Tackling the issues facing women and girls should be at the heart of all the internationally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
CBC News Power and Politics - Secretary-General Scotland 230916
Tackling the issues facing women and girls should be at the heart of all the internationally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
“When you have a climatic incident, you have to ask yourself, who is most affected, who can be disproportionately affected? What do the facts tell us? We find that it is women and children who tend to be the most vulnerable and they suffer more than others,” she said in an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton.
“When you look at who has less opportunity across the world in relation to education, again its women and girls. When you look at employment, who has the greatest disparity in terms of how much they are paid, compared to others? It’s women and girls.
“So it’s looking at all of those issues and understanding that, if we are to leave no one behind then we have to be sensitive and focus on the disparity that is there within all those indices. For every single goal we should be asking how does this impact on women and girls?”
The live interview followed the Secretary-General’s attendance at Canada’s “Leave no one behind” event at the UN General Assembly in New York. The meeting focused on gender equality, the empowerment of women and ending violence against women and girls.
"Don't shut up till you get true equality" - #Commonwealth Secretary-General Scotland: https://t.co/fBdYGlLaxT #UNGA #GenderEquality #SDG5 pic.twitter.com/C7Pn1eNYPn
— The Commonwealth (@commonwealthsec) September 23, 2016
“I came away with an increased determination to make sure that all of us within the Commonwealth commit ourselves, absolutely, wholeheartedly, to delivering the sustainable development goals. But particularly, making sure women are there, right at the heart of everything we do.”
Responding to a question about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s insistence that he is a feminist, the Secretary-General told the broadcaster, “It signals that the prime minister is committed to equality. I am a daughter of the greatest feminist I believe ever lived, and he taught me that I can do anything that any of my brothers can do. So having men stand up for equality, for equal treatment, is incredibly important.”
“This is not just an issue for women, it’s an issue for every father of a daughter, every son of mother, every brother of a sister and every friend who has someone they care for who happens to be female,” she said.
“It’s going to take all of us if this parity of treatment is going to be upheld. So I hope there will be masses of men out there who will be able to say I am a feminist too, not just your prime minister.”
