Opnunarávarp á hliðarviðburði um jafnréttismál í kringum fjórðu ráðstefnu um fjármögnum þróunar (FfD4) í Sevilla

“Financing for Development and gender equality: a feminist agenda for action for Sevilla and beyond”

Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

It’s a pleasure to address you here today. I want to start by thanking the organizers for putting together this side event on such an important topic that is, regrettably, all too often marginalized.

We are going through a protracted period of global backlash against gender equality. This backlash is part of a broader dynamic of democratic backsliding, shrinking civic space, and intensified polarization. It affects all our countries in different ways, yet there are many commonalities.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights remain a battleground where hard-earned progress over several decades is in danger of being rolled back. In many ways, it is an age-old battle against forces that seek to control women and their bodies.

The statistics are shocking. While the right of women and girls to take decisions regarding their lives and bodies is basic human right – a striking 44 per cent of women and girls globally do not have decision-making power or bodily autonomy regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use, and reproductive healthcare. 1 in 5 women globally are victims of child marriage. 1 in 3 women experience gender-based violence in their lifetime.

The well financed anti-rights movement paired with dramatic decrease in ODA spending on gender equality and SRHR has had severe consequences, especially for vulnerable groups in the poorest countries. Likewise, the functioning of vital UN agencies in this space, especially UNFPA and UN Women, has been heavily impacted. As a result, local women-led organizations all over the world are affected. A recent survey by UN Women shows that 90% of them had been directly impacted by these funding cuts.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It’s vital that we join forces to counter this trend and decisive action is required. As you noted in your question, Iceland has prioritized gender equality and women’s empowerment in its development cooperation, which builds on our domestic experience.

Iceland‘s journey from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to becoming one of the wealthiest, would not have been possible without great advances in gender equality and women‘s empowerment.

But this did not come about on its own accord or overnight. This required political will, hard work and collective action. Likewise, it has required dedicated financing where financial resources are channelled to programmes that tackle inequalities, leave no one behind and close stubborn gender gaps.

Yesterday, I spoke at a panel debate about Iceland‘s experience with issuing sovereign gender bonds. We were the first country in the world to do so in June 2024 in order to leverage financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment. It’s a concrete example of successful progressive feminist financing. This effort would not have been successful without Iceland‘s successful experience with gender budgeting and taxation.

In the policy for Iceland‘s international development cooperation, gender equality and women‘s empowerment is both a specific and cross-cutting emphasis. Over 70% of our contributions have clear gender equality objectives, and gender equality is one of our top priorities in advocacy in international fora. Strong women´s rights organisations were key to Iceland´s success and therefore we are increasingly seeking to provide financing to local women-led organizations, for example through the Women‘s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, both in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

In light of the dramatic funding cuts to gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, Iceland has decided to increase its funding to this important issue, including its core funding to both UNFPA and UN Women.  Of course, much more effort is needed to meet the dire financing needs, but we seek to lead by example.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Throughout the FfD4 negotiations, Iceland has consistently highlighted the importance of financing for gender equality, with a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Regrettably, the outcome document has not been able to build on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda when it comes to language on gender equality and human rights. In the multilateral system, we are facing a situation where just maintaining a status quo on agreed language is considered a success.

In closing,

Difficult times sharpen our resilience. Strategic, consistent and coordinated response to the global pushback is required, and we must learn to continuously adapt our approach. Let’s not forget that while we need to safeguard progress already made, the current situation for women and girls globally is completely unacceptable.

Iceland remains a constructive partner to this movement and will continue to push the agenda forward.

Thank you.