gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow essay pdf

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Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow

This year, for International Women’s Day on 8 March , the United Nations will recognise the contribution of women and girls who are leading the way to build a sustainable future for all.

International women’s day presents us with an opportunity to celebrate the political, social, economic and cultural achievements of women and girls around the world. the theme for this year is “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. the climate crisis and gender inequality are two core issues at the heart of the un sustainable development goals . the global effort to advance gender equality and tackle climate change at the same time is one of the greatest challenges to humanity in the 21 st century . figures indicate 80% of people displaced by climate change and climate related disasters are women and girls , while 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in conditions of poverty are women. it is crucial that s ustainability and gender equality efforts globally go hand-in-hand. that is why, ahead of international women’s day this year, we are looking at some of the uk’s female trailblazers contribut ing to sustainable and climate friendly initiatives that are translating into effective climate action., circular economy.

May Al-Karooni is the award-winning founder and CEO of Globechain, a n online marketplace that connects enterprises to charities, small businesses and people to redistribute unneeded items. She realised no one had digitised the waste industry when the bank she worked for moved offices across the road. Rather than moving their office furniture, most of which was in perfect condition, they disposed of it all and purchased brand new furniture. Seeing this immense waste was a revelation; she knew there were charities and people that needed these items. This revelation resulted in the birth of Globechain. Speaking about International Women’s Day and being a female entrepreneur, May Al-Karooni emphasised “there is no overnight success or at least there are very few”. She emphasised that women especially “can be very hard on ourselves; we have more to prove.” Her dedication to a world without waste has grown Globechain to become the biggest reuse marketplace worldwide, with over 10,000 members operating in the UK, Spain, the UAE and New York.

Biodiversity.

Mya-Rose Craig i s a British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist and diversity activist . She has been campaigning for en vironmental protection and conservation for indigenous people, as well as biodiversity, since she was 8 years old. At age 11 , she started a popular blog about birds called BirdGirl and by 17, she became the youngest person to see half the birds in the world. In 2016, she founded Black2Nature, an organisation leading the fight for equal access to the natural environment for Visible Minority Ethnic people, organising teen nature camps and high-profile conferences. Since then Mya, now 20 years old, was listed in The Guardian’s 10 everyday heroes fighting to save the planet. She was nominated in Birdwatch Magazine Birder’s Choice Awards as Conservation Hero of the Year with Sir David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot, coming joint second. I n February 2020, she became the youngest person in the UK to be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Bristol for her five years campaigning and pioneering change through Black2Nature. She has been described as “a champion for diversity and equity in the environmental and conservation sector”.

Sustainable fashion.

Safia Minney is a n award winning social entrepreneur and pioneer of sustainable Fair Trade fashion. In 1991, she co-founded People Tree, an online fashion company dedicated to principles of fair trade, fair wages, good working conditions, transparency, environmental best practice and gender equality. She is the author of 9 books and s he received an MBE for services to the f ashion industry and Fair Trade industry in 2009. She is recognised worldwide as a sustainable fashion influencer, develop ing a process of capacity building for Fair Trade and social enterprises in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She also consults on sustainable business, supply chains and marketing. Her clients include fashion companies and pioneer brands in sustainability ranging from beauty to construction. Speaking about International Women’s Day, Safia recalls the progress women have made and the attention that the ‘me-to o ’ movement has drawn to women’s plight in the global south. As Safia explains, “We need to become their voice and put pressure on businesses and governments to reform our out-of-date trading and financial systems to reflect human rights and sustainability.”

Ocean conservation.

Daisy Kendrick is an award-winning social entrepreneur, author and global speaker. She is the co-founder of Ocean Generation, an inclusive global movement that exists to restore a sustainable relationship between humanity and our o cean s . Frustrated at the lack of awareness and action being taken by millennials and Gen Z to protect our climate and oceans, she created Ocean Generation to utilise media and technology to inform, educate and change behaviour at a global scale. The organisation has expanded into grass-roots action with initiatives empowering young people from climate vulnerable communities. She is also passionate about promoting careers in science to girls. “Academically, girls are brilliant at science, but they don’t choose careers in that area as society leads them to assume that they won’t be good at them, or that they are male-dominated”, something Daisy says she wishes to change.

Becoming equal players, in many countries around the world, women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation. it is important to celebrate and highlight their sustainability initiatives to empower more women and girls to become equal players in the decision-making related to climate change. without gender equality today, a sustainable and equal future remains beyond our reach., additional links :, for more information on international women’s day visit the un women website or twitter page..

United Nations Cinema will hold a screening of ‘Picture A Scientist’ for International Women’s Day in Brussels on 8 March 2022, to get your free ticket please visit the Ciné-ONU Facebook page.

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Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow: Why Women Are Key in the Race Against Climate Change

Date: Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Joint International Women’s Day 2022 OP-ED by UN Women, UNDP, IFAD, UNFPA and UNEP China Offices

English |  中文

For millennia, ‘Mother Nature’ has personified our planet. Rooted in ancient philosophy from around the world, she reflects Earth’s ability to give — and nurture — life.

Globally though, women are yet to gain equal opportunities and rights to men, while the world they share is in immediate danger. Climate change is already here. As UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned recently, many ecosystems have reached the point of no return and nearly half of humanity now lives in peril. [1]

The frequency of climate disasters varies across communities, as do vulnerabilities arising from them. Yet one thing is constant: while women are at the forefront of climate action, they face greater risks. Women are responsible for more than 70 per cent of water management and collection worldwide, [2] and constitute, on average, 43 per cent of agricultural labour in developing countries. [3] However, they lack the same tools as men to manage changes in their climate: while women are more likely to report a climate shock, [4] they are less likely to receive information about it.

In climate action, the green transition, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), the rights and needs of women and girls must be met, to protect and empower them, and thus strengthen resilience across society. Only by mobilizing everyone’s potential can we fight climate change together.

Themed “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” this International Women’s Day, we recognize the leadership and contribution of women and girls around the world to climate mitigation and adaptation. We also call for their rights, along with their crucial role in climate action to be fully reflected in climate policies, programmes, and investments.

To ensure this, five areas must be tackled:

First, women’s environmental leadership and rights must be better supported . Currently, their participation is too low to influence decisions and policies: in 2020, just 15 per cent of environmental ministers globally were women, up from 12 per cent in 2015. [5] This is exacerbated by structural inequalities, including their high burden of unpaid care and household work, gender-based violence, as well as limited access to resources, like land. These gaps are of critical concern, as existing evidence shows that women’s participation leads to better resource management and climate interventions, along with stricter climate policies, resulting in lower emissions. [6] It is therefore vital that everyone — including governments, the private sector, and society — empowers women and girls, by giving them tools and training to lead on environmental issues. For example, between 2015 and 2020, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with UN Women, worked with Qinghai’s provincial government to train rural women on climate-smart agriculture and maintaining crop diversity. Reaching close to 70,000 rural women in Qinghai, the project saw many emerge as community leaders, lifting food production, incomes, and resilience, including to climate change and COVID-19.

Second, gender perspectives must be integrated into climate decision-making. Women are disproportionally exposed to natural hazards and pollutants, due to their high participation in agriculture, textiles, and manufacturing, while lacking information and resources to protect themselves. Currently, just 24 per cent of 120 countries identify gender equality institutions as part of climate governance, with only 27 per cent emphasizing women’s participation. [7] Going forward, gender-responsive environmental policies and programmes can be expanded by boosting decision-maker capacities through training, while enhancing coordination between sectors. Governments should apply gender-disaggregated statistics, ensure women are equally consulted and those gender considerations are included throughout the policy-making process.

Third, gender-responsive, just transitions require ending labour market discrimination, so more women can enter and lead in the green and blue economies . In 2019, women made up only 27.1 per cent of China’s power sector workforce. [8] Yet, globally, an estimated 80 per cent of new jobs created by dismantling fossil fuel dependency will be in areas currently dominated by men. [9] As such, eliminating occupational segregation and gender-based discrimination in labour markets, while promoting women’s equal access to decent work in green and blue economies, is key to a just green transition. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China has supported thousands of young women in gaining vocational training and accessing jobs in the traditionally male-dominated hydrogen-powered vehicle sector. Empowering women presents a win-win opportunity for developing clean energy, as it contributes to a more inclusive workforce, as well as a larger human capital base to sustain growth.

Fourth, within the much-needed boost to public and private climate financing, greater attention must be given to gender-responsive climate adaptation and mitigation . This requires more funding for climate projects explicitly tackling climate effects on women while empowering women to take climate action. It also calls for more funding for women’s rights organizations and institutions. For example, from 2022, the International Fund for Agricultural Development set a global target for at least 35 per cent of all new projects to transform women’s lives. [10] The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) supports women across the Asia-Pacific in accessing finance and technology to build renewable energy businesses, enabling climate-resilient livelihoods.

Finally, ensuring women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in environmental disasters is crucial . The destruction of infrastructure, roads, and clinics by climate and environmental crises curtail those rights when goods and services become unavailable. Therefore, health systems and service delivery must be strengthened, increasing information and psychosocial support around disasters. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works with China’s government and other partners to help people adapt to climate change, including providing necessary health services and preventing violence against women during crises.

As we all look to build back better from COVID-19, UN Women, UNDP, IFAD, UNFPA, and UNEP are uniting to advance gender equality across climate action, through enhanced cooperation with China’s government and other partners. However, all of society is needed — including the private sector and every community — to give women the tools, data, and training to be equally equipped in the task of protecting our planet – and equally protected in its increasingly unpredictable future.

性别平等共创可持续未来：为什么女性在跑赢气候变化上至关重要

2022 年国际妇女节联合评论文章: 安思齐（联合国妇女署）、白雅婷（联合国开发计划署）、马泰奥（联合国国际农业发展基金）、康嘉婷（联合国人口基金），涂瑞和（联合国环境规划署

几千年来，"自然母亲"一直是我们星球的化身。她植根于世界各地的古老哲学中，反映了我们的地球给予和孕育生命的能力。

在全球范围内，女性尚未获得与男性平等的机会和权利，但她们所共处的世界正处于直接危险之中：气候变化已经到来。 正如联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯（António Guterres） 最近的警告，许多生态系统已经到了无法回头的地步，当下，近一半的人类生活在严重风险之中。

由于各社区受气候相关灾害影响程度不同，因此其脆弱性也因社区而异。但有一点是不变的：女性仍处于气候行动前线，但却面临着更大的风险。在世界范围内，70%以上的水管理和收集工作由女性承担，农业劳动力的女性占比在发展中国家的均值也有 43%。然而，她们缺乏与男性相同的资源来应对气候变化：由于缺乏相关预警信息和知识，前线女性比男性更易遭受气候冲击。

在气候和环境行动、绿色转型和防灾减灾（DRR）方面，必须充分满足妇女和女童的需求和权益，以保护并赋权她们，从而加强整个社会的韧性。只有充分调动每个人的潜能，我们才能共同应对气候变化。

因此，2022 年 3 月 8 日国际妇女节（IWD 2022）的主题是“性别平等共创可持续未来”。我们承认世界各地的妇女和女童在减缓和适应气候变化方面的领导作用和贡献。我们还呼吁： 妇女和女童的权利和需求，以及她们在气候行动中发挥的关键作用，应充分反映在当前的气候政策、方案和投资中。

为了确保这一点，全社会必须解决五个方面的问题：

首先，必须更好地支持妇女和女童在气候和环境方面的领导力提升和权益保障 。 妇女和女童目前的参与程度还没有达到影响决策和政策的地步。2020 年，在全球范围内，环境部门的部长中仅有 15 是女性，而 2015 年这一数据是 12。现有的结构性不平等进一步阻碍了她们的有效参与，包括无偿照料和家务劳动的沉重负担、基于性别的暴力，以及获得土地等其他资源的机会有限等。这些性别差距引起了广泛关切，因为女性的平等参与才能使资源管理和气候干预更加有效，加之更加严格的气候政策，最终才能实现减排。 因此，包括政府、私营部门和社会在内的每一个人都要赋权妇女和女童，为她们提供工具和培训，让她们更好地在环境解决问题中发挥领导作用。例如，在 2015 年至 2020 年期间，联合国国际农业发展基金（IFAD）与联合国妇女署（UN Women）一起，与青海省政府合作，为农村女性提供气候智慧型农业以及如何保持作物多样性的培训。该项目惠及青海省近 7 万名

农村女性，许多女性农民成为所在社区的领导者，推动了粮食生产，实现了增收，提高了抵御冲击的能力，包括气候变化和 2019 冠状病毒病（亦称“新冠”）带来的冲击。

第二，性别考量必须纳入气候决策中 。由于女性大量参与农业、纺织业和制造业，同时缺乏相关的信息、资源和支持来保护自己，她们也不成比例地暴露在自然灾害和污染物之下。目前的分析显示，在 120 个国家中，只有 24% 的国家将国家性别平等机构确定为气候变化治理的一部分，只有 27%的国家指出了女性参与气候行动决策的重要性。 通过培训提高决策者的能力，同时加强部门之间的协调，有助于制定和实施促进性别平等的环境政策和方案。各国政府应确保采用区分性别的统计数据，平等地征求女性意见，并将性别考量纳入气候和环境方案制定全过程。

第三，要想实现促进性别平等的公正过渡，就必须消除劳动力市场歧视，使更多女性在蓝色经济和绿色经济中发挥领导作用 。2019 年，在中国能源行业，女性占比员工总数的 27.1 。绿色经济领域也不例外。放眼全球，在为减轻对化石燃料的依赖而创造的新兴经济领域， 约 80 的岗位仍由男性占主导。因此，消除劳动力市场的职业藩篱和性别偏见，推动女性平等获得体面工作，对公正、绿色转型至关重要。比如，在以男性为主导的氢能汽车行业中，联合国开发计划署（UNDP）为数千名中国女性提供职业教育和就业机会。我们认为， 对于清洁能源行业来说，赋能女性是个一举两得的机会，因为这不仅能推动劳动力包容发展，同时也能扩大劳动力市场以支持行业的持续增长。

第四，作为提升公共和私人气候融资的必要一环，我们要更加重视促进性别平等的气候适应和减缓举措 。这要求我们明晰气候变化与女性的关系以及其中存在的问题，并为切实解决这些问题的项目提供更多资金，同时赋予女性采取有效气候行动的能力。增加对女性权利组织和机构的直接资助也至关重要。例如，从 2022 年开始，国际农发基金设定全球范围内至少 35 的新项目需要具有系统性性别视角。联合国环境规划署（UNEP）支持亚太地区的女性获得资金和技术，以建立可再生能源业务，从而实现气候适应性的生计。

最后，确保妇女和女童在气候和环境危机及灾害中的性与生殖健康和权利至关重要 。气候和环境危机对基础设施、道路和诊所的破坏，使得货物和服务获取存在困难，进一步破坏了妇女和女童的性与生殖健康及权利。因此，我们必须完善卫生系统，提高服务能力，增强灾害期间和灾后信息及社会心理支持的获取。联合国人口基金（UNFPA）正在与中国政府和其他合作伙伴合作，帮助人们应对气候变化，包括在环境危机期间提供性健康和生殖健康服务，预防在环境危机期间对女性的暴力行为。

为更好地从 2019 冠状病毒病中恢复过来，联合国妇女署、联合国开发计划署、联合国国际农业发展基金、联合国人口基金和联合国环境规划署将通过加强联合国与中国政府和其他合作伙伴的合作，来推进气候行动中的性别平等。然而，整个社会，包括私营部门和每个社区都需要共同努力，才能确保女性能够平等地获得工具、数据和培训，平等地为保护地球发挥作用，并在地球日益不可预测的未来得到平等的保护。

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Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.

Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls today constitute an opportunity to advance a sustainable tomorrow. Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a foundation for peaceful, prosperous and sustainable societies. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go to achieve equality between men and women. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, we at the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) join the UN family in reflecting on gender equality under the "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow" theme.  As highlighted in the recent Our Common Agenda report, it is important for us to strengthen awareness of gender equality and women’s empowerment within the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Gender Equality challenges and Climate Action

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, recently noted that fulfilling gender equality is “ the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world” . Despite progress over the last decades, many of our challenges have been  exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, reinforcing stark   gender disparities   in economic, social, political, environmental realms . Among some of the key challenges is gender-based violence , discriminatory laws and social norms, women’s political and leadership underrepresentation,  and gender pay gaps which all continue to persist globally .

With the recent release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, another challenge that has come to the fore is gender equality in the context of the climate crisis and disaster risk reduction .   Women are increasingly recognized as being more vulnerable to climate change impacts when compared to  men. They constitute the majority of the world’s poor, and are more dependent on the natural resources which are  threatened by climate change. This dynamic has implications for their livelihoods and well-being , and in turn our goal to build a more sustainable future for all.

At UNSSC we are contributing to this  effort  through learning programmes like the “The Paris Agreement on Climate Change as a Development Agenda”, “Climate Sensitive Programming for Sustaining Peace” and the “Sustainable  Development Leadership Reflection Series for Saudi Arabia”. Beyond advancing learning to demonstrate the interlinkages and interdependencies between sustainable development, peace and security and climate change, the programmes are designed to encourage participants to incorporate relevant human rights and gender dimensions into their work. I am also inspired by the work that other entities are doing to raise awareness about climate change as it relates to gender equality. In particular, I look forward to the upcoming 66th Commission on the Status of Women which   will explore gender equality in the context of climate change, environmental, and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.

Gender-Sensitive Peace Approaches

Another challenge that requires further intervention is women's marginalization in peace processes. Landmark resolutions like the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 call for increased participation of women at all stages of a peace process. However, the number of women who participate in formal peace negotiations is limited. In addition, while it has been widely acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified the gender gaps in existing peace and security structures, UNSSC initiatives like the 2020 “Virtual Torino Forum for Sustaining Peace” has sought to address this issue by creating a knowledge exchange forum to highlight they key role that youth and women play in the peace process. The Torino Forum provided a unique opportunity for different stakeholders to gain more insights into women’s security needs, and the issues that affect them as individuals, peacebuilders and members of marginalized communities. What became increasingly evident after the five-day event is the collective view that more work, and learning opportunities are required to ensure more inclusive peace processes and implement the Women Peace and Security Agenda effectively.

An Intersectional Approach to Gender Equality and the 2030 Agenda

Beyond the critical need to foster peace, the broad scope of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) means that a gender equality lens needs to be applied across the Sustainable Development Goals, including good health and well-being, decent work and economic growth, clean water and sanitation. SDG 5 on gender equality plays a central role as a stand-alone goal, and as a crucial driver to achieving all 17 SDGs. It Is mainstreamed across 14 out of 17 SDGs and 230 gender-responsive indicators, and covers gender dimensions related poverty, hunger, health, education, employment, safe cities, and peace and security.  However, more needs to be done. A resounding global call for action is necessary to foster greater structural changes to ensure that women’s rights are incorporated across all the goals to support the building of a more sustainable future for all.

Our Common Agenda: Gender Equality as a Key Priority

The UN Secretary General’s  Our Common Agenda report,   issued in September 2021 , proposes a path forward for the next 25 years.  It highlights how we can  build a better future centered around a renovated social contract, greater solidarity and a new global deal. This new global deal is expected to reinvigorate inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism. To realize this  effectively and build a sustainable future for all, we need to renew the social contracts that exist between governments and their people. For societies it will be  crucial to rebuild trust and embrace a comprehensive vision for human rights.

Where the active and full participation of women is concerned, the report proposes — among the 12 areas of action identified to accelerate the achievement of all the SDGs, that placing women and girls at the center is a key priority This recommendation further  complements other UN guiding documents like the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality , that urge Member States and stakeholders to consider effective transformative measures in our pursuit of gender equality. The measures include achieving equal rights and repealing all gender-discriminatory laws; promoting gender parity in all spheres and at all levels of decision-making, while including quotas and special measures; facilitating women’s economic inclusion, including through large-scale investment in the care economy and equal pay, and more support for women entrepreneurs; eradicating violence against women and girls, including through an emergency response plans, supported by the UN and promoting greater inclusion of the voices of younger women.

Expanding Opportunities to Amplify Women’s Voices

To help promote greater inclusion of the voices of young women, the Staff College is proud to have contributed to this through initiatives like the Women’s Voices for an Equal Future thought leadership series. The initiative was a significant milestone in expanding our opportunities to amplify women’s voices and highlight the significance of women’s leadership, gender equality, women’s empowerment, and much more.   

We are of the view that learning is an important vehicle to ensure women’s economic, political and social empowerment. This recognition has inspired learning interventions like the Leadership, Women and the UN programme which has been instrumental in promoting the expansion and renewal of prevalent paradigms of leadership, and ensuring a more gender-balanced workplace across and beyond the UN system.

Our Commitment to Gender Equality

The importance of strengthening efforts towards gender equality across all UN intergovernmental processes is clearly outlined in the  Our Common Agenda report, and other UN guiding documents that urge us to commit to achieving gender equality across all dimensions of the 2030 Agenda.

To ensure gender parity at all levels within the UN by 2028, key actions are envisaged. The actions call for a  review of the working methods of the Commission on the Status of Women (2021) and a concerted effort to build on the multi-stakeholder momentum of the Generation Equality Forum .

At UNSSC, we stand ready to work alongside our UN counterparts and partner organizations to accelerate gender equality, and fully empower women and girls worldwide to lead and drive change. We will support this important process through learning and training .

Photo:  Ryan Brown (UN Women)

Dr. Jafar Javan

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Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow

Abigail and Sarah write for International Women's Day about  five ways they have discovered that women’s empowerment boosts child well-being

Every year on  International Women’s Day , World Vision celebrates the way women and girls are working to make the world a better place and to #BreakTheBias.

We know that globally, women and girls face discrimination and inequality worldwide. Women hold only 25.6% of national government positions; and 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

We know that women’s empowerment drives better development outcomes. When women are empowered, children flourish. This is broadly understood at World Vision and throughout the development sector.

But last year, we recognised a need to better understand why women’s empowerment is so vital to the well-being of children. We know our programming supports gender equality.  But we couldn’t comprehensively articulate the links between women’s empowerment and World Vision's child well-being targets like ensuring children experience good health or are educated for life.

To identify these links, we conducted a literature review:  Equality and empowerment: Critical pathways to child well-being.   This review brings many important associations between women’s and girls’ empowerment and child well-being into one report, providing a comprehensive overview.

It is overwhelmingly clear that when women can access resources and opportunities, participate in systems of power and make decisions that impact their lives, they experience personal well-being.  This profoundly improves child well-being by almost every measure. Here are five important ways women’s empowerment influences child well-being.  

Women’s level of education has a direct bearing on their children’s health and education outcomes.

Women with higher educational attainment are more likely to vaccinate their children, breastfeed their children, and seek treatment for child illnesses. Children of educated women attend school for longer. Their daughters are more likely to be enrolled in school. Educated women also experience better economic outcomes, delayed marriage, and increased contraceptive use.

When women have increased economic opportunities, this can positively influence norms about girls’ status and education opportunities.

Women’s increased economic opportunities can influence how families and communities value girls, which can increase the support families give towards girls’ education. Women’s increased economic opportunities can further influence social norms related to women’s economic engagement.

Women’s agency is linked to child health.

Research indicated women who could freely make decisions within their households and over crop production had greater influence on how much to allocate to household food as well as regarding how the food was allocated within the household. In some contexts, their agency over food production and allocation has been found to have significant and positive effect on children’s weight and height for age.

Women’s experience of intimate partner violence affects child well-being.

Another important finding was how intimate partner violence affects child well-being. The literature review found intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children co-occur in a significant proportion of households. Children in households affected by intimate partner violence are also much more likely than other children to experience violent forms of punishment. And children can experience short and long-term impacts from witnessing IPV, even when they are not physically or sexually harmed themselves. For example, girls and boys who witness intimate partner violence are more likely to experience greater sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, insomnia and self-harm and aggressive behaviours. These findings highlight the need to use a comprehensive approach to addressing violence – working to address family violence as an integrated issue.

Finally, girls and boys begin to markedly experience the impact of gender inequality in adolescence.

The experiences, expectations and disparities they face often mirror those of the adults in their lives. Adolescent girls (ages 15-19) have been found to experience higher rates of intimate partner violence than other groups of women. 

The review showed us that we need to address disparities across girls’ life cycles. Otherwise, the benefits of our programming with girls may not be sustained into their adulthood, and we must start over with the next generation of girls.  Addressing the barriers girls and their families face when it comes to getting girls to school – distance, gender norms, menstrual hygiene, child marriage – makes for educated, empowered women who will raise healthier children.

Secondly, the research made clear what many of us knew implicitly – that World Vision’s work to increase child well-being is not implemented in a vacuum.  This research has highlighted the importance of system’s approaches to child and adolescent well-being. As a child-focused organisation, we must address systems of inequality and disempowerment that exist around and among boys and girls and women and men in families, communities and societies. This is the only way to reach our aim of sustained child well-being.   

To read Equality and empowerment: Critical pathways to child well-being click here  

To learn more about World Vision's work across a range of sectors click here 

Abigail Howe-Will, is World Vision International's Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Technical Director and Sarah Shteir is  World Vision Australia's Senior Gender Equality Advisor.

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Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow - Joint IWD Statement by the United Nations in Jamaica

Date: Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Inundated communities. Trees and telephone poles scattered everywhere. Muddy roadblocks leaving rural areas cut off due to devastating landslides. Cars submerged in water. Empty lots where houses once stood or structures barely hanging on coastlines due to sea-level rise. Farmlands devastated and crops destroyed. These images are all too familiar for those residing in the Caribbean, depicting our island nations battered by a tropical storm or hurricane with high winds, heavy rains, severe flooding and life-threatening storm surges.

Women and girls around the world are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster response. In solemn recognition of this reality, the United Nations, under the lead of UN Women, commemorates International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022, with the theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” This year, we are highlighting the impacts of global warming on women and girls right here on our Caribbean home and recognizing their outstanding contributions in the response to and fight against climate change.

To build a more sustainable future for all, we must acknowledge the critical importance of gender equality. A full understanding of the ways in which all people are affected differently by natural hazards and the unique ways in which gender diversity contributes to effective and comprehensive responses. Gender equality is not just a standalone Sustainable Development Goal, but a catalyst to achieving all 17 goals of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. For example, in Jamaica, the United Nations Country Team has undertaken programmes to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV); supported the design laws and policies, in collaboration with the national government and civil society organisations and establish a gender perspective when addressing climate change adaptation to accelerate gender equality and contribute to the advancement of women’s economic security and autonomy.

The theme for IWD 2022 comes in the middle of a global crisis that highlights that women are more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, and are more dependent on the natural resources that are most threatened by climate change. This is also true in the Caribbean context. UN Women highlights in the policy brief, Gender Inequality of Climate Change and Disaster Risk in Jamaica (2021), commissioned under the EnGenDER  Project, that “more than 80% of the population are at risk because they live in coastal communities, with further evidence of sex and age vulnerabilities - more than 50% of the population are single-parent, female-headed households, and more than 70% of households below the poverty line are also female-headed.”

With Jamaica’s high risks of experiencing not only hurricanes but also flooding, earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis, heat waves and health hazards (as seen presently with the COVID-19 pandemic), there is an urgent need for action plans to embed both gender and age considerations across all sectors. With women far more likely to work in high-risk sectors such as tourism and food services, the impact of disasters endangers their economic security and further contributes to the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work. Disasters also increase the prevalence of all aspects of citizen insecurity including GBV, specifically violence against women and girls which adversely affects all the dimensions of sustainable development in Jamaica. Job losses, limitations in movement and reduced access to support services and to sexual and reproductive health services all contribute to increasing the vulnerability of women and children, making them more susceptible to violence.

Solutions need to be developed using a gender lens, understanding  the different, but equally important needs of men, women, boys and girls in order to achieve sustainable development. All agencies of the United Nations System, including  UN Women, have worked collaboratively to ensure that gender equality is threaded through all projects, whether it be projects to address the impacts of climate change and support disaster resilience, or projects on economic empowerment and citizen security.

The Spotlight Initiative in Jamaica - a global European Union and United Nations initiative to end all forms of violence against women and girls - continues to engage all relevant stakeholders to eradicate family violence by addressing the factors that perpetuate GBV and creating an environment in which women and girls who experience violence can access quality multisectoral coordinated and a continuum of care, including long term recovery. These factors include economic insecurity, inadequate legal provisions to protect women and girls, unsafe and unstable environments for children and, unequal power structures that promote the value of one sex over the other.

Additional initiatives to advance gender equality in Jamaica have been undertaken by UN Agencies and its partners, such as  the Caribbean Sheroes Initiative led by the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) of the University of the West Indies which brought together young people from Jamaica and 15 other countries in the Caribbean to provide tools and strengthen capacities for project planning and advocacy in the areas of human rights and gender equality. Likewise, through the EnGenDER project -   an initiative funded by the Governments of Canada and the UK- UN Women supported over 500 women in craft markets in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their livelihood and ten (10) women entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector to receive stipends valued at $100,000 Jamaica Dollars to scale their businesses under the Women’s Entrepreneurship Support (WES) Project, in partnership with the Ministries of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports and Industry, Investment and Commerce. Through the Spotlight Initiative, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partnered with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to expand the JCF’s Domestic Violence Intervention Centre (DVIC) network to six additional police stations and partnered with the Ministry of Heath to bolster Jamaica's capacity to track injuries arising from incidences of violence against women and girls with equipment. Spotlight Initiative, working through UNDP, also supported 60 community women to launch small businesses with a view to lessening their financial dependence on violent partners.

Additionally, the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOHW), the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and key actors of the civil society organizations are planning to get ready to guarantee a Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) in crisis situations, before the 2022 hurricane season. That will contribute to prevent sexual violence and respond to the needs of survivors, prevent the transmission of and reduce morbidity and mortality due to HIV and other STIs, prevent maternal and new-born morbidity and mortality, prevent unintended pregnancies, and plan for comprehensive SRH services integrated into primary health care.

On this International Women’s Day, 8 March, 2022, the United Nations, reaffirms its commitment and support to the Government of Jamaica, the Jamaican civil society and its organisations, and the private sector in implementing initiatives that positively impact the lives of women and girls in Jamaica and promote greater gender equality for a more equal, equitable and sustainable future based on respect for the lives of all Jamaicans.

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Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow

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"Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow" presented virtually by Professor Asha Kanwar, COL President & CEO at the National Institute of Open Schooling International Women’s Day and Inauguration of e-Library “Digital Education and E-Resources Platform” (DEEP), India on 8 March 2022.

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Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow

by Mig Alphonso COL Adviser: Gender

The global advances in gender equality and women’s empowerment are, at best, fragile. According to a recent UN Women report , Covid-19 has exposed significant gender gaps in women’s and girls’ rights, including increased violence, poverty, and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care. The pandemic revealed systemic discrimination and inequalities in a new light.

This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme, “ Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow ” acknowledges that gender equality and sustainability are inextricably linked. The two are connected because in the same way that Covid-19 rolled back gender equality, climate change more negatively impacts women and girls.

In other words, gender equality is a necessary component of climate justice, a concept that aims to address not just the physical and/or environmental impacts of climate change but the ethical considerations, such as equality and individual and collective rights – “ link between gender, social equality and climate change ”.

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is committed to addressing gender inequality in education and training by integrating a gender analysis and responsive programming . Here are just some examples of how COL is taking action to address the gendered impacts of climate change:

• Women are 43 per cent of the global agricultural workforce, but they account for less than 15 per cent of agricultural landowners and receive just 5 per cent of available agricultural resources. This makes women-headed households less resilient in the face of a climate crisis. COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) supports women farmers to adapt their agricultural methods so they can continue supporting their families.
• A 2019 study of 91 countries found that national legislatures with more women pass more ambitious climate policies and results in lower carbon dioxide emissions. Also, in global health, only 25 per cent of the top leaders are women. COL is helping build a generation of women leaders through our mentorship programme CommonwealthWiseWomen .
• The Malala Fund estimated that at least 4 million girls in 2021 will not finish their education and by “2025, climate change could keep more than 12 million girls from completing their education every year.” COL’s GIRLS Inspire project creates access to educational opportunities and raises the voices of all young, marginalised women and girls in hard-to-reach communities so they can contribute to a sustainable future.

On this IWD, COL celebrates the women and girls who are leading the charge against climate change and acknowledges a need for climate justice through gender-responsive action that ensures women and girls have equal access to finance, technologies, and knowledge, and an equal voice to build a more equitable and sustainable future.

Watch the video message for International Women’s Day 2022 delivered by COL President and CEO, Professor Asha Kanwar.

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Gender Equality today for a Sustainable Tomorrow

March 8, 2022.

The Climate Promise is UNDP’s response to help countries reach their climate goals. UNDP is assisting 120 countries through the Climate Promise to enhance their climate pledges, known as National Determined Contributions (NCDs), which are important vehicles for advancing not only sustainable development but also gender equality.

The theme for  this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD)  is: “ Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow, ” recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all.

With countries taking urgent actions as part of the COVID-19 recovery, there is an unprecedented opportunity to put gender equality at the heart of caring for people and the planet.  Gender inequality coupled with climate and environment crises is one of the greatest current challenges to sustainable development, threatening human rights and widening inequalities. As the world responds to these crises, there is a chance to rethink development and scale up and accelerate progress towards inclusive and green economies, with social protection and care at the centre. A sustainable, green, just and equal future for all is not possible without gender equality.

UNDP is on the frontlines of gender-responsive climate and environmental programmes in the UN family,  supporting over 140 countries through its nature, climate and energy programmes and 120 countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change challenges. UNDP works with countries to ensure that climate and environmental national agendas and policies are gender responsive; helps to close gender gaps in access to and control over resources, including renewable energy; and works to boost women’s participation and leadership. UNDP is also a co-leader with a consortium of partners of the  Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition , launched at the 2021 Generation Equality Forum to accelerate progress on climate justice and gender equality over the next five years.

Integrating gender perspectives into global and national climate and environmental policies and programmes is possible.  The Climate Promise is UNDP’s response to help countries reach their climate goals. UNDP is assisting 120 countries through the Climate Promise to enhance their climate pledges, known as National Determined Contributions (NCDs), which are important vehicles for advancing not only sustainable development but also gender equality. UNDP helps governments to bring together those working on climate and gender, integrate the perspectives of women leaders into climate action, and ensure that climate instruments integrate gender commitments. There are promising signs of progress - 96 percent of Climate Promise countries now include gender considerations in their updated NDCs compared to 48 percent in 2015.

The Way Forward

Women are hitting a glass ceiling that stops them from advancing to the highest levels of leadership in environmental protection and climate action . Women play a crucial role in climate and environmental sectors and are often leading frontline natural resource management strategies, which makes them well-placed to identify and implement effective and sustainable solutions. But they are still missing from environmental and climate change processes and leadership. UNDP and the University of Pittsburgh’s GEPA report shows that women’s participation in ministries of environmental protection averages 33 percent globally and parity in decision-making in environmental protection is exceptionally rare. Promoting women’s stewardship, contributions, participation and leadership are key for successful climate and environmental solutions. In 2021, through UNDP support 95 countries strengthened women’s leadership and decision-making in natural resource management and climate resilient governance.

The fight against climate change and environmental degradation is not only a struggle to keep our planet liveable, but for many women it is also a direct cause of violence.  Environmental degradation and increased competition over scarce resources are exacerbating gender-based violence (GBV), and GBV is also used to assert control over natural resources and hamper the efforts of those working for environmental change .  Women environmental human rights defenders, including indigenous women, face threats and violence. In 2020, at least 331 environmental defenders were killed, including 44 women. It is essential to tackle violence against women and girls in contexts of climate and environmental crises and disasters, including protecting and promoting women environmental human rights defenders. UNDP supports almost 100 countries in ending GBV, including as part of the Spotlight Initiative. A growing number of these efforts include a focus on the linkages between the environment and GBV.

A sustainable and inclusive recovery for all is only possible if we make climate and environmental finance work for women.  Increasing the gender-responsiveness of climate and environmental finance is a win-win, as it can improve the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of investments while increasing women’s empowerment and resilience. Despite this, in 2013 only 29 percent of Development Assistance Committee members’ bilateral aid to climate change was gender responsive. (OECD 2016). Significantly increased investments are needed to ensure a green, gender-equal and just transition, including more financing for women’s enterprises and organizations. With UNDP support, countries like Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana and Indonesia are using their REDD+ climate finance to address larger systematic gender inequalities, such those related to land tenure, fire management and control and sustainable forest and agriculture value chains.

Gender data gaps on climate change, environmental degradation and disasters are impeding progress and must be closed.  There are still significant gaps in gender- and sex-disaggregated data on climate, environment and disaster risk reduction. Increasing the quality and availability of gender data is crucial to better understand gendered drivers and impacts, address the needs of women and girls and develop effective, evidence-based policies and programmes with gender considerations. To support new data generation, UNDP, UN Women, OECD and other partners will launch the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker with a green lens this summer, which maps existing gender-sensitive and green-recovery measures in more than 200 countries and territories.

On the occasion of 2022 International Women’s Day, let’s reflect on our resolve to make transformative changes in our society so that one’s gender is no longer an obstacle to achieving their dreams.

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International Women’s Day calls for gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow

8 March, 2022 – Every year on 8 March, the world marks International Women's Day to highlight the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women everywhere. This year’s theme ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’ aims to recognize the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the way on climate change adaptation, mitigation and response, to build a healthier and more equal and sustainable future for all.

WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, noted the critical link between gender, climate and health and the essential contribution of women in making the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a reality, especially in light of global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. “Our regional Vision 2023 – Health for All by All – calls for inclusive and collaborative action by all to make progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and without the robust participation of women in economic, political, and public spheres, the world will fall far short of meeting its targets,” said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari. 

Climate crisis and gender inequality are two core issues at the heart of the SDGs. And yet we witness women experiencing the greatest impact of the climate crisis, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and increases the risks they face. Women constitute the greatest proportion of the population that is reliant on natural resources threatened by the risks of climate change. Sustainability and efforts to achieve gender equality must go hand in hand – economic growth and development is critically dependent on the empowerment of women and girls.

Director of Programme Management at the WHO Regional Office, Dr Rana Hajjeh, noted the significant role played by women in protecting their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Female health care workers in our Region, and worldwide, have set examples of dedication, courage, professionalism and leadership while responding to COVID-19. They have been at the frontline of the response, while at the same time continuing their roles as caregivers and leaders within their communities. Women carry a disproportionate burden and we are proud to see women in our Region taking leadership roles in health, political, economic and social fields; however, we need to do more to empower women and girls to ensure a more sustainable future for all,” Dr Hajjeh added.

As we celebrate the significant contribution of women and girls, we call on countries for collective action and shared ownership to make the International Women's Day impactful in terms of improving women’s lives, enabling women, ensuring their equal and strong engagement in decision-making for better climate-related planning, policy-making and implementation of effective measures to ensure sustainable development. It is only through reducing inequalities, including gender inequality, that we can move forward towards peace and prosperity for everyone. Empowering women and girls will ensure a better, more sustainable future and contribute to achieving the regional vision of “Health for all by all”.

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Message from Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director, on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022 – “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”

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