Billions of Dollars Pledged to Strengthen Women’s Rights Worldwide

Several countries, non-governmental organizations, and private companies have committed to spending nine billion dollars over the next decade to strengthen women’s rights around the world.

On Thursday, November 23 (November 14), a number of countries and international organizations at the International Population Conference currently being held in Nairobi announced their readiness to strengthen women’s rights worldwide.

They are scheduled to spend nine billion dollars for this purpose over the next ten years. This amount will be used primarily to support campaigns against female genital mutilation, comprehensive programs to prevent gender-based violence, and to prevent maternal mortality.

It is expected that empowering women and raising their awareness and self-confidence, along with other benefits, will be an effective measure to control population growth.

Participating countries at the Nairobi conference pledged to take additional measures at the national level to achieve the aforementioned goals. For example, Kenya promised to reduce female genital mutilation to “zero” by 2022.

Only One Organization Contributes Seven Billion Dollars

Several countries, including Germany and France, have pledged to contribute a combined one billion dollars.

Earlier this week, non-governmental organizations and private companies pledged eight billion dollars for this purpose.

The international organization “World Vision” alone is allocating seven billion dollars to this initiative.

“World Vision” is a Christian organization that primarily raises funds in America and Europe to help needy children in poor countries.

Experts say this amount is insufficient to strengthen women’s rights worldwide. In this regard, they refer to studies by the United Nations Population Fund and Johns Hopkins University in America, which concluded that 222 billion dollars is needed over the next ten years to achieve the aforementioned goals.

The International Population Conference in Nairobi, in which more than four thousand people from 100 countries participate, is being organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the governments of Kenya and Denmark.

Source: DW