WIDE+ is co-organizing a brief meeting during this year’s UN Commission of the Status of Women to reflect on solutions to make the Beijing commitments a reality in the economic domain in order to strategize a joint way forward among all those committed to feminism, in particular activists.
Download the invitation in French and English.
During this meeting a Feminists speak truth to power in Beijing review, paper 1 Feb 2020 will be presented.
The meeting is organised by National Alliance of Women’s Associations (NAWO), Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), Christian Aid, Make Mothers Matter, Tax Justice Network, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice and WIDE+. It will take place on Wednesday 11 March, 12.30 – 2.00. Location: FEDCAP, Food Arts Centre, 210 East 43 St, 10017 (between 2nd and 3rd Ave), New York, USA.
To make headway with reducing gendered economic inequalities, we call for three key actions that are urgent now: (i) addressing central barriers built into the current economic structures and its model; (ii) fixing the failures of our democratic governance that gives in to the privilege of companies and; (iii) deal with an outdated and broken international tax system and financial architecture.
Background Information
This year marks 25 years after the enactment of the Beijing Platform For Action and celebrates the anniversary of related agenda’s and resolutions–most importantly Sustainable Development Goals and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. We note a general shared disappointment among feminists in what states have done with these agenda’s when it comes to promoting economic gender equality and justice.
The data is clear and its conclusions come from even the most conservative among economic policy makers: the World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Report year 2015 suggested that the economic Claudio Schwarz, @purzlbaumgap could be closed within 118 years, that is, in 2133, which was outrageous in itself. However, since the progress has reversed in 2013, this target seems even more elusive. The 2020 Report estimates it will take 257 years to close the economic participation and opportunity gap.
We believe the Generation Equality action coalitions must set up an ambitious and cross-cutting plan for the next 5 years of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). That is, the strength of embarking on a new ‘coalition for action’ doesn’t lie with the formulation of a new plan, but in the synergy between coalitions/themes.
We see opportunities with the current feminist movements globally to move forward progressive economic agenda’s as we are faced with an increasing more uncertain future, in which we could face environmental doom. But we could also globally move towards a new feminist reality in which would require an overhaul of the current economic system towards an alternative. The alternative economy we envision is one that puts people’s well-being and that of the planet at the core, through drastically restructuring care work.
This meeting targets activists including policy makers who are interested in a bottom up approach to policy and advocacy.
