SuzanneNette
MissNette
Switzerland
Enpowering Young Women for Sustainable Development: Progress and Future
Graduate Women International Young Member Network, Sudha Srivastava, Cynthia A. Adinortey, Nyarai Tunjera
Women in power and decision-making, The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Women and poverty, Women and health
SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 2 – Zero Hunger, SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being, SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal
Child Marriage (2016), Sexual Health and Reproduction Education (2019), Women and STEM (2019), Securing increased Domestic Funding for Education to include equal and safe access to Digital Learning (2022), Promoting and defending human rights of women in universities and other post-secondary forms of education (2022)
The session highlighted some of the key issues women are facing in today's societies: period poverty, lack of digital skills, lack of leadership opportunities… and some examples of initiatives put in place to educate women and enhance their opportunities and participation in society.
Sudha Srivastava started the session with a presentation on leadership development. She claimed that female leadership matters because it enables diversity, inclusiveness and economic growth. Leadership positions are difficult to access for women because of challenges such as gender bias and societal stereotypes, work-life balance pressures, limited mentorship and networking opportunities, unequal access to leadership roles and training.
To encourage female leadership, we can make sure girls are being exposed to role models, we can work with schools and children picture books to normalise women in leadership roles. Targeted leadership training programs, skill development and confidence-building workshops are also effective.
Cynthia A. Adinortey then talked abput period poverty and menstrual hygiene. Period poverty often prevents girls from going to school, has educational impact, health risk, social and economic implications. Girls in rural and peri-urban areas can miss 3 to 5 days of school each month.
Period poverty is exacerbated by a luxury tax on foreign sanitary pads, making them unaffordable.
The Ghana Association of University Women created “the GAUW Menstrual Hygiene Project”. It focused on empowering women and girls by providing them with knowledge and tools about periods. Girls and boys need to be educated on the matter.
Finally, Nyarai Tunjera talk about digital literacy and AI. 250 million women worldwide lack digital skills, limiting their economic opportunities. Women are 45% less likely to have digital skills than men. She consideres digital literacy as a Human right. She participated and organized digital literacy training for marginalised women and girls in Cape town to improve their lives, enhance their opportunities and contribute to their communities.
Many of these programmes face challenges and need further support.
{How can the session serve GWI members on local. national and/or international levels?:15}
Most of the initiatives mentioned in the session face challenges like funding and sustainability, access to resources and infrastructure.
