11 January 2024 12:00 am Views - 448
In Sri Lanka as elsewhere, women need to play a key role in vital areas such as politics and business. We have already passed a law that women need to comprise at least 25% of Parliament and other local bodies. But the number has fallen far short and thereby the country has suffered. This year being an election year women need to agitate for gender equality in politics, business and other important fields or work because in most cases women work harder than men, and whatever male chauvinists may say, women are more sincere. Therefore, it could be a big step in curbing bribery and corruption, which runs into billions with leading politicians and businessmen being among the biggest offenders. They plunder the country while in some poor schools children are forced to eat plain rice and bread or drink plain tea without sugar.
On March 8, the United Nations marks World Women’s Day with the theme being “Invest In Women: Accelerate Progress”. In a statement, the world body says achieving gender equality and women’s well-being in all aspects of life is more crucial than ever if we want to create prosperous economies and a healthy planet. However, we are facing a key challenge: the alarming $ 360 billion annual deficit in gender-equality measures by 2030.
According to the UN, there are five key areas that need joint action. They are:
- Investing in women, a human rights issue: Time is running out. Gender equality is the greatest human rights challenge, benefiting everyone.
- Ending poverty: Due to the COVID pandemic and conflicts, 75 million more people have fallen into severe poverty since 2020. Immediate action is crucial to prevent more 342 million women and girls living in poverty by 2030.
- Implementing gender-responsive financing: Conflicts and rising prices may lead 75% of countries to cut public spending by 2025, negatively impacting women and their essential services.
- Shifting to a green economy and care society: The current economic system disproportionately affects women. Advocates propose a shift to a green economy and care society to amplify women’s voices.
- Supporting feminist change-makers: Despite leading efforts, feminist organizations receive only 0.13% of official development assistance.
The UN says it is necessary to unite to transform challenges into opportunities and shape a better future for all. Gender-responsive budgeting is a strategy that creates budgets that work for everyone. By considering and analysing the diverse needs of every individual, gender-responsive budgets strive for a fair distribution of resources.
The theme for UN Women’s Day this year is aligned with the demands of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2023: ending gender-based violence through adequate funding. Without ambitious investments to scale-up prevention programmes, implement effective policies, and provide support services to address violence against women and girls, countries will fail to end gender-based violence by 2030.
According to the UN, International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas. The UN invites all people to learn about the history of women’s rights and the UN’s contribution to the cause.
The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on 28 February; women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
But the first milestone in the US was much earlier - in 1848. Indignant over women being barred from speaking at an anti-slavery convention, Americans, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott congregated a few hundred people at their nation’s first women’s rights convention in New York. Together they demand civil, social, political and religious rights for women in a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.
British former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who played a key role in shaping the world economic system explains the situation powerfully when she said, “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”