“Half the deadline to 2030 Sustainable development goals is going dangerously off course, he warning. “Gender equality is almost 300 years from now. Progress on maternal health and access to family planning has been slow.”
World Population Day is celebrated every year on 11 July and this year’s focus is on unleashing the power of gender equality and giving women and girls a greater voice.
Invest in women
According to the United Nations, despite making up half of the planet’s population, women and girls are often ignored in demographic discussions due to their rights being violated in population policies.
As a result, women and girls may be limited in their ability to make decisions about their own health and sexual and reproductive lives, increasing their vulnerability to violence. violence, harmful behaviors and preventable maternal deaths.
The Secretary-General said gender-based discrimination harms everyone, while investing in women lifts spirits for all, communities and nations.
He added: “Promoting gender equality, improving maternal health and empowering women to make their own reproductive choices are all essential and central to achieving all the Development Goals. Sustainable Developments (SDGs).
Mr. Guterres urged women and girls to fight for their rights and step up efforts to “make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for all 8 billion of us”.
Harness the power
According to the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, what women and girls want is what matters. UNFPA.
World Population Day is a reminder that a more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future can be achieved “if we harness the power of every human being on this planet”, speak Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA.
Her message for this Day highlights that more than 40% of women around the world are unable to exercise their right to make basic decisions like having children or not.
Gender equality benefits all
“Empowering women and girls, including through education and access to modern contraceptives, helps support them to achieve their aspirations and chart their own path in life,” she said. Surname.
Dr. Kanem emphasized that promoting gender equality is a cross-cutting solution to many social problems.
For aging societies that are worried about productivity, she said, achieving gender equality in the workplace is the most effective way to improve output and economic growth.
“Meanwhile, in countries with rapid population growth, women’s empowerment through education and family planning can have enormous benefits through human resources and inclusive economic growth”.
Dr Kanem said the solution was clear, as “advancing progress towards gender equality – through access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, improved education, appropriate labor policies and standards equity in the workplace and at home – will lead to healthier families, stronger economies and resilient societies.”
