addressed comprehensively by coordinated action,
effective partnerships and increased accountability; and emphasising that
Women’s civil society is a vital resource in this process.
We call upon the Commonwealth Women’s Affairs
Ministers to:
Ensure
that social care systems are provided, maintained and enhanced to protect
the most vulnerable in the process of economic recovery, as they
facilitate women’s active contribution to economic development.
Support
the UN Gender Entity which will enable governments to implement national
gender equality priorities, and act as a single strong international voice
on gender equality and women’s political, social and economic empowerment.
Fully
implement commitments made in such documents as the Beijing Platform for
Action, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women and the International Conference of Population Development
Program of Action and related regional agreements, including making them
widely understood amongst policy-makers, legislators, civil servants and
the general population.
Ensure the
collection, use and dissemination of standardized age and
sex-disaggregated data.
Create
and/or strengthen formal mechanisms that enable women and girls of diverse
groups to engage effectively with governments in the development and
implementation of national gender-responsive policies and programmes.
Ensure the
voices and realities of women and girls inform the development and
implementation of national gender policies.
Commit to
and strengthen partnerships with civil society organizations, especially
womens’ NGOs and the Commonwealth Women’s Network, in the implementation
of the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality.
GENDER-RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC
REFORMS
The effects of the crisis
have had serious impacts on women. This has had far-reaching consequences for
children, families and communities, exacerbating their vulnerability to
external shocks, and increasing disaster risks.
Women and girls have key
roles in creating resilient and prosperous economies. Excluded groups such as
persons with disabilities, indigenous/first peoples and those from isolated
communities are also an essential part of the economic rebuilding process.
Women have a strong record as
entrepreneurs, both in the informal and formal sectors, yet have a low record
of accessing venture capital, land tenure and financial services.
Recommendations:
Ensure
that budget allocations meet the needs in social sector funding.
Support
universal and social protection programmes, through gender-responsive
budgeting, in order to address the particular realities of women and girls
– such as their greater burden of family care work
Strengthen
mechanisms and resources to enable women’s access to venture capital funds
and other forms of financing, land tenure, and other means of
production
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND
GIRLS
The increasing incidence of
violence against women results in serious costs for them, their communities and
national economies.
Recommendations:
Establish
and maintain effective services that prevent violence and help women and
girls avoid and get out of violent situations.
Enact and
enforce legislation on human trafficking and violent crime and support
vulnerable groups who live with the effects.
HIV & AIDS
In addition to addressing the
immediate barriers to access of prevention, treatment and care services, HIV
& AIDS strategies should focus on factors such as sexual violence, poverty
and inequality that render women and girls vulnerable.
Recommendations:
Address
the known underlying factors that make women and girls disproportionately
vulnerable to HIV & AIDS.
Fund a
comprehensive approach to prevention, care, support and treatment which
also addresses the role of men and boys.
MATERNAL MORTALITY AND REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH
Lack of access to healthcare
and sexual health services as a result of economic and social status means one
woman dies every minute through pregnancy-related complications and many more
develop infections or disabling problems.
Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death in 15-19 year olds in
developing countries. Between 2002 and 2005, less than 50% of pregnant women
fulfilled the WHO recommended standard of four pre-natal visits.
Recommendations
Guarantee
skilled and adequate health workforces at all levels, including training
of midwives and addressing problems of skills migration in the health
workforce.
Guarantee
full access to culturally-sensitive family planning services, including
adequate provision of language services for women living in rural areas
and for those who have suffered sexual violence.
Give
support to teenage mothers in continuing their education.
EDUCATION
Education and training for
economic empowerment and social participation of girls and women is crucial for
achieving the MDGs.
Recommendations:
Educate
women and girls about their strengths and human rights to contribute to
their gender equality.
Implement
gender responsive curricula to ensure the promotion of gender equality and
shared family responsibilities.
Support
and invest in life skills that promote well-being and increase education
and training for human development, work and entrepreneurship.
Use
information and communications technology in the building of effective
leadership skills and for women’s entering and participating in political
and public life.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
AND LEADERSHIP
Political leadership is a
precondition for social and economic empowerment. Equal participation by women
in governance and leadership can only be achieved by providing an enabling
environment for women’s leadership training and opportunities for engagement.
We call on Member States
to:
Honour
commitments to existing 30% targets and fast track toward equal
representation of women in decision-making at all levels.
Support
capacity-building and provide spaces for public advocacy amongst women
leaders, potential women leaders and persons with disabilities, and women
and girls in isolated communities and overseas territories.
Provide
opportunities for gender training for Parliamentarians and their
advisors.
PEACE AND SECURITY
Women are disproportionately
affected by conflict and displacement and are left with the responsibility for
care giving, including food security.
Women and girls experience
devastating forms of gender based violence including sexual violence during and
after conflict situations.
The impact of societal
violence continues to disproportionately affect women and girls, even in the
absence of large-scale armed conflict. Violence against women remains one of
the largest global threats to human security in all societies.
Despite their significant
role in peace-making and peace-building, women are marginalized from the
post-conflict reconstruction process.
Recommendations
We call on Member States to
actively work together to prevent, mitigate and resolve conflicts. To this end,
Member States need to:
Ensure
that sustainable peace is achieved through fully engaging women in all
levels of post-conflict, demobilization, recovery and development
processes.
Comply
with and enforce the provisions of Resolution 1325 and 1820, ensuring that
gender is integrated into national action plans.
Identify
the relationships between peace and access to basic needs, including food
security, fuel and finance.
Enable
migrants, displaced persons, refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly
women and girls, to access their human rights.
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