Invest in girls and women
Global leaders have called for greater investments for girls and women who are at the center-stage of development in the new global framework, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adapted by the UN in September 2015.
“We all share a common conviction that girls and women are the key to building healthy, prosperous and sustainable societies and communities,” said Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, patron of the Women Deliver 2016 Conference.
“And the evidence is sound when we invest in girls and women, society as a whole benefits,” she said at the opening of the 3-day conference on Monday evening.
More than 5,000 advocates, experts and young people from 168 countries are attending the fourth Women Deliver Conference, the largest gathering on women health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women in over a decade.
It features more than 200 sessions and side events focusing on solutions and how investments in women health, rights, gender equality, education and economic empowerment have broad benefits across the development spectrum.
Women Deliver, a global advocacy organisation based in New York, is organising the event with support from various governments, UN agencies and global private corporations.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, “The fight for equal gender opportunities is not just a woman's fight or a fight for women. It is a fight for all of us, women and men. It is a fight for a better and more prosperous world.”
“Girls and women have less access to resources and opportunities and are subjected to exploitation, violence and abuse. And because these global challenges are complex, demanding and interwoven the solutions have to be connected as well,” said Manisha Bharti, chief strategy officer of Family Health International 360.
According to the Women Deliver, every two minutes a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, though majority of these deaths are preventable.
Besides, poor nutrition among pregnant women accounts for 800,000 newborn deaths every year. Maternal mortality is one of the major causes of deaths.
Ninety eight percent of stillbirths occur in developing countries. In Bangladesh nearly 5,000 women die because of pregnancy and childbirth.
“It's time we meaningfully engage girls and women as equal partners at all levels and stages of development to help ensure they have the decision-making power necessary to shape their societies and their own lives,” Manisha Bharti said.
Bangladesh State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan said women around the world face discrimination in various aspects including wages, jobs, health and education, which is even more in the developing world.
After attending a session, ministers' forum, he told two Bangladeshi journalists that Bangladesh has done quite well over last few years in terms of women empowerment, mostly in women education and health.
“But, we can see a large number of educated women remain jobless,” he said, adding, the government was now was focusing on enforcing a prime minister's directive that all new buildings must have daycare centres, separate washrooms, breastfeeding rooms etc.
“We have a traditional social problem, restrictive norms for movement of women outside homes. We are taking affirmative actions in this regard,” MA Mannan said.
He assured that Bangladesh would make more allocations in ratio wise for health and education.
DELIVER FOR GOOD
To accelerate progress for girls and women, Women Deliver launched a new advocacy platform that promotes 12 critical investments in girls and women: Deliver for Good.
It will bring together diverse organisations to show how a simple focus on investments in girls and women can be transformative for global development, said Women Deliver CEO Katja Iversen.
“Investing in girls and women unlocks untapped potential, and creates a ripple effect that benefits families, communities and entire nations,” she said.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-chair Melinda Gates, meanwhile, announced investing US 80 million dollars over the next three years to help close gender gap by reducing data gap.
“The new money will improve methodologies for data collection, and allow us to collect data in areas such as time use, unpaid work, and economic empowerment (of women),” she said.
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) in a new research said achieving the economic potential of women and making progress toward the SDGs will require $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in annual spending on essential services in 2025 but the potential economic gains could be six to eight times in this outlay.
“Narrowing the gender gap can unleash massive growth,” says Vivian Hunt, managing partner of McKinsey's United Kingdom and Ireland offices.
“Our new analysis finds that the economic benefits of narrowing gender gaps far outweigh the additional social spending required," he said while releasing the paper at the conference.
Comments