Take Action for Women!
Between 8 March and 8 June WOMANKIND ran its first campaign — ‘Speaking Out for Women’.
In the lead up to the recent General Election we asked UK voters to sign up to show their commitment to keeping women's rights at the heart of all that the UK does in aid, foreign affairs, defence and trade.
People signed up from over 80% of the UK’s constituencies and we have since written to the leaders of our new coalition government — and key Ministers — to let them know how strongly the UK electorate feels about women's rights.
Though we are no longer collecting signatures we continue to call on them to:
Aid - More info
· Ensure funding and resources for women’s organisations worldwide are maintained and increased through the Department for International Development’s Civil Society Challenge Fund — in particular, for work to stop violence against women and to encourage civil and political participation.
Defence - More info
· Ensure that any negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan include a clear commitment to respect and protect women’s human rights. Women representatives must be included in peace and development dialogues and negotiations within Afghanistan.
Trade - More info
· Ensure that any responses to the current global financial crisis take the position of women into account, particularly those working in the informal and manufacturing sectors.
Foreign Affairs - More info
Ensure that the new UN Women’s Agency — UN Women has:
- adequate resourcing;
- a strong Under-Secretary-General;
- clear systems for civil society participation.
