Women's Views on News |
| Join a fashion fast to oppose fast fashion Posted: 10 Jan 2017 02:41 PM PST
Think you can do it? Fast Fashion is a relatively new phenomenon where brands change their stock every 4 to 6 weeks to keep up with the very latest fashion trends at a price which makes the clothes cheap and disposable. Fast Fashion is the drive to increase profits and get products into our high street shops faster and faster, to satisfy an insatiable desire for new trends; the drive to sell more, consume more, make more, waste more. This, however, has disastrous consequences for the people who make our clothes. In the last few days of 2016 workers were fired for organising in an attempt to address concerns about their pay and working conditions. And all in all, 2016 was a busy and strange year; there were many ups and downs, but going forward into 2017 one thing remains clear: there is a long way to go before garment workers are getting a fair deal. When workers are sacked for exercising their rights, we often think there is little we can do to help. But actually, this just isn’t the case. Labour Behind the Label campaigns for garment workers’ rights worldwide, supporting garment workers’ efforts to improve their working conditions and change the fashion industry for the better. And Labour Behind the Label raises awareness of the issues, provides information and promotes international solidarity between workers and consumers. Labour Behind the Label’s Six Items Challenge is designed to challenge our increasing reliance on fast fashion and raise vital funds which will enable Labour Behind the Label to keep fighting for the justice that garment workers deserve. The idea is simple – select six items of clothing from your wardrobe and pledge to wear only these every day for six weeks. Don't panic – you can have unlimited access to underwear, accessories and footwear. You're even allowed to use your sportswear or performance gear if you need to maintain a fitness regime. But your main items of clothing – dresses, trousers, tops, skirts, jumpers, shirts or cardigans – must remain the same throughout. The 2017 Six Items Challenge will be running during Lent, which falls between 1 March and 24 April this year. To sign up to join in and start fundraising, click here.  |
| Posted: 10 Jan 2017 02:09 PM PST
UN Women and the UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development's Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality recently celebrated the launch of CEDAW for Youth, a youth-friendly version of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Often described as the international bill of rights for women, CEDAW is an international legal instrument that requires countries to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in all areas and promotes women's and girls' equal rights. Since young women, young men and youth-led organisations, networks and movements have an important role to play in holding their governments accountable for respecting and protecting human rights for all women and girls, it is critical that all youth understand their human rights, and are empowered to claim their human rights. Thus CEDAW for Youth is an essential resource for all the youth around the world who are striving to achieve and live in a gender-equal world. CEDAW for Youth was written by one young woman, Pooja Khanna, and one young man, Zachary Kimmel. It explains why CEDAW is important to youth, describes CEDAW's impact in advancing gender equality and human rights for women and girls around the world, and summarises the articles of CEDAW, including the specific forms of discrimination that must be ended and how CEDAW is implemented and monitored. Around the world, CEDAW has been a key tool for advancing women's rights and gender equality, providing the basis for judicial decisions, and constitutional, legal and policy reforms at the country level. Many countries have been guided by CEDAW to adopt equal opportunity acts and quotas to increase the number of women in elected office, and enact new laws and action plans to prevent and address violence against women. And as of 2016, 189 of the UN’s member states have ratified CEDAW – including the United Kingdom. The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has recognised gender equality as a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development and all the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the SDGs and CEDAW, world leaders now have the human rights foundation, made the commitments and set up the mechanisms for implementation and accountability, and the timeline for achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls, and ending all forms of discrimination. "CEDAW is the most comprehensive international instrument to protect and promote the human rights of women and girls," UN Women's Deputy Executive Director, Lakshmi Puri, said. "Understanding CEDAW will provide young women and young men with a powerful instrument to advance towards what is often called 'the last frontier of the civil rights movement' – achieving gender equality and making the empowerment of all women and girls the reality of our time." And UN Women's Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said: "As long as there is discrimination against women and girls, there is inequality. Its elimination is a cornerstone of UN Women's mandate and of all our work, and we see young people as crucial drivers of change in achieving gender equality. "We work closely with the CEDAW Committee, member states, and with our UN and civil society partners to see CEDAW brought to life through action at the country level." "Gender equality is not a favour, it's a fundamental human right," Pooja Khanna explained. "Many young people in my generation, especially young women, don't know about CEDAW and the human rights we are all entitled to, which is why CEDAW for Youth is so important." To view online or download ‘CEDAW for Youth’, click here.  |
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