Caroline Brown’s Post

75 million more people have fallen into severe poverty since 2020 and immediate action is crucial to prevent over 342 million women and girls from living in poverty by 2030.   Just 5% of government aid is focused on tackling violence against women and girls, and less than 0.2% is directed to its prevention.   There is an alarming lack of financing with a staggering USD 360 billion annual deficit in spending on gender-equality measures.   All of this 👆 comes from the UN website and is why the UN has selected #InvestInWomen as the IWD theme for 2024.   International Women’s Day was set up in 1975 by the UN and is marked every year on 8 March.   I was staggered to read today that #InspireInclusion, which has been used all over, is NOT the IWD theme at all, as we’ve been led to believe.   That # comes from the IWD website, which is what comes up first in search engine results for IWD and is the one that, unfortunately, has been so well marketed.   That website is in no way affiliated with the UN (and makes no mention of the UN save for one teeny mention in one article) but has seemingly jumped on the bandwagon, creating its own theme, trademarking IWD logos, selling merchandise and accepting corporate sponsorship. The company behind the website claims it is operated on a not-for-profit basis and has a core focus of working on women’s equality, but doesn’t disclose where the money goes.   And why is it deflecting attention from the vital work of the UN with its meaningless # and cheesy ‘make a heart with your hands’ sign? 🫶 Global gender parity won't be attained until after we're all dead - it'll take over 100 years according to the World Economic Forum. We don't have time to waste.   Massive shoutout to Clare Josa for highlighting this and writing an excellent article which I’ve linked in the comments and which I ask you to read. I’ve also linked to the UN Women website where you can read much more about the stats above and the work the UN is doing globally to champion gender equality.   I’m sharing this to raise awareness. I would've reshared Clare's article directly but reshares here hardly get any views and as many people as possible should see this.   #IWD #InvestInWomen #UN