Minister Pusić: Women reinvest 90% of income back into family

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs chaired today a high-level meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission on “Economic Empowerment of Women in Peacebuilding”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs chaired today a high-level meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission on “Economic Empowerment of Women in Peacebuilding”. The meeting was attended by 12 foreign ministers, executive director of UN Women, as well as numerous other representatives of state institutions and NGOs.

Pusić underlined that investing in the education of women and their participation in economy was crucial for the building of sustainable pace. “Women invest in family and education of their children as much as 90% of their income, while men invest only 40%. Economic empowerment of women is one of the priorities on the agenda of global sustainable development,” the minister said.

Priorities and needs of women are rarely taken into account in post-conflict policies and projects. “We need more women at peace negotiation tables, donor conferences and meeting on post-conflict priorities,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UN Women. Other speakers pointed out the issue of underrepresentation of women in local and national governments, i.e. in the decision-making processes that would benefit their physical and economic security, given that women in post-war periods are often not only economically marginalized, but are victims of sexual and other forms of violence as well.

The Peacebuilding Commission member countries at the end of the session adopted a Declaration, whose highlights include: the economic empowerment of women is an integral element of post-conflict recovery, as well as economic and sustainable development; gender equality needs to be integrated into economic recovery plans; post-conflict societies need to be stimulated to allow the employment and professional training of women as well as motivate them to enter the job market in a more prominent fashion so that they could sustain their households independently and lastingly. 

Speech by Minister Pusić in English:

 

Press releases