The ongoing attack on the rights of women and all marginalised peoples is intensified by political and institutional decisions that dismantle dedicated offices for equality and inclusion, cut targeted funding or relegate equality and inclusion work to mainstreaming. This is not merely adjusting budgets or streamlining, it’s weakening the structural foundations that protect and advance these rights.
Whilst the mainstream press have focused on last week’s US withdrawal of support for global climate action, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), buried deep down among the 66 other International and UN organisations that the current US Administration considers ‘irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests’ sit the following: the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict; the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict; and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. Alongside withdrawal of support from UN Women and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), these are all said to be: ‘a set of offices […]dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests. From DEI [diversity, equality and inclusion] mandates to Gender Equality campaigns…’
Apart from the obvious punching down from a position of power, one has to ask, how low can you go? The US administration now deems supporting global efforts to address sexual violence and violence against children as ‘too progressive and not in the national interest’.
