By Sue England, IWC Munich and Tia McLaughlin, AW Berkshire & Surrey
On August 31, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a town hall meeting on the issue of Women and the UN. Normally, this meeting would have taken place during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March in NYC, but CSW was cancelled this year due to COVID-19.
Moderator Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, noted that this is the 25th year since the 4th World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action in support of women’s human rights, and that progress in reaching the goals of the Beijing Platform has been poor. Due to the pandemic, the education of women and children is suffering, and they are at higher risk of dropping out. Furthermore, the lives of women and children are at higher risk. The Executive Director asked that member states structure their fiscal recovery packages to include women as recipients of aid, including those in informal as well as formal sectors.
The Secretary-General followed with his opening remarks. He noted that we are now seeing a reversal of the gains that had been made in the area of human rights, and that this was putting us at risk of losing a generation or more. He said that the pandemic has shown us who is doing the work in the world that really matters. We can see clearly what work is undervalued and unpaid in our societies. For example, 70% of healthcare workers are women, but they hold less than 30% of leadership roles in the sector. And though the majority of healthcare workers are women, PPE is often made to fit men, putting women at greater risk.
Support for women is vital for the continuance of our societies. Though women have been shown to be extremely effective in decision making, only 8% of heads of state are women. Violence and discrimination against women are harming us all. It is a matter of power. In UN institutions, we have achieved gender parity, and having 50% women has proved effective. We are trying to ensure all UN organisations achieve gender parity by 2028. The core issue for human rights, which are currently massively under attack, is creating real equality and inclusion.
- These opening remarks were followed by a question and answer period.
The first question was, what can civil society do to help address these human rights issues, and what is the UN doing to provide assistance to civil societies? The Secretary-General answered that the central question is one of redistributing power. There is currently a debate among UN member states, who want the UN to be primarily a government organisation. He believes, however, that the UN must also include civil organisations, cities, and other groups. He agrees with the philosophy that there should be a flow between civil and political society, in order to effect change. Providing funding to civil societies to help in their efforts is one way the UN can help, but the UN’s funds are minimal for this.
Daniella from Ghana asked the next question. She said that a 90-year old grandmother was recently killed in a witch hunt in Ghana. She asked if there were any arrangements to combat witch hunts. The Secretary-General said that UN country teams are working with governments to end the burning of women as witches in Africa. He called this an extreme form of discrimination, exclusion and violence against women. The UN is taking this issue to traditional leaders in Africa, through an organisation in Nigeria.
Next, Marta from Poland said we are dealing with a major crisis on human rights from right-wing authoritarian groups, whose views are based on ‘one true national ideology’. This trend exists now in Poland and Hungary, but it could extend to more countries. Not only does this damage human rights, it also undermines everything that has been done over the last few years. She asked, will we acknowledge that there is this huge backlash against human rights all over the world, and that it is women who are leading the fight against it? She said, “the system is crashing before our eyes.” How can we help one another?
In response, the Secretary-General agreed that nationalism and colonialism are currently creating a clear push back and are the main obstacles to human rights, freedom of the press, and an inclusive society. It is essential, he said, to push back against the push back.
Another question involved women’s unpaid and lower paid work. The questioner noted that in Georgia, women spend on average 45 hours per week on household chores, on top of their outside employment, while men take on less than 1/3 of the household workload. She said that this situation has worsened due to the pandemic. The Secretary-General agreed that unpaid and underpaid work by women is a huge issue. He said he feels that COVID must be used as an opportunity for government relief to address this – that women should receive relief packages directly. He cited the success of microcredit given to women, which has been demonstrated to have a much greater impact than microcredit provided to men.
A questioner from Zimbabwe noted that child pregnancy has surged as schools have been forced to close, and that this is creating a pandemic within the pandemic. The Secretary-General agreed that rights with respect to sexual and reproductive health are under attack, and that governments must not undermine these rights under the cover of COVID. He said that it is most important that schools reopen as soon as possible. Later, he noted that few schools in Africa are linked to the internet. He said the UN is trying to get all schools around the world linked to the Internet. We must close the digital divide, and have universal internet coverage as soon as possible. He also said that it was important to do everything possible to support girls outside of school.
Esther from Oman asked, what are we doing to support women’s rights defenders? We see the attack on multilateralism all over the world. The Secretary-General said that the UN pushes countries to protect human rights defenders, issuing a report on this every year. He continued by saying that the UN must work on institutional changes that link people more closely, and that the UN must be more directly linked to people’s interests. The member states want to stay intergovernmental, but he believes the UN must move away from this. We need the end of the Bretton Woods model.
The Secretary-General added that we need to fight ideologically: we are on our knees as a result of this microscopic virus; we have seen total disorganisation; our current system does not work. We need more multilateralism, and we need to fight together. Serious global threats -- lawlessness in cyberspace, and damage to our climate and environment – must be addressed multilaterally. This is an ideological battle against those who say they can deal with global problems alone. They cannot. We are doomed unless we work together.
Next, Juan Pablo, a member of UN Women’s Beijing+25 Youth Task Force, explained that young health workers’ rights are violated as well as those of the patients. He noted that the pandemic has created a financial crisis, and that most of the work by youth is voluntary. He asked if the UN had any proposal to support these organisations. The Secretary-General replied that the voices of young people are vital. He said that if there is a reason to be hopeful, it is the leadership of young people. An example is the work they are doing against climate change. The central question then, is how can we support young people? He thinks we need to institutionalise the participation of young people, and that we also need to fund it – and that we need political systems to recognise this necessity. Young people should be represented in parliaments, for example, in civil society, and in governments.
The Secretary-General ended by responding to a question about racism. He said that racism is a dramatic social disease and that it is everywhere, including the UN. He said that fighting it must be a priority, and that we must invest in social cohesiveness. He has asked for a roadmap to be created for how to fight against racism in the UN. He also agreed that COVID has created increased discrimination against the LBGTQI community and those with disabilities.
In her closing remarks, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said that even before COVID-19, we were off-track on the SDGs. Now we need to use the recovery from COVID as an opportunity to get back on track and strengthen multilateralism. The UN is 75, and 2020-2030 is the Decade of Action on the SDGs. Human rights are at the center of this. We must focus on the intergenerational transition that needs to happen. We must look to the gaps and leave no one behind.