The current and future status of women s rights

Transcription

1 8 th session of Budapest International Model United Nations The current and future status of women s rights Millenium Development Goals & Sustainable Development Goals The necessity of efforts towards improving women s rights has been increasingly recognized by the international community. Initiatives have been demonstrated through the initiation of the eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 and were later followed by the 17 sustainable development goals. The emphasis on female empowerment in each goal constituted to an increase in the participation of women in decision making, and the provision of adequate healthcare, education and therefore greater opportunities. However gender inequality remains an issue, as the goals proposed by the UN lack direct legislative power and effective implementation. Many nations continue to experience local disparities within the state, falling behind on improvements. MDG 3: promote gender equality and empower women. Target 3 - Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than Indicator 3.1: Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Indicator 3.2 Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector. Indicator 3.3 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament. Developing regions have successfully managed to meet the target of eliminating gender disparity in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Southern Asia showed an improvement from an enrollment ratio of 74 girls for every 100 boys in 1990, to 103 girls to every 100 boys. Improvements towards indicator 3.2 have remained low, with a 6% increase between 1990 and 2015, along with the persisting issue of wage gap. Increased female membership in parliament has been observed in approximately 90% of the 174 nations which obtained data. Although only one in five members are women, the average proportion of female membership has nearly doubled over 20 years.

2 SDG 5: Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls The New York summit held in 2015 following the deadline of the Millennium development goals concluded with 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The fifth goal consists of 9 targets stressing the significance of ending all forms of gender inequality and discrimination including trafficking, violence, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, and forced marriages. The goal also addresses female participation in decision making roles in economic, social and political aspects and the rights to education and property ownership. Although the set of goals promotes the implementation of legislative measures to achieve the targets, the involved member states continue to have no legal binding to the propositions. Labour force participation gap & gender pay gap: G20 In November 2014 the G20 members declared their commitment to reducing the labour force participation gap by 25% by As a result a declaration was put forward by the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, establishing 11 policy areas (Figure 1) for potential action on the issue as means of boosting female participation, quality of employment and gender equity. Figure 1

3 Figure 2 demonstrates a narrowing gap in labour force participation. This is primarily a result of women joining and remaining in the labour market. Patterns of increased female employment have shown to be followed by educational attainment, improved work/ life balance support systems and efforts to compensate the decline in household income as a result of partners job losses (ILO 2016 a; Eurofound 2016). Figure 2: Labour force to population ratio by sex and gender gap in G20 countries (%, ) The largest reactions occurred in Japan with 2.7 percentage points, as well as Korea (1.7 p.p.), Germany (1.6 p.p.), Australia (1.3 p.p.) and Spain (1.2 p.p.). In countries including the Russian Federation, United States and Canada, where the gender gap was small, it increased, while in other nations it remain large (Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia). Although there is some visible progress, the difference between expected versus actual progress in reducing the gender gap in participation between demonstrates substantial challenges in maintaining progress towards the gender target by 2025 (Figure 3). Figure 3: Actual versus expected decline in gender participation gap,

4 Several deeply rooted factors contribute to the persistent gender pay gap including, lower female school enrolment, differences in the quality of earnings between men and women, socio-cultural norms, and limited access to equal opportunities. Estimated at the median of the distribution, the gender pay gap in terms of gross hourly wages has shown to be highest in emerging economies. A pay gap of over 40% remains in India, Mexico and South Africa. This percentage is twice as large as some of the most advanced G20 members. Quotas for Gender Equality Quotas have been perceived as a controversial tool. Although it ensures an accurately represented population structure in parliament, in terms of gender, critics argue that such quotas offend meritocratic principles, claiming that women elected on the back of quotas may not be the most qualified and may consequently displace qualified men. However quotas may contribute as a temporary measure aiming to eradicate a lasting inequality. Once eradicated the quotas may be lifted in accordance with the principle of equal treatment as interpreted by the international courts of human rights. Legal gender quotas can be mandated by the constitution, as done for example in Burkina Faso, Nepal, the Philippines and Uganda, or by the electoral law as in parts of Latin America, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia and France. Another measure includes voluntary party quotas independently implemented by political parties as seen in Germany, Norway and Sweden. There is a significant impact on the overall rate of female representation if the leading party adopts a quota, such as the ANC in South Africa. Although gender quotas are becoming increasingly popular, the majority of the worlds political parties are unlikely to voluntarily implement gender quotas. Source 4: percentage of seats held by women in parliament

5 Major Resolutions Although progress in achieving gender equality has been widely visible, regional disparities remain an issue. This progress gap may be decreased over time with a continuation of long term commitment and set initiatives corresponding to previously laid out values of the member states also through national reports at least every four years on measures to comply with treaty obligations. CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in It sets an agenda for action on a national scale towards eradicating discrimination against women. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing concluded with the The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, an international commitment to measures in twelve areas of concern which were to be implemented in cooperation with the UN system regional and international financial institutions, other relevant regional and international institutions, non-governmental organizations, and women and men at large. Further readings Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at hrc@bimun.hu. Please also submit your position papers of about words to the same address by March 18th.