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Get women's economic empowerment on the priority list. ... Petitioning UN Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Get women's economic empowerment on the priority list. Petitioning UN Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals Get women's economic empowerment on the priority list. Petition by Linda Scott, University of Oxford You can help secure economic autonomy—and, with it, better access to legal and human rights--for women all over the world by signing this petition. The following Call to Action was crafted at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) with input from UN Women, CARE International, and the International Finance Corporation. This is the petition you are signing: We, the undersigned, call on the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, in the articulation of the Post-2015 Development Framework, to emphasize women's economic empowerment, particularly with regard to increasing women's access to financial services, improving their financial capability, and increasing their access to skilled jobs including leadership positions in the financial sector. By signing this petition, you help put popular pressure on the United Nations’ Open Working Group to include women's economic empowerment as one of the priorities on the list of development goals that will guide international economic strategy for the next fifteen years. We have made arrangements to forward all the signatures now being collected in various forms (a hard copy, but also this page and messaging through Twitter, Instagram, and other social media) to Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who is the special advocate to the UN Secretary General for financial inclusion. We will also copy the two co-chairs of the Open Working Group mentioned in the language. It is very important to understand that the items on the SDG list will get (1) sustained attention from governments, NGOs, and international agencies, (2) money for programs and reforms, and (3) monitoring, measuring, and reporting progress of each country in the world against the goals. Progress on women’s economic empowerment would be measured and reported back for fifteen years. That is enough time to substantially change the conditions for women right around the globe. The chance is NOW. The Open Working Group will finalize the list of development goals in July, 2014. You can read more about this and other initiatives on behalf of women's economic empowerment at www.doublexeconomy.com. Please help us count the support for this initiative by tweeting with #DoubleXPetition.