Mostrando mensaje 993     < Anterior | Siguiente > Responder a este mensaje Asunto: [generourban] Social Watch Endorsement the civil society Benchmark for the Millennium Summit+5 Fecha: Viernes, 3 de Junio, 2005  08:57:27 (+0200) Autor: Anne le Maignan <anne @.........net> Endorsement the civil society Benchmark for the Millennium Summit+5 Social Watch At the end of this message call and links An extract linked to gender equality: "3. Achieving gender equality and equity Poverty reduction and the empowerment of women are interconnected in many ways. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor and often carry the social and economic burden of looking after the most vulnerable members of the community, such as children, the elderly and the sick. Women and girls living in poverty are also at greater risk of becoming victims of gender based violence, are more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS, to die at child-birth and to be sold into slavery. Economic reforms that dismantle social obligations of the state and privatise public goods, impact disproportionately on women and deepen gender inequality as women are pressed into filling the gap. At the same time women constitute crucial active agents in any strategy to eradicate poverty. Denying full and free access of women to the economic sector and labour market is not only a denial of their basic human rights but is also detrimental to a country’s economic development. Poverty cannot be tackled successfully without ensuring equality of access to the means of livelihood between women and men, and equity of opportunity. While gender equality and equity are fundamental objectives in themselves, they are also an essential pre-condition for eradicating poverty. The MDG targets relating to women’s empowerment (MDG 3 and MDG 5) must be achieved, but are insufficient alone. To achieve true gender equity, the concept must be understood in a comprehensive way and cannot just be limited to the issues included in the MDGs. Other crucial aspects such as conflict, violence, sexual and reproductive rights as well as rights in general must also be clearly and explicitly addressed. This year the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) will undergo a 10 year review. It is imperative that linkages between this process and the Millennium review are established to ensure that the relationship between gender equity, poverty eradication and the promotion of social justice are comprehensively incorporated in future strategies. We call on governments to fully recognize the centrality of gender equality and equity for any development strategy to be successful. In particular we call for: • increased emphasis to be given to achieving gender equality in implementing national, regional and international development strategies, through establishing meaningful targets and indicators to measure its progress; • the identification of explicit measures for achieving gender equality in the context of MDG Goal 8, particularly to ensure that gender equality is promoted within PRSPs and the new aid architecture; • a compact between donors and their partners to allocate 10% of resources specifically dedicated to promoting gender equality and in support of specific activities to promote women’s empowerment; • each and every government to implement its commitments on promoting gender equality made in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1978) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA, 1995) as well as the adoption of an optional protocol to CEDAW." -- Dissemination Anne le Maignan Foro GeneroUrban Género y urbanismo Gender and Urban Planning http://www.generourban.org Foro Araca Estudios Feministas http://mailman.uba.ar/mailman/listinfo/araca ------------------------------------- http://www.socwatch.org Endorsement the civil society Benchmark for the Millennium Summit+5 Social Watch http://www.socwatch.org/en/noticias/noticia_85.htm Next June 23 the General Assembly of the United Nations will hold hearings with NGOs, civil society organizations and the private sector, in preparation of the Millennium Summit+5 that will take place in September 2005. Poverty, Human Rights and Security will be discussed by the heads of State and government of the world. Yet there are very limited opportunities for citizens to express themselves in this process. We need to make our voices heard. Ten years ago, when the Social Summit and the Beijing Conference on Women took place, more than a thousand organizations signed a quality benchmark document. That coming together of groups from diverse origins around a common platform, along with other mobilization efforts, contributed to the success of those international meetings. Collectively we can do that again in 2005. A similarly inspired document was initially discussed during a strategy debate among Social Watch national coalitions and was later shared and consulted with other networks. The intention is to disseminate it widely during the NGO hearings next June 23 and from then on use it as an advocacy tool in the process towards the Summit in September. It will not be distributed under an organizational letterhead but as a position shared by all signatories. Please read the Benchmark document, sign it if you agree with the demands and help disseminate it. See or download the Benchmark document (Word format) http://www.socwatch.org/en/noticias/documentos/Benchmark_2005_eng.doc See or download the Benchmark document (PDF format) http://www.socwatch.org/en/noticias/documentos/Benchmark_2005_eng.pdf See the list of people, organizations and networks that support this Benchmark. http://www.socwatch.org/en/noticias/documentos/firmas_eng_esp.doc You may add your name or organization to this list by sending a message to: socwatch@socwatch.org.