International Women’s Day 2012: WECF,
organising partner for the Women’s Major Group for Rio+20 states: the “Green
Economy” needs Gender Equality

In three months time, on
20-22 of June 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
(UNCSD), Rio+20, will take place in Rio de Janeiro. 20 years
after the historic Earth Summit,
women’s participation in the process and input on the themes and objective will
be crucial to a successful outcome. The Women’s Major
Group, of which Soroptimist International is a member, therefore
presents Women’s Priorities for the Rio+20
Zero Draft in the week of International Women’s Day.

Worldwide, 70% of the poor are
still women. Also in Europe, many women-headed-households are among the lowest
income earners. Economic development – inclusive of women and the poor – is
therefore one of the key themes of the Rio+20 summit. The international women’s
and environmental network WECF represents the women’s organisations worldwide
in the preparations of the Rio+20 summit. The
UNCSD works with nine so-called “major groups” which represent civil society,
including a.o. “women”, “indigenous peoples” and “youth”. As organiser of the
Women’s Major Group, WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future) is an excellent position to bring the priorities of
women to the attention of the government negotiators.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

In June 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Referred to as Rio+20, the
conference comes 20 years after the historic Earth Summit of 1992, which set
the framework for sustainable development, including its 3 dimensions:
environmental, social and economic.

In the last 20 years we have learned
that sustainable development is only possible with women’s equality and full
participation. But women continue to benefit less from economic
development, and are hit worst by economic austerity programmes. One of the
main themes of the Rio+20 summit is “Green Economy” in the context of
Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication.

“Women should not be left out,
we want governments to set ambitious targets for green jobs for women”, says
Sascha Gabizon, executive director of WECF. “A target of 40% is a good
beginning!”

Too often investments, particularly in developing countries, forget
women. The World Bank in its 2011 “World Development Report” affirmed that
investing in women contributes more to development than investing only in men.

WHY IS RIO IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN?

Women’s rights are at the core of human rights. Only a
small part of humanity benefits from the current economic system, and
women in particular are often left out. The unpaid work mostly provided by women
to feed, cloth and care for our communities provides the backbone of our
economies. According to some estimates, women’s unpaid labour makes up to 50%
of GDP in some countries.

The Women’s Major Group for Rio+20 believes that the ‘green economy’ should support the well-being of all, and
include the most vulnerable in society. The vulnerable and poor need rights to
protect their lives and livelihoods. They cannot rely on market mechanisms
alone – as on the market the one with most capital most often wins. A ‘green’
economic system must promote social equity and gender equality.

The Women’s Major Group therefore demand that governments at the Rio+20
summit commit to the following:

1. Ambitious targets of at least 40% of new “green jobs” for women

2. A global “basic income for women” of at least 1 dollar a day. In this way the Millennium Development Goal 1 can be
reached right away!

3. A UN High Commissioner for Future
Generations, to protect the interests
of our children and grandchildren, for example, with the power to call a
moratorium on high risk technologies such as geo-engineering, nano-technology
or synthetic biology.

Sascha Gabizon, executive
director of WECF and coordinator of the Women’s Major group, states “today, 70% of the poor are women. If we meet in
another 20 years time at the Rio+40 summit,
let’s make sure that this flagrant inequality no longer exists”.

 

Negotiators are already
drafting the expected commitments and results of the Rio+20
summit. See also: http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?menu=104. Soroptimist International will be attending the third intersessional meeting on the zero draft document at the end of March.