Women Deliver: The Power of Now
The Power of Now: Taking stock of where we stand and what opportunities and challenges lie ahead
The morning started off with the Honourable Maryam Monsef, our Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality. She's the first Afghan-Canadian elected to parliament and the first Muslim to serve in the federal cabinet. She's relatively young too. I just wish as a speaker she was as interesting as her life story. That being said, she's new, and has time to grow. I will give her props for being accessible - every time I saw her around the conference she would stop and talk to people, danced with them at culture night and at no time did I ever see her not make the time for the people who wanted to talk to her.
She had a very awkward intro for the PM - she said "achieving accelerated progress in for gender equity in the moment is because we have more men with us." Uh ok, yeah sure there are lots of male allies but it's not because of them. It was meant to set up the introduction Justin Trudeau - and I thought it was weird.
Trudeau walked out to an enthusiastic crowd - he's very charismatic, and knows how to pander to an audience. He then went on to announce that the Government of Canada will be making a $1.4 billion investment for reproductive and sexual health and rights, in Canada and in foreign aid. As a Canadian, I was pleased to hear this - as much as I do not like the Liberal government, I do not feel like my right to choose abortion is under attack. If Scheer gets in, well, I think the Cons reverse this announcement and put our right to choose up for debate.
After the announcement Anna Rosling-Ronnlund from an NGO called Gapminder presenting a number of stats relating to gender equity. Given all of the "fake news" and gaslighting that's happening in world these days, they are determined to take a fact based world view to analyze gender equity around the world. We all participated in a 13 question survey on the app - I did pretty well. I think I got 10 correct. Yay me!
Then it was onto the panel discussion that focused on the hot-off-the-presses UN report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs were a new acronym for me. As per the UN, "At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests." The report then went on to say that no country will come close to meeting the 14 goals by 2030. Depressing...
Trudeau walked out to an enthusiastic crowd - he's very charismatic, and knows how to pander to an audience. He then went on to announce that the Government of Canada will be making a $1.4 billion investment for reproductive and sexual health and rights, in Canada and in foreign aid. As a Canadian, I was pleased to hear this - as much as I do not like the Liberal government, I do not feel like my right to choose abortion is under attack. If Scheer gets in, well, I think the Cons reverse this announcement and put our right to choose up for debate.
After the announcement Anna Rosling-Ronnlund from an NGO called Gapminder presenting a number of stats relating to gender equity. Given all of the "fake news" and gaslighting that's happening in world these days, they are determined to take a fact based world view to analyze gender equity around the world. We all participated in a 13 question survey on the app - I did pretty well. I think I got 10 correct. Yay me!
Then it was onto the panel discussion that focused on the hot-off-the-presses UN report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs were a new acronym for me. As per the UN, "At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests." The report then went on to say that no country will come close to meeting the 14 goals by 2030. Depressing...
Panel Discussion:
- Joannie Marlene Bews - Young Beninese Leaders Association
- Winnie Byanyama - Oxfam International
- Ken Frazier - CEO, Merck
- Phumizile Mlambo-Ngcuka - UN Women
- The Honourable Maryam Monsef - Minister, Status of Women and Gender Equality
- Peter Sands - Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
- Isha Sesay - Former CNN Journalist - moderator
The panel started off with Phumizile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of UN Women. When asked about the SDG report she said that progress is unacceptably slow and limited in scale when meeting the targets of the 14 goals. She then congratulated Trudeau (there was a lot of that after the announcement) and said that we should have an organization called "Prime Ministers Across Borders." While she praised Canada, she said Canada can't solve this alone. That if countries don't make the investment in women and girls, it creates nests for terrorism and entrenches extreme poverty. While that was bleak, she was also quite optimistic. That meeting those targets isn't insurmountable and that we shouldn't give up.
Next up was the Honourable Maryam Monsef - Minister, Status of Women and Gender Equality (Canada). She talked about how the government came to the decision to invest $1.4 billion in women and girls. She said that Canada wants to lead by example. That this announcement makes Canada the #1 investor in reproductive rights in the world. $330 million will go to grassroots organizations at home and abroad. While this is great news because it means that local communities will receive some money, she sounded like a big old campaign speech, towing the caucus line. It's challenging to give them any credit given that the day before, the National Enquiry on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls released their report. At no time did the Minister refer to the report, or the plight of indigenous women in her own country.
It was over to Peter Sands, who's in charge of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to talk about a health lens on the SDGs. He did say that investing in women's sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) isn't the be all and end all. We must look at the systemic and deeply rooted structures that cause disproportionate access to services. Investing in interventions for gender-based violence, and economic freedom will make a huge difference to meeting the SDG goals by 2030.
Ken Frazier, the CEO of Merck (a large pharmaceutical company) talked about how the private sector is not doing all it could to meet its social and moral obligations to investing in women and girls' health. They need to reach beyond the ethos of creating wealth solely for their shareholders, to step up their game to do more. The private sector plays a critical role to use science and to contribute resources to partner with governments and NGOs.
Winnie Byanyama the Executive Director of Oxfam International, talked about the landscape for progress. She too praised Canada for the announcement. She talked about all of the big root causes to gender inequality - patriarchy, colonialism, culture, religion. She talked about how far women have come in the 20th century. Some of our folks were critical of that statement. Taking a step back to see where WB was coming from - it's a sobering reminder that there are still countries were children are married off. That it's common to be my age in developing countries have have been pregnant at least 10 times, sometimes bearing as many children. There are countries where girls are lucky if they get to attend up to grade 3 in school. There are many women my age who have HIV or AIDS. Given that many countries have started to see some of these change - I can understand why she made a statement like that.
She went on to talk about 3 areas of where women make a difference.
After the panel our friend Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the former Executive Director of the UN Development Programme came out to present the "Delivering for Women and Girls" award to Dr. Carmen Barroso. Dr. Barroso started the first gender studies program in Brazil and was the Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and is the CEO of Global Doctors for Choice and the co-chair of the Gender and Rights Technical Group of the World Health Organization. She dedicated the award to the women who voted for Trump - to deliver them from the tragic misconception that put their and our world in danger. Wowsers.
Next up was the Honourable Maryam Monsef - Minister, Status of Women and Gender Equality (Canada). She talked about how the government came to the decision to invest $1.4 billion in women and girls. She said that Canada wants to lead by example. That this announcement makes Canada the #1 investor in reproductive rights in the world. $330 million will go to grassroots organizations at home and abroad. While this is great news because it means that local communities will receive some money, she sounded like a big old campaign speech, towing the caucus line. It's challenging to give them any credit given that the day before, the National Enquiry on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls released their report. At no time did the Minister refer to the report, or the plight of indigenous women in her own country.
It was over to Peter Sands, who's in charge of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to talk about a health lens on the SDGs. He did say that investing in women's sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) isn't the be all and end all. We must look at the systemic and deeply rooted structures that cause disproportionate access to services. Investing in interventions for gender-based violence, and economic freedom will make a huge difference to meeting the SDG goals by 2030.
Ken Frazier, the CEO of Merck (a large pharmaceutical company) talked about how the private sector is not doing all it could to meet its social and moral obligations to investing in women and girls' health. They need to reach beyond the ethos of creating wealth solely for their shareholders, to step up their game to do more. The private sector plays a critical role to use science and to contribute resources to partner with governments and NGOs.
Winnie Byanyama the Executive Director of Oxfam International, talked about the landscape for progress. She too praised Canada for the announcement. She talked about all of the big root causes to gender inequality - patriarchy, colonialism, culture, religion. She talked about how far women have come in the 20th century. Some of our folks were critical of that statement. Taking a step back to see where WB was coming from - it's a sobering reminder that there are still countries were children are married off. That it's common to be my age in developing countries have have been pregnant at least 10 times, sometimes bearing as many children. There are countries where girls are lucky if they get to attend up to grade 3 in school. There are many women my age who have HIV or AIDS. Given that many countries have started to see some of these change - I can understand why she made a statement like that.
She went on to talk about 3 areas of where women make a difference.
- Violence Against Women - 144 laws for VAW but impunity still abounds because it's ok - need to change the social norms.It's not just the duty of civil society to take this on, governments need to step up as well.
- Electoral Politics - how can we call anything a democracy when women don't make up half of the seats in government. In the USA - 32% of congress and senate are women. In the UK 32% of parliament are women. I think our numbers in Canada aren't particularly high although in BC and federally our cabinets are gender balanced.
- Economy - we value what men do and rarely women's work (paid and unpaid). For women to count in the economy then we have to value all of their work. Women need access to bank loans to become entrepreneurs - in many countries approval for a loan is based on their relationship to a man.
Next up Dr. Joannie Marlene Bews - Young Beninese Leaders Association talked to us about the contributions of young people to the SDG goals. It is imperative to ensure their inclusion -just look at the energy, innovation and creativity of the 1400 young leaders at the conference. We have to look at young people as empowered individuals not individuals waiting to be empowered. When it comes to the tables where decision-making, monitoring and evaluating are happening - young people are not there and not valued. She said that young people can't be left behind and have to wait for others to work on their behalf when they are ready to take on the world NOW.
When the panel was asked about the current rollbacks in the US on reproductive rights it got interesting.
PNM talked about how we cannot be bystanders - that we must push back. The majority of member states of the UN want to do the right thing but are intimidated by countries on the Security Council. 165 nations are represented at the conference and she encouraged us to monitor how our elected officials at every level are voting on issues that affect women and girls. WB addressed the question at a higher level - the fight against capitalism and the the global economic and political elites. If we can just lift women from being at the bottom of the economy. To fight against cultural and religious practices that oppress women and the engage everyone in the fight for justice.
KF was asked about the role of men. He said that there is a rising awareness amongst men on issues of gender equity. He expanded on his ideas about the role of the private sector - that they need to recognize women as innovators who need access to capital.
PS talked a little about agency and that health is all about politics. That people have to be able to shape their interventions and have the power to make those decisions. He got a little granular talking about desegregating data to understand the impact of decisions.
Closing thoughts of the panel:
- PMN - we need to invest in making it possible to everyone inside the fold - numbers matter!
- MM - there is lots of hope
- JB - we are seeing young people committed to doing the work. Seeing more women in decision making positions would be good and that masculinity and femininity are not mutually exclusive.
- WB - she will push Oxfam to work better and differently with women's organizations - to speak truth to power to challenge companies and governments.
- KF - optimistic. Ensure that Merck will use its resources to drive empowerment of women and to use science to improve the quality of life.
- PS - to do more work to break down gender-based access to health care and to engage with youth on health care issues.
After the panel our friend Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the former Executive Director of the UN Development Programme came out to present the "Delivering for Women and Girls" award to Dr. Carmen Barroso. Dr. Barroso started the first gender studies program in Brazil and was the Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and is the CEO of Global Doctors for Choice and the co-chair of the Gender and Rights Technical Group of the World Health Organization. She dedicated the award to the women who voted for Trump - to deliver them from the tragic misconception that put their and our world in danger. Wowsers.
What a way to start the morning. I had to book it over the the Feminists Deliver conference at 312 Main to fill in for Sheryl on a panel at 11am. It was good to have that 15 minute walk to digest what I heard..
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