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The
Future Young Women Want Report is an essential document in providing direction and
specific demands/recommendations that work to include issues surrounding young
women and gender equality in international platforms in the coming years.
THE FUTURE YOUNG WOMEN WANT: A
GLOBAL CALL TO ACT - WORLD YWCA
07/03/2013
- On March 5, 2013, at the Commission on the Status of Women 2013,
the World YWCA hosted the session The Future Young Women Want: Putting
women’s rights at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda with the
official launch of the World YWCA report – The Future Young Women Want:
A Global Call to Act. The report was produced through consultations,
workshops, interviews and online surveys with young women from the YWCA
movement. The launch brought together young women advocates, UN agencies,
government representatives and women leaders from around the world.
The Future Young
Women Want: A Global Call to Act report outlines and articulates specific
goals, values, barriers and challenges faced globally by young women in the
context of the Post- Millennium Development Goals agenda (Post-2015).
Furthermore, the report sets out a clear framework and recommendations to
achieving the future that young women want as expressed in the report. The
event was moderated by Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary
and featured speakers including Penny Williams Australian Global Ambassador for
Women and Girls, Dara Richardson Heron, YWCA USA CEO, Dianne Stewart, UNFPA
Director of Information and External Relations, Marcia Banasko, World YWCA
Communications Officer and several other young women advocates.
“Young women
must be recognised as a crucial population group who has unique potential.
Young women must have access to comprehensive sexuality and HIV education,
reproductive health services and be free to choice if or when to marry and have
children” stated Marcia Banasko of the World YWCA while introducing the report.
As expressed in the report, young women continue to face challenges in
achieving: economic security, informed choices free coercion, violence and
discrimination about sexual and reproductive health, freedom from all forms of
violence, equal access to resources and information, and active citizenship and
opportunities for leadership development. Despite numerous calls for meaningful
participation by young women, they continue to fall through the cracks because
they are not sufficiently covered by initiatives targeting children, are
outnumbered by boys in young people’s programmes and are often unable to speak
out in women spaces. The World YWCA believes that young women must be
recognised as critical population group in achieving development and not
absorbed into generic approaches.
Dianne Stewart,
speaking to sexual and reproductive health and rights stated, “We must see a
world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth is safe and every
person gets to reach their full potential.” Ms. Heron spoke of the importance
of inter-generational leadership when tackling issues of ongoing gender
inequality. “I have to tell you that I have learnt something from you
young women today. After listening to the YWCA young women I know that the
future is bright. There is a lot to be done and we cannot do it alone. We
encourage others to join us in the fight” shared Ms. Heron.
“The Future Young
Women Want” outlines an overall framework for what young women demand to see in
any post-2015 development agenda, including:
The Future Young
Women Want report is an essential document in providing direction and specific
demands/recommendations that work to include issues surrounding young women and
gender equality in international platforms in the coming years. As stated in
the report and shared by Marcia Banasko, “Young women aged between 18-30 years
constituted around 860 million of the world’s population in 2010. That is 860
million beating hearts and 860 million opinions, 860 million ways to see the
stars, 860 million ways to dance. There are 860 million unique smiles and 860
million laughs. And there are 860 million dreams to be realised. But we are
more than statistic, we are a valuable asset to nations, a critical population
group for achieving human development and our voices must count in shaping the
future of humanity.”