In the News
Men Must Accept Women as Equals if Development Goals Are to be Achieved
- 11 March 2014
UNITED NATIONS (The Guardian) - Men must learn what gender equality means and stop trying to control women's lives if future development goals are to have any real traction, the head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Monday.
Speaking at a side event at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of the UNFPA, said existing power structures are preventing women from exercising their rights, which will undermine the impact of the next set of sustainable development goals.
At an event organised by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Osotimehin said: "Why is it possible for men to have access to condoms without any question, but when it comes to providing contraception to women and girls, the whole world comes against you? It's about power. Men want to determine what women do and tell them what to do and how to do it. That must stop. Men must learn to accept gender equality."
He added that women's rights and gender equality should not be separated. "Implicit in [achieving] gender equality is rights. Going forward, human rights must be the basis of the agenda."
Read the full story in The Guardian
