The eighth of March is International Women鈥檚 Day, and the stakes could not be higher.
This year marks a quarter century since the creation of the听, a global blueprint for advancing the rights of women. It called for equality in all spheres of life and 鈥� building on a听听reached the previous year 鈥� it affirmed that reproductive health and rights are central to achieving that goal.
鈥淭he first mark of respect for women is support for their reproductive rights,鈥� said UNFPA鈥檚 then-Executive Director, Nafis Sadik, at the 1995 conference听in Beijing听where the Platform for Action was created.
鈥淩eproductive rights involve more than the right to reproduce. They involve support for women in activities other than reproduction, in fact liberating women from a system of values which insists that reproduction is their only function,鈥� she said.
This year, UNFPA is taking stock of progress made since that critical moment in Beijing. And, with United Nations partners, civil society, governments and activists, we are ramping up efforts to reach the elusive goal of full and total gender equality, once and for all.
Progress and backlash
The last quarter century has seen massive progress in women鈥檚 rights and welfare. Governments and authorities now accept as bedrock fact that sexual and reproductive health and rights are an indispensable part of global development. Few people -- if any 鈥� would openly reject the full and equal humanity of women and girls.
Yet the numbers show us how far we still have to go. Today, one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. Twenty-one per cent of girls are married before age 18. An estimated 200 million women and girls alive have undergone female genital mutilation. Women are more likely than men to be poor and illiterate; they have less access to property ownership, credit, training and employment; they are less likely to be politically active and far less likely to arise to positions of power.
These deprivations are too often expressed as a lack of reproductive autonomy and health: More than 200 million women around the world want to prevent pregnancy but are not using reliable contraception. Every year, nearly 300,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes; the vast majority of these deaths are preventable.
Meanwhile, the opposition to progress is only growing louder.
鈥淎round the world, there is a pushback on women鈥檚 rights,鈥� UN Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres said听last March. 鈥淲e witness increased violence against women, especially human rights defenders and women running for political office. We see online harassment and abuse of women who speak out. In some countries, homicide rates are going down 鈥� but murders of women are going up. In others, we see a rollback of legal protection against domestic violence or even female genital mutilation.鈥�
But advocates of women鈥檚 rights will not be intimidated.
Dr. Sadik鈥檚 words from Beijing are as true today as they were 25 years ago: 鈥淲e can go forward, but we must resolutely resist any attempts to go back.鈥�
Voices of change
This year, as part of the听听campaign, UNFPA is celebrating听听of women鈥檚 activists, whose unflagging efforts and indomitable spirit enabled the progress we enjoy today. And we look to a new听, who are carrying forward the torch of equality.
A century ago, Margaret Sanger founded the first 鈥渂irth control鈥� clinic in the United States 鈥� which later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She also played a pivotal role in convincing Gregory Pincus to work on the oral contraceptive pill. Her insights remain just as relevant now as they were a hundred years ago: 鈥淣o woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.鈥�
As an infant, Fawzia Koofi was abandoned to die under Afghanistan鈥檚 burning sun 鈥� just because she was born a girl. Her parents had a change of heart in time, but she would experience the crushing weight of misogyny again when the Taliban regime took power. She eventually launched a campaign to send girls to school, and went on to become one of the first women elected to the newly established Afghan Parliament. 鈥淚 want my daughters to be respected as human beings; that鈥檚 the country I鈥檓 fighting for,鈥� she said.
As an international development official at the United Kingdom, Julia Bunting worked to reframe thinking around maternal mortality, transforming it from an intractable problem to a solvable one. She also galvanized the FP2020 global pledge to extend family planning to an additional 120 million women and girls. She said: 鈥淎ll women and girls have the right, and must have the means, to decide freely and for themselves if and when to have children. Evidence shows us that when you give women and young people this right, their life chances are transformed.鈥�
Dr. Nadine Gasman has spent decades fighting pervasive gender inequality and violence against women throughout Latin America. She wants the world to understand the full range of benefits that gender equality will yield: 鈥淕ender equality and women鈥檚 empowerment are very good for women. But also very good for men.鈥�
Renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour has spent decades training a spotlight on gender discrimination and gender-based violence, showing the world that women鈥檚 news is not a marginal subject; it is real news. Her reporting showed that women and girls 鈥渁bsolutely wanted to have control over their bodies, over their own sexual satisfaction, over who were their partners, who they could choose or not choose....鈥�
Three decades ago, Byllye Yvonne Avery founded the National Black Women鈥檚 Health Project (now the Black Women鈥檚 Health Imperative), a movement to deal with mental and physical stressors affecting the health of black women. In 1984, the project identified violence as a key health issue鈥攍ong before others acknowledged its role. 鈥淥ur message to women: put yourself first,鈥� she said.
A harrowing childbearing experience inspired prominent model Christy Turlington to direct the documentary No Woman No Cry, about maternal death and disability, and to launch the non-profit Every Mother Counts: 鈥淚f we can鈥檛 support a woman while she is giving life, then we don鈥檛 support women.鈥�
Across Mongolia, domestic violence was once considered unspeakable. For Enkhjargal Davaasuren, this was unacceptable. She founded the National Centre Against Violence and started a campaign to criminalizing domestic violence. 鈥淚n a male-dominated, patriarchal society, women don鈥檛 realize how strong they can be. Be strong, but more importantly, be collectively strong.鈥�
For 20 years, Ana Pel谩ez Narv谩ez has advocated for women with disabilities. In 2018, backed by the global disability rights movement, she broke new ground by becoming the first woman with disabilities to be elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 鈥淚 want to bring a disabilities perspective into the whole agenda of the CEDAW Committee, making women with disability visible in every single piece of work, not just a mention from time to time.鈥�
At just 16, Alejandra Teleguario Santizo began speaking out against sexual violence and acoso callejero 鈥� street harassment 鈥� in her community in Guatemala. She quickly became a recognizable leader and, with network of other empowered girls, she began campaigning against child marriage. 鈥淧ersistence is important, because we will be able to achieve what we want as women. And get involved. That鈥檚 where change begins.鈥�
