Denise Cartwright

Model United Nations

NGO Position Paper for Women's Environmental Development Organization

Women's Environmental Development Organization (WEDO) on "Youth: Live Long and Prosper".

WEDO: As visionaries for a a bright future, our advocacy organization promotes and protects human rights, gender equality and the integrity of the environment.

Mission: Contributng toward our vision, our mission is to ensure that women’s rights; social, economic and environmental justice; and sustainable development principles­as well as the linkages between them­are at the heart of global and national policies, programs and practices.

Approach: WEDO's role is both as a partner organization and member of the coordinating committee member of a global campaign Youth to Live Long and Prosper. Organized collectively by a group of regionally diverse women’s rights and feminist organizations brought together by the urgent need for action. From educational workshops and film screenings to concerts and marathons our campaign mobilizes and motivates women and girls from every region in the world to create a massive movement to provide the means for Youth to live long and prosper.

Focus: Our thematic focus areas have changed over the years in response to emerging global issues and we are constantly working to stay on top of the world’s most pressing issues facing women. Our most recent Women's Global Call campaign encompasses all of the complexities of Youth especially the interlinkages between climate change and gender with a focus on the following six themes: biodiversity; Peace/Conflict & Natural Resources, Disaster Risk Reduction, sustainable cities & transport, international finance and trade.

Biodiversity is the total number of species and ecosystems in a region. As human beings, our ability to live on this planet– to breath air, consume food and water, and cure disease– is intricately linked to biodiversity.

The frequency and intensity of natural disasters, natural resource scarcity, and environmental degradation is causing the destruction of the environment and livelihoods including mass displacement.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at its essence is the effort to reduce the causes of disasters and the causes inequalities from the global to the local level. Disasters disrupt lives and livelihoods, impact health and safety, separate families and destroy the natural and built environments.

Sustainable cities and settlements are safe, provide for mobility, ensure access to resources, have accessible green and public space, and provide economic opportunities for all. Requiring vision, planning, cooperation, attention to human rights and an understanding of the inequalities practice inclusive, gender­responsive planning that incorporates change.

Societies prioritizing economic growth, financial deregulation and privatization of public goods leads to increased global poverty in many parts of the world and intensified inequalities between and within nations. In other words, globalization is causing the rich to get richer and the poor to become poorer.

Reference: www.wedo.org

This page expresses the position of WEDO and its purpose.