Tag: gender equality

Scottish Government launches Women and Girls Fund

Commitment to enhance gender equality and women’s rights internationally

Women and girls in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia will be given the opportunity to design and deliver a new fund to advance gender equality and the rights of women and girls in their own countries.

The new Women and Girls Fund is supported by £3 million from the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund and will be delivered over four years.

The lead delivery partner for the Fund is the international research consultancy Ecorys, working in collaboration with FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists) in three of the Scottish Government’s International Development partner countries. The fund will take a participatory approach, being co-developed by women and girls, and women and girl-led organisations in the three countries.

International Development Minister Kaukab Stewart said: “Gender inequality remains one of the greatest human rights challenges globally, and we must work together to address this.

“Reflecting our commitment to equalise power, the Women and Girls Fund will provide direct support to local women and girl-led organisations in our Sub-Saharan African partner countries.

“Direct funding is central to driving transformational change; this fund will empower women and girls, locally, to define and meet their own priorities.

“As we mark International Women’s Day, it is fitting that we launch this incredibly valuable programme, which puts feminist principles into action and will help us to advocate for a world without gender inequality.”

Ecorys Team Leader Mpala Nkonkomalimba said: “The funding opportunity cannot be coming at a more opportune time, as women and girls are still struggling to have voice in decision making processes and with the global economic downturn, they continue to be the face of poverty.

“Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) capacities to respond to the many emerging global and national issues affecting women and girls needs to be built and what is exciting is that the fund is planned to be participatory with CSOs themselves co-creating the funding mechanism.”

UK boost to advance gender equality in climate action

COP President Alok Sharma will announce how £165 million of UK funding will progress gender equality while tackling climate change

  • Two new programmes to boost women’s climate leadership and support those most vulnerable to climate change.
  • Ministers and representatives from private sector and civil society from across the world will meet at Gender Day at COP26 to announce new commitments which address the links between climate action and gender equality.

At its COP26 Gender Day today (Tuesday 9 November), the UK will announce £165 million to tackle climate change while addressing the inequalities that make women and girls more vulnerable to climate change and empowering them to take climate action.

Around the world, the UN has found that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men, in part because they constitute a large majority of the world’s poor and often depend on small-scale farming for a livelihood, which is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Women and children can comprise 80% of those displaced by climate-related disaster. But addressing gender inequality has also been proven to advance efforts to tackle climate change.

£165 million in UK funding will drive forward these aims:

  • up to £45 million to help empower local communities and grassroots women’s groups in Asia and the Pacific to challenge gender inequalities and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
  • £120 million to build resilience, prevent pollution, protect biodiversity, strengthen renewable energy and better manage waste, while also supporting women’s leadership, access to finance, education and skills in Bangladesh.

The chair of the flagship Gender Day event, UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: “It is women, girls and those who are already most marginalised, that will be most severely impacted by climate change. But they also have a critical role to play to address the climate crisis.

“The UK is committed to addressing this dual challenge head on, committing new funding to empower communities and women’s groups to take locally-led adaptation action, to build local, national and global resilience. I urge more countries to make commitments to implement the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan and deliver the goals of the Feminist Action for Climate Justice.”

Through its COP26 Presidency, the UK has been urging countries around the world to put gender equality at the heart of climate action, and will today convene ministers and other actors to discuss new action to tackle gender and climate change. A number of countries and stakeholders will also announce bold new gender and climate commitments today.

The UK will jointly launch a toolkit on gender-smart climate finance. Co-led by CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, the toolkit will improve understanding on the opportunities of gender-sensitive climate investment by providing guidance to the finance community on how to deliver climate outcomes while promoting gender equality and women’s economic opportunities.

Fatou Jeng, Founder, Clean Earth Gambia and Co-Lead YOUNGO Women and Gender working group, said: “Gender inequality creates additional burdens and barriers for women and girls during times of conflict and climate-related crisis which increases their risks of hunger, food insecurity and violence. But women play fundamental roles in local food systems and are carers and activists, which make them uniquely placed to drive longer term climate resilience.

“Women should be involved in the policy making, project planning and implementation of climate adaptation projects, and gender equality should be a key portion in climate financing. If gender equality is not taken as a serious issue in our climate decision-making, climate financing and climate adaptation processes, it will undermine opportunities for women in vulnerable communities to drive effective climate change adaptation and mitigation approaches that meet their needs.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma and Anne-Marie Trevelyan will host the UK’s Presidency Gender Day event accompanied by Little Amal, the 3.5 metre puppet travelling 8,000km in support of refugees, and Brianna Fruean, a Samoan Climate Change activist.

The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, will speak along with youth advocate Fatou Jeng, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Asa Regner and Indigenous activist Tarcila Rivera Zea, for a discussion on how to enable gender equality through climate actions. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will also address the event.

Minister for Europe and the Americas, Wendy Morton, will also announce the UK’s new commitment to develop a FCDO girls’ education and climate policy to help secure concerted global action on climate change in the education sector, to prevent climate change disrupting girls’ education and empowering girls to take climate action.

This follows COP26 Youth and Public Empowerment Day last week, where the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education Helen Grant announced support for girls’ education in the face of climate change. This includes an £85,000 research grant to support the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. The Centre will produce better information on the education needs of refugee children to enable a more effective international response.

It’s time to talk about women and girls’ mental health in Edinburgh

The First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG) is urging people in Edinburgh to get involved in the national conversation around tackling gender equality issues in relation to mental health.

Gender roles and expectations have particular mental health consequences for women and girls and the current COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these pressures. Unpaid care work, juggling work commitments and social media pressures are just some of the factors triggering more women and girls to suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders and self harm. 

The Advisory Council will examine what needs to change to offer greater support to women and girls and take a feminist approach to self-care as well as determine what actions are needed to improve gender equality in relation to mental health.

The NACWG was established in 2017 to play a leading role in raising the issue of gender inequality on Scotland’s agenda by drawing attention to a wide range of issues faced by women and girls. Putting a spotlight on a new theme on a bi-monthly basis, the Advisory Council aims to bring people together and create discussion on many issues still faced by women and girls in Scotland today.

The NACWG is putting a Spotlight on Mental Health until the end of December to understand the emotional and psychological challenges faced by women and girls, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Louise Macdonald OBE, Co-Chair of The NACWG, said: “While we have seen the stigma around discussing mental health decrease in recent years, things like access to support services remain an issue for many.

“Poor mental health can prevent women and girls from reaching their full potential, therefore, it’s important they feel supported,  particularly during these unprecedented times. 

“The Advisory Council is inviting groups, organisations and networks in Edinburgh, to share their experiences, opinions and ideas around the Mental Health Spotlight. Every bit of feedback will help to gather more insight and help to drive action in creating long-lasting change for women and girls in Scotland.”

To participate in this national conversation, groups, organisations and networks are encouraged to form a virtual Wee Circle to discuss issues surrounding inequalities in mental health and share ideas on how this can be tackled. 

Feedback from these Wee Circle discussions, as well as individual feedback, can be submitted online at onescotland.org/NACWG. 

Thoughts can also be shared on social media using the hashtag #GenerationEqual.

Historic figures stand together to tackle gender inequality

Three statues depicting important and pioneering women in Edinburgh, alongside a further 11 across Scotland, have been adorned with #GenerationEqual sashes in a show of solidarity towards gender equality ahead of International Women’s Day.

Working in partnership with local authorities, councillors and site owners throughout Scotland, The First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG) staged the progressive stunt to highlight the scarcity of statues celebrating women in history and their society-changing accomplishments, and drive forward the gender equality movement.

Putting a spotlight on some of the inspiring women already recognised in stone and steel, The NACWG embellished statues and sculptures in nine cities, towns, villages and burghs across Scotland, championing equality for all with the #GenerationEqual slogan – including the ‘Woman and Child’ statue at Festival Square, ‘The Dreamer’ statue in memory of Winifred Rushworth at George Square Gardens and the statue of social activist Helen Crummy in Craigmillar – which will remain in place throughout the weekend.

The NACWG is also urging members of the public to put a spotlight on the inspirational women they think should be commemorated for their achievements.

NACWG Co-Chair Louise Macdonald OBE, said: “For generations, our history has been written by one gender. One perspective, one vision, one half of the population. Half of our history is missing.

“We want to highlight this huge inequality by showcasing some of the statues that do exist and call for better recognition of the women who have made a lasting impact through their bravery, intelligence and actions.

“Women are not niche; we are half the world and 52% of the population in Scotland [as per Engender’s latest Sex and Power publication].”

Of the 828 statues recorded in the whole of the UK, only 174 of them are female – around one in five.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Looking just at named women rather than nameless female figures whittles the figure down even lower, to 80. In contrast, out of 534 statues of men, 422 of them are named.

Coinciding with Women’s History Month, the annual month-long celebration which highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society, The NACWG is  calling on members of the public to nominate modern day women who deserve to be recognised with a statue of their own, using the hashtag #GenerationEqual on social media.

Louise added: “We want to encourage conversation around societal change, challenge this underrepresentation and make women’s contributions to society more visible – especially those facing multiple discrimination – in politics, in sport, on boards, and even in the street.

“With so many inspiring accomplishments all too often overlooked, it’s time we paid homage to these amazing women making a difference in today’s society. We hope this activity inspires people of all age, race, gender, religion and belief to join the conversation.”

Earlier this year, The NACWG published its second annual report which included seven recommendations to the First Minister following its review of policy coherence and gender equality throughout 2019. At the NACWG Circle event on 29 January,

Ms Sturgeon advised that a full and considered response would follow, but outright accepted the recommendation to upscale the Equality Unit to a Equality, Human Rights and Inclusion Directorate and the Senior Officials and Leaders Group.

Recommendations in the latest report build on those made by The NACWG in its 2018 Report and Recommendations – of which, all eleven were subsequently accepted by Nicola Sturgeon – with the recommendations devised to work in tandem to drive forward the gender equality movement.

The NACWG 2019 report and recommendations can be found at: https://onescotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NACWG-2019-Report-and-Recommendations.pdf

Have your say using #GenerationEqual on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and follow @NACWGScot.

 

Have your say on gender and disability inequality

The First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG) is calling on Edinburgh residents to get involved in the national conversation on tackling gender inequality.

NACWG is encouraging the local community to join the movement and lend a voice in the latest discussion surrounding disability.

Disabilities affect more women and girls in Scotland than any other group. Women continue to face equality disadvantages resulting in negative impacts on their everyday life.

NACWG welcomes individuals of any gender and those who don’t identify within Edinburgh to bring real experiences and new voices to the Circle to help shape recommendations to the First Minister.

Areas the Council wish to examine include independent living, access to services and information, and participation in society.

Established in 2017, the Advisory Council was formed to drive action and play a leading role in raising gender inequality in Scotland. The Council aims to bring people together focusing on a new spotlight every two months to share ideas and opinions on different gender equality issues. The NACWG is putting a spotlight on disabilities until the end of February, outlining the barriers faced by disabled women.

To get involved, people can come together to form a ‘Wee Circle’ with family, friends or colleagues discussing ideas and views related to inequality for women and girls with disabilities, and submit their feedback online at onescotland.org/NACWG.

Alternatively, they can share their thoughts on social media using the hashtag #GenerationEqual.

The NACWG Chair, Louise Macdonald OBE, said: “Disabled women are often faced with double discrimination because of their gender which adds further challenges to their day to day lives.

“We encourage people across Edinburgh to share their views and experience, whether they themselves or someone they know is affected by these issues. Every opinion we gather contributes to shaping our recommendations to the First Minister, so we want and need to hear from as wide a range of people as possible. It is an opportunity for the people of Edinburgh to play a part in real and lasting change for everyone in Scotland.”

This call for input follows the publication of the NACWG’s second Report and Recommendations, in which it found that step change is necessary in Scottish policymaking to tackle gender inequality.

Over the course of 2019, the Advisory Council consulted a range of stakeholders of all ages and genders, and those that don’t identify, across the country, including businesses and third sector organisations in order to gather the evidence needed to develop the second report which focused on Policy Coherence.

These recommendations build on those made by The NACWG in its 2018 Report and Recommendations – of which, all eleven were subsequently accepted by Nicola Sturgeon – with the recommendations devised to work in tandem to drive forward the gender equality movement.

The NACWG 2019 report and recommendations can be found at: https://onescotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NACWG-2019-Report-and-Recommendations.pdf

Big thinking: New group established to further gender equality

A new group has been created to advise the Scottish Government on the action needed to tackle gender inequality. The Advisory Council on Women and Girls will be chaired by Louise Macdonald OBE, Chief Executive of Young Scot. The all-women group’s members come from from the third sector, government and business – and includes three teenagers. Continue reading Big thinking: New group established to further gender equality