“With these tools, we know WHAT needs to be done and HOW it can be done” – UN Women closing statement at FFD3

Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and gentlemen,

I make this statement on behalf of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women.

I congratulate you on the agreement reached yesterday on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda; an agreement, which provides a strong global framework for financing sustainable development. It also reaffirms that achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls, and the full realization of their human rights are essential to achieving sustained, inclusive, and equitable economic growth and sustainable development. 

To date, no country in the world has closed the gender gap. The chronic and persistent under-investmentin critical areas for women and girls, such as economic empowerment including reducing and redistributing women’s unpaid care and domestic work; sexual and reproductive health and rights; violence against women and girls, women, peace and security; and participation and leadership, has hindered the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. 

In the Political Declaration adopted this year in March at the 59th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59), Member States pledged to take concrete action to accelerate implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action through significantly increased investment to close resource gaps, including through domestic resources and official development assistance (ODA).

New and existing commitments on gender equality require unprecedented and transformative financing, in scale, scope, ambition and quality, from all sources and at all levels. Women’s rights institutions and organizations including civil society organizations, gender machineries and UN Women must be enabled and fully resourced to advance gender equality, women’s empowerment and the human rights of women and girls.

Early this week at a side event co-organized by UN Women, participating Member States endorsed an Addis Ababa Action Plan on Transformative Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment to catalyze the transformative actions needed to fulfil the gender equality commitments in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and close the policy and financing gaps that hinder progress towards the realization of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

We call on all Member States to endorse and implement the Addis Ababa Action Plan on Transformative Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and to give the next generation of development goals the financial impetus necessary to achieve gender equality and to empower all women and girls.

Over the years, UN Women has been working with many partners and developed tools and expertise on gender-responsive planning and budgeting. With these tools, we know WHAT needs to be done and HOW it can be done. We are ready to provide Member States with the technical support to make the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) a lived reality for all, especially for women and girls.  

I thank you.

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