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TechnoratiUNITED NATIONS - Women are seen as the key for ending global poverty and the issue of gender equality is receiving special attention at events marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Wednesday.
One of the largest is the International Women's Tribunals on Poverty, which will highlight the feminisation of poverty.There will be four major tribunals this week presenting testimony on the worsening conditions of women worldwide, and discussing strategies to tackle the root causes at the political and economic level. They will take place at the United Nations in New York, in Cairo, Egypt, Lima, Peru, and in Delhi, India.
"We know already that the concept of Women's Tribunals has been very successful and we are expecting the biggest ever alliance of women's groups and NGOs in India to join together on Oct. 17 in Delhi to discuss responses to poverty that the government can deliver on this year, especially for women," said Ciara O'Sullivan of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, a three-year-old movement that claims nearly 2,000 member organisations and millions of supporters worldwide.
"Three hundred women from 20 states are attending this unprecedented moment," she told IPS.
The fact that so many women live in poverty means they are critical -- but often ignored -- players in reversing poverty itself. While figures from the World Bank estimate that 1.1 billion people live in "extreme poverty", surviving on less than a dollar a day, women represent a disproportionate 70 percent of the world's poor.
The U.N. Population Fund notes that worldwide, women on average earn slightly more than 50 percent of what men are earning, while women and girls are often the last to eat, and women's health problems are considered less important than other family priorities.
The huge numbers of women affected means that empowering women is critical to the effort to halve extreme poverty by 2015, one of the so-called Millennium Development Goals set by world leaders meeting at the United Nations in 2000. They also include gender equality and reducing child deaths by two-thirds and maternal deaths by three-quarters, although these goals are lagging in nearly every country.
This week's events are organised by many different institutions, but one of the biggest campaigns is "Stand Up and Speak Out", supported by GCAP and the Millennium Campaign. The Stand Up and Speak Out campaign, now in its third year, consists of a global call to action against poverty and inequality, and for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Women's Funding Network recently established a partnership to draw international attention to women during the Stand Up Campaign by launching a call for greater investment in women by governments and donor institutions.
UNIFEM notes that among the factors that place women at risk of poverty are their unequal access to resources and capabilities, such as education, skills, land and property, the discrimination they face in the labour market and their lack of political voice. In all countries, women do most of the unpaid household and care work -- yet this work is not counted as contributing to national economies.
The partnership is a unique initiative because it also focuses on the mobilisation of a vast online community to support the message that, in the fight against poverty, gender equality is an essential target.
"The Economist [magazine] estimates that over the past decade, women's work worldwide has done even more to fuel the global economy than has the stunning growth of China," said Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM's acting executive director.
"We know what is possible when women are recognised as agents of change," she said. "To realise this vision we must remove obstacles such as discriminatory ownership and inheritance laws to help women embark on asset building."
"Women are indeed the missing piece of the poverty puzzle," agreed Christine Grumm, president and CEO of the Women's Funding Network, a U.S.-based group that mobilises private donors and foundations to support a range of initiatives for women and girls, including programmes to help women start businesses, leave violent homes, gain access to health care, raise their self-esteem, and advocate for fair public policies.
While the network has raised more than 400 million dollars over the last 15 years, it notes that just seven percent of all philanthropic dollars overall are earmarked for programmes for women and girls.
"Our network's experience in the area of economic empowerment has convinced us that policy supporting women's economic empowerment -- from education to job training to child care to financial literacy to microfinance and beyond -- holds the potential for vast change, and fast change. Our cooperative outreach with UNIFEM will call on policy makers to recognise the untapped potential of women in eradicating extreme poverty," Grumm said.
More than 720 different events are to take place in over 100 countries in the 24-hour period from 9 p.m. GMT on Oct. 16 to 9 p.m. GMT on Oct. 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. These events will range from major rallies and concerts to gatherings in school assemblies, town halls, and refugee camps.
The international gatherings are intended to help the poorer, marginalised people of the world get actively involved with existing campaigns, become aware of the work that is being done and become actual agents of change.
According to GCAP, last year, 23.5 million people were part of the campaign and literally "stood up" against poverty in a 24-hour period, setting a new Guinness World Record. This year, GCAP and the United Nations Millennium Campaign hopes to break that record, although it is unclear what the lasting impact would be.
A wide variety of organisations, institutions and community groups are expected to call on political leaders to deliver more and better aid to the poorest nations, implement fairer trade conditions, cancel debt, and ensure gender equality.
© 2007 Inter Press Service
9 Comments so far
Show AllGotta add my 2 cents to this - families have more children because they are poor - the solution is to raise their standard of living. This is organic - all species respond the same way. Poor people have shorter life spans and lose more children, so they must have more children, which makes them poorer - a vicious cycle. The solution is not solely birth control - security is the major issue involved here.
"When women live in poverty, children are raised in poverty and the cycle hurts men and women"
Peacemaker-Thank you.
We in this world MUST stop believing that children are miracles and that having them is a woman's sole job. THIS is what proliferates poverty. Giving women back their lives (and we have religion and male domination to thank for this), to do what they WANT, not what they are told to want and do.
THIS will stop the proliferation.
The quote above: Why procreate or even ENCOURAE or accept it, when you cannot take care of yourself? Let us just examine this country. Young, poor girls have babies when they cannot take care of them, because their mother's did the EXACT same thing AND they are not encouraged to do anything else- it is a cycle.
The problem of poverty for women will not go away until people realize it is linked to reproductive issues. It's a sad fact of life that no one wants to face. Least of all some men who feel their manhood will be threatened if they can't reproduce. A woman's access to reliable birth control and abortion is necessary if people want to end the cycle of poverty. When a poor woman gets pregnant it doesn't help her plight in the slightest to have 3 or 4 more mouths to feed daily. It just mires a woman in poverty to where she is never able to get out of it. Margaret Sanger discovered that years ago and fought to end the cycle of poverty and ignorance. But, we as a nation are sliding backwards into that same darkness of superstition and religious bigotry because of our leaders who have their own agenda. Who are controlled by religious fanatic's who want to drag this country back to a couple of centuries ago. Already the lunatic fringe is trying to outlaw abortion and birth control both. It will be a sad day in this country when that happens. And because of a lot of outdated religious mores that should have been abandoned the beginning of the 20th century.
Its lovely to see the kite and the little girl in Kabul as both were banned under the Taliban.
And a lot of men (and I'd tend to guess also some women) need to realize that just because a candidate or party is talking tough or even violent doesn't mean they have anyone's (especially anyone else's) best interests at heart or that the toughness or violence would honestly be necessary or appropriate. A lot of people (and I'd tend to guess again, it's people of both genders) need to learn or be reminded that we have a responsibility not just to ourselves but to society and that the duty to society isn't just for when it's easy or when the person on the other end is "deserving". Some how, somewhere along the way, we've lost track of this societal responsibility and become a nation of "me's".
I believe Women hold the power to change much of what is wrong with politics and World governments.
"I am not into politics"
"I hate the news its depressing"
"I don't bother with voting"
"I vote for the best looking guy"
I have heard all these statements more than once from different women.
(many)Women have to pull their heads out of the sand and realize life is not all warm fuzzies, shopping sprees, partays, soap opera's etc.
Women can make a big difference, the question is...how do we sign them on?
Woman holds, nurtures, and powers the Dream
Man champions and protects the Dream
Child dreams the Dream
This is the Holy Trinity. This is the Balance Within.
-- Cloud --
What is the energy that powers the dream? The Female energy. Tap into it sometime. It won't seek you out - you must find it within yourself. The Mothers whisper oh so quietly. But once you hear them, you'll never be able to walk away from them. Nor will you ever want to.
May all beings everywhere tap into the power of their uniquely individual, universally powerful, feminine energy.
Riane Eisler's Real Wealth of Nations...creating a caring economics www.realwealtheconomy.com takes on this issue and shows how this came to be and what we can do about it. The 'dominator' value that overrides everything today creates a lose-lose for everyone. When women live in poverty, children are raised in poverty and the cycle hurts men and women.
We can do something about this. Women will lead the way but truly enlightened men know they'll benefit too. www.partnershipway.org
The masculine is to war what the feminine is to poverty. A master teacher has declared this as the current extremes of the outpicturing of dysfunctional masculinity and femininity. This is not to place this strictly on men for the masculine dysfunction or women for feminine dysfunction. We each contain within us both male and female aspects; as they are out of balance within, so we see that imbalance manifested in the external world. Out of fear, the masculine goes to war/employs violence. Out of fear, the feminine falls into poverty/surrenders power. Balanced masculine power is constructive and creative as it integrates the feminine within its behaviors. Balanced feminine power is nurturing and productive as it integrates the masculine within its behaviors. Because the masculine is so out of balance in today's world, and the feminine has been subjugated to an inferior position, it will take a new perspective and perception of what authentic power is to come back into balance. This is beyond political action. Spiritual and moral initiatives are what is needed now.
peace,
st john