This post was written in my capacity as Gender Ambassador for Chat for Change. Check out their website for lots of other amazing youth bloggers chatting about gander equality this month!
“Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” - a famous quote, often attributed to Hilary Clinton, but widely used by many to highlight the need to recognise women as equal to men.
Next week sees the start of an event at the United Nations, the Commission on the Status of Women, which specifically seeks to examine how the rights of women are being assured around the world. The event will bring together a record number of government officials and civil society organisations this year as it also marks the 20th anniversary of a landmark conference held in 1995 in Beijing. Globally, however, the past few years have seen countries want to regress on the promises made at these previous events. The rights of women and girls have come under threat.
Women, and girls in particular, are often seen as a group who can be politically ignored. In some countries the face restrictions on their ability to vote. In the vast majority of countries there are fewer women members of parliament than men. Men’s concerns are societal issues and “women’s issues” are relegated to a niche area of policy. We should not be marginalised – women make up around 50% of the population and the specific challenges facing us across our lifetime deserve due attention in local, national and international policies.
This year, 2015, presents us with several turning points in which we can accept the current situation or advocate for the rights of all human beings to be assured no matter their gender or where they are born. With a summit to present the next international development agenda in September and a major climate change summit later in the year, the future of the planet for decades to come will be shaped in the next 12 months.
With International Women’s Day coming up on the 8th March, there is no better time to add your voice to the call for gender equality. Take to twitter to state #WomensRightsAreHumanRights this Sunday (or everyday for that matter). Tag your tweet to #CSW59 to share your thoughts with those in New York next week. Search for your countries UN Mission in New York and email them your concerns. But most importantly, spread the message in your own community. Tell your friends and family that you believe in gender equality and make it a reality through you own life too!
You can download a mini-zine featuring the key points to raise to protect the rights of girls in the future international development agenda here. This can be printed on A4 paper, a cut made along the bold grey line in the middle of the page and then folded into a miniature magazine.
