Rio+20 (19/06/2012) – François Rogers, IUCN Special Advisor to the Gender Office talks about the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sustainable development debate.
With women being 50% of the population, and making 80% of the household consumption decisions, disregarding their position would mean a watered down agreement. While a huge push for women’s empowerment was seen in the 50s and 60s, Rogers believes we now have great scientific data to make the case for gender involvement and that the awareness of this issue has never been so acute.
He warns that there is a disparity between which is happening in the negotiations room and what is happening in the sustainable development dialogues. While he has seen great recommendations and debate in the dialogues it is not being lined up with the negotiations.
He warns that our own system which we put in place to help may be the thing which is tripping us up at the moment.