At the Guadalajara, Mexico meeting of the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, “Realizing the Future We Want in Latin American and the Caribbean: Towards a Post-2015 Development Agenda,” the Feminist Task Force presented the statement, “Gender Equality to End Poverty” to Ambassador Patricia Espinosa, ex-minister of External Affairs and the HLP member from Mexico, convener of the regional meeting of the HLP in Latin America and the Caribbean. The statement emphasizes the interlinkages between gender and poverty, and calls for placing women at the heart of Post 2015 development framework.
“There is growing inequality in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, as well as other parts of the world,” said FTF Global Director, Rosa Lizarde, attending the conference along with other members of the FTF from the region. “This statement calls for ‘stemming and reversing the feminization of poverty and the structural drivers of women’s poverty and inequality.’” The statement was accepted as a conference contribution and is included on the Realizing the Future We Want in Latin American and the Caribbean: Towards a Post-2015 Development Agenda website.
In her statements at a private meeting with the FTF and local LAC partners where she received the statement, Amb. Espinosa committed to delivering the statement to other members of the HLP and highlighting the issues in her communication to the HLP. She mentioned that now is really the beginning of a deliberative and cautioned that the HLP report is only one means to influence the process. She encouraged civil society to continue to stay engaged and vigilant in the different processes defining the Post 2015 agenda and with HLP members active post-May when the HLP delivers their recommendations to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
“This statement calls for ‘stemming and reversing the feminization of poverty and the structural drivers of women’s poverty and inequality.” — Rosa Lizarde, FTF
Amb. Espinosa acknowledged that she and a few other members of the HLP, such as Graça Machel and Gunila Karllson, championed women’s rights and gender equality, and committed to continuing to raise women’s issues as a HLP member and subsequently in whatever professional capacity she found herself post-HLP.
The “Gender Equality to End Poverty” statement was developed in a collaborative space at the “Advancing the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda: Reconfirming Rights, Recognizing Limits, Redefining Goals” Conference held in Bonn, Germany, March 20-22, 2013.
Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda
The statement was initiated at a Bonn session entitled, “Poverty and Gender” which explored the interconnectedness of gender, poverty, inequality, discrimination, social exclusion as well as strategies for advancing women’s human rights and women’s empowerment within the Post 2015 development agenda. The statement is listed as an outcome of the Bonn Conference and has garnered close to 200 organizational/individual signatories on the .
To support the statement, go to http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/332416, click expand, sign and submit.
Feminist Task Force 