WEBVTT - UN Women Deputy Executive Director Kirsi Madi Talks Gender Equality

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. Well, this is International

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<v Speaker 1>Women's Day comes at a tense time on the global stage. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I recently got the chance to sit down with Kursey

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<v Speaker 1>Maddie you Want, Assistant Secretary General and You and Women,

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<v Speaker 1>Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships, asking

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<v Speaker 1>her about the UN's latest report, Ensuring and Strengthening asks

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<v Speaker 1>Access to Justice for All Women and Girls. Here's part

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<v Speaker 1>of that conversation.

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<v Speaker 2>The most challenging situation, the most difficult place for women

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<v Speaker 2>to live today is in Afghanistan, There's no question about that.

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<v Speaker 2>But I think we need to always be looking at

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<v Speaker 2>the opportunities focus still trying to make progress, and I

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<v Speaker 2>think there's a lot of progress that is being made.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think this is why also looking at women's

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<v Speaker 2>economic empowerment is absolutely critically important. And it's important to

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<v Speaker 2>remember that gender equality is not just it is a

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<v Speaker 2>human right, but it's not only a human right. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not only the right thing to do. It's also smart business.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think we are very very clearly seeing that

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<v Speaker 2>when we have, for example, companies and businesses which are

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<v Speaker 2>investing in gender equality, equal opportunities for well, men and women,

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<v Speaker 2>they have stronger governors. They also have strong and longer

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<v Speaker 2>term economic performance. So we have a lot of good

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<v Speaker 2>arguments also from the economic side to make sure that

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<v Speaker 2>companies and businesses and the public sector are investing in

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<v Speaker 2>gender equality.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, how does the cost of childcare, for example, factor

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<v Speaker 1>into that, because you know, for better or worse, women

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<v Speaker 1>often fall into the role of being the default caretaker

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<v Speaker 1>for children. And you know, it's one thing for businesses

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<v Speaker 1>to invest, but if it doesn't make economic sense for

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<v Speaker 1>you know, one of the partners to not stay home

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<v Speaker 1>given the cost of childcare, I wonder you know how

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<v Speaker 1>that sort of devils those efforts.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a really important point. I'm so happy that you

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<v Speaker 2>raise that. We actually have a staggering number of over

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<v Speaker 2>seven hundred million women who are working age who are

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<v Speaker 2>out of the labor market because of the uneven care responsibilities,

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<v Speaker 2>and the care responsibilities of course, be childcare bid elderly

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<v Speaker 2>care is extremely important. The economy would come to and

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<v Speaker 2>the society would come to halt without it. But because

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<v Speaker 2>women are carrying this proportionate portion of the care responsibility,

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<v Speaker 2>they often are not able to finish their studies and

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<v Speaker 2>progress in the same way assume leadership positions as fast

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<v Speaker 2>as we would like to see. So in some sense,

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<v Speaker 2>it's actually really a very huge untapped potential that we have,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think there would be a huge benefit globally

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<v Speaker 2>and at the national level in all the different countries

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<v Speaker 2>if we would invest in creating jobs in the care

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<v Speaker 2>sector so that women are also able to get into

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<v Speaker 2>the economic empowerment and get their own jobs. Everybody would

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<v Speaker 2>benefit from that.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk about some of the progress that you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>because also in the Secretary General's report, the stat also

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<v Speaker 1>stuck out eighty seven percent of countries have an acted

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<v Speaker 1>domestic violence legislation, and more than forty countries have actually

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<v Speaker 1>strengthened constitutional protection for women and girls over the past decade. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I know the report also goes on to say that

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<v Speaker 1>laws alone are not enough, but in terms of a

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<v Speaker 1>starting point, I mean, how important are some of these figures.

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<v Speaker 2>It's very important because the starting board, we need to

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<v Speaker 2>have the legal changes, legiative changes, we need to have

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<v Speaker 2>the policy changes, but of course then we also need

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<v Speaker 2>to have the accountability to make sure that they are implemented.

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<v Speaker 2>And we've been clearly able to see that countries which

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<v Speaker 2>have introduced legislation, for example, against domestic violence, we have

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<v Speaker 2>seen reduced levels of domestic violence. So it is very

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<v Speaker 2>important to see that these policy measures and legal measures

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<v Speaker 2>really have a real concrete impact in women's lives. And

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<v Speaker 2>if I may just share with you, I think it's

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<v Speaker 2>a shocking fact that we also have every ten minutes

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<v Speaker 2>somewhere in the world, a woman or a young girl

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<v Speaker 2>is killed, either by their family member or by their

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<v Speaker 2>current or former partner. These are shocking figures. These are

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<v Speaker 2>on top of all the women and girls who are

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<v Speaker 2>killed as part of conflicts, so it's really an area

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<v Speaker 2>where we need to also. Similarly, as looking at the

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<v Speaker 2>women's economic empowerment, we really need to have a very

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<v Speaker 2>strong focus ensuring that there is justice for women, that

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<v Speaker 2>women are protected and they are given an opportunity, they

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<v Speaker 2>have an opportunity to live in a safe environment.