David Halaas: Gender Equality

The book is “The Power Code” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.

The encouragement was to highlight the challenges and realities that women face in our communities and world. The book is a fascinating read about gender, power and leadership. The subtitle is “more joy, less ego, maximum impact for women (and everyone).” Kay and Shipman provide a wise guide offering women “a blueprint for shaping their own professional futures, maximizing their impact for the benefit of others, and experiencing the real joy that comes from taking the reins and influencing outcomes.”

Last October I had the opportunity to visit and tour the United Nations in New York City. I learned about “The Sustainable Development Goals.” This is a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. These goals recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. The 17 Goals were adopted by all of the UN’s Member States in 2015, as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the goals.

The first five goals are: end poverty in all its forms; achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; good health and well-being; quality education; and gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The United Nations report states that gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. Women’s health services, already poorly funded, have faced major disruptions. Violence against women remains endemic. And despite women’s leadership in responding to the recent global pandemic, women still trail men in securing the decision-making positions they deserve.

A checklist for community leaders and elected leaders:

• End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
• Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
• Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family
• Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
• Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health
• Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
• Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women
• Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

Recently the news outlet “Iowa Starting Line” highlighted this information:

“It pays to be a white man—literally. Here’s what women make, on average, compared to white men, for the same job (all other factors being equal) – White man, one dollar. White woman, 84 cents. Black woman, 67 cents. Latina woman, 57 cents. Indigenous woman, 57 cents. Women of retirement age are also facing significant inequity issues. Statistically, women live longer than men, which means they will need more savings in general to support themselves, but also to afford health care and basic assistance as they age. Even so, white men over age 65 have an annual income of $44,200 while white women bring in about $23,000, Black women about $21,900, and Latina women $14,800.”

And here are a few more interesting (and local) numbers from the helpful Directory of Public Officials and Voters Guide (from the League of Women Voters of Sioux City) : Iowa State Senators and State Representatives from our area: 7 men, 0 women. Woodbury County Board of Supervisors: 5 men, 0 women. City Council of Sioux City: 4 men, 1 woman. Sioux City Community Schools Board of Directors: 5 men, 2 women.

Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, said “Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility.”

Coretta Scott King, American civil rights leaders, said, “I can’t help but believe that at some time in the not-too-distant future, there is going to be another movement to change these systemic conditions of poverty, and injustice in people’s lives. That is where we’ve got to go, and it is going to be a struggle.”