In our present society where some leaders use thier ethnocentric ego to establish rules and authority as a youth, how can you uplift laws and democratic principles which should be applied equally to all regardless of one's religion, political beliefs, gender, economic, and social status.
Answers
Answer:
Power of religion:
According to a Pew Study conducted in 2012, eight out of ten people in the world profess to a particular faith. With religion still occupying such a central place in peoples lives, it compels us to recognize that religion has the needed potential to harness and mobilize all sections of society for the social and cultural transformation called for by the UN’s human rights, peace and security, humanitarian and sustainable development agenda, and the Gender Equality Compact that is now prioritized within these thanks to our efforts in the last five years.
Deconstructing the patriarchy:
“Religions are powerful creators of social fact. And it’s not merely facts they create, but a binding emotional knowledge that these facts are sacred truths.” Nicholas Wade.
We need to harness this power of religion to create the new social fact of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Unfortunately, so far in many societies we have misconstrued religious teaching which justifies the “naturalness” and “sacred nature” of the patriarchy in which men are viewed as superior to women, discriminated against, there is gendered division of labour and roles and gender stereotyping, harmful practices like child marriage, female genital mutilation and violence against women justified in the name of religion.
It is time for that to be revisited, it is time for us to re-examine religious teachings and laws, with the aim of generating new narratives about the role of religion and faith in achieving gender equality. All based on principles such as equality before God, mutual respect, tolerance, and compassion.
Interfaith platform
Religion must support gender equality and women's empowerment. The agenda of creating a planet 50-50, an equal world for men and women will not and cannot come true if religion, religious leaders and faith actors remain outside the conversation on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Gender Equality Compact:
The international community has placed the goal of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as central across all normative gains achieved over the past two years; at the helm is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which has a standalone goal on gender equality and women's empowerment as well as having gender related targets across 11 of the other SDGs, with CSW60 committing to its gender-responsive implementation.
Gender equality and women's empowerment is interlinked, if not at the center, of all our work streams