On 7 March 2008 in Copenhagen, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ms Ulla Tørnæs launched the MDG3 Global Call to Action – an initiative by the Danish Government to put gender equality and women’s empowerment (MDG3) higher at the international agenda to accelerate the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"In the year 2008, in many parts of the world, the status of women is strikingly lower than that of men. Women work the fields – they do not, however, have ownership of the land and their economic opportunities are more restricted than those of men. Women hold fewer parliamentary seats than do men. Many more girls than boys never get the opportunity to learn to read and write. Such inequalities constitute major obstacles to our ambition to create sustainable development" said Development Minister Ulla Tørnæs and continued: "Women’s opportunities to contribute to the development of societies need to be improved significantly. Otherwise, economic growth in developing countries will be constrained and the ability to care for the environment in these countries reduced."Something extra needs to be done – it pays off Gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is core to accelerating progress on all the MDGs. Evidence is clear: When women are given economic opportunities, the benefits are large for themselves, but also for their families, their communities, and ultimately for national development efforts. It is simply bad economics if not all human resources - men and women - are able to participate in economic activity.The Global MDG3 Champion TorchA global MDG3 Champion Torch is at the heart of the campaign. At least 100 Torches will travel the world, requesting Torch Bearers representing governments, the private sector, civil society, international organisations and the media to make an additional commitment to “Do Something Extra” in support of implementing MDG3.Nobel Prize Winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Confederation of Danish Industries and Cisco were the first to support the initiative and commit to "Do Something Extra".The Torch can be requested and passed on. At the UN High Level Meeting on the MDGs in September in New York, all commitments will be presented to the UN Secretary General who will be invited to accept the last Torch. The Torch Bearers can use the Torch to create increased awareness and support for gender equality.Prominent individuals have agreed to form the MDG3 Champion Network, and on 17th April 2008 the Copenhagen MDG3 Conference will focus on Economic Empowerment of Women.Download here the campaign's brochure.The campaign website www.mdg3action.um.dk provides further details.
