Make this the decade for gender equality – Commonwealth Secretariat
Published:Monday | March 9, 2020 | 12:09 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
The Commonwealth Secretariat has urged member countries, including Jamaica, to make this the decade of gender equality, to give every girl the same opportunities as boys.
Secretary General Patricia Scotland made the declaration at a gathering of leaders, celebrities, academics and activists in London to discuss ways to accelerate the progress.
Despite decades of activism and reforms, only six countries in the world – Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and Latvia – give women and men equal rights, a World Bank report showed.
Scotland said the Commonwealth Charter promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment as being essential components of human development and basic human rights.
CRITICAL PREREQUISITES
“Advancing women’s rights, the education of girls and their participation in the workforce are critical prerequisites for effective and sustainable development,” she said.
Scotland noted that, on average, for every one £1 invested in a business, those with all-male boards show a loss of two per cent, while those with two or more women yield a return of six per cent.
She said that many countries need help to make it happen.
“So we are consulting on a toolkit that will support country-level efforts with training programmes and campaigns to accelerate gender equality,” said Scotland.
She declared this March as Commonwealth Gender Equality Month, to “sharpen the focus on the need to accelerate the rate at which action is taken by our member nations to achieve gender equality”.
The toolkit aims to provide guidance on devising culturally sensitive training programmes, bystanders intervention initiatives, and motivational campaigns to bring about positive change more swiftly, including challenging gender-based violence.
International Women’s Day is a global event that celebrates women achievers in every field while calling for gender equality.