Financing Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women

Intervention for the High Level Round Table on
Financing Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women

Monday, 25 February 2007
Commission on the Status of Women
52nd Session

Intervention made on behalf of Working Group on Girls of the NGO Committee on UNICEF

Fulya Vekiloglu, Co-chair, Working Group on Girls
Bahá’í International  Community, Representative to the UN

The Working Group on Girls (WGG) of the NGO Committee on UNICEF is a network of more than 100 NGOs which was established in 1983 to promote the rights of girls worldwide, to advance the status of girls and assist them to develop their full potential.

When considering the priority theme of the 52^nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Financing for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, the members of the Working Group on Girls would like to highlight some of the challenges, particularly for girls expressed in various UN resolutions and outcome documents:

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly adopted resolution 60/141 on the girl child, in which it expressed deep concern, inter alia, about discrimination against the girl child and the violation of her rights and stressed the importance of a substantive assessment of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with a life-cycle perspective.

We know that achieving the goal of  gender equality and the empowerment of women requires the adoption of a human rights-based approach, applied across the life cycle of girls and women. Unless we act to ensure girls’ rights during childhood; that girls have access to quality education and decent health care; that girls acquire the knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to realize their full potential we cannot achieve gender equality and the real empowerment of women.

In its Agreed Conclusions the 51^st session of the Commission on the Status of Women  expressed “concern that the girl child does not receive sufficiently explicit attention in policy and programme development and resource allocation. It noted with concern that the lack of resources and data disaggregated by sex and age and the failure to address the specific situation of vulnerable girls remain serious constraints to the formulation and implementation and monitoring of  policies and programmes to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against girls”.

We fully agree with challenges expressed and anticipate that 52^nd Session of the Commission will give particular attention to a holistic review of the situation of women and girls and  build on the commitments made by the Commission last year when adopting the outcome document on this year’s priority theme.

Therefore, we urge the Commission to give careful consideration to three key areas for action:

1. Disaggregate data by sex and age: The collection and use of data disaggregated by sex and age would provide policy makers the opportunity to better understand the situation of girls and to more fully address their present exclusion from policies and programs. Systematic attention to the situation of girls in data collection, research, analysis, planning resource allocation and implementation of interventions is required.
2. Cost and fully resource gender equality policies and programs for girls at the national level.  Protection and empowerment of girls should be fully integrated into legislation at the national and local level in social polices, resource allocations and programmes. We recommend the inclusion of separate budget line for protection and empowerment of girls in all relevant ministries.
3. Invest in Girls. We know that investing in girls’ rights and girls’ welfare is a moral imperative.  It is also sound economic policy. Investments in girls have amazing cascading benefits.  “Girls welfare is fundamental in determining economic and social outcomes.”[1] When girls are healthy, well-educated and empowered to contribute to their families and societies we all benefit.

Mr. Chairman,

We acknowledge the significant gains made in the advancement of the rights of girls since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action and the important work that has been accomplished by a number of international conferences and by this Commission.  However, in too many places and at too many times girls continue to be invisible, lumped together with women by some and with children by others.  Gender equality and women’s empowerment cannot be accomplished unless we adopt a life cycle approach to this critical issue.  Unless we ensure the visibility of girls, we can never guarantee women’s rights. Unless and until girls are counted and fully included in decisions – in the family – in the local community and at the national and international levels we will not achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In order to achieve real equality and empowerment and to put an end to discrimination and violence against girls, we have to listen to them, include them in our planning and programming, invite them to join us in our efforts and support theirs.  We need to allocate resources to enable girls to participate in advocacy on their own behalf and to develop programs which are holistic and inclusive.

Thank you.

[1] Ruth Levine, Cynthia Lloyd, Margaret Greene and Caren Grown, Girls Count, A Global Investment and Action Agenda, Executive Summary, Washington DC: Center for Global Development (2008), p.1.