Women issues untouched as MDGs reach halfway point

In September 2000, 147 governments committed to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015. We�re now at the halfway point for meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were set, but progress is slow.

Little seems to have changed, particularly for women whose lives are most affected by extreme poverty. As well as the need for an urgent refocused effort to meet these international commitments, CARE is demanding that the needs of poor women specifically are taken into account.

Women and girls face many challenges not addressed by the MDGs, such as a lack of legal protection, labour market discrimination, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, early marriages, trafficking and forced labour.

And the MDGs do not deal with the underlying causes for women and girl�s poverty. These need to be addressed differently, acknowledging the different ways men and women access and control services and resources.

Putting women back into the MDGs

It is still the norm, rather than the exception that inequalities leave women in a subordinate position to men. This prolongs and deepens poverty.

CARE believes that the MDGs can only succeed if these issues of exclusion, inequality and discrimination are taken into account.

To address this, the international community must:

� Include gender equality targets in each of the MDGs.

� Ensure that goals and indicators addressing gender-based violence are included in the MDG framework

� Ensure that all data for the MDGs is disaggregated according to sex, so that the impact on women and girls can be seen more distinctly.

� Ensure adequate resourcing of gender equality initiatives by governments and the global community.

� Support gender budgets which offer the possibility for transforming existing gender inequalities by making significant contributions to policy analysis and formulation in terms of equality, equity and women�s rights.

Source: CARE International UK

User comments

There are no comments