Addressing one of the leading side events, the Ministerial Round Table Discussion, at the ongoing CSW68 in New York, USA, Liberia’s Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs. Gbeme Horace-Kollie, called on her counterparts to ensure that actionable steps are taken to achieve equality and empowerment of women globally.
Speaking on the theme ‘Mobilizing financing for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls: Policies and strategies to end women’s and girls’ poverty,’ Minister Horace-Kollie expressed hope that the realities from the Ministerial Round Table Discussion around countries on how to maximize financing to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls will be actionable moving from theory to real practice.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
A series of panel discussions at ministerial and expert levels are organized each year to discuss and exchange experiences between countries.
The purpose of the Ministerial Round Table on the sidelines of CSW 68, is to rationalize the conversation on good practices for strengthening institutions and maximizing financing to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.The Gender Boss said, “honestly, success at today’s Ministerial Round Table is when we are able to translate from concept or policy to reality across the context on how to maximize financing to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.”
“While the case for investing in women’s economic empowerment is well established and highlighted at platforms like this, investments in gender equality, in the economic and productive sectors, have remained low, especially for countries in South-Saharan Africa. This shows the urgency for rethinking our financing priorities.”
The financial situations of many women remain uncertain and volatile compared to that of men.
Many women even find themselves economically dependent on a partner or family, preventing them from making their own decisions and following their own dreams.
The Gender Boss called on her colleagues to make progress in the commitment to strengthen institutions so as to enable women access financing opportunities.
“We must therefore make progress in our shared commitments in strengthening institutions and maximizing financing opportunities so as to achieve gender equality.”
“While we applaud the contributions and strides made by wealthy nations, we must stress that fundings sent to support gender equality programs in developing countries are usually followed by stringent bottlenecks and bureaucratic processes, which undoubtedly witness over 35 percent or more of these investments going back to the West,” the Gender Boss intimated.
Minister Horace -Kollie emphasized the need for capacity building of developing countries as a means of strengthening their integrity and ability to implement these projects.
The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women takes place in New York, USA from 11 to 22 March 2024 under the theme: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. The Review theme is: ‘Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.’
