Dubai, UAE – February 13, 2023
Good Afternoon Highnesses, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentleman,
It is my pleasure to join you as we chart pathways to bring us closer to solving the multiple challenges facing humanity. I am pleased to offer a humble contribution on how investments in children and women can, and must, be the keys to unlocking a brighter future for us and for generations to come.
It is no secret that we are dismally off track to meet the SDGs by 2030. We can, and must, course correct. We have no other guiding agenda to transform our societies and communities based on principles of equality, sustainability and social justice.
We are facing a multiplicity of crisises.
So I propose we use moment of crisis as an opportunity to reset our priorities, renew our focus and determination, and to use our knowledge, resources and innovative technologies to reimagine our path forward.
The resources are available. We just need better manage this capital and channel it to where they will have the most impact.
For example, nutrition, when coupled with immunizations and education, are great equalizers. We must create a world where every single child is saved from stunting, is afforded a solid foundational start in life, to compete in the economies of tomorrow on equal footing. If we apply the resources at our disposal to meet this challenge, in a generation, we can ensure that no one is left behind. It is possible to turn around the scourge of inequity and meet the Global Goals when we leverage the power of equality for all.
Recognizing the importance of nutrition as a driver to achieving a number of the SDGs, the Graça Machel Trust has engaged in nutrition advocacy to help end hunger and stunting, achieve food security, improve health outcomes, and promote sustainable agriculture. I share this very modest example of effective advocacy because it is proof that progress can be achieved.
In partnership with governments, private sector, and valued civil society partners across East and Southern Africa, with the support of the Gates Foundation, we engaged governments to create budget lines for nutrition in their national plans and considered it as an investment priority at local, national, regional and global levels.
There are no better investments we can make to break cycles of poverty and secure a bright future for our nations, than to ensure our children—particularly girl children—are adequately nourished and educated.
As we debate the SDGs this afternoon, I firmly maintain that SDG 5, which calls for “the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”, is not only an imperative to elevate us as a human race, but it is a prerequisite for the achievement of all other goals.
The world over we are disadvantaging ourselves by not allowing women to take their rightful place as vibrant contributors to our societies and economies. Gender ‘neglect’ in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, costs the region approximately $95 billion dollars annually.[i] According to the McKinsey Global Institute 2019 Report, increasing gender equality and women’s empowerment could bolster Sub-Saharan African economies by over $300 billion by 2025.[ii] We cannot deny the data. It makes dollars and “sense” to invest in women.
For example, there is a significant, yet untapped, role women in agribusiness must play to address malnutrition and hunger as well as food insecurity. It is imperative to increase women’s roles in targeted agricultural value chains, develop new technologies to disrupt the sector, and propel millions of women’s agricultural activities beyond subsistence farming into viable businesses.
Women can bring us closer to achieving SDG 2, which “seeks to end hunger and malnutrition, ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food”. This is particularly critical amid times like these, where in every corner of the world, we are facing astounding food and energy shortages, mounting inflation, and devastating shocks of climate change.
Governments must adequately prioritize spending on nutrition and other crucial areas of development. There is overwhelming evidence of their importance to human capital development, health and wellbeing, productivity and economic growth— and of course, achieving the SDGs.
Women are key drivers of progress. Countries in Scandinavia, for example, have shown us, that in just one generation, empowering women and investing in gender equality and human development, has boosted economic and social progress, and created fairer, more equal societies grounded in social justice.
Investments in girls and women must keep pace with the magnitude and severity of challenges we face. A shamefully small fraction of the international community: only 26% of countries[iii], have a comprehensive system to track gender-budget allocations.
I know there are key decisionmakers in the room today. So, I challenge you to demonstrate the necessary political will and inject the resources required into gender equality if you wish to stand any chance at boosting economic growth, human development indicators, and creating peaceful communities of equity and prosperity.
We have to be bold in the design of new systems, technologies, and practices centered around women and their leadership. This is a surefire compass in charting our future to a healthier, more equitable, more sustainable, and more prosperous world.
The SDGs remain within our grasp in one generation!
I thank you.
[i] https://www.undp.org/publications/africa-human-development-report-2016
[ii] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/the-power-of-parity-advancing-womens-equality-in-africa
[iii] UN Women Progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2022-en_0
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.