CSW68 Parallel event: Bridging Gaps for Sustainable Peace: Feminist Financing Mechanisms to Address Inequality and the Root Causes of Conflict

Regressive tax systems and severely underfunded public services have led to the economic vulnerability and suffering of women, children, and marginalized people in the global South. All over the world, but most especially in the least developed countries, women struggle every day to find access to water, food, nutrition, health, electricity, and education. These regressive tax systems exacerbate gender inequalities by reducing resources available to women for education, healthcare, and economic empowerment.

 

Furthermore, the limited access to basic necessities and public services have also contributed to the intensification of inequalities which are among the structural root causes of conflict within and among nations, as economic inequalities often contribute to social unrest. Feminist peacebuilding emphasizes the importance of including women in decision-making processes related to peace and security. However, regressive tax systems can limit women's participation by perpetuating economic marginalization, which in turn diminishes their political influence and ability to shape policies that affect them. Addressing conflict and facilitating peace processes require financing solutions rooted in principles of justice and equality including redistributing wealth more equitably and prioritizing social welfare.

 

It is against this backdrop that the parallel event will seek to provide evidence-based policy recommendations to promote progressive taxation and other economic alternatives which advance feminist principles as just solutions to mobilise finances to end inequalities and address the root causes of conflict and pave the way for sustainable peace. Event

 

Objectives: The proposed parallel session at CSW68 will explore the dynamics surrounding feminist financing and peacebuilding, with a particular focus on financial institutions and government financing, and how they respond to the needs of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings in Africa.

The event will:

• Focus on economic inequalities as one of the structural root causes of conflicts; and propose frameworks that incorporate feminist financing in peace processes.

• Underscore how the underfunding of public services contributes to inequalities and reflects the state's failure to address these inequalities; and

• Introduce how progressive taxation and wealth taxes from a south feminist perspective can be considered an economic alternative.

• Provide evidence-based policy recommendations to promote feminist financing mechanisms that integrate feminist principles into government financing and financial institutions.