Today, we mark International Women¡¯s Day.
It is an important moment for UN DESA to reaffirm the Department¡¯s steadfast and unwavering commitment to women and girls across the globe and our pledge to fulfill the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its goal of making gender equality a reality for all.
With only four years remaining until 2030, our mission is urgent.
Recent data shows that the cost of failure would be immense, as would be the gains of success.
Accelerated action focused on care, education, the green economy, labour markets and social protection could potentially reduce the number of women and girls in extreme poverty by 110 million by 2050.
This could unlock an estimated USD 342 trillion in cumulative economic returns.
The recognition of gender equality as critical is also reflected in the Doha Political Declaration, adopted last November at the Second World Summit for Social Development.
Building on the commitment to gender equality made in Copenhagen some 30 years ago, the Declaration affirms the vital importance of gender equality across all areas of society, reaffirming ¡°the need to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.¡± It further calls on Member States ¡°to ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all women and girls throughout their life course,¡± and to ensure ¡°that all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment are removed.¡±
The Doha Political Declaration is quite clear on the types of action needed to deliver on this call, including:
? Implementing policies that ensure women¡¯s economic empowerment and equal opportunities in the labour market and taking measures to ensure fair wages for women;
? Recognizing, reducing and redistributing women¡¯s disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work;
? Promoting access to sexual and reproductive health and eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls;
? Enhancing women¡¯s full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership in decision-making processes at all levels and in all sectors;
? Strengthening predictable, sustainable and sufficient development finance to developing countries to end poverty in all its forms and dimensions disproportionately affecting women and girls.
These are pivotal steps to be taken in a world where the rights of women and girls and their access to justice are increasingly being threatened or undermined.
Together, let us take action with and for all women and girls, champion their rights and ensure their access to justice, guided by the frameworks set out in the Sustainable Development Goals and in the Doha Political Declaration.