A new report by Siyanda entitled “Gender, the Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights in the Context of the 2005 Review Process,” is now available to the public. Inspired from important human rights documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have the potential to serve important development goals, including those involving gender. The report finds, however, that the MDGs have a number of shortcomings. Women are referred to as mothers and girls; important issues such as conflict, security and reproductive and sexual health and rights are left out, and; there is an imbalance of accountability mechanisms between developing and developed countries.
Through the review process of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in March and the progress on the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals in September, the report recommends a re-prioritization of the above human rights instruments within the MDGs and a mobilization of political will in favor of the MDGs to support human rights obligations that lack political clout.
In addition to the report above, click here to see the accompanying powerpoint presentation.
Compiled by: Report: Gender, MDG in 2005 Review Process, News, World News, The Network of East-West Women-Polska/NEWW, www.neww.org, 6 January 2004.