Advocacy
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
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The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
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Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth.
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Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes.
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For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues.
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For more, please visit The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
ERA NOW
When added to the Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) will prohibit the denial of equal rights on the basis of sex as one of our foundational constitutional principles.
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For more, please visit ERA Yes!
End Child Marriage
International conversations about child marriage often center on lower-income countries, but the practice exists right here in the United States.
Between 2000 and 2018, almost 300,000 girls and boys in the U.S. were married before their 18th birthday. The consequences for these children are the same for children everywhere: increased poverty, a higher risk of health complications and lower educational attainment.
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New York recently became the sixth state to ban child marriage with no exceptions
UNICEF USA and partners are leading the effort to end child marriage in the United States. On July 23, 2021, New York's bill outlawing child marriage (S3086/A3891) became law, making New York the sixth state — after Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — to ban child marriage without exceptions.
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TOO YOUNG TO WED is an art exhibition featuring photography by Stephanie Sinclair and video by Jessica Dimmock. The show highlights the personal narratives of girls from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India, Nepal and Yemen.
For more, please visit Ending Child Marriage in the U.S. | The Fight Continues | UNICEF USA,
End Child Marriage | United Nations Population Fund (unfpa.org), end child marriage - Bing video, www.unfpa.org/end-child-marriage