Rights

There is growing global momentum to foster women’s participation and leadership in the political arena, and specifically within local governance structures. India has been at the top of this curve as compared to many countries around the world: Twenty years ago, decentralized governance in India – which ensured that women hold at least one-third of seats in local governing bodies known as Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) – was established with the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution. But have these quotas really enabled PRIs to successfully address concerns faced by ordinary women in India over the past two decades?  

Denmark’s minister of gender equality and ecclesiastical affairs on Feb. 19 visited the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) to learn more about the organization’s work on gender equality and preventing violence against women – particularly in the context of recent political attacks on women’s health and rights.

ICRW was the only nongovernmental organization that Minister Manu Sareen met with during his short visit to Washington, D.C., to help kick off the Nordic Cool 2013 international festival at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. A member of parliament for the Danish Social-Liberal Party, Sareen has been instrumental in, among other efforts, promoting the incorporation – or “mainstreaming” – of gender and equality perspectives in policy.

Indeed, for the past six years, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have claimed the highest level of gender equality in the world, according to the Gender Gap Report. Gender equality ministers in each Nordic nation are keen to maintain this ranking, even amidst increasingly vocal opposition to some of their efforts.

“We’re holding the gender torch high,” Sareen said. “We’re doing this because other countries rely on us.”

Sareen met with ICRW’s Suzanne Petroni, senior director of gender, population and development, and Stella Mukasa, director of gender, violence and rights, for an hour-long conversation that centered largely on women’s health and rights and often touched on the upcoming session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which will focus on eliminating all forms of violence against women.

Petroni discussed challenges that advocates for women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights continue to face in the United States and globally, and stressed the importance of sharing facts to counter opposing voices. “We have the evidence to make the case,” Petroni said.

Meanwhile, Mukasa shared her expertise on violence against women, saying that in tandem with prevention programs, there must be efforts to encourage communities to reflect on and adjust their attitudes about violence. “This has to be reinforced,” Mukasa said, “with long-term public messaging.”

In terms of incorporating gender perspectives into programs and policies, Sareen spoke of a need to develop “a new language” for the public, “explaining that this is for all of us – that men have a role; that we face problems, but also have to be part of the solutions.”

Sareen will return to the U.S. in March to represent Denmark at the CSW.

The recent United States presidential election confirmed the political power held by young people. Some 19 percent of the total votes on Nov. 6 were cast by young people between 18 and 29 years old – an even greater share of the electorate than in 2008. There should be no question that young people, through their engagement, advocacy and votes, are absolutely helping to determine the future of our country.

The rise of young people's influence is not contained to the U.S. Youth are showing their influence around the globe. Half of the world's population is under 30 years old, and these youth, more than 3 billion strong, comprise the most well-informed and well-connected generation the world has ever known.

We have the fortune of joining nearly 1,000 of these youth in Bali, Indonesia this week – not sightseeing, but formulating the international development agenda for the future.

As the world heads toward the 20th anniversaries of the major international development conferences of the 1990s and the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, the United Nations is bringing together young leaders and experts on youth from around the world to participate in the Bali Global Youth Forum, hosted by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Beyond 2014.

Young people and their allies from 190 countries will discuss how they – and the rest of the international community – should address the many challenges and opportunities they face. And as the U.S. Agency for International Development recently acknowledged in its first ever youth policy, how young people act on these challenges and opportunities will ultimately affect the fate of us all.

In Bali, we will chart a path forward ensuring young people's right to lead healthy lives and promote their overall well being. This includes better access to the information and services they need to prevent unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, violence, and alcohol and drug abuse. We want to change the course for adolescents and youth, who currently comprise the majority of those newly infected with HIV/AIDS, and who face far too frequent too early and unwanted pregnancy.

It is incomprehensible to us that in many developing countries, girls are forced to marry shortly after – and sometimes even before – puberty, often to much older men. The UN estimates that nearly 142 million girls will be married before their 18^th birthday in the coming decade. Young women – married or not – face increased risk of sexual violence, too early and unwanted pregnancy and maternal mortality. And young people everywhere face constraints and taboos related to their sexuality that often limits their ability to simply be themselves.

We will consider how best to provide opportunities for decent work and quality education to an ever-growing population of youth. According to the World Bank, 67 million children of primary school age and 72 million of lower secondary school age worldwide did not attend school in 2009. Without the education they need to survive and thrive in a modernizing world, young men and women will not be able to contribute fully to their societies.

Our mandate in Bali thus includes considering how societies can respect young people's sexuality, and uphold their rights, and improve gender equity and equality, while supporting youth to act responsibly on their own behalf.

As they will in Bali, young people must continue to take leadership roles and become agents of change in driving the international public health and development agenda. Not only is this their right, but experience shows us that the most effective programs and policies targeting youth are designed, implemented and evaluated with meaningful youth engagement. Governments and civil society must therefore promote and provide capacity-building opportunities, including financial and technical support, to enable young people to participate fully in decisions that affect them and their peers.

Finally, we will work toward a future where young people participate actively and take ownership in their futures, which means authentic, honest and meaningful youth-adult partnerships. Not tokenism. In fact, the vast majority of delegates at the Global Youth Forum are in that critical age range of 18 to 29 years old, when vital decisions about personal and community life are made.

Those of us attending the Global Youth Forum all hold a common belief – that empowering young people with accurate information, education and services will lead to healthy and productive decision-making for themselves and their communities. Just as important, however is our knowledge that communities, too, must support changes in social norms that will allow them to do so.

Young people around the world, including the ones who will join us in Bali this week, are the ones who can lead us and our planet toward a healthier, more equitable and more sustainable present and future. Join us in enabling them to do so.

Suzanne Petroni directs ICRW's gender, population and development program. She serves on the board of directors of Advocates for Youth and sits on the International Steering Committee for the ICPD Global Youth Forum

Meredith Waters is a senior at the George Washington University majoring in public health and was selected by the United Nations as a Respondent for the Global Youth Fourm in Bali. She is also a member of the International Youth Leadership Council at Advocates for Youth.

This commentary also appears in Global Post.