Empowering mothers: a key strategy to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development

20.11.17

New York, UN Commission for Social Development – In a written Statement, MMM promotes mothers as key levers of change and an untapped resource to eradicate poverty.

Mothers are directly concerned by the different facets of poverty

These different facets of poverty are reflected in the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which aggregates indicators in 3 areas:

  • Health (nutrition, child mortality)
  • Education (school attendance, years of schooling)
  • Living standards (sanitation, drinking water, cooking fuel, electricity, floor, assets).

These different facets relate to mothers’ abilities to ensure the basic health and education of their children, a necessary condition to escape poverty. Living standards also relate to the time mothers spend on unpaid family care work, and their own economic empowerment.

MMM statement also highlights and provides recommendations on:

  • the importance of birth registration;
  • the central role of mother and child health to ensure the development of children to their full potential and thus possibly break the intergenerational cycle of poverty;
  • as well as the imperative of supporting the economic empowerment of mothers: mothers, much more than men, invest their money and time in the welfare of their family, in the health and education of their children.

Mothers are key levers of change

“Every mother cares about her children and her family. Tackling poverty issues is very much linked to the empowerment of women and mothers; it is about them getting the adequate support for health and education issues, also for the achievement of their economic autonomy, and thus helping them to make their family thrive.“

Mothers should, therefore, be at the center of any strategy and policy-making for poverty eradication. Focusing on mothers has the potential to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

MMM submitted its written Statement ahead of the 56th Session of the UN Commission for Social Development that will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 29 January to 7 February 2018 – Main theme:  “Strategies for eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all”

MMM Statement as submitted in November 2017

MMM written statement as UN Document: ref, E/CN.5/2018/NGO/67

 

 

Keywords:

Most read articles

In this together: Share the Care, Transform Tomorrow

02.07.22

UN New York, HLPF - Join us on July 11th for a discussion on how #SharingTheCare at every level - family, community, governments and private sector - is vital for

Lire plus

An almost Perfect Mother – New Podcast series with Isabelle Roskam

26.04.22

We are delighted to be launching our new podcast series An almost Perfect Mother featuring Isabelle Roskam, professor of development and parenting psychology at the University of Louvain, Belgium. Isa

Lire plus

Prioritising SDG 5 Target 5.4 to recognize the work of mothers and advance all the SDGs

09.05.22

UN New York, HLPF - In the Sustainable Development Goals, Target 5.4 calls for the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid family care work, i.e. the domestic and care work

Lire plus
See all the articlesof the category

Latest News from MMM and its Network

200 million hours spent by women and girls fetching water every day

23.03.23

UN New York - On the occasion of the World Water Day and the UN Water Conference, MMM highlights the impact of the lack of access to safe and clean water on women's unpaid care work. This is a key barrier to th

Read more

MMM calls for the recognition of Care as a human right

19.03.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - Framing Care as a Human Right at the UN level - right to care, right to be cared for, right to self-care - would unequivocally put obligations on all governments to provide ade

Read more

Why Maternal Mental Health Matters

14.03.23

Make Mothers Matter submitted its contribution to the Call for Evidence of the EU Commission on Mental Health.

Read more

Like nature’s vital resources, unpaid care work must not be taken for granted

10.03.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - The dialog following the presentation of the report Women, girls and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was the opportunity for MMM to reaffirm the urgen

Read more

Parents, key stakeholders for child rights in the digital environment

10.03.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - At the annual day on the rights of the child, which focused on child rights in the digital environment, MMM reaffirmed the importance of considering parents as key stakeholders

Read more

Supporting families to meet children’s needs by making quality family support a right for children

07.03.23

Family is the primary social structure through which the needs and rights of children and young people are met and realized. The right to family life as set out by the UNCRC, is a key right for all children and

Read more