malloch

Put women’s rights at the

heart of crisis summit!

The financial crisis is having a massive impact on poor households — the World Bank predicts that up to 53 million more people will be trapped in poverty — and poor women are going to bear the brunt of this.

That’s why WOMANKIND wants you to pile pressure on the UK Government to put women at the forefront of the UN crisis discussions at the end of June. Last April, all the G20 leaders failed to protect women’s rights and the lives of poor people by backing the same institutions and policies that contributed to the crisis in the first place.

Women are already disproportionately poorer than men — and, historically, financial crises have placed a greater burden on women: women are more likely than men to be in vulnerable jobs; to be under-employed or without a job; lack social protection; and have limited access to and control over economic and financial resources. They are also exposed to a greater risk of violence in times of hardship.

This comes at a time when conflict, environmental degradation, and energy crises have hampered progress towards achieving gender equality and women’s rights.

All these factors threaten to reverse the progress made since the Beijing Platform for Action on Women’s Rights was agreed in 1995.

The UN is holding a 3-day summit of world leaders from 24-26 June in New York to discuss the impact of the crisis on international development and what can be done about it.

Take action!

WOMANKIND wants you to demand that the UK government:

puts women’s rights at the heart of measures to address the impact of the financial crisis
ensures that the voices of poor women are included in these high-level discussions

You can do this by writing or emailing the letter below to:

Rt. Hon Lord Malloch-Brown,

UK Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office,

King Charles Street,

London,

SW1A 2AH

Dear Rt. Hon Lord Malloch-Brown,

The UN Summit in New York from 24-26 June is an important opportunity to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on poor women and men.

This comes at a time when conflict, environmental degradation, and energy crises have already taken their toll on progress towards achieving gender equality and women’s rights.

All these factors threaten to reverse the progress made since a key international agreement, the Beijing Platform for Action on Women’s Rights, was agreed in 1995.

In particular, I would ask the UK to push for:

solutions to the current economic crisis that include measures to address the impact on the most marginalised women

emergency funding to help developing countries cope with the downturn and stimulate their own economies — this should include more aid directed to support gender equality and women’s empowerment; in particular, funding to women farmers and stimulus packages that feature micro finance for women who have lost their jobs due to the crisis; and gender budgeting on all fiscal-stimulus packages
participation and consultation with national women’s ministries and women’s groups on all measures related to responding to the crisis — and the inclusion of poor women’s voices in the high-level discussions
the new UN gender-equality entity that is part of the ongoing UN reform process to have the capacity and resources to participate meaningfully in the co-ordination necessary for development, and macroeconomic and financial governance – WOMANKIND and other members of the international GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture campaign) argue that a minimum of $1 billion is necessary at the outset

Please make the most of this opportunity to lessen the impact of the crisis on poor women ― and to build new, fairer economic systems that place gender equality at their heart.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[Signed Ms/Mr X]

Please send a copy of your letter and any reply to:

Policy & Advocacy Team,

Womankind Worldwide,

Development House,

56-64 Leonard Street,

London,

EC2A 4lT.

Or by email to Ceri Hayes