Women Must Be Involved and Funded in Post-Crisis Responses“Women are not heard, not respected and not funded,” said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, at the UNDP/UNIFEM panel discussion, “The Price of Peace: Financing Gender Equality in Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction.” Robinson called for a requirement that 30 percent of negotiators in all peace processes be women for the UN to be involved.
Moderating the panel, UNDP Gender Team Director Winnie Byanyima cited a UNIFEM study indicating that in 10 major peace processes in the past decade, women were on average six percent of negotiators. Forthcoming research by UNDP indicates that no rules have been established to integrate gender equality into post-conflict funds.Ingrid Fiskaa, Norwegian State Secretary for International Development, said large funds must address women’s needs. “Women will not settle for a gender window – they want a door for full access to resources,” she said.Panelists also agreed solutions should include: earmarking funds for women’s needs in recovery and reconstruction; including gender expertise in all assessment missions; and making women’s economic empowerment a top priority in the aftermath of all crises, including the recent earthquake in Haiti.Click here for a list of panelists and details of the event. Voices of Haitian WomenThe earthquake in Haiti has left the impoverished country’s women even more vulnerable to sexual violence, sexually-transmitted diseases, poverty, disability and illness, Haiti Minister of Women’s Affairs Marjorie Michel said Wednesday at a panel, “Voices of Haitian Women,” organized by UNIFEM, UNDP and the Huairou Commission. Haitian Ambassador to the UN Leo Merores and Haitian activists from local organizations were also present.Michel said that the difficult situation of the country’s women has been exacerbated by the fact that many prominent women’s advocates and feminists died in the earthquake. She stressed the need to integrate women into all reconstruction efforts. “Reconstruction depends on solidarity for Haiti and equality between all humans and equality between women and men,” she said.Other panelists echoed her concerns about violence against women and cited the need for such things as creating income-generating projects for women; capacity building for single parents, given the large number of women-headed households; and ensuring that women have safe housing. Click here for a list of panelists and details of the event.Vision for a Better World: From Economic Crisis to EqualityThe economic crisis’ impact on women and the opportunities it provides to rebuild global and national economies to make them more inclusive was the focus of the panel discussion, “Vision for a Better World: From Economic Crisis to Equality,” sponsored by UNDP, IDRC and the Governments of Canada and Nicaragua.“The capitalist system has failed us,” said Nicaragua’s Minister of State, Ana Isabel Morales, adding that the Nicaragua may not achieve the MDGs but that Nicaragua has achieved a lot in empowering women at a decision-making level. Suzanne Clément, coordinator/head of agency Status of Women Canada, said the economic crisis has had a greater impact on women and that male needs have been prioritized over the needs of women and children.Three speakers from the Casablanca Dream, a group of women thinkers and activists, spoke about how the current economic system has failed “women, minorities and the poor in general.” They pointed to the need to transfer economic power from North to South and said that requirements for economic development include growth that “bubbles up” rather than “trickles down,” socially useful banking and finance, and support for equitable property rights.Click here for a list of panelists and details of the eventPlenary Observes International Women’s Day“We can be proud but not complacent,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the Plenary’s International Women’s Day Observance. The Secretary-General noted the prevalence of violence against women and also urged the General Assembly to adopt a resolution as soon as possible to commit to create the proposed UN gender entity. The press release on the SG’s statement is available here. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33954&Cr=gender+equality&C… Other speakers included Norway’s Minister for Gender Equality and Children’s Affairs (notably a man), who said there is no gender equality as long as violence against women exists; a Canadian high school student and Chinese immigrant who said that gender equality will not be eliminated as long as the preference for sons over daughters exists; and the president of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.Africa’s Women’s Affairs Ministers Focus on Gender-Responsive BudgetingAbout 30 participants from Women’s Affairs Ministries in Africa gathered for a two-day workshop this week on gender-responsive budgeting. After remarks by representatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNDP, UNFPA and ECA, discussions focused on the economic crisis and the opportunity to integrate gender-budgeting into economic plans and policies; the need to strengthen capacities for gender-budgeting among gender machineries, members of parliament and civil society; the consideration of gender budgeting not as a separate women’s budget but as an integrated budget in which women as well as men’s needs are taken into account; and the need to determine women’s needs through a participatory process involving civil society and women.High-level Plenary – Statements March 1-3 – Click here for WEBCASTClick here for provisional list of speakersRegional groups:Argentina on behalf of the MERCOSUR and Associated StatesChile on behalf of the Rio Group ( English | Spanish )Equatorial Guinea on behalf of the African UnionSamoa on behalf of the Pacific Islands ForumYemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China Member States:AfghanistanAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustralia AustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBarbadosBelgium ( English | French )Botswana Brazil Burkina FasoCameroonCanadaCape VerdeChinaColombiaCongoCosta Rica CroatiaCzech RepublicDominican Republic ( English | Spanish )Ecuador EgyptEstonia FijiFinlandGambiaGhanaGermanyGreeceGuatemala Guinea Hungary IcelandIndonesiaIsraelItaly Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait LithuaniaLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLuxembourg MalawiMalaysiaMauritania Mexico ( English | Spanish )Mongolia Montenegro Morocco NamibiaNepalNew ZealandNicaraguaNigeriaPakistanPanamaParaguay Peru Philippines PortugalQatar Republic of KoreaRussian FederationSamoa Senegal SerbiaSierra Leone SloveniaSolomon IslandsSouth Africa SwazilandSwedenSwitzerland TunisiaTurkeyUgandaUnited KingdomUnited Republic of TanzaniaUnited States of AmericaViet NamZambiaZimbabweStatements by the UN:Ms. Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on violence against women Other intergovernmental organizations:European Commission Inter-Parliamentary Union
Women Must Be Involved and Funded in Post-Crisis Responses“Women are not heard, not respected and not funded,” said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, at the UNDP/UNIFEM panel discussion, “The Price of Peace: Financing Gender Equality in Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction.” Robinson called for a requirement that 30 percent of negotiators in all peace processes be women for the UN to be involved.
Moderating the panel, UNDP Gender Team Director Winnie Byanyima cited a UNIFEM study indicating that in 10 major peace processes in the past decade, women were on average six percent of negotiators. Forthcoming research by UNDP indicates that no rules have been established to integrate gender equality into post-conflict funds.Ingrid Fiskaa, Norwegian State Secretary for International Development, said large funds must address women’s needs. “Women will not settle for a gender window – they want a door for full access to resources,” she said.Panelists also agreed solutions should include: earmarking funds for women’s needs in recovery and reconstruction; including gender expertise in all assessment missions; and making women’s economic empowerment a top priority in the aftermath of all crises, including the recent earthquake in Haiti.Click here for a list of panelists and details of the event. Voices of Haitian WomenThe earthquake in Haiti has left the impoverished country’s women even more vulnerable to sexual violence, sexually-transmitted diseases, poverty, disability and illness, Haiti Minister of Women’s Affairs Marjorie Michel said Wednesday at a panel, “Voices of Haitian Women,” organized by UNIFEM, UNDP and the Huairou Commission. Haitian Ambassador to the UN Leo Merores and Haitian activists from local organizations were also present.Michel said that the difficult situation of the country’s women has been exacerbated by the fact that many prominent women’s advocates and feminists died in the earthquake. She stressed the need to integrate women into all reconstruction efforts. “Reconstruction depends on solidarity for Haiti and equality between all humans and equality between women and men,” she said.Other panelists echoed her concerns about violence against women and cited the need for such things as creating income-generating projects for women; capacity building for single parents, given the large number of women-headed households; and ensuring that women have safe housing. Click here for a list of panelists and details of the event.Vision for a Better World: From Economic Crisis to EqualityThe economic crisis’ impact on women and the opportunities it provides to rebuild global and national economies to make them more inclusive was the focus of the panel discussion, “Vision for a Better World: From Economic Crisis to Equality,” sponsored by UNDP, IDRC and the Governments of Canada and Nicaragua.“The capitalist system has failed us,” said Nicaragua’s Minister of State, Ana Isabel Morales, adding that the Nicaragua may not achieve the MDGs but that Nicaragua has achieved a lot in empowering women at a decision-making level. Suzanne Clément, coordinator/head of agency Status of Women Canada, said the economic crisis has had a greater impact on women and that male needs have been prioritized over the needs of women and children.Three speakers from the Casablanca Dream, a group of women thinkers and activists, spoke about how the current economic system has failed “women, minorities and the poor in general.” They pointed to the need to transfer economic power from North to South and said that requirements for economic development include growth that “bubbles up” rather than “trickles down,” socially useful banking and finance, and support for equitable property rights.Click here for a list of panelists and details of the eventPlenary Observes International Women’s Day“We can be proud but not complacent,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the Plenary’s International Women’s Day Observance. The Secretary-General noted the prevalence of violence against women and also urged the General Assembly to adopt a resolution as soon as possible to commit to create the proposed UN gender entity. The press release on the SG’s statement is available here. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33954&Cr=gender+equality&C… Other speakers included Norway’s Minister for Gender Equality and Children’s Affairs (notably a man), who said there is no gender equality as long as violence against women exists; a Canadian high school student and Chinese immigrant who said that gender equality will not be eliminated as long as the preference for sons over daughters exists; and the president of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.Africa’s Women’s Affairs Ministers Focus on Gender-Responsive BudgetingAbout 30 participants from Women’s Affairs Ministries in Africa gathered for a two-day workshop this week on gender-responsive budgeting. After remarks by representatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNDP, UNFPA and ECA, discussions focused on the economic crisis and the opportunity to integrate gender-budgeting into economic plans and policies; the need to strengthen capacities for gender-budgeting among gender machineries, members of parliament and civil society; the consideration of gender budgeting not as a separate women’s budget but as an integrated budget in which women as well as men’s needs are taken into account; and the need to determine women’s needs through a participatory process involving civil society and women.High-level Plenary – Statements March 1-3 – Click here for WEBCASTClick here for provisional list of speakersRegional groups:Argentina on behalf of the MERCOSUR and Associated StatesChile on behalf of the Rio Group ( English | Spanish )Equatorial Guinea on behalf of the African UnionSamoa on behalf of the Pacific Islands ForumYemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China Member States:AfghanistanAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustralia AustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBarbadosBelgium ( English | French )Botswana Brazil Burkina FasoCameroonCanadaCape VerdeChinaColombiaCongoCosta Rica CroatiaCzech RepublicDominican Republic ( English | Spanish )Ecuador EgyptEstonia FijiFinlandGambiaGhanaGermanyGreeceGuatemala Guinea Hungary IcelandIndonesiaIsraelItaly Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait LithuaniaLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLuxembourg MalawiMalaysiaMauritania Mexico ( English | Spanish )Mongolia Montenegro Morocco NamibiaNepalNew ZealandNicaraguaNigeriaPakistanPanamaParaguay Peru Philippines PortugalQatar Republic of KoreaRussian FederationSamoa Senegal SerbiaSierra Leone SloveniaSolomon IslandsSouth Africa SwazilandSwedenSwitzerland TunisiaTurkeyUgandaUnited KingdomUnited Republic of TanzaniaUnited States of AmericaViet NamZambiaZimbabweStatements by the UN:Ms. Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on violence against women Other intergovernmental organizations:European Commission Inter-Parliamentary Union