Social justice for women and girls: Global pacts, unmet goals, environmental issues

This chapter examines the difficult situation for women and girls in a world that is increasingly connected, but also is more unequal and has profound sustainability issues. While many are discussing and/or intervening to address the world’s daunting problems, there are increasing calls for the interventions to be based on social justice (inclusion and fairness) principles. The first section of the chapter discusses the extent to which the global situation for women and girls is inclusive and fair. The second section focuses on the goals outlined in three very important international documents about human rights for women - the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 - Women and Peace and Security. The analysis is conducted particularly with an interest in environmental issues. The third section examines some interesting initiatives that can move us toward meeting the goals noted in the human rights documents regarding women and the environment. The chapter’s concluding section discusses the role of human rights documents in meeting goals and indicates what needs to be done to improve the situation of women and girls.