International Development CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Womankind Worldwide

Summary

The written evidence presented contends that gender inequality is the most pervasive form of social inequality. It cuts across all other forms of inequality and subsequently impacts other development goals such as MDG1: Poverty and Hunger, MDG2: Universal Education, MDG4: Child Health and MDG5: Maternal Health. Whilst MDG3 (Gender Equality) has proved to be an invaluable advocacy tool, significant strides need to be made in the post-2015 agenda in order to attain gender equality in both the public and private sphere. Womankind Worldwide suggests that it is critical to maintain a strong focus on women’s rights in the post-15 global development framework. The written evidence and recommendations below set out ways to ensure that women’s rights do not fall off the agenda and demonstrates how other development goals are heavily dependent on securing women’s rights worldwide.

Brief Information About Person Handling Submission

Rachel Carter has been the Head of Policy and Advocacy at Womankind Worldwide since 2009. Prior to this she spent two years as the Senior Programmes Manager for Africa. Other relevant experience includes five years at Against Violence and Abuse (AVA) a UK based project focussed on ending violence against women and a two year MSc and research at the University of Cape Town on the effectiveness of the South African Domestic Violence Act.

Recommendations for the International Development Committee to Consider in its Report

1. A new post-2015 framework should:

Focus on the most marginalised people in society, recognising that women and girls constitute the majority.

Reflect an understanding that women’s poverty is in part a result of their socially enforced gender roles and relations and that without specifically addressing the causes of gender inequality women’s poverty will persist.

2. Gender equality should be mainstreamed throughout the framework by:

Agreeing specific targets under each goal that reflect the gender barriers women and girls face.

Developing gender sensitive indicators based primarily on need rather than availability of data.

Providing incentives within targets and indicators to reach the poorest and most marginalised people in society, explicitly including women from socially excluded groups.

Ensuring that all indicators are disaggregated by sex.

3. There should be a standalone goal or domain on gender equality that:

Prioritises the poorest and most marginalised women and girls.

Reflects the priorities of these women themselves.

Meets their long term strategic interests by tackling the roots of gender inequality.

Reflects commitments already made under existing international agreements.

October 2012