Women rights activists and Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs) recently gathered in Istanbul, Turkey to address
the failures of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on the rights of
women, and proffer solutions for inclusion in the post-2015 agenda, at
an event organised by the Journalists and Writers Foundation of Turkey.
Damilola Oyedele was there...
Have the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) failed to adequately address issues of women rights across the globe? The High Commissioner, United Nations Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR), Ms. Navi Pillay, certainly thinks so. For her, the MDGs did not address a number of critical issues bordering on women as they are too narrowly defined.
In a video message to participants at the Summit on Women's Perspectives on UN Post 2015 Development Agenda held in Istanbul recently, Pillay lamented that the MDGs failed to address the shocking crimes of Gender Based Violence (GBV), failed to highlight a demand for equal access for women to the common goods of education, housing, sanitation and water.
According to her, they also ignored the terrible burden of conflict on women. By being too narrowly minded, Pillay believes the MDGs restricted women issues to those affecting motherhood and the injustice of women's unpaid work.
"Our new framework for development must therefore be built upon the great human right treaties that form the bedrock of our international system. Its goals must be aligned with those of human rights including freedom from want, freedom from fear, non-discrimination and equality and protection of our environment. In each area, our new development framework must specify the actions that would be needed to ensure women's rights with explicit reference to realities of women's lives and the long and suffocating legacy of discrimination," she said.
Summit Focus The two day summit, organised by the Journalists and Writers Foundation, a Turkish NGO which holds a General Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), was aimed at contributing to the process of the post-2015 new agenda named the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Highlights of the agenda for the 306 participants and 109 NGOs from 44 countries include eradication of poverty: what should be done in post-2015 development agenda to go further, specific policies for women, ways to change the rhetorics from that of 'charity' to that of partnership and the creation of decent work for inclusive growth.
Have the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) failed to adequately address issues of women rights across the globe? The High Commissioner, United Nations Commission for Human Rights (UNCHR), Ms. Navi Pillay, certainly thinks so. For her, the MDGs did not address a number of critical issues bordering on women as they are too narrowly defined.
In a video message to participants at the Summit on Women's Perspectives on UN Post 2015 Development Agenda held in Istanbul recently, Pillay lamented that the MDGs failed to address the shocking crimes of Gender Based Violence (GBV), failed to highlight a demand for equal access for women to the common goods of education, housing, sanitation and water.
According to her, they also ignored the terrible burden of conflict on women. By being too narrowly minded, Pillay believes the MDGs restricted women issues to those affecting motherhood and the injustice of women's unpaid work.
"Our new framework for development must therefore be built upon the great human right treaties that form the bedrock of our international system. Its goals must be aligned with those of human rights including freedom from want, freedom from fear, non-discrimination and equality and protection of our environment. In each area, our new development framework must specify the actions that would be needed to ensure women's rights with explicit reference to realities of women's lives and the long and suffocating legacy of discrimination," she said.
Summit Focus The two day summit, organised by the Journalists and Writers Foundation, a Turkish NGO which holds a General Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), was aimed at contributing to the process of the post-2015 new agenda named the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Highlights of the agenda for the 306 participants and 109 NGOs from 44 countries include eradication of poverty: what should be done in post-2015 development agenda to go further, specific policies for women, ways to change the rhetorics from that of 'charity' to that of partnership and the creation of decent work for inclusive growth.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201406050923.html
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