Press Release | 28 Sep 2015 | Bandana Rana Civil Society Speaker at the UN Global Heads of State Meeting
Some 80 Heads of State and Government convened at the United Nations yesterday for a historical Global Leaders Meeting on “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: A Commitment to Action” co- hosted by the People’s Republic of China and UN Women.
The leaders pledged to end discrimination against women by 2030 and adopt concrete and measurable actions to kick-start rapid change in their countries. Commitments ranged of issues addressing the most pressing barriers for women, such as increasing investment in gender equality, reaching parity for women at all levels of decision-making, eliminating discriminatory legislation, and addressing social norms that perpetuate discrimination and violence against women.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Prakash Man Singh addressed the meeting and expressed Nepal’s commitment to achieve gender equality with the provisions in the newly adopted constitution of Nepal.
One of the two civil society speakers at the historical meeting was Bandana Rana from Nepal. She called upon the leaders to position gender equality at the core of development priorities and to critically address women’s economic rights, women’s and girl’s participation in decision making, including in peace building, and the elimination of violence against all women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices which are elementary for the transformational change that the 2030 development agenda sets out to achieve.
Bandana Rana is the president of Saathi and the member of the UNWomen Global Civil Society Advisory Group.
For more information: Saathi, Dhobighat, Lalitpur, Nepal, Contact no – 9840057104
Web: www.saathi.org.np
http://www.unwomen.org/en
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