UN Calls For Immediate Global Action To Close Gender Gaps
The United Nations says it may take a century to lift women and girls out of poverty due to the failure of various countries to meet the sustainable development goals of gender equality.
The United Nations Women (UN Women), in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, have called for immediate action to close gender gaps across the globe.
According to Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, sustainable goal 5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.
Some of the targets are to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere, eliminate all kinds of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, eliminate all harmful practices like child marriage and carry out reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, access to ownership and control other forms of property and services among others.
But Bahous, in a statement on Monday, said none of the indicators and sub-indicators of sustainable development goal 5 has been met.
“The gender parity in parliaments remains unachievable until 2063 as a staggering 137 years is needed to lift women and girls out of poverty. Also, about 1 out of 4 girls continue to be married as children,” part of the statement read.
“The annual global cost of countries failing to effectively educate their young population amounts to over 10 trillion dollars while low and middle income families can lose another 500 billion dollars in the next five years by not closing the digital gender gap.
“We Need to keep pushing for gender equality to fulfill the commitment made by world leaders in the fourth world conference on women held in Beijing almost 30 years ago,” she said.
As the summit of the future is set to hold on Sept. 22 and 23 to foster international collaboration and address current and emerging challenges of women, Bahous calls for an increase in investment and the elimination of discrimination against women and girls.
“As world leaders prepare for the summit of the Future on September 22-23, they are urged to forge new international consensus to close gender gaps, achieve gender equality and advance the empowerment and rights of all women and girls-a distant but achievable goal.”
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