PRESS RELEASE
Contact: G. Lawrence DeMarco, LLM
Email: ldemarco@menandboys.net
Phone: +1-215-901-1930
UN Pact for the Future Discards Reason and Fairness, Ignores 12 Areas of Male Inequality
October 3, 2024 – Last week the United Nations approved its controversial Pact for the Future. The Pact emphasizes gender equality for women and girls, but fails to acknowledge the significant challenges faced by men and boys. This omission creates an incomplete and unbalanced approach to sustainable development, and contradicts the UN’s stated goal of “leaving no one behind” (1).
The International Council for Men and Boys has identified 12 major areas of global male disadvantage, including Education, Health, False Allegations, and more (2). But the Pact for the Future remains silent about these disparities.
The Pact for the Future consists of 56 “Actions” (3). Action 8 states, “We will achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as a crucial contribution to progress across all the Sustainable Development Goals and targets.”
But a review of the document reveals serious omissions. For example:
Violence and Harassment: Action 8 vows to “Take targeted and accelerated action to eradicate all forms of violence and harassment against all women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence.” But inexcusably, the Pact ignores the hundreds of studies that show men are equally likely to become victims of domestic violence and harassment (4).
Reproductive Rights: The UN Pact seeks to “Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” for women. But in most countries, men have no reproductive rights in terms of decision-making to have the baby, seek an abortion, or put the baby up for adoption (5).
The Pact for the Future has attracted strong criticism (6, 7). Within hours of UN approval on September 22, Javier Milei, president of Argentina, announced his country’s rejection of the document. Milei charged the Pact “looks beyond the principles that were set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” which affirms the necessity of equal rights for both men and women (8).
The International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB) urges lawmakers and international organizations to demand an inclusive approach to gender equality programs.
Men’s Equality Month will be observed around the world in November (9). Concerned by the seriousness of the 12 male disparities, lawmakers and governmental bodies have issued dozens of statements of support for men. These lawmakers and government entities come from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, India, Micronesia, Norway, Northern Mariana Islands, South Africa, Spain, and the United States (10).
In preparation for Men’s Equality Month, the International Council for Men and Boys invites lawmakers and governmental officials to issue statements of support. Statements should be sent to G. Lawrence DeMarco, LLM at ldemarco@menandboys.net
The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen also will benefit women. https://www.menandboys.net/
Links:
(1) https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future/pact-for-the-future
(2) https://www.menandboys.net
(3) https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sotf-the-pact-for-the-future.pdf
(5) https://www.menandboys.net/reproductive/
(7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpvYv236QNM