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…As Secretary-General declares March Commonwealth Gender Equality Month
A Commonwealth gathering has called for an end to gender inequality by 2030 so every girl can have the same opportunities as boys.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, which held this Sunday, March 8, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland joined 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 give women and men equal rights to work in their law books – an increase from none about 10 years ago.
The Secretary-General said: “Our Commonwealth Charter speaks of gender equality and women’s empowerment as being essential components of human development and basic human rights.
“Advancing women’s rights, the education of girls and their
participation in the workforce are critical prerequisites for effective
and sustainable development.
“For instance, on average, for every £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.
“But many countries need help to make it happen. So today, we are
consulting on a toolkit that will support country-level efforts with
training programmes and campaigns to accelerate gender equality.”
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”.
Delegates watched a new film that follows Livia Firth, co-founder of
Eco-Age, to Botswana. In the film, she listens to women who have
improved their living standards by working in Botswana’s diamond
industry.
Over 80 cents of each dollar from Botswana’s diamonds go to funding
measures to reduce poverty, empower women, deliver quality education and provide free health care.
Livia said: “In Botswana, I have seen a picture of what can happen
when businesses operate in partnership with the government and civil society, and where long-term investments are made in collaboration with local communities to ensure that the benefits are truly shared with
those on the ground.”
An expert panel discussed how diamonds have contributed to the
sustainable development of Botswana uplifting communities and protecting the environment.
Panellists included The First lady of Botswana Neo Masisi, Patricia
Scotland, Livia Firth, Baroness Lola Young, and three women featured in the film: Pat Dambe, Naseem Lahri and Kgalalelo Mokgweetsi.
Neo Masisi said: “Botswana’s economy transformed from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country in Africa where the discovery of diamonds has played a pivotal role in creating sustainable growth and development in Batswana’s livelihoods.
“Botswana has managed where many others have failed to translate the potential resources below ground into enduring value above ground.”
The panel presented a list of progressive practices, which had helped close the gender gap in the Botswanan workforce. These include engaging women in the development sector, investing equally in women and men and
getting women into male-dominated industries.
The Secretary-General launched a toolkit, developed in partnership with the NO MORE Foundation, that will help implement the sustainable
development goal five for 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.