Poverty has a female face
In the year 2000, 189 world leaders pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals — a set of 8 benchmarks to eradicate extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat major diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development by the year 2015. But progress is moving too slowly to meet the deadline.
World leaders have made the least progress on their promises to women.
In an address at the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women on March 3, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer, spoke on the progress made and obstacles that remain in the effort to realize UN Millennium Development Goals related to women’s empowerment and international development. Verveer emphasized the value that safeguarding women’s rights, improving maternal health, and supporting women’s economic advancement can have on whole communities.
“PIGA DEBE” in Kiswahili means “make a big noise,” and draws its inspiration from millions of women’s voices in Africa who say “enough is enough. Women should not die while giving life.” Translated into Luganda, the campaign is referred to as “Gwanga mujje.”
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS WILL NOT BE MET UNLESS AND UNTIL WOMEN’S RIGHTS, EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ARE ACHIEVED
On International Women’s Day, Campaign calls on governments to take immediate action to curb maternal mortality and ensure girls and women have access to education, meaningful employment and political participation
March 6, 2009 –“I have been campaigning on the issue of maternal mortality for quite some time now. But last week, it hit me directly: My sister, Asmau, age 33, died in Nigeria, two hours after delivering her second child, a boy who she never held. Asmau was not an illiterate woman. She was a senior science teacher, and her husband is a college principal.
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“The Danish Government has decided to take an international lead on MDG3. We want to make sure there is a stronger focus on gender and the empowerment of women all over the world because the world will not reach the Millennium Development Goals without putting a strong focus on women,” says Ulla Tørnæs, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation.
The basic premise is that increased investment in women provides support to economic growth and poverty reduction.
According to the draft Health Service Development Plan (HSDP) joint UNDP and Ministry of Heath report of 2005, the per capita health service expenditure of Ethiopia is rated at 5.9 US dollars, the least among a list of other developing countries such as Kenya (31 USD), Uganda(18 USD), and Tanzania(8 USD). The report also indicated that in order to meet MDGs Ethiopia needs to increase the health service expenditure to 34 USD.
Women farmers in Africa
Over 80 percent of farmers in Africa are women.
The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is mobilising worldwide on International Women’s Day to call for gender equality to end poverty. With women representing 70% of the worlds poor, the issue of gender equality in the fight to end poverty has been carried by campaigners to the doors of governments and multilateral instiutions by GCAP coalitions since 2005.
GCAP campaigning to achieve gender equity
GCAP Partners from around the world have been campaigning to achieve equality and end poverty. This slideshow portrays some of that work.
Women and the MDGs Fact Sheet
In September 2000, the leaders of the world committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to end poverty and make development a reality for all people by 2015.
The world now stands at the halfway point towards making the Goals a reality, but results have been uneven.
To ensure the world realizes its potential to make poverty history, significant progress must be made to ensure gender equity.
