"The world is also starting to grasp that there is no tool for
development more effective than the empowerment of women and girls.
Study after study has taught us that no other policy is as likely to
raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal
mortality. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and promote
health -- including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. No other policy is as
powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation." -- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
-- source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10727.doc.htm
U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan made those remarks last week on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women celebrated its
60th anniversary. Coincidently, the
United Nations High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence has proposed to establish a new women's agency:
A high-level panel on U.N. reform on Thursday endorsed a proposal by
U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis to create a new
U.N. agency focusing specifically on women, the
Toronto Star reports (Ward,
Toronto Star,
11/10). Lewis earlier this year said that such an agency is needed in
part because HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women and girls in
Africa. He added that a well-funded and influential agency targeting
women would reduce the HIV prevalence within the group (
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,
3/20). The endorsement is part of a report from the 15-member reform
panel, which was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with
the aim of finding ways to streamline and improve the coordination and
effectiveness of the United Nation's development, environment and
humanitarian efforts (
Toronto Star, 11/10). According to London's
Guardian,
the reform panel found that "[g]ender is central to the delivery of
poverty reduction, and the U.N.'s agencies have been weak on this
issue" (Seager,
Guardian, 11/10). The three U.N. entities that
currently handle women's issues therefore should be "consolidated into
one enhanced and independent gender entity," the report said, adding
that the agency also would be "fully and ambitiously funded" (
Toronto Star, 11/10).
-- source: http://www.thebody.com/kaiser/2006/nov10_06/un_women.html
This represents a profound shift in thinking at the United Nations. Although this move has been enthusiastically endorsed
by many women's groups -- and it is undoubtely a good move in the right
direction that has been long overdue -- it is not enough.
Whilst the final
recommendations of the U.N.'s Millennium Project promote gender
equality, and the health and welfare of women and girls, they fall
short of recognizing women as effective change agents in
the successful achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This,
despite the impassioned advocacy of Hunger Task Force member Joan Holmes, president
of The Hunger Project -- a strategic not-for-profit organization that has pioneered effective bottom-up strategies for ending hunger
and poverty that combine three factors: gender equality, mobilization for
self-reliance, and strong local democracy through which people can meet
their basic needs.
Through its work in these areas The Hunger Project has come to understand:
Hunger is central to an entire nexus of critical issues. As hungry
people work to end their own hunger, they must overcome daunting
challenges in health, education, food security, water and environmental
sustainability, among others.
These issues are inextricably linked and cannot be solved in isolation.
One of the severe limitations of traditional top-development approaches is
that they focus personnel and resources on one issue at a time.
“When we look at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
they’re not just gender-related. Gender inequality is often the root
cause of the problem.” — Joan Holmes
The greatest obstacle to ending hunger
is the severe subjugation, marginalization and
disempowerment of women in many developing
countries.
Society holds women responsible for all the
key actions required to end hunger: family
nutrition, health, education, food production and
— increasingly — family income. Yet
through laws, customs and traditions, women are
systematically denied the resources, information
and freedom of action they need to carry out
their responsibilities.
There are three distinct ways in which ending
gender discrimination is critical to ending
hunger.
- Women’s well-being is
key to the overall health of a society.
Women often eat last and least, even when
pregnant and nursing. Undernourished
women give birth to undernourished
children, and this cycle continues.
- Women’s productivity.
Women produce 80 percent of the food in
Africa, and more than 50 percent of the
farm output in South Asia, yet they are
largely denied access to the training,
credit, tools and other inputs they need.
- Women’s leadership.
Given women’s responsibilities, when
they have a voice in the decisions that
affect their lives, they are key change
agents in setting the agenda for
development.
Learn more about The Hunger Project at: http://www.thp.org
