ASG Brands Kehris statement on policies and strategies to end women’s and girls’ poverty

Ministerial Round Table Mobilizing financing for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls: Policies and strategies to end women’s and girls’ poverty

Excellencies,

The rising inequality and a reversal of progress in poverty reduction demonstrates the urgent need of a paradigm shift in the economic model and a fundamental reform of the international financial architecture.

Poverty is not merely a lack of income or wealth. Poverty is chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of human rights.

Poverty is not inevitable. Women and girls face exacerbated deprivation throughout their life-course, due to the persistent gender inequality in all spheres of life.

Most current economic policies focus on integrating women and girls into existing, unequal economic systems, as a means to achieve economic growth. They tend to address a small number of economic rights associated with work, income security, financial inclusion and women’s entrepreneurship, instead of addressing a full spectrum of women’s rights.

Financing for poverty eradication must address the broader range of women’s human rights and root causes of gender inequality, including unequal gender and power relations within families, communities, public and private institutions and markets.

We must shift from an economic model that sees gender equality as just a tool for economic growth, towards human rights economy that sets the realization of a full spectrum of women and girls’ rights as a goal and reduces gender and other inequalities.

The reform of international financial institutions and the global debt and tax architectures should allow developing countries to protect and promote human rights of women and girls, including through just transition, universal social protection and transformation of care and support systems, and not penalize them for boosting social spending.

Global and national tax systems should be assessed from a gender perspective and reformed for fairer redistribution of wealth within and between countries and for enabling States to mobilize resources to invest in human rights and reduce gender inequality.

All these reforms must be done with equal and safe participation in decision making of women and girls from diverse backgrounds, and must establish accountability mechanism to assess their impacts.

Thank you.