German Development Minister Svenja Schulze warned on Saturday that women and girls around the world are facing increasing challenges, rather than seeing International Women’s Day as a cause for celebration.
“Women and girls have no reason to celebrate today, instead they must fight. Because attacks on women’s rights have increased worldwide, just like misogynist propaganda and politics,” Schulze said in Berlin.
She highlighted the dangers of reduced international funding for women’s empowerment programmes, calling it a major threat to global development.
“When girls are denied education, entire societies suffer. When they lack access to contraception, rates of unwanted pregnancies and maternal mortality increase,” Schulze noted.
She added that forced child marriages rob young girls of their future and dignity.
According to Schulze, the decline in funding for women’s support programmes and institutions is partly due to decisions made by the new administration of US President Donald Trump.
The US government had made it clear that it aimed to reduce funding for women’s empowerment, education and health services as a matter of policy, she said.