"To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.".
Hillary Clinton
In 1850 my great-great-great grandmother was forced to marry when she was only 13 years old. There are many stories in our family on how her husband was looking for her just to find her playing in the yard with the other kids…in about a month I will celebrate my 13 birthday and it is hard for me to even imagine being married at such a young age.
They stay the world has gone a long way since and now things are different for women and although this is true for many countries where there was much progress in issues of women rights and gender equality (Iceland for example), in most of the other countries girls and women are still being forced to marry at the age of 13 years old and earlier.
Yes, we have gone a long way since the days women were not allowed to vote nor to own property, mainly thanks to courageous women, who fought and are still fighting for women rights and gender equality but we still didn't get to the point of gender equality all over the world.
Although women account for about half of the world population and despite of the great progress in the issues of women rights and gender equality over the past 25 years, recent studies still show a stagearing gap where women have only 23.5-36% share of global income. Acording to UNWOMEN report, globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. Of 189 economies assessed in 2018, 104 economies still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 economies have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and in 18 economies, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working.
In September 2015, the General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new Agenda emphasizes a holistic approach to achieving sustainable development for all.
The 5th Goal of ENVISION30 : Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
The challenges presented in the UN's Agenda 30 have implications for
women’s lives, and they also hold back progress for
families, communities and nations. Addressing them
requires both targeted efforts focused on gender
equality and women’s empowerment and multidimensional approaches that take into consideration
the experiences, needs and contributions of women
as part of all development efforts.
For example, recognizing and reducing women’s
unpaid work is essential both for reducing poverty
(Goal 1 of Agenda 30) and for promoting inclusive and sustainable
economic growth (Goal 8 of Agenda 30). In most developing
countries, women spend at least twice as much time
as men on unpaid work. This deprives women of time
for earning income, getting an education, acquiring
new skills and participating in public life. Investing in
the public provision of care services will create more
and better jobs for women, and reduce gender and
socioeconomic inequalities.
Gender disparities in labour force participation must also
be a key part of poverty reduction and growth strategies
as they not only hinder human development, but also
represent a substantial loss of economic potential.
Many
more women than men are in vulnerable and precarious
forms of employment, which are characterized by
inadequate earnings, low productivity and difficult
conditions of work that undermine workers’ fundamental
rights.
Approximately 73 percent of the global jobs gap
in 2014 was due to a shortfall in employment among
women, who comprise only about 40 percent of the
global work force. In 2013, the estimated wages
lost due to the global gap in female labour force
participation stood at $589 billion
BY WOMEN FOR WOMEN
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