At a UN ministerial panel, Soroptimist International UN
Representative Bette Levy, heard first-hand about the challenges facing the
creation of a new development agenda that properly provides for the needs of
women and girls. Soroptimists know that women’s empowerment is key to achieving
gender equality. This was discussed at a UN a ministerial panel: Empowering
Women, Empowering Humanity: Using Women’s Economic Potential – a Key Element for Sustainable Development.

“What was unusual was that the room was packed with
ambassadors, foreign ministers and very few civil society organisations on a Saturday
morning – it was an excellent panel and the question and answer section was
quite amazing … It was quite a powerful session” explains Bette, who was
invited to attend the event that was hosted by the Foreign Ministers of
Liechtenstein and Iceland.

 

Photo: Empowering
Women, Empowering Humanity: Using Women’s Economic Potential

The Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka made
several key points about women & economics including that only a tiny fraction of women
are in top leadership of the fortune 500 companies, and in universities around
the world there are many deputies but very few chiefs. This is why advocacy
becomes truly important when talking about economic empowerment of women.

Leaving women out of economic development affects GDP. It is
thought that if more of an effort to give women economic opportunities GDP will
increase by 5% in USA, 10% in Japan and 34% in Egypt. The Minister for Foreign
Affairs of Iceland shared this view, explaining that if women were not part of
the economy Iceland would not be able to sustain themselves as a country.

Other speakers on the panel included the Minister of Foreign
Affairs from Timor-Leste, and the Assistant Administrator and Director for the
Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the UNDP. Mr Martinez-Soliman, of
the UNDP, stated that sustainable development cannot happen without gender
equality saying, "Our work – Nothing without women, everything towards
equality".

 

Photo: Protest Against Rape in Bangalore, India

But the international community is struggling to come to a consensus
on gender equality. The Permanent Representative of Switzerland spoke about the
struggle around facilitating conclusions for the outcome document of the last
CSW, an outcome document concerned with gender equality. He challenged those
present to help find a way to overcome ideology and dogma that is getting
stronger, asking “how can we be pragmatic and make this possible?” Issues that
are strongly related to women’s empowerment, like sexual and reproductive
health rights are most at risk from being removed from a development agenda.

The lives of women and girls in communities will be effected
by what is included in the new development agenda. That not enough is being
done is felt by women, girls and communities across the globe. “A young
counsellor from Morocco broke down in tears as she talked about how real lives
are at risk and being lost daily as she talked about a projects in Africa that
Morocco is working on”, reports Bette

 

Reflecting on the event, The Permanent Representative of
Iceland, Ambassador Greta Gunnarsdottir spoke from the heart, saying that women
are losing their rights and lives let alone economic power! She explains that member
states need to consider what is happening on the ground when they are
negotiating – UN documents are not just words!

The new development goals that will be agreed in 2015 will
have a time limit of 15 years, just as the Millennium Development Goals did. Ms
Mlambo Ngcuka does not want us to wait to 2030 to achieve the next set of goals
they are too important and much of it needs to be achieved sooner – by 2020! The
role of organisations like Soroptimist International and others that advocate
for the needs of women and girls at the UN will be critical in ensuring that any
new development agenda will promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.