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Odette Carignan, former writter of Ponteix
Price : Lys d'art from the Conseil culturel fransaskois |
International Women's Day is approaching fast: on March 8, 2015. The association Les Auvergnois de Ponteix presents an
exhibition on the evolution of women this day. This subject still causes despite
even after many advances and achievements who have been made to promote
equality between men and women.
The
struggle of women in education, in labor and in civil rights fields never
stopped. But the situation is very different from one country to another. We
can see the difference if we take the example of Iceland, where women are practically
equal to men, compared to the country of Yemen, where women have to face discrimination
in major areas of their life. In
Canada, the situation is also different from all other countries. According to
the Canadian government website, "Canada is committed to the view that
gender equality is not only a human rights issue, but is also an essential
component of sustainable development, social justice, peace, and security." However,
Canada is not perfect either. Several improvements have to be made.
The Commission on the Status of Women, the main intergovernmental committee
for the status of women in the world, connects all the countries to make the
point on women situation. Each year, the committee stand out themes, challenges
and accomplishments that have to be made or discussed. The 2014 year noted the
importance of the Millennium Development Goals (global organization) for the
development of girls and women. This includes access and participation of women
in education, training and science and technology. In addition, women should be
able to get a decent job which fits with their skills.
Achievements
of Canada
- The Commission
on the Status of Women and the Human Rights Council make the Women’s
human rights a priority issue.
- Canada
was one of the first country to sign and ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
- In 2002,
Canada ratified the Optional Protocol to the
CEDAW, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2000.
- Canadians
Women may, individually or collectively, submit complaints to the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
- Canada
participated in the development of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action in 1993.
- Canada also played a key role at the
1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing
* It is
possible to consult the world ranking, conducted by the World Economic Forum, on gender parity in those four areas: health,
education, economics and politics.
Site: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2014/rankings/
