This International Women's Day, Let's Count Her In
Ané Coetzee
Two-hundred and eighty-six years. This is how long experts predict it will take to achieve gender equality globally at the current rate of progress. [1] That’s four lifetimes for the average Australian and for young women it’s 10 or more times longer than we’ve been alive.
The scale of the problem is undoubtedly massive with estimates on the cost of addressing this inequality sitting at around 360 billion dollars annually on top of what Governments, civil society and other stakeholders are currently spending. [2]
But the real cost is so much more. It’s the cost of four more lifetimes of girls and young women finding themselves in an unequal world they didn’t help create. One that impacts their opportunities, their perspectives about themselves and increases their risks of being subjected to violence and other issues including poverty, food insecurity and lack of access to economic opportunities.
We know that by 2030 around the world more than 342 million women and girls could be living in extreme poverty, 1 in 4 women will face moderate to extreme food insecurity and that 110 million girls and young women will be out of school.[3]
We simply cannot have two hundred and eighty-six more years of the status quo. As a global community we need to accelerate change. We need to make this the last generation that has to face these issues.
We have an opportunity to act and we owe it to the next generation to do just that. To invest in gender equality, invest in the value of women and invest in changing the world to be a better place for us all.
We all have the power to drive impact on gender equality. Whether it’s in our schools, universities or workplaces each of us has the power to be a change-maker regardless of our age and we all have a role to play.
Around the world there are nearly 2 billion young people – around half of which are women.[4] Imagine the impact we can drive together by taking action. Impact not just on gender equality but on some of the most pressing issues facing the world today as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Gender equality is intrinsically linked to many of these issues and so accelerated action in this space will help bring us closer to the achievement of many of these goals including around education, healthcare and addressing poverty. It will also help us unlock an estimated 428 trillion dollars in annual GDP – funds that could be used to support the achievement of other SDGs like climate action.
When we invest in young women as change-makers and when we as young women invest in ourselves we invest not just in individuals - but in communities and in a more equal future.
This International Women’s Day let’s Count Her In. Let’s come together as a global community and commit to bold, ambitious change for gender equality.
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Let’s take this challenge and rise to the opportunity it presents.
Join UN Women Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth, on Friday 8 March as they come together under the theme ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.’ to raise vital funds for the world’s women and girls. Ticket sales close soon!
Don’t miss your chance to head from the leaders and changemakers who are working to re-shape the system and remove barriers so all women and girls can unlock their potential and drive better outcomes for us all.
Find out more and purchase your tickets at iwd.net.au ??
Human Rights Advocate
9 个月There is a lot that can be done - called ACTION - meaning that we should have WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL LAW [CEDAW] at the domestic level to empower women in their own right ?? See my GLOBAL PETITION to UN PETITIONS TEAM @ https://chn.ge/2Hpu2aa Waving flags; hand-signals and carrying on - do not equate to having CEDAW at the domestic level CEDAW - CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN - https://rebrand.ly/20sgod4