SI UNESCO Representaive, Rina Dupriet, attended the January meeting of the NGO Joint Programmatic Commisson for Sustainable Development. Severals proposals were forwarded for consideration by Rio+20, closely matching the priorities of Soroptimist International:

– Poverty eradication

– Creation of safe water supplies

– Empowerment of people through education and
leadership for women

– Improvement of cultural life to eradicate violence and respect human rights

The group forwarded a number of proposals which will be presented at the Rio 20 Meeting next June. The following items were identified as crucial:

1. Recognition of the fragility and vulnerabily of people who
   live in a country with severe climatic change;
2. An increase in liberty and human rights;
3. Support for the movement of populations who have
   to leave their area due to food and water insecurity and climate change;
4. The empowerment of women and girls through
   education and leadership;
5. Improving the access of women and girls
   to schools and universities, recognising that quality of education matters;
6. Improving access to information to improve disaster risk management and to help mitigate the impact of climate volatility;
7. A ban on child labour and support for education programmes;
8. The abolition of seed
   confiscation currently practiced to the detriment of farmers;
9. The recognition of local pratical
   experience concerning the environment.

Rina Dupriet

SI UNESCO Representative