ActionAid welcome increased focus on gender equality within new Irish Aid white paper ‘A Better World’

A Better World

Today Irish Aid, the Irish Government’s programme for overseas development, launched their latest white paper ‘A Better World’. The White Paper was launched by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciaran Cannon.  The white paper is a new policy for international development set out by the government.

ActionAid welcomed the focus on gender equality and promoting women’s rights as one of four key areas in the policy, along with reducing humanitarian need, climate action and strengthening governance.

From the moment they are born

Following the launch, ActionAid Head of Programmes Triona Pender said: “Across the world, from the moment they are born women face inequalities and injustice in every aspect of their lives. From forced marriage to the gender pay gap, sexual violence and harassment to an unfair burden of unpaid care work, we see women being held back in every country where we work.  We know from our work that these obstacles can be overcome when there is a clear commitment from governments, NGOs and local communities to work together towards the same goal.”

“We welcome the focus on Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality, and on promoting the role of women to lead development work and humanitarian response in their own communities. In ActionAid, we have seen that enabling women to take leadership can achieve better and more sustainable impact for the whole community”.

Read More

You can read Irish Aid’s white paper here: https://www.irishaid.ie/about-us/policy-for-international-development/aboutthenewpolicy/