Soroptimist
International has added its support to the Rio+20 Women Major Stakeholder’s Group
Statement. SI has been represented by SI UN Representative Alice Odingo during the meetings and discussions on this statement.
The Global
Women’s Major Group submission is submitted in response to the request for
input by the Secretariat for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. It
has been developed by over 50 organisations worldwide to reflect the diversity
of women’s perspectives. This summary and the longer Women’s Major group
compilation document for Rio+20 have been submitted as the
global women major group submission.
Throughout
the world women are key actors in maintaining and sustaining the livelihoods and
welfare of their families and communities, and in making a transition to a more
equitable and sustainable world. Our economy is linked to and depends on a
healthy planet. It also depends on women’s economic contributions, both formal
and informal. This introduction forms the foundation for the recommendations which follow.
Twenty years after the
first Rio conference, great social and
economic inequities still remain. These inequities especially affect women and
children, who make up the majority of those living in poverty. Measures
to assure equity, equality, social and environmental justice need to be
prioritised, as these are the cornerstones for achieving sustainable
development globally. These measures should promote:
- Gender equality in all spheres
of our societies - Respect of human rights and
social justice - Environmental conservation and
protection of human health
Renewed Committment to Agenda 21:
Women worldwide have been
working towards recognition of the gender dimensions of sustainable development
by the United Nations. The Women’s Action Agenda 21 was developed in 1991 by
women from all regions in the world, and aimed to influence the outcomes of the
1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (UNCED, or the “Earth Summit’). It
contained an outline for a healthy and peaceful planet, and formed an important
basis for introducing gender equality in the official UNCED outcomes. It
criticised existing economic thinking and development models and practices that
were deemed unjust, inequitable and unsustainable.
In response to women’s
efforts and advocacy, Principle 20 of the Rio Declaration (1992) recognises
that: “Women have a vital role in environmental management and development.
Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable
development.” Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 “Global Action for Women towards
Sustainable Development” contains 11 different commitments with specific
recommendations to strengthen the role of women in sustainable development and
to eliminate all obstacles to their equal and beneficial participation,
particularly in decision making activities.
Other important global
agreements that underline the importance of gender equality and sustainable
development include the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action and the
Millennium Development Goals.
The statement
calls on governments to renew their commitments to these agreements and support
their commitments through action and direct financing to support gender
equitable sustainable development.
The statement is critical of the term ‘green economy’, arguing that overuse is resulting in a loss of meaning:
“We are concerned it is too
often separated from the context of sustainable development and poverty
eradication. We are concerned it will be used and misused to green-wash
existing unsustainable economic practices that lead to inequities and infringe
on the rights of effected peoples and future generations, because it does not
fundamentally and adequately question and transform the current economic
paradigm.”
The Green Economy
The current economic
system:
- Harms women and the environment
- Is inequitable and unsustainable
- Uses performance
indicators that are socially and environmentally blind
Most
governments state that their objectives are progress and development. At
the same time, they use economic tools which do not help attain these objectives, but
instead have led to concentration of wealth and increased inequities.
Governments at Rio+20
should renew support for the objectives of equitable and sustainable
development, and should commit to choosing the right economic tools. In a
sustainable development framework, the economy has to fulfil social progress,
taking into account environmental limits.
The
statement supports the transformation from the current economic system to a
sustainable and equitable economic system that ensures gender equality, human
rights and environmental justice and supports sustainable livelihoods and
poverty eradication.
Emerging Issues of Concern:
The Rio+20 agenda includes setting
priorities for work on “Emerging Issues”. Women’s priority issues, including
some identified among the UNEP Foresight 21 Challenges for the 21st Century
List include:
- Rush for Land: women’s land rights and ownership
tenure, and prevention of land grabbing - Halt privatisation and commodification of the commons
- Promotion of clean renewable energy technologies and
phasing out of unsustainable energy - Strengthen gender priority in Climate Change policies
- New challenges to water availability
- Food security and food sovereignty
Sustainable Development Goals:
A proposal has been
presented by member states for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),
which governments in Rio can agree to develop up to 2015, to follow up the
Millennium Development Goals. The Women
major group supports the idea of SDGs, however, regrets that the proposal does
not include as yet any specific gender related goals, unlike the MDGs which
contain several.
Conclusion:
"The world
stands at a cross-roads, and the future of our planet Earth and its human
communities is in (y)our hands. United in our diversity we, women from all
regions in the world, call on our governments and other stakeholders to re-new
the commitments on equitable and sustainable development made at the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. We commit ourselves to contribute to a
peaceful and healthy planet, in which human rights are well respected and
women’s voices are well-represented. We request that you act in the
spirit of global solidarity, trust, environmental and social care, and take our
recommendations well to heart."
The Women
submissions are available at the UNCSD website www.uncsd2012.org under ‘Major
Groups–Women’, along with regional Women’s Major Group statements from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.