In a male-dominated world, there is no doubt that the empowerment of women must be a key priority. This is fundamental to address a historic injustice, reflected in arbitrary stereotypes, in exclusionary policies and anchored sectarian ideologies. It is also about development effectiveness. A recent study found that US$12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by just advancing women’s equality.
The encouraging news is that, worldwide, the proportion of peace agreements with gender equality provisions has increased from 14 to 22 per cent between 1995 and 2019. However, the share of aid dedicated to programmes or projects with the primary objective of improving gender equality and women’s rights has decreased to 4.5 per cent in 2017–2018 from 5.3 per cent in 2015–2016. I will not be surprised that changes in aid policies as a result of the pandemic will negatively affect this trend.
Watch more in iWantTFC During my field visit, I was informed that only 16 per cent of appointments in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority , the governing body of the BARMM, are women.
In the region, women have played a remarkable role in the disengagement of children from non-state armed groups. From 2016-2017, the United Nations Children's Fund , actively worked with women of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to successfully advocate with the group’s commanders for 1,869 children, of which around 33 per cent are girls, to be disengaged from its armed forces and be treated as ‘children not soldiers.