Every year 14 million girls are married before the age of 18. There is unprecedented recognition that child marriage infringes their rights and is a major setback to development. There is no single solution to ending this global problem, but thanks to the work of Girls Not Brides members, partners, governments and others, we are able to build an understanding of all that is necessary to achieve our ultimate vision: A world without child marriage where girls and women enjoy equal status with boys and men and are able to achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives. As part of this effort, Girls Not Bridesh as developed a ‘Theory of Change on Child Marriage’, a visual diagram that demonstrates the range of approaches needed to address child marriage and how they intersect. This brief outlines how the Theory of Change was developed and the insights that inform its structure and content.
A Theory of Change on Child Marriage – By Girls Not Brides
Theory of Change Visual Diagram
Извор: WUNRN – 09.07.2014
By Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNFPA Executive Director
Today’s 1.8 billion young people are a powerful force, individually and collectively. They are shaping social and economic realities, challenging norms and values and building the foundation of the world’s future.
Governments and the international community are increasingly conscious of the importance of providing resources and opportunities for all young people to reach their full potential as individuals and citizens. They recognize that investing in young people and enabling them to exercise their human rights not only benefits young people themselves, but can also help their countries reap a demographic dividend.
We know that healthy, educated, productive and fully engaged young people can help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and are more resilient in the face of individual and societal challenges. As skilled and informed citizens, they can contribute more fully to their communities and nations.
Geneva, Switzerland –The International Federation of University Women (IFUW) calls on all governments, regional agencies and other relevant bodies to incorporate a gender-specific perspective in gathering, analysing and publishing indicators of development, so that gender disparities and biases can be properly identified and addressed. The compilation and publication of data, which specifically examines the participation of girls and women in society, is needed immediately so as to track the progress being made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
IFUW President Catherine Bell emphasised that “it is not enough to show general, aggregated trends of development within countries. Given the increased vulnerability of girls and women in areas such as education, health and employment, we must have gender indicators that accurately reflect whether and to what extent progress is being made in closing gender inequalities.”
The WAVE Country Report 2013 brings the experiences of women survivors of violence together with measuring the available services for women survivors of violence in 46 European countries. The report provides stories from women survivors, who have shared their information about their experiences of violence and seeking help. The mapping of women's services in Europe includes information on available women's helplines, shelters, centres and centres for survivors of sexual violence. The report serves as a monitoring tool for use by relevant stakeholders, including government, NGO and academic experts to provide information on the standards in service provision, pointing to gaps in practice and calling for improvements.
Извор: WAVE – 07.07.2014
From IANSA Women's Network - Women made progress in UN negotiations on guns with much more text inclusion that had been lobbyied for years.The International Action Network on Small Arms, which represents human rights and peace groups at the conference, welcomes the commitment. IANSA has been working since 2001 for women to be recognized in the UN deliberations on small arms and light weapons.Women should play a larger role in national policies controlling guns, the UN conference decided.....
Outcome document of the Fifth Biennial Meeting of UN States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects - Original Document: BMS5 Outcome doc.pdf
Most countries policies on guns have do not take into account the experiences and views of women, said Jasmin Nario Galace of the IANSA Womens Network. For example, many countries do not prevent domestic violence offenders from owning guns. This decision helps us to push for policies more in line with the interests of communities.
Many governments expressed disappointment that ammunition was not covered in the international agreement on small arms control. A few countries, including USA and Egypt, blocked agreement on this point. Another omission was assistance to survivors of gun violence, which Latin American countries such as Guatemala and Mexico tried unsuccessfully to incorporate into the outcome document.
The most memorable moment in the conference was the speech by the father of a child killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre in 2012. David Wheeler, father of 6-year-old Ben who was murdered with 19 of his classmates, brought the diplomats to tears as he spoke of his son and called on the UN to help stop such tragedies from recurring. IANSA notes that The real test is not in the conference rooms. Its whether the governments take the actions necessary on the ground to stop the killing. NGOs stand ready to assist in these efforts.
Извор: WUNRN – 25.06.2014
