Commonwealth gathering urges countries to make this ‘the decade of gender equality’
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Commonwealth gathering has called for an end to gender inequality by
2030 so every girl can have the same opportunities as boys.
Ahead
of International Women’s Day, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia
Scotland joined a gathering of leaders, celebrities, academics and
activists in London to discuss ways to accelerate the progress.
Despite
decades of activism and reforms, only six countries in the world give
women and men equal rights to work in their law books – an increase from
none about 10 years ago.
The
Secretary-General said: “Our Commonwealth Charter speaks of...
gender
equality and women’s empowerment as being essential components of human
development and basic human rights.
“Advancing
women’s rights, the education of girls and their participation in the
workforce are critical prerequisites for effective and sustainable
development.
“For
instance, on average, for every £1 invested in a business, those with
all-male boards show a loss of two per cent, while those with two or
more women yield a return of six per cent.
“But
many countries need help to make it happen. So today, we are consulting
on a toolkit that will support country-level efforts with training
programmes and campaigns to accelerate gender equality.”
She
declared this March as Commonwealth Gender Equality Month to “sharpen
the focus on the need to accelerate the rate at which action is taken by
our member nations to achieve gender equality”.
Delegates
watched a new film that follows Livia Firth, co-founder of Eco-Age, to
Botswana. In the film, she listens to women who have improved their
living standards by working in Botswana’s diamond industry.
Over
80 cents of each dollar from Botswana’s diamonds go to funding measures
to reduce poverty, empower women, deliver quality education and provide
free health care.
Livia
said: “In Botswana, I have seen a picture of what can happen when
businesses operate in partnership with the government and civil society,
and where long-term investments are made in collaboration with local
communities to ensure that the benefits are truly shared with those on
the ground.”
An
expert panel discussed how diamonds have contributed to the sustainable
development of Botswana uplifting communities and protecting the
environment.
Panellists
included The First lady of Botswana Neo Masisi, Patricia Scotland,
Livia Firth, Baroness Lola Young, and three women featured in the film:
Pat Dambe, Naseem Lahri and Kgalalelo Mokgweetsi.
Neo
Masisi said: “Botswana’s economy transformed from one of the poorest
countries in the world to a middle-income country in Africa where the
discovery of diamonds has played a pivotal role in creating sustainable
growth and development in Batswana’s livelihoods.
“Botswana
has managed where many others have failed to translate the potential
resources below ground into enduring value above ground.”
The
panel presented a list of progressive practices, which had helped close
the gender gap in the Botswanan workforce. These include engaging women
in the development sector, investing equally in women and men and
getting women into male-dominated industries.
The
Secretary-General launched a toolkit, developed in partnership with the
NO MORE Foundation, that will help implement the sustainable
development goal five for gender equality.
The
toolkit aims to provide guidance on devising culturally sensitive
training programmes, bystanders intervention initiatives and
motivational campaigns to bring about positive change more swiftly,
including challenging gender-based violence.
International Women’s Day is a global event that celebrates women achievers in every field while calling for gender equality.
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