Major Groups’ Statement on Gender Equality to OWG-11

Doris Mpoumou, of the International Planned Parenthood Federation/ Western hemisphere region presented the Women’s Major Group (WMG) statement to the 11^th session of the UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG-11)

In the statement the WMG welcomed the retention of gender equality as a focus area but said that it was not bold and ambitious enough “to have a transformative impact on the lives of women and girls worldwide”.

Among the concrete suggestions made by the OWG were calls for the goal to:

1. Attain gender equality, the full realization of women’s human rights, and the empowerment of all women and girls everywhere;


2. End all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity and end impunity for gender-based violence;


3. Include comprehensive sexuality education;


4. End harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and honor killings; and


5. Remove all legal and policy barriers that hinder access to sexual and reproductive health care services, and eliminate laws and harmful practices that criminalize sexuality and reproductive autonomy.

The full presentation is available here.