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Gender Dimension in the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda

Summary of Side Event on Gender and the post 2015 development agenda which was co-organised by WECF on the 21st of March

26.03.2012 |WECF




On the 21st of March, 2012, WECF co-organised a Side Event during the first round of informal-informal negotiations on the zero draft outcome document. The dialogue between member states, civil society and UN agencies aimed to have a look at the sustainable development goals and development agenda after 2015 through the perspective of gender equality and women‘s rights.

Download a Special Report on this Side Event here or please read it below.
Also, the invitation to the event is downloadable here.

Picture copyright: ENB

Sustainable Development Goals and MDG post-2015 Development Agenda: The gender dimension


Presented by UN-Women, Switzerland and the Women’s Major Group Ambassador


Dessima Williams, Permanent Mission of Grenada to the UN, opened the session, saying that this event addressed gender equality and women’s rights in the development agenda post-2015.

Saraswathi Menon, UN-Women, said that the outcomes of the UN Conference
on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20) need to set objectives that are transformative and inclusive in order to be successful. She called for systemic approaches for women to be included into the sustainable development agenda, and for gender inequality to be strongly refl ected in proposed sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Usman Iftikhar, UN Development Programme (UNDP), noted that the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) depends on: effective policies to support implementation; improved quantity, quality and focus of investments; and appropriate institutional capacity to deliver quality services equitably.

Anita Nayar, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), called for the development agenda to move beyond the MDG defi nition of income poverty. She suggested that possible SDGs confront the inequitable distribution of poverty, urging women’s groups and social movements to be fully involved in the Rio+20 process.

Ximena Andión-Ibañez, Information Group on Reproductive Choice and Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice, Mexico, said that the lessons learned from the MDGs have indicated that a holistic agenda and approach is needed.

Andrea Ries, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), said there will be no progress in the development agenda if women are not involved or considered in all aspects.

Marcia Machagata, Ministry of Social Affairs and Combating Hunger, Brazil, said that equity is an important concept heading towards Rio+20, noting that addressing social security and poverty issues can have multiplier effects.

Lize McCourt, Chief Operating Officer, South African Department of Environmental Affairs, stated that mainstreaming gender is important, but that this alone will not achieve gender equality. She stressed that implementation and monitoring functions are equally necessary.

In the ensuing discussion, delegates addressed: the need to focus on the goals already set; insufficient implementation of gender equality policies; and linkages between MDGs and SDGs.


For further information on women’s priorities for sustainable development for Rio+20, please visit www.womenrio20.org and Women Major Group.
Learn more about WECF representation in international and UN policy processes



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