International Women’s
Day 8 March 2006 Nairobi, 7 March 2006 -A
pilot Who’s Who of leading female environmentalists
is being unveiled today by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) to mark International
Women’s Day.
The women, drawn from across the world,
are initially those known as decision makers
in the field of the environment in keeping
with this year’s theme—“Women in Decision
Making: Meeting Challenges, Creating Change”.
Names include UK primatologist Jane Goodall,
Inuit leader Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Julia
Carabias-Lillo of Mexico, Princess Basma
Bint Ali of Jordan, Mei Ng of China, and
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai
of Kenya.
Pen portraits of their achievements are
being published today on UNEP’s main web
site www.unep.org
UNEP wants to cover eventually all realms,
including activists and grassroots women,
up to scientists and politicians who have
made significant contributions to environment
and sustainable development.
The plan is to publish the compendium as
the first fully fledged Who’s Who of women
in the environmental world.
Klaus Toepfer, UNEP’s Executive Director,
said: “International Women’s Day has become
a very special day in our calendar and we
are marking it with the launch of this project,
aimed at raising awareness and the profile
of these very special women”.
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the
United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM), said: “Today, we call for a Global
Coalition of Women Economic Decision-Makers
– committed to making change happen in the
lives of ordinary women and men on the ground”.
“It is important to act now. With the large
increase in official development assistance
that is anticipated with the roll-out of
the new aid agenda, these women can be the
building blocks of a power coalition to
reshape macroeconomic decision-making—and
eliminate the poverty, inequality and insecurity
that define the lives of so many,” she added.
Mr Toepfer, echoing Ms Heyzer’s comments,
added: "Women are both the victims
of environmental degradation and important
stewards of a healthy and stable environment.
Thus, the cause of women and of gender equality
is our cause, too”.
“For example, if we can deliver more abundant
water supplies, we can reduce the time spent
by girls and women searching for water for
cooking and drinking. This gives them more
time to spend at school and with their families,
which in turn benefits for the environment,”
said Mr Toepfer.
“For it is the women, particularly in developing
countries, who are often in the front line,
in terms of managing the land and waterways
and sustaining their communities. They are
often the custodians of local and indigenous
knowledge and conservators of the natural
world upon which they and their families
depend,” said Mr Toepfer.
The Who’s Who project builds on UNEP’s Women
as the Voice for the Environment (WAVE)
initiative launched in 2004 and backed by
the organization’s Governing Council in
February 2005.
Here governments recognized both the importance
of women in the fight for sustainable development
and the need to mainstream gender equality
across the board including in national Poverty
Reduction Strategies.
The initiative fed into the 2005 World Summit
in September last year where heads of state
reviewed the implementation of the 2015
Millennium Development Goals.
Notes to Editors
International Women’s Day is celebrated
in many countries around the world. It is
a day when women are recognized for their
achievements without regard to divisions,
whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural,
economic or political. It is an occasion
for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments,
and more importantly, for looking ahead
to the untapped potential and opportunities
that await future generations of women.
In 1975, during International Women's Year,
the United Nations began celebrating International
Women’s Day on 8 March. Two years later,
in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted
a resolution proclaiming a United Nations
Day for Women's Rights and International
Peace to be observed on any day of the year
by Member States, in accordance with their
historical and national traditions. In adopting
its resolution, the General Assembly recognized
the role of women in peace efforts and development
and urged an end to discrimination and an
increase of support for women’s full and
equal participation.
The Charter of the United Nations, signed
in 1945, was the first international agreement
to affirm the principle of equality between
women and men. Since then, the UN has helped
create a historic legacy of internationally-agreed
strategies, standards, programmes and goals
to advance the status of women worldwide.
While women’s participation in parliaments
is now the highest it has ever been — at
16.3 per cent across worldwide parliaments
— this represents only a marginal increase
since 1975, when the participation rate
was 10.9 per cent. Similarly, women remain
underrepresented as top executives in the
private sector even in the developed countries,
despite educational advances for women in
many parts of the world. Several countries,
including Norway, have implemented quotas
to increase the number of women on boards
of directors of companies.
Over the years, the UN and its technical
agencies have promoted the participation
of women as equal partners with men in achieving
sustainable development, peace, security,
and full respect for human rights. The empowerment
of women continues to be a central feature
of the UN’s efforts to address social, economic
and political challenges across the globe.
For more information please see http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2006/index.html
The first Global Women’s Assembly on Environment:
Women as the Voice for the Environment (WAVE)
was held at the headquarters of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi,
Kenya, from 11 to 13 October 2004. The meeting
was attended by some 150 participants from
65 countries.
Organized by UNEP’s Division of Policy Development
and Law, WAVE is part of an increased emphasis
by UNEP to bring women’s voices to the forefront
of the environmental agenda and enhance
the involvement of major civil society groups
in environmental management and decision
making worldwide.
For more information, see http://www.unep.org/DPDL/civil_society/WAVE/default.asp
