By Mary Robinson*
As a global community, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. One path -- the "business as usual" route -- sees us approach a drastically warmer world, where our continuing reliance on fossil fuels will make this planet a cruelly inhospitable place for our children and grandchildren.
The other path is the route towards opportunity and truly sustainable development. The route that gives future generations the same chances to grow and prosper as so many of us in the developed world have enjoyed. If properly approached, this path should address the core inequalities that have plagued our world to date. But traveling this path requires a transformation in leadership as we move to a new greener, low carbon development model.
The transformative leadership necessary for a fair and climate-just future for all requires bold and brave steps by heads of state and government around the world. To be brave, these leaders must be supported by an engaged and well-informed electorate, business community, local governments and civil society organizations.
UN agency issues guidance on access to contraceptive information, services. Photo: UNFPA
With preparations under way to mark International Women’s Day this Saturday, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today released a set of recommendations for countries to ensure that women, girls and couples have access to the tools needed to avoid unwanted pregnancies, thereby improving health and allowing for better family planning.
“Ensuring availability and accessibility to the information and services they need is crucial, not only to protect their rights, but also their health,” said Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, and Children’s Health.
“These unintended pregnancies can pose a major threat to their own and their children’s health and lives,” she insisted.
It is estimated that 222 million girls and women who do not want to get pregnant or who want to delay their next pregnancy are not using any method of contraception. The WHO stresses in a news release that access to contraception information and services will allow better planning for families and improved health.
In low- and middle-income countries, complications of pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading cause of death in young women aged 15-19 years. Stillbirths and death in the first week of life are 50 per cent higher among babies born to mothers younger than 20 years than among babies born to mothers 20–29 years old.
In Zambia, Enerstrida Mirriam Michelo’s parents told her that she was going to be married. She was only 12- years-old. She was then held captive for three months where she faced constant abuse. “My parents said I had no choice,” she explains.
A friend’s visit changed her life because it gave her a chance to send a note to her teacher pleading for help. Her teacher reported the incident and the World Young Women's Christian Association (WYWCA) came to retrieve her before she was forced into a marriage that would end her education and any hope for a career. She was sent to a center and given the opportunity to continue her education. She has dreams of becoming a nurse.
“I was lucky not to be a child bride,” she says. Many girls around the world are not so lucky. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), over the next 10 years, 50 million girls are at risk of being married before the age of 15. The significant age difference between a child bride and her spouse can also expose them to physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence, as well as restrictions on their movement. Married children may experience conditions that can be legally considered slavery and slavery-like practices.
Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin
As we commemorate International Women’s Day and celebrate the many achievements of women and girls, we should also remember that for far too many, the ability to live a healthy, productive life free from violence, to fully enjoy their rights, remains an aspiration. So today is also a time to recommit ourselves to delivering once and for all on the promise of gender equality, women’s empowerment and sexual and reproductive health and rights for all women and girls everywhere.
Great progress has been achieved over the past two decades in a number of areas. Fewer women are dying in pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, we have reduced maternal mortality by nearly 50 percent. Women’s access to family planning and antenatal care has also improved.
More women have access to education, work and political participation. More girls are going to school, with primary enrolment rates approaching 90 percent. This has positive implications for other aspects of their lives and is, in fact, good for all of us, men included. Educated women and girls can make informed decisions about their health and lives. They can claim their rights and contribute more fully to their families and communities. When they are in leadership roles, they can work more effectively to promote sustainable development, peace and good governance.
Message of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, for International Women’s Day 2014.
Today we join the people of the world in celebration of the progress made for women’s rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality. We also acknowledge that progress has been slow, uneven and in some cases women and girls face new and more complex challenges.
International Women's Day is therefore also a day to recommit ourselves to working harder for gender equality, together as women, men, youth and leaders of nations, communities, religion and commerce.
If we act decisively, with the knowledge that empowering women and girls and supporting their full participation can help solve the greatest challenges of the 21st century, we will find lasting solutions to many of the problems we face in our world. Major challenges such as poverty, inequality, violence against women and girls, and insecurity will be addressed substantially.
Women spend the majority of their income on the well-being of their children and family. Raising women’s labour force participation increases economic growth. By ending women's poverty, we will sustainably and significantly reduce extreme poverty worldwide.
