Major Group: Women
Thank you co-chair, I am Nerea Craviotto, from AWID, speaking on behalf of the Women’s
Major Group.
The Rio +20 Outcome Document reinforced that the SDGs should be consistent with
international law, and apply this perspective in developing goals and targets. The Post 2015
development agenda must be founded on the principles of human rights, including women’s
human rights, and seek to re-balance power relations for justice.
Responding to your question, Mr. co-chair: For women, who are over half of the world’s
population, but also the world’s poorest and often most marginalized, achieving sustainable
development with women’s human rights will require a stand-alone goal on gender equality
and women’s empowerment. As well as gender equality and women’s human rights to be
addressed as a cross-cutting issue across the development framework.
Here I would like to suggest some potential targets to be considered in the definition of the
SDGs:
1. The elimination of all forms of discrimination against all girls and women and progress
towards diminishing gender inequalities. Under human rights law, governments have the
obligation to protect and fulfill the rights of the most marginalized and excluded, and to take
additional measures to ensure that they enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.
The CEDAW Convention and the International Convention on Economic Social and
Cultural Rights offer a framework to build from.
2. The elimination of violence against women and girls, and on the road towards the
protection of women and girls: This requires ensuring access to justice and ending
impunity, as well as eliminating harmful practices such as early and forced marriages,
female genital mutilation, so-called honor killings, and the targeting of women human rights
defenders, among others.
3. Sexual and reproductive rights and health guaranteed for all: This includes maternal
mortality and morbidity; forced sterilizations and forced abortions performed on women
belonging to different ethnic minorities and also on those who are HIV positive; lack of
effective access to safe abortion and post abortion care, or denials on women’s access
based on religious or moral grounds where they are legal; lack of informed consent and
choice over contraceptive methods; state’s complicity or omission in eliminating harmful
practices such as so-called honor killings, female genital mutilation, and early and forced
marriages; and sexual violence towards women and LGBTI individuals.
4. Women’s access to and control over land, property, inheritance rights and productive
resources: Globally, women own 1-2% of land. States need to secure land tenure rights
and retain free access and control to natural resources for the most vulnerable groups in
society, including women and particularly indigenous women.
5. Women’s economic rights to be guaranteed and the unequal and unfair burdens on women
and girls in sustaining societal wellbeing and economies recognized and redistributed. For
example, by combating gendered labor market segregation and assuring redistribution of
unpaid work.
6. Women’s meaningful and effective participation in economic, political and social decisionmaking,
including decision-making related to peace and security processes. To guarantee
the meaningful participation of women it is vital to consider not only whether women are
represented to an equal number with men, but also the extent to which they are able to be
actively involved and influence decision-making processes through their participation.
In order to ensure a development agenda grounded in respect for and the realization of human
rights, means of implementation need to prioritize public financing over public-private
partnerships, most of them (if not all) profit oriented. Furthermore, the reforming and regulation
of global financial markets is a precondition to reach a human rights based goals. As well as
the fostering of a macroeconomic environment that preserves national policy space for
governments to fulfill their human rights obligations and effectively advance the three pillars of
sustainable development.
Last but not least, ODA levels are still far from what would be required to meet the
commitments made by the international community to achieve gender equality and women’s
empowerment across the world, we therefore call the donor community to ensure a level of
funding coherent with the challenges ahead.
All in all, we believe, these measures would significantly contribute to eliminate discrimination
between women and men and ensure the realization of the human rights of all, including girls
and women of all ages.
Major Group.
The Rio +20 Outcome Document reinforced that the SDGs should be consistent with
international law, and apply this perspective in developing goals and targets. The Post 2015
development agenda must be founded on the principles of human rights, including women’s
human rights, and seek to re-balance power relations for justice.
Responding to your question, Mr. co-chair: For women, who are over half of the world’s
population, but also the world’s poorest and often most marginalized, achieving sustainable
development with women’s human rights will require a stand-alone goal on gender equality
and women’s empowerment. As well as gender equality and women’s human rights to be
addressed as a cross-cutting issue across the development framework.
Here I would like to suggest some potential targets to be considered in the definition of the
SDGs:
1. The elimination of all forms of discrimination against all girls and women and progress
towards diminishing gender inequalities. Under human rights law, governments have the
obligation to protect and fulfill the rights of the most marginalized and excluded, and to take
additional measures to ensure that they enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.
The CEDAW Convention and the International Convention on Economic Social and
Cultural Rights offer a framework to build from.
2. The elimination of violence against women and girls, and on the road towards the
protection of women and girls: This requires ensuring access to justice and ending
impunity, as well as eliminating harmful practices such as early and forced marriages,
female genital mutilation, so-called honor killings, and the targeting of women human rights
defenders, among others.
3. Sexual and reproductive rights and health guaranteed for all: This includes maternal
mortality and morbidity; forced sterilizations and forced abortions performed on women
belonging to different ethnic minorities and also on those who are HIV positive; lack of
effective access to safe abortion and post abortion care, or denials on women’s access
based on religious or moral grounds where they are legal; lack of informed consent and
choice over contraceptive methods; state’s complicity or omission in eliminating harmful
practices such as so-called honor killings, female genital mutilation, and early and forced
marriages; and sexual violence towards women and LGBTI individuals.
4. Women’s access to and control over land, property, inheritance rights and productive
resources: Globally, women own 1-2% of land. States need to secure land tenure rights
and retain free access and control to natural resources for the most vulnerable groups in
society, including women and particularly indigenous women.
5. Women’s economic rights to be guaranteed and the unequal and unfair burdens on women
and girls in sustaining societal wellbeing and economies recognized and redistributed. For
example, by combating gendered labor market segregation and assuring redistribution of
unpaid work.
6. Women’s meaningful and effective participation in economic, political and social decisionmaking,
including decision-making related to peace and security processes. To guarantee
the meaningful participation of women it is vital to consider not only whether women are
represented to an equal number with men, but also the extent to which they are able to be
actively involved and influence decision-making processes through their participation.
In order to ensure a development agenda grounded in respect for and the realization of human
rights, means of implementation need to prioritize public financing over public-private
partnerships, most of them (if not all) profit oriented. Furthermore, the reforming and regulation
of global financial markets is a precondition to reach a human rights based goals. As well as
the fostering of a macroeconomic environment that preserves national policy space for
governments to fulfill their human rights obligations and effectively advance the three pillars of
sustainable development.
Last but not least, ODA levels are still far from what would be required to meet the
commitments made by the international community to achieve gender equality and women’s
empowerment across the world, we therefore call the donor community to ensure a level of
funding coherent with the challenges ahead.
All in all, we believe, these measures would significantly contribute to eliminate discrimination
between women and men and ensure the realization of the human rights of all, including girls
and women of all ages.