Empowering women for better business, and a brighter future

“Women cannot realise their potential in business, in politics, in life, if they do not have control over their own bodies.”

Ambassador Archie Young’s UK statement at the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women underscores the urgent need for gender equality and empowerment.

This year’s Commission considered the following theme: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. This annual gathering serves as a crucial platform for advancing women’s rights and equality.

Global Poverty and Gender Disparities:

• Shockingly,?one in ten women and girls?worldwide live in poverty
• Projections indicate that over?240 million women and girls?will still face extreme poverty by?2030

From CSW68 there feels to be a renewed commitment in a number of key areas as a result of the force of the more than 6,000 UK delegates who threw their weight behind our country’s representation, plus the many thousands of women from all over the world, with a broad range of ages and backgrounds, who raised their voices on a variety of subjects. Speakers were passionate on what they saw as critical areas for change, and at the heart of this plea for support was a commitment to collaborate – with each other, uniting with policymakers, with the whole global community.

Unlocking Women’s Potential:

-?????? Recognising that women constitute?half of the world’s population, we must acknowledge that half of the world’s potential lies in their hands.

-?????? However, entrenched inequalities persist, limiting women’s access to employment, especially in sectors that require investment and growth.

What were the key outcomes from the conference?

Working towards achieving inclusive gender equality by advancing the human rights of women and girls in all their diversity. Discussions focussed on action and execution, and breaking down barriers preventing change.

?The conference focused on actionable steps and dismantling barriers to achieve inclusive gender equality.

-?????? Improving tax cooperation - assessing the impacts of tax policies on women and girls, preventing regressive taxation disproportionately affecting women on low or no incomes

-?????? Expanding economic opportunities: Breaking down barriers to women’s participation in the workforce.Recognising the disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work women do, encouraging a better balance between these responsibilities and paid work, and measuring the value of unpaid contributions to the economy.

-?????? Improving international debt mechanisms: addressing debt crisis management via support reviews, debt relief and cancellation.

There continues to be a collective effort to eradicate violence against women and girls.

Excellent to see data being discussed as critical to understanding multidimensional poverty and discriminations experienced by women, girls and marginalised groups. If we are successfully going to target education, prioritise family planning and healthcare, commit to reducing the gender pay gap and expanding opportunities for women that has to be based on understanding the data.

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What about climate change?

Climate change is already having a huge impact on our planet, but that impact is not being felt equally across all societal groups. Analysis of 130 peer reviewed studies evidenced that women and girls often face disproportionately high health risks from the impacts of climate change when compared to men, including heat exhaustion, poor mental health, partner violence and food insecurity.

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• Appallingly, every day in 2020 c.800 women died from preventable causes relating to pregnancy and childbirth;
• 7,000 newborn babies died;
• and another 5,000 were born stillborn.

Yet there is much to remain optimistic about. The inspiring group of delegates at the Commission positively championing messages of hope, and co-creating solutions in forums just like CSW68 ensures that the conversations continue. And not just that they continue, but that the commitments advance progress in delivering a more equitable and empowered future for all women and girls.