View previous stories
	Deliver equality for girls by Zara Rapoport Plan International   The new United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, must now deliver measurable results for girls around the world, blogs Plan International''s Zara Rapoport.   One year after the historic adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, we welcome the new United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, as the world’s most prominent diplomat who must now deliver equality for girls.   He follows in the footsteps of Ban Ki-moon, who accelerated progress on girls’ and women’s rights through support of numerous campaigns and initiatives - including the launch of Every Woman Every Child, and its subsequent Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.   Mr Guterres inherits the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its promises to achieve gender equality by 2030. It also specifically notes the importance of the empowerment of girls.   The public nature of this round of elections brought with it a global eye on the Secretary-General selection process, as well as the candidates’ commitments to issues of significance to the international community. Nearly all of the candidates’ vision statements noted the importance of achieving gender equality, and Mr Guterres remarked in his acceptance speech that “the protection and empowerment of women and girls will continue to be a priority commitment”.   While this is a small comfort to many, including those who echoed resounding public calls for a feminist Secretary-General to avoid continuing the “business as usual” model of international diplomacy, Mr Guterres has a hard road ahead of him to deliver on the promises made by both himself, and those put into place by his predecessors.   Invest in girls'' rights   Particularly crucial to gender equality and development efforts alike is an increased investment and focus on girls’ rights and empowerment. Girls remain the single most marginalised group on the planet and their specific needs and concerns are consistently neglected, rendering their experiences invisible to global policymakers. Tens of millions of girls throughout the world continue to face the double discrimination of being young and female.   Girls remain the single most marginalised group on the planet   Girls face a myriad of obstacles in accessing an inclusive, quality education, as is their right. They are similarly prevented from participating actively and equally in public life, even regarding decisions that affect them directly. They face barriers to making decisions related to their own bodies, including decisions on sexual and reproductive health, often as a result of pervasive and entrenched gender norms. And they are both at increased risk of violence, as a result of their age and gender, and yet are often denied their right to justice.   As Secretary-General, Mr Guterres has an exceptional opportunity to lead the way on girls’ rights and empowerment, an imperative that has vast implications for both the Sustainable Development Goals and gender equality efforts globally.   As critical agents of change, girls’ contributions to sustainable development, environmental sustainability, and sustainable peace and security can create significant positive impacts across multiple sectors, as seen in indicators on public health, economic growth, and education.   They are more than solely the recipients of development, and must be recognised and addressed as active stakeholders and participants in global development initiatives.   It is clear that the ambitious promises made in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda can only be reached with the inclusion and participation of girls at every stage. Girls must be actively included in decision-making processes, implementation of policy and programming, and in accountability mechanisms. Likewise, only through addressing girls’ rights, needs, and experiences directly will true gender equality be achieved.   The Secretary General must reaffirm and recommit the UN and its many agencies to the realisation of girls’ human rights and empowerment. He must put rhetoric into action and ensure the transformation of promises into results for girls around the world. Visit the related web page
	80% of Roma are at risk of poverty, new survey finds by Fundamental Rights Agency, agencies European Union   Widespread deprivation is destroying Roma lives. Families are living excluded from society in shocking conditions, while children with little education face bleak prospects for the future, a new report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) shows.   The report analyses the gaps in Roma inclusion around the EU to guide Member States seeking to improve their integration policies.   “Our manifest inability in Europe to honour the human rights of our Roma communities is unacceptable. The levels of deprivation, marginalisation, and discrimination of Europe’s largest minority is a grave failure of law and policy in the EU and its Member States,” says FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty. “The publication of these findings provides an opportunity to galvanise policy makers into action and focus resources on redressing this intolerable situation.”   The Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey: Roma – selected findings report shows that:   80% of Roma interviewed are at risk of poverty compared with an EU average of 17%. 30% live in households with no tap water and 46% have no indoor toilet, shower or bathroom. 30% of Roma children live in households where someone went to bed hungry at least once in the previous month.   53% of young Roma children attend early childhood education, often less than half the proportion of children their age from the general population in the same country.   Only 30% of the Roma surveyed are in paid work, compared with the average EU employment rate for 2015 of 70%. 41% of Roma feel they have been discriminated against over the past 5 years in everyday situations such as looking for work, at work, housing, health and education. 82% of Roma are unaware of organisations offering support to victims of discrimination.   The survey findings indicate that despite Member States’ efforts, they are still falling short of most of their integration targets, a key element of the EU’s 2011 National Roma Integration Strategies Framework.   The results underline the need for: early childhood learning support and integrated schooling; better employment opportunities and greater social protection to eradicate poverty; targeted education and training to specifically help Roma youths and Roma women in their transition from primary to secondary education, and thereafter find work.   The report is based on a survey that collected information in nine EU Member States, derived from nearly 8,000 face-to-face interviews with Roma: http://bit.ly/2fLD7wi   Nov. 2016   Migrant hate widespread, reveals Fundamental Rights Agency report   Arson attacks, violence, even murder, and everyday harassment are just some of the worrying hate crime incidents flagged in the latest summary report of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on migration-related fundamental rights in selected EU Member States. It points to tension and hostility towards migrants and asylum seekers, underscoring the need for concerted EU and Member State action in line with fundamental rights.   The report identifies serious and widespread incidents of violence, harassment, threats and hate speech towards migrants and asylum seekers, and their children, across 14 EU Member States. Human rights advocates, ‘pro-refugee’ politicians and journalists have also been targeted.   It points to some of the perceived perpetrators, and highlights the problem of under-reporting and under-recording of hate crime which impedes efforts to find effective responses.   Some of the main findings include:   Most Member States do not collect or publish statistical data on hate crime incidents against asylum seekers and migrants; civil society often are the main sources of information. Vigilantes and the general public are often behind the attacks.   Offline and online hate speech, including by public figures who sometimes even condone attacks, is fuelling open intolerance.   This intolerance is spilling over to other parts of society with Muslims, especially women, and people from ethnic backgrounds, particularly targeted.   Asylum seekers and migrants rarely report hate crimes to authorities or other organisations for a number of reasons. These include: a lack of trust in the police and public authorities; fear of arrest, being deported or of retaliation; a belief that nothing will change; and language barriers. Under-reporting also leads to the issue being buried.   State responses to hate crime against asylum seekers and migrants are perceived as weak by civil society in many Member States. Victim support services that meet the needs of asylum seekers and migrants are rare. Asylum seekers and migrants also have limited access to existing support.   EU laws offer protection to victims and the Agency has compiled information about various initiatives that tackle hate crime in the EU. However, Member States lack the robust data they need to prevent hate crime, and protect and promote the rights of migrants and asylum seekers in an increasingly openly intolerant Europe.   The European Commission asked the Agency to collect data about the fundamental rights situation of people arriving in Member States, particularly affected by large migration movements.   As of this month, the reports cover the situation in 14 Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.   http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/hate-crime   * The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and and 77 other civil society organizations and UN agencies called today on the EU institutions and Member States to do more to protect the rights of refugee and migrant children. The call came in a statement released to mark the opening of the 10th European Forum on the Rights of the Child in Brussels: http://bit.ly/2gflZCH   * Harvard University’s Center for Health and Human Rights finds that protection for children on the move, particularly during time of transit, is lacking worldwide: http://bit.ly/2gmIsOm Visit the related web page
	View more stories