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Short Summary |
Three principle frameworks guide international
work on gender equality and women's empowerment: the Convention on
the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
outlines legal commitments for the constitutional guarantee of women's
rights; the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) complements CEDAW,
providing an analysis of the issues and presenting an agenda of policy
commitments; and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a road
map towards the fulfilment of basic needs. This report describes the
basic processes, strengths and weaknesses of each of the three instruments.
It then goes on to look at each MDG in turn, outlining the gender
perspectives and critiques, and identifying the links between both
specific articles of CEDAW and the relevant areas in the BPfA. The
report concludes that the lack of a clear human rights perspective
and the failure to recognise the need for structural and political
change are significant barriers to the promotion of gender equality
through the MDGs. MDG 3 - to promote gender equality and the empowerment
of women - needs to be widened to include a stronger emphasis on rights,
the elimination of violence against women, commitments to strengthen
economic and inheritance rights and the promotion of women's political
and collective organisation. |
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