A UN committee has called for women to have equal representation with men in all decision-making processes, insisting on a 50-50 standard across public, private, political, economic, and digital sectors, The Vanguard reports. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women criticized the previous 30 percent target as outdated and argued that such benchmarks imply that inequality is acceptable.
The committee emphasized that true decision-making power requires equal participation, stating that parity would enhance the effectiveness of governance and decision-making. Currently, 189 countries are signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the 23-member committee monitors compliance.
At an upcoming meeting, the committee plans to discuss its guidance, highlighting that failing to achieve gender parity hinders countries from effectively tackling critical issues such as peace, political stability, and climate change.
Women are notably underrepresented in peace negotiations, comprising only 16 percent of negotiators, and hold just 27 percent of parliamentary seats and 28 percent of management roles in the workforce. The committee called for the removal of all legal and practical forms of economic discrimination, including pay and taxation inequalities.
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