No woman should be left behind on crucial path to equality

CHAIR of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, secretary-general of the UN, president of Ecosoc, president of the general assembly, ministers and representatives from capitals, women and civil society representatives, representatives of the CSW Youth Forum.

This commission concerns itself with the status of women. The priority theme is “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work”.

Inclusive economies and a positive world of work are powerful ways of breaking away from the cycles of poverty that besiege our nations. Currently, in the gender equality agenda, we see progress in some areas, but we also see an erosion of gains. We need swift and decisive action that can be brought about by the world of work so that we do not leave women even further behind.

Almost all women do some form of work. If you are a woman you are a worker – period. Virtually, all economies rely on the unpaid care and domestic work largely provided by women and girls. Yet, this positions them uniquely to be “left behind”.

Investment into the care economy of 2% of GDP in just seven countries could create over 21 million jobs. That would provide child care, elderly care and many other needed services.

The secretary-general’s report gives greater attention to women who work at the base of the pyramid as these are the ones who are at the highest risk of being left behind.

The informal sector is dominated by millions of women who are the working poor. Women workers in the informal sector are all around us. They are the under-the-radar and undervalued cogs in the bigger wheels of the formal economy. They are the low-cost farmworkers, flower sellers, street food vendors, care workers, and home-based producers of garments and car parts. Almost none of them have legal or social protection.

There is a big opportunity for this commission to recommend changes that match the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals. And when we do that, we will address the needs of these women. On International Women’s Day last week, Pakistan enacted a new law that recognises home-based workers and entitles them to social protection.

Advancing women’s equality in total could bring a potential boost of $28 trillion to global annual GDP by 2025. That is five years before the 2030 Agenda endpoint.

Just fixing the informal economy could affect 80% of the women working outside home in sub-Saharan Africa and remove the threat of extreme poverty.

The change of discriminatory laws in over 150 countries could affect more than three billion women and girls in the world. And that is what tipping the scale is about.

We now have only 13 years until 2030. Every week and every month counts. So does the scale of the change we achieve, which must also benefit the displaced persons.

Lessons from countries already making change are important to share. For this commission, 35 countries have provided input on the review theme of how lessons from the Millennium Development Goals are being reflected in national processes and policies.

We know that strong and autonomous women’s movements are a corollary of effective policy change on gender equality. We will consistently promote their safety and ability to organise.

Over the last two years, a global gender-equality compact has been accumulated through the Beijing+20 Review, Agenda 2030 itself, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the New Urban Agenda and the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees.

These aspirations are shared by the world, for a better world, for women, for us all.