Commonwealth pushes for gender equality in climate action
The Commonwealth has agreed on a roadmap designed to scale up efforts to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls, especially in climate action.
What you need to know:
- The Commonwealth has come up with a roadmap towards better representation of women and girls in decision-making and for greater protection against gender-based violence.
- Millions of women and girls across the world are disproportionately impacted by injustice, climate change, violence and discrimination.
The Commonwealth has agreed on a roadmap designed to scale up efforts to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls, especially in climate action.
Member states will enhance efforts aimed at addressing inequality in several priority areas over the coming years. The roadmap specifically seeks to ensure member states enhance role of women in climate finance, ensure increased support for women living with disabilities and root for more economic opportunities for women.
It is also pushing for better representation of women and girls in decision-making and for greater protection from gender-based violence. Millions of women and girls across the world are disproportionately impacted by injustice, climate change, violence and discrimination.
The roadmap is a result of three-day deliberations among ministers at their triennial Commonwealth meeting held in Bahamas recently. Input from stakeholders, including domestic violence survivors, civil society representatives and women living with disabilities during the meeting also shaped the framing of the roadmap.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland termed the roadmap “incredibly important” as millions of women and girls “are disproportionately impacted by injustice, climate change, violence and discrimination”.
“The outcomes of the meeting send a clear message that the Commonwealth is determined to lead by example towards ensuring women and girls are not left behind in our efforts to achieve sustainable development and climate justice,” said Ms Scotland.
She added that what they have achieved during the meeting will enable them to deliver and help shape tomorrow for the benefit of the 2.5 billion people living in the Commonwealth. To support its implementation, the ministers endorsed a framework for reporting on Commonwealth priorities for gender equality.
The Commonwealth Secretariat will use this framework to regularly assess progress based on set indicators and coordinate necessary measures through a ministerial action group, aimed at tackling challenges disrupting the positive momentum.
Acknowledging that climate change disproportionately affects women and girls, the ministers shared best practice that supports women and girls in overcoming its impacts. They also called on the Commonwealth to advocate an inclusive ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ that equitably supports the needs of women and men.
The ministers further underscored the significance of engaging men and boys in preventing and combating gender-based violence, and welcomed the launch of ‘For the Women in my Life’ campaign by the Commonwealth boss.
The campaign, to be rolled out to member states, will take a culturally sensitive approach towards involving men and boys as active allies in addressing violence against women and girls.
The ministers also highlighted the need to collect and analyse sex-disaggregated data to develop evidence-based solutions and target them more accurately.
