PRESS RELEASE : UN Human Rights Council 56 – Joint Statement on Women’s Economic Empowerment [June 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 June 2024.

Annual Discussion on Women’s Rights, Joint Statement on Women’s Economic Empowerment delivered by Kyrgyzstan during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council.

Mr President

This joint statement is on behalf of 83 States.

Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls are enshrined in several human rights treaties and are key to progress towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Yet economic empowerment remains a distant goal for millions of women and girls around the world. One in ten women live in extreme poverty, and more than 2.7 billion women face legal restrictions that prevent them from accessing the same job opportunities as men. In addition, many countries still have laws constraining women’s decision to work.

For women to have full agency, power, and autonomy, and enjoy human rights fully without discrimination of any kind, states should ensure that women have equal access to, control over and ownership of resources. It is also essential to address the structural and non-structural barriers that limit women’s economic empowerment.

As a priority, we should:

1. Address and eliminate institutional and structural discrimination against women and girls.
2. Remove all barriers that prevent or limit the full, equal, and meaningful participation of all women and girls in society.
3. Address harmful social norms and legal constraints that limit women’s agency in the public and private spheres and their economic independence.

We are committed to making further progress on women’s economic empowerment and to achieve gender equality by 2030.

Thank you.