‘NEW PARADIGM IN OUR POLICIES’ NEEDED TO ENSURE WOMEN INVOLVED AT EACH STAGE OF PEACE, DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD
Special Adviser Says ‘MDG 3’ – Gender Equality - Key to Achieving
All Other Development Goals, As Debate Begins on Advancement of Women
As the multiple global crises facing the world –- financial, food and energy -– cast a “psychological shadow” on the day’s debate and threatened achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, an immense untapped resource -- women, more than half the world’s population –- had been excluded from the strategies of international development and security, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.
The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja, told the Committee that engaging women in those strategies would require a fundamental shift in thinking. “We must create a new paradigm in our policies,” she said. “A model of inclusive development and security” that ensured that women were integrally involved in every stage of development and peace processes.
Speaking as the Committee began its debate on the advancement of women and the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, she said the third Millennium Development Goal –- to promote gender equality and empower women –- had been much lower on the radar screen than many other Millennium goals. Yet, it was “key to achieving all the others”. She added that the Development Goals would not be met unless greater attention and resources were devoted to women’s empowerment and gender equality and, therefore, called for greater focus on that development objective. She also called for faster, more flexible and more effective coordination and response mechanisms to deal with the confluence of crises at hand.
Many delegates said the creation of a new gender entity within the United Nations system would be central to those efforts. A “composite entity” that would bring together existing gender-focused entities -- such as the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues, the Division for the Advancement of Women, and the International Research and Training Institute for Women -- was initially called for by Member States in informal consultations leading up to last month’s adoption of the General Assembly resolution on system-wide coherence (A/RES/62/277). The representative of France, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said the creation of that entity would improve the ability of the United Nations to effectively deliver on gender issues, and would combine the normative and analytical functions of the current gender architecture with a technical, policy-setting and programmatic role.
The representative of Mexico, speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, echoed those remarks, adding that a new gender entity would also promote substantive discussions on issues including funding, governance structure, staffing, and the relationship between the Commission on the Status of Women and other relevant bodies. However, the representative of Canada, speaking also on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, warned that any new United Nations gender equality architecture would need to, first and foremost, enhance performance at the country level to better support national ownership and leadership.
Leaders within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said they had recently created a historic regional framework for action on gender issues. In August 2008, regional Heads of State signed a gender protocol that consolidated various commitments on gender equality and gender equity made at regional, continental and international levels, into one document. The representative of Tanzania, speaking on behalf of the Development Community, said the protocol was a legally binding instrument that set specific targets and time frames for achieving gender equality and gender equity in all areas, as well as effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for measuring success. However, full implementation would require both national efforts and technical and financial support from the international community.
The Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Inés Alberdi, called on the international community to make good on their previously agreed-upon commitments, but also suggested that national and regional networks of gender equality advocates had a pivotal role to play in securing more gender-equitable policies, programmes and greater resource allocations. As such, UNIFEM had initiated a cross-regional programme to promote gender equality in financing for development and aid effectiveness debates, with a focus on building the capacity of gender equality advocates to navigate within the new frameworks. As well, together with the European Commission and the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNIFEM had launched the European Community-United Nations Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace to assess the gender equality impact of the aid effectiveness agenda in 12 countries. Such partnerships and coordination -- among countries, regions and United Nations organizations -- was a critical element to success on gender equality and women’s empowerment and to the achievement of the broader development goals.
The Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, Carolyn Hannan, also spoke today to introduce a number of the reports before the Committee, as did the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Dubravka Simonovic.
Also speaking today were the representatives of Antigua and Barbuda (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Guyana, Qatar, Cuba, Iraq, Japan, Sudan, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Belarus, the United States of America, Turkey, Algeria, Jamaica, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Libya, China, Slovenia, Chile, Pakistan, Senegal and the Russian Federation.
Background
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met today to begin its general discussion on the advancement of women and the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women and of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
Before the Committee was the Secretary-General’s report on supporting efforts to end obstetric fistula (document A/63/222). The report outlines efforts to end obstetric fistula, a preventable childbirth injury that disproportionately affects impoverished women and girls in rural communities of developing countries. The report draws attention to the significant global momentum that currently exists to address overall maternal health within the context of the Millennium Development Goals and the growth of the Global Campaign to End Fistula since 2003. However, despite those positive developments, the report states that serious challenges remain that require specific actions, such as greater investments in health-care systems and in support of national health plans.
The Committee also had before it the report of the Secretary-General on trafficking in women and girls (document A/63/215), which notes a substantial increase in the number of States parties to international instruments relevant to combating trafficking in women and girls. It also highlights the significant strides made by States to strengthen legal frameworks and to bring national legislation in line with international and regional standards. The report draws attention to the lack of reliable data on the scope and nature of trafficking in women and girls and the need for more and better-quality data to guide the development and evaluation of national policies and programmes.
The report of the Secretary-General on the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (document A/63/214) was also before the Committee. The report highlights the growing number of States with new or strengthened legislation on violence against women and the increasing availability of funding for services for victims. However, the report also underlines the need for a comprehensive approach, in order to achieve further progress in preventing and effectively responding to all forms of violence against women. It recommends that States intensify their efforts to raise public awareness, further strengthen legislation, and to evaluate and assess the impact of all initiatives on violence against women.
The Committee also had before it the report of the Secretary-General on eliminating rape and other forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, including in conflict and related situations (document A/63/216). The report indicates that still only a small percentage of rapes are reported to authorities and an even smaller percentage results in convictions. It draws attention to recent progress achieved by numerous countries in reforming their respective criminal laws and procedures, thereby improving the effectiveness of their criminal justice systems in responding to sexual offences. The report recommends that States, in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, ensure that they enact and effectively implement legal and policy frameworks protecting women and girls from sexual violence, with the scope and coverage of that legislation commensurate with the severity of the offences.
A note by the Secretary-General, transmitting the report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the activities of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (document A/63/205), was also before the Committee. The report tracks the overall progress of the Fund and highlights concrete results, such as the strengthening of legal and policy frameworks on gender issues in 90 countries, removing gender-discriminatory provisions in nine countries and successful resource mobilization overall. The report also acknowledges the lack of information regarding the degree to which legislative changes have been implemented and the difficulty in measuring the influence of women’s organizations on mainstream policy processes. Those challenges will be key areas of focus in the next phase of UNIFEM’s strategic plan, according to the report.
The Committee also had before it the report of the Secretary-General on measures taken and progress achieved in the follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (document A/63/217). The report examines the extent to which intergovernmental bodies had paid attention to gender perspectives in their work and assesses the impact of the input of the Commission on the Status of Women on discussions within the United Nations system. It concludes that full and effective implementation requires systematic integration of gender perspectives at all levels and notes that, during its sixty-second session, the General Assembly advanced global policy on gender equality in a number of areas, but did not systematically include gender perspectives in all its documentation or outcomes. The report recommends that the Commission’s outcomes be systematically transmitted through the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly and other relevant intergovernmental bodies and suggests that regular reporting on gender equality outcomes could advance the global policy agenda on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The Committee was also expected to consider the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its fortieth and forty-first sessions (document A/63/38) and the Secretary-General’s report on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations system (document A/63/364).
Introduction of Reports
RACHEL MAYANJA, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said today’s discussion was taking place in the psychological shadow of multiple crises: outbreaks of conflict and violence; a projected economic slowdown; the global financial, food, and energy crises; and global warming, among others. Combined, all those factors would have a serious adverse impact on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. At the same time, the world was in the midst of several positive transitions -- political, economic and social -- which emphasized innovative and collaborative action. Political reform, democratic change and political participation were increasingly taking root across the world, and highly effective collaborative strategies were helping to lift millions of people out of abject poverty and hunger, and had been deployed against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and global warming.
The foundation of all of that work, and those successes, was accountability, she said. Without mutual accountability, international cooperation would be impossible and, as such, both developing countries and donor countries needed to make good on their respective commitments, as outlined at the Millennium Summit. The world’s untapped resources were immense, and fully engaging those resources required a fundamental shift in thinking. The international community must create a new paradigm in its policies and must ensure that women were integrally involved in every stage of the development and peace process. More flexible and effective coordination and response mechanisms were also needed to deal with the confluence of crises.
The United Nations had been at the forefront of global work to meet those challenges and strengthen mutual accountability, collective action and inclusiveness, she said. It was encouraging to note the strong sense of commitment and political will that Governments had shown during the Millennium Development Goal Review and the efforts of certain Governments in particular, to promote gender equality and empowerment of women. Such efforts demonstrated that with commitment, a shared vision and strong partnerships, it was possible to overcome all obstacles and achieve the Millennium Development Goals, in particular Millennium Goal three: -- promoting gender equality and empowering women.
Despite impressive gains in girls’ education, they still accounted for 55 per cent of the out-of-school population, she continued. Though women had more income earning opportunities than ever before, two-thirds of women in the developing world still worked in vulnerable jobs or as unpaid family workers. Overall, the third Millennium Goal had been much lower on the radar than many of the other Goals. She called for greater focus on that Goal, as it was key to achieving all the others. The Millennium Development Goals would not be met unless greater resources were directed towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. On the country level, promising policy initiatives for gender equality and women’s empowerment often floundered because insufficient resources were allocated to implement them. The Doha process should make it clear that gender equality and women’s empowerment were vital to development and should be fully resourced.
2008 was a landmark year for making financing for development a reality, she said, but it also marked 60 years since the birth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No country in the world could claim to have eliminated all forms of discrimination against women, and the current year was a reminder that women’s rights were universal, indivisible human rights, and they should be made a reality. Violence against women was the most extreme manifestation of the pervasive violations of women’s human rights. It was also high on the international agenda, and the launch of Unite to End Violence Against Women in February 2008 represented a historic opportunity to galvanize action on the issue. The work of the Third Committee had greatly contributed to the global momentum leading up to the launch of that campaign, but more needed to be done by all actors -- Member States, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector, women and men -- to put an end to violence against women.
Women were slowly gaining ground in political and public representation, she said. The global proportion of parliamentary seats held by women had reached 18 per cent. However, despite greater parliamentary participation, women were still largely absent from the highest levels of governance. As well, though information on women’s participation at the local level of Government remained sketchy, almost everywhere in the world women were not present at local levels in proportion to their presence in the population. In the United Nations itself, progress in improving the representation of women at the professional and policy-making levels had been slower than anticipated. The Secretary-General was taking measures to rectify those deficiencies by establishing mechanisms at the senior management level and including indicators in performance appraisals for managers. She expressed her regret that the report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations system had yet to be issued.
During the past year, the United Nations system had taken further steps to strengthen gender mainstreaming in its policies and programmes, she said. The Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) continued to be the centre of concerted action within the United Nations on mainstreaming. On the system-wide coherence review, she noted that informal consultations of the General Assembly were held on the strengthening of the gender equality work of the United Nations system in May, June and September of 2008. At those consultations, Member States agreed that the gaps and weaknesses of United Nations support to countries should be more effectively addressed. In conclusion, she said she looked to the current session of the General Assembly to chart new ground and help the international community move faster towards effective, coordinated action to advance the status of the world’s women.
CAROLYN HANNAN, Director of the Division of the Advancement of Women, introduced the Secretary-General’s reports relating to violence against women (document A/63/214), trafficking in women and girls (document A/63/215), sexual violence against women and girls (document A/63/216), and follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (document A/63/217).
On the elimination of discrimination against women, she stressed the need for a more comprehensive approach to effectively deal with the challenge. For instance, as the Secretary-General’s report had recommended, laws addressing violence should include prevention measures. Also, national action plans should have clear, measurable goals, and they must be well funded and supported at the highest levels. For their part, the United Nations Statistical Commission had developed a set of indicators on violence against women, while the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was conducting a review of respective evaluative frameworks. In addition, the Secretariat had produced an inventory of activities being conducted by the United Nations system on the topic, which was currently before the Committee. Furthermore, news about three inter-agency mechanisms on the elimination of discrimination against women would be submitted in March 2009.
On trafficking in women and girls, she said many countries had strengthened their frameworks and improved coordination among various agencies dealing with the issue. Many more countries were also taking steps to ensure the prosecution of perpetrators. The General Assembly’s thematic debate in June had helped generate fresh impetus to strengthen cooperation. United Nations entities had enhanced coordination and partnership with a range of actors. In addition to promulgating laws that criminalized that activity, she stressed the importance of increased coordination among those actors and systematically monitoring progress made.
Turning to eliminating rape, she said the Secretary-General’s report on that subject had considered various international legal and policy frameworks, as well as frameworks put forward by experts and intergovernmental bodies, including the Security Council and its resolution on sex and violence in conflict areas. She said it was important to continue integrating victims’ needs in humanitarian assistance programmes. The elimination of rape and other forms of sexual violence should form part of the holistic approach taken by States towards the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
She said the Division was building a database on violence against women, and had sent a detailed questionnaire to Member States to collect information. The database was expected to be launched at the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2009. The Division had also produced a newsletter on violence against women, a quarterly electronic publication that was designed to “complement existing forms of information dissemination”. In addition, it had restructured its website on violence against women and would welcome feedback and comments. Those actions were taken as part of the Secretary-General’s campaign, “Unite to End Violence Against Women”.
On follow-up to the Beijing Declaration, she echoed the report’s finding that the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council had mainstreamed the gender perspective in human rights and social development, but less so in the areas of law, economics and politics. Considerable progress had been made, however, in the area of “women in development” and eliminating violence against women and girls. The report said the Economic and Social Council needed to mainstream gender equality more systematically, by increasing its collaboration with the Commission on the Status of Women. Steps to mainstream gender issues into United Nations events and discussions should continue. There was a need to enhance the Commission’s ability to provide support to Member States.
She drew attention to the commemoration of first International Day of Rural Women on 15 October, which would come before World Food Day. A lunchtime panel discussion on the subject would be held as part of the day’s events, where a new publication, “Rural women in a changing world: opportunities and challenges”, would be launched.
She noted that the Third Committee continued to be committed to gender equality, and expressed hope that that commitment would be replicated by other Committees.
INÉS ALBERDI, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), presented the report on the Fund’s activities (document A/63/205). The Fund was guided by a four-year strategic plan. With regard to its work on national plans and legislation for women’s human rights and gender equality, she said UNIFEM had helped countries draft gender equality laws in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Mauritania. It had also spent time strengthening implementation of laws in Viet Nam, with the Fund giving support to national assembly members and chief justices of provincial courts to implement the gender equality law there. It had also supported the formulation of a regional gender policy for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In Tajikistan, the national development strategy committed the Government to ensure that both men and women had equal access to economic resources and implemented a quota for higher education for rural girls and boys.
Mainstream institutions needed to generate policies and services to strengthen their capacity to deliver for women and girls, she said. Reshaping incentive systems to support better responses to women’s needs, incorporating gender-responsive budgeting, and institutionalizing effective leadership to champion gender equality and women’s rights were all essential elements of gender mainstreaming at the institutional level. In 2007, UNIFEM contributed to positive institutional changes with a broad range of national and regional partners. Positive results could already be seen in Morocco, Ecuador and Bolivia, where budgets and budget guidelines were focused, more directly, on providing equal opportunities for women. Building on the success of gender-responsive budgeting as a tool for monitoring and tracking resources for gender equality, UNIFEM had begun to advocate for its use to track internal and external resource flows within the aid effectiveness agenda and was partnering with the European Commission to promote the use of gender-responsive budgeting as a tool to build greater accountability.
UNIFEM also supported the capacity-building of national and regional networks of gender equality advocates, to secure more gender-equitable policies, programmes and resource allocation, she continued. In Afghanistan, for example, such support had led to the establishment of an institutional capacity-building team within the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. In 2007, UNIFEM initiated a cross-regional programme to promote gender equality in financing for development and aid effectiveness debates, with a focus on building the capacity of gender equality advocates to navigate within the new frameworks. Together with the European Commission and the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNIFEM had launched the European Community-United Nations Partnership on Gender Equality for Development and Peace, which had already commissioned studies on the gender equality impact of the aid effectiveness agenda in 12 countries. The increasing shift to programme-based approaches within the aid effectiveness agenda would also provide new mechanisms to support gender equality priorities.
In the future, UNIFEM would continue to support gender equality advocates to enhance implementation and accountability for gender equality commitments in the context of financing for development, she said. UNIFEM would also continue to mobilize support for the Campaign to End Violence against Women and would seek to have it recognized as an essential part of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Partnership and coordination would remain critical, both within and among countries and regions, and within the United Nations system. As the United Nations intensified its efforts to bring countries together to achieve the Millennium Goals, greater coherence and coordination would be needed to enable it to continue to provide holistic and coordinated support to countries, and help them deliver on national priorities for development and gender equality.
Questions and Answers
The representative of Algeria stated that the Secretary-General’s report on the elimination of violence against women, which was based on reports from Member States, had not accurately reflected the report submitted by her country. She appealed for certain phrases to be corrected, including those touching on “terrorism”, which the report had changed to “armed conflict”; and “local authorities”, which the report had changed to “police”.
The representatives of Sudan and Syria, and from the observer mission of Palestine , remarked that the Secretary-General had made no mention of women experiencing violence under foreign occupation. The representatives of Syria and the observer mission of Palestine further added that it was necessary to address actions taken by occupying powers through international law. The report had not contained any statistics regarding actions taken by the State of Israel in relation to women living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In addition, the representative of Syria asked to hear more from the United Nations’ specialized agencies that were on the ground, and wondered if the Secretariat was considering setting up an agency to monitor the situation of women and children in the occupied Golan Heights, noting that there was currently no international agency in that region.
The representatives of Sudan and Chile remarked on the lack of representation of women within high-ranking posts at the United Nations, and asked how that situation could be corrected, especially with regard to women from developing countries.
The representative of Chile also asked about specific progress on the Secretary-General’s initiative, “Unite to End Violence Against Women”. The representative of France noted that it would be useful to draw attention to the impact of violence against women on the economy, in addition to the human costs. He asked if the Secretariat would consider collecting data on that subject.
On the topic of “coherence” within the United Nations systems, the representative of Colombia asked what headway was being made to address weaknesses pinpointed by such agencies as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and others, in carrying out their internal action plans.
Ms. MAYANJA, responding to questions regarding the slow pace of progress in recruiting women at high-level positions within the United Nations, said she, too, was frustrated by the situation, but that there were some constraints to fully understanding the reasons behind that slow pace. In the past, when women left the Organization there was no systematic way of gathering information on why they were leaving, through exit interviews. That had now changed and information should become more available in the future. When efforts were made to recruit women and then those women were lost, it was impossible to make progress, and the United Nations would work closely with Member States to address the possible issues behind the lack of representation, such as work-life policies or the employment of spouses. The exact percentage of women from developing countries who were represented in employment figures had not yet been calculated. However, such figures would likely be available in the coming year.
Turning to comments regarding the Campaign to End Violence against Women, she explained that the Campaign would take place at the system-wide level and at the individual entity level. On the system-wide level, activities and programmes were already underway, including celebrations for the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November. The Secretary-General was also building a network of leaders on the issue that would be announced in the near future. There were also system-wide policies and strategies on gender mainstreaming and all actors were expected to work together on the implementation of those strategies. Indeed, a number of entities had already identified gender equality as one of the key priorities of their programmes. She also stressed that, though UNICEF had found that it could be doing better in that regard, all entities could, indeed, do better and should strive to do so.
Ms. HANNAN, following up on those remarks, added that the threat of violence against women was as important as an actual act of violence against women, since both constituted significant constraints to women’s development. The Secretary-General’s study provided interesting initial information on the overall cost of violence against women, but more information should be gathered in the future. Member States should contribute more information on the cost of violence against women in their countries and work to ensure that the issue would be taken up in future reports of the Secretary-General. The Task Force on Violence against Women could also take up that issue in its work.
Responding to the comments made by the representative of Algeria, she said that she would check the report and possible issues of translation and come back with a response. In terms of the overall content of the Secretary-General’s reports, in particular the report on the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and eliminating rape and other forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, she noted that those reports were based on inputs by Member States and reflected those responses and reports.
Finally, she noted that her Division’s newsletter would continue to be published quarterly and would be released electronically.
Ms. ALBERDI, with regards to comments by representatives of Syria and Palestine regarding women living in occupied territories, stressed that UNIFEM was increasing its work in Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in collaboration with local and regional actors. UNIFEM was also working to support economic programmes in those regions, to ensure the presence of women in the field. In particular, UNIFEM was working with the International Women’s Coalition -- a group of Palestinian, Israeli and other international leaders -- to move forward collectively to defend peace in the Israeli and Palestinian territories.
On the topic of coherence in the United Nations system, she said it was necessary to recall that the United Nations was already working to ensure that women were empowered within the system. She thanked the representative from France for the suggestion regarding greater resource allocation to combat violence against women. It was important for words to be accompanied by economic resources, she said, while noting that the Trust Fund to End Violence against Women had currently mobilized only $20 million of its $100 million annual goal.
Following the responses by panellists, the representative of Algeria spoke once more to reiterate her delegation’s demand for a corrigendum to explain the unacceptable situation. The representative of Syria noted that Ms. HANNAN had said, in her response, that the Secretary-General’s reports were based on contributions by Member States. She suggested that the reports should reflect the inputs of both independent States and occupied territories. She also repeated her question regarding the occupied Golan Heights.
Statement on ‘Advancement of Women’
DUBRAVKA SIMONOVIC, Chairperson for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, then delivered an oral report on “advancement of women”, as requested by the General Assembly. She said the Committee was created to oversee implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and had had a productive year, due in part to the extended meeting time approved by the General Assembly last year. It had been able to consider the reports of 16 States parties during its fortieth and forty-first sessions, and a further 13 were expected to be taken up during the forty-second session, which was to begin on 20 October. She informed Member States that the Committee had adopted new reporting guidelines, which she encouraged all States parties to use. It had also decided that, in order to ensure close dialogue with States parties through time, the Committee would henceforth identify up to three concerns requiring action by the States party in question, on which it would request information from the State party within one or two years.
On other fronts, she said the Committee conducted its first ever follow-up visit to a State party –- Luxembourg -- to discuss its observations with Government, Parliament, the judiciary and bar, and civil society. As for non-reporting States parties, the Committee was exploring ways to encourage them to comply with their reporting obligations, although, to date, all States parties had submitted reports. Also, the Committee had sought to expand the range of stakeholders with whom it interacts, and for that reason, had adopted a statement on the role of national human rights institutions in its work.
She said the Committee was no longer under the purview of the Division for the Advancement of Women within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, but was now with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. But, the Committee maintained close ties with the Division, as well as with other New York- based United Nations entities, such as UNIFEM, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It was also following discussions relating to the reform of the United Nations gender architecture.
She recalled that 2008 marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. For its part, the Committee had made significant progress in its complaints and inquiry protocol work, and had heard one inquiry into systematic violations of women’s rights and three complaints relating to domestic violence. But, challenges remained and the Committee frequently saw such changes being played out in the persistence of discriminatory laws, customs and practices in States parties. As the world celebrated the anniversary of the Universal Declaration, it must craft ways to empower the procedures established by the Convention and its Optional Protocol.
Statements
AQEELAH AKBAR (Antigua and Barbuda), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said there was insufficient progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal on gender parity, and that the feminization of poverty was growing because of the financial crisis. Millions of women and girls had no access to food, medicines, shelter, or were victims of violence. In some regions, because more than 50 per cent of food was produced by rural women and because female-headed households spent more of their income on food, it was critical that negotiations on food security, agricultural productivity and cancellation of foreign debt at the Doha Round be concluded in a way that brought “development-oriented results” to such women. It would also be useful to upgrade women’s skills through education and training, so as to increase their participation in the global economy.
She noted that persistent conflict in certain parts of the world was a major impediment to the elimination of all forms of violence against women. The international community must place particular focus on the plight of women living under foreign occupation and do everything to ensure that perpetrators were prosecuted. She voiced concern over the fact that the Secretary-General’s report on the status of women at the United Nations had not been released on time. Having reached the midpoint to 2015, the Group of 77 was concerned over the “less than satisfactory achievement of gender parity within the United Nations system”, with only a “modest” increase in the percentage of women in the United Nations system in the professional and higher categories, from 37.7 per cent in December 2006 to 38 per cent in December 2007. Women represented only 23 per cent of the members of the seven human rights treaty bodies, with the exception of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. She recalled that the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) was the central focal point for research and training on gender issues.
She remarked that approximately $13 billion would be required annually to achieve the Millennium goal on gender parity. While it was useful to create greater awareness of gender-responsive budgeting initiatives, what developing countries needed was direct assistance from the international community to help build their capacity. That was particularly true given the ongoing global economic, food, energy and climate crises; weak support from international financial institutions; and the decline of official development assistance. She encouraged the international community to honour its official development assistance commitments and to cooperate more in technology transfer, data-sharing and technical assistance. It must also commit to debt relief and opening up markets to give opportunities to women entrepreneurs. Increased development assistance in the areas of education, health and employment was equally crucial.
FABIEN FIESCHI ( France), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, noted that in many countries, women were second class citizens with legal rights inferior to those of men, despite the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris 60 years ago. They were still the principal victims of domestic and sexual violence, notably in situations of armed conflict, where rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence were being used in a systematic way as a weapon of war, despite the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In addition, women were still largely underrepresented in the political and economic sphere. The Union supported the creation of a new gender entity within the United Nations, to be headed by an Under-Secretary-General, which would bring together existing gender-focused entities. He recalled a General Assembly resolution requesting the Secretary-General to provide the modalities for such a “composite entity”, and asked that it be complied with, so as to enable the Assembly to take action on that topic at the current session.
He went on to call for stronger implementation of the two Security Council resolutions relating to women, peace and security -- resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) -- since women had a major role to play in restoring and consolidating peace, and in reconstruction. At a conference led by the European Commissioner for External Relations in March, more than 40 prominent international women leaders had written to the Secretary-General inviting him to convene a ministerial conference on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) in 2010. In addition, the Union was currently seeking to adopt a set of indicators on women in armed conflict, to be used alongside indicators on women and decision-making, violence against women, women and health, education and training of women, sexual harassment, and women and poverty. Meanwhile, all States parties to the Women’s anti-discrimination Convention were invited to lift their reservations to that Convention, and those that had not done so should ratify and accede to the Convention and its Protocol.
He said the Union had adopted five common principles to underpin action taken by the Union’s institutions and member states. Gender equality was one of the five. The Union was further committed to the full implementation of United Nations programmes of action dealing with population issues and social development, and believed that gender equality could not be achieved without guaranteeing women’s sexual and reproductive rights. To that end, expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services was essential. Greatly valuing the opportunity to participate in important debates of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Union believed that agreed conclusions from its recent fifty-second session should be taken into account by the Doha development round.
AUGUSTINE P. MAHIGA (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said that gender equality, equity and the empowerment of women were fundamental human rights and prerequisites for sustainable development. However, despite various international and regional commitments and instruments on the rights of women, implementation of those commitments was slow and the rights of women continued to be violated. Often, contradictions existed between customary laws, national laws and international commitments, constituting a major challenge to implementation. As well, the under-representation of women in decision-making and policy formulation, and the high levels of poverty among women and girls, also constrained the attainment of other rights.
Regionally, SADC Heads of State had signed a historic gender protocol in August 2008 that consolidated the various commitments on gender equality and gender equity made at regional, continental and international levels into one document, she said. The protocol also called for 50 per cent representation by women at all levels of Government by 2015, and for the implementation of legislative measures to guarantee that political and policy structures were gender sensitive. As a legally binding instrument, it was a major step forward towards women’s empowerment. However, its full implementation would require technical and financial support from the international community, and pivotal efforts on the part of national parliaments to generate political will, and to enact national legislation for implementing regional and international gender instruments. The new gender protocol would also give a new impetus to efforts to stamp out violence against women, and it specified a number of steps that Governments would have to undertake to end that threat.
Turning to the role of the United Nations, he said he was encouraged by the progress of discussions towards a strong gender architecture within the Organization. The work of United Nations agencies, such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNIFEM were warmly welcomed. However, it would be worthwhile if greater assistance was provided for the collection of reliable data on issues of serious concern, such as the scope and nature of trafficking in women and girls. Enhanced international cooperation and global partnership was needed to assist countries to effectively implement the Beijing Platform for Action and other international commitments. In addition, the international community should honour its commitments of official development assistance, debt relief and the opening of markets to greater opportunities to women entrepreneurs.
GEORGE WILFRED TALBOT (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and aligning himself with statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the gains realized in key areas of human development might be erased by the current global financial instability and a possible shift of national and international attention to larger macroeconomic issues. That said, the non-achievement of gender equality commitments, in some contexts, might be more attributed to a lack of accountability on gender issues, rather than to a shortage of resources. Therefore, mechanisms should be put in place to address commitments with regard to the empowerment of women and to provide greater accountability.
The importance of adequate financing to increase gender-sensitive policies and programmes, and to strengthen national women’s mechanisms and institutions could not be ignored, he continued. It was essential to ensure urgent action towards the integration of a gender perspective into national budgeting and the adoption of a gender-sensitive approach in areas such as finance, trade, transport and rural infrastructure. However, it was pointless to stress the nexus between women and sustainable development, if little or no resources were made available to ensure the implementation of agreed goals and actions. The upcoming review conference on financing for development and the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus would be an opportunity to address that issue.
In spite of the constraints faced, CARICOM States continued to implement policies and programmes for the advancement of women, he said. Priority attention was focused on the elimination of poverty among women, gender mainstreaming, improved institutional infrastructure, the elimination of gender-based violence, and the alignment of Millennium targets to regional targets in the areas of health and education. Within the region, there was a clear recognition of the inextricable links among the empowerment of women, sustainable development and the strengthening of democracy. As such, greater attention was being focused on the full and active participation of women in public life and decision-making. Finally, he drew attention to the upcoming International Day of Rural Women on 15 October. Rural women constituted a majority in most developing countries and were responsible for a substantial quality of food produced. The global food crisis should serve as a call to action, regarding the issues that affect rural women, such as high levels of poverty, land ownership and limited or no access to credit.
NELL STEWART (Canada), also speaking on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, said that, in the year of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, widespread violations of women’s rights persisted. The Third Committee would once again consider resolutions on such grave violations as the trafficking of women and girls, and other forms of violence, that continued to be perpetrated with impunity. The Committee would also be debating the positive agenda and the “multitude of promising approaches that enable women’s full contribution to social, political and economic life”. A great deal of work was still required, in order to ensure that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were translated into sustained progress for women and girls.
She said the United Nations had an important role to play in accelerating global progress towards gender equality and, in the context of system-wide coherence, there was an important opportunity to end persistent inequality with the robust and meaningful response that the challenge merited. The new United Nations gender equality architecture must, first and foremost, enhance performance at the country level to better support national ownership and leadership. It should strengthen policy coherence in the United Nations system and ensure adequate authority in the Organization’s leadership to strengthen integration and uptake of gender issues. The time had come for the United Nations to fulfil its promise to women and girls.
ENRIQUE OCHOA (Mexico), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group and reaffirming support for the Beijing Declaration and outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, voiced agreement on the need to appoint more women to professional and higher posts within the United Nations Secretariat. He also expressed commitment to the quest to eradicate violence against women, and said the Group looked forward to seeing the outcome of the work by the Statistical Commission on proposed indicators on violence against women. He said the Group was also supportive of efforts to mainstream gender perspectives in the preparation and follow-up to major international conferences and summits, particularly in the area of financing for development and climate change.
He said the countries of the Rio Group were seeking to enhance their legal and policy frameworks for the promotion of gender equality, by enacting gender equality laws and/or reviewing their legislation to weed out discriminatory laws. The budget devoted for such activities had been increased. Most countries were working to criminalize acts of violence against women, establishing prosecutors and courts to hear cases of such violence, and providing legal support and assistance to victims.
He welcomed the adoption during the last General Assembly of resolution 62/277 on system-wide coherence, and said he looked forward to hearing suggestions on ways to strengthen United Nations efforts on gender equality and the empowerment of women, in particular on the “composite entity” being suggested to promote substantive discussion during the current session of the Assembly. Issues of interest included funding, governance structure, staffing, and the relationship between the Commission on the Status of Women and other relevant bodies. For its part, the Rio Group was engaged in important awareness-raising activities to combat discrimination against women due to age, ethnicity, migrant status, minority status or disability. It was also working to counter the feminization of AIDS and was launching a regional campaign on newborn child health. Further, the Rio Group believed that UNIFEM played an essential role within the United Nations, as did INSTRAW. He said he looked forward to the first International Day of Rural Women on 15 October.
ALYA AHMED S.A. AL-THANI (Qatar), speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council and aligning herself with the Group of 77 and China, said the region had been seeking to “integrate” the roles of men and women according to Arab and Islamic values. Since the mid-1990s, countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council had focused on preparing national plans of action along the lines of the Beijing Platform, in conformity with Sharia law and national values. Mainly, they had sought to promote the rights of girls and women in line with their duties to the family, and, as such, had created councils, specialized entities and departments, and national committees to that end.
She said the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Supreme Council had instructed its Advisory Board to review actions taken at the level of State Councils to improve the status of women in the economy and in the “social” fields. A Committee was created to study the “economic, social and family role of women”. The situation of “limited income women” was given special emphasis. Other areas of focus included protecting women from violence, eradicating illiteracy among girls and women, developing laws and regulations relevant to women in line with the Sharia, and educating the public with regard to the significant role played by women in the family and in society. The Gulf Cooperation Council was considering creating a ministerial committee to coordinate and organize the work of the councils.
Turning to the reports of the Secretary-General, she drew attention to the work being done to eliminate violence against women, adding that there was no single model that could be applied to all countries. Every State must draw up plans that met its own priorities. For instance, countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council had acceded to the Convention against transnational organized crime, and the protocol on the sale of children and their exploitation in prostitution and pornography. To fulfil their obligations under those instruments, those States had sought to draw up national action plans implemented by specialized units established within the ministries of the interior, to combat impunity and provide services to victims. They had also adopted the Abu Dhabi document on laws against trafficking in persons, to improve cooperation among Gulf states in combating that activity. She ended by calling attention to the plight of women and their families who lived in areas under foreign occupation, and asked that the Secretary-General examine that issue in his future reports.
CLAUDIA PÉREZ ÁLVAREZ (Cuba), aligning herself with statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said women constituted 70 per cent of the world’s population living in extreme poverty. There were several factors that contributed to that feminization of poverty and, consequently, to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action. Among those factors were: ongoing reductions in official development assistance; the negative consequences of structural adjustment programmes; foreign debt; climate change; the lack of movement in the Doha Round talks; and the current financial, food and energy crises. Ongoing violence against women was also an obstacle to the achievement of the goals detailed in the Beijing Platform of Action, specifically the violence caused by wars, invasions, foreign occupation and the imposition of unilateral coercive measures.
On a national level, the Cuban Government had focused on making gender equality and the empowerment of women real, she said. Women represented 43 per cent of the national parliament and 65 per cent of professionals and technicians. On an international level, she called for greater recognition by rich countries of the effects of the various crises facing the world, on both countries of the underdeveloped South and countries of the North. The issue demanded immediate solutions based on collaboration and international solidarity. For its part, Cuba would continue to share the expertise of its doctors, teachers and technicians with all other countries in need.
SHIRIEN BANNA (Iraq), aligning herself with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the enhancement and protection of the rights of women should be an international priority. In Iraq, the rights of women had been ignored for many years and women had often suffered from extreme poverty, illiteracy, and illegal detentions. Now, the Government was trying to “regain its balance” through a series of reforms. Those reforms were focused on establishing peace and security, respect for human rights, reconstruction, and development. Women played a major role in all those areas, and the Government of Iraq was keen on including women in the rebuilding of its national institutions and ensuring their full participation at all levels of society. Making up half of the population, women had an integral role to play to help restore the balance in the political, social and economic fields.
Currently, women made up 25 per cent of the national parliament, she said, adding that such a high percentage of representation was often not even realized in developed countries. A number of agencies and mechanisms had been established to promote gender issues and to ensure proper implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action. Despite those efforts, Iraqi women continued to face serious challenges, particularly in regards to terrorism, which threatened to negatively impact the progress already made. To help women stand up to that threat and to improve their status overall, the Iraqi Government had adopted a number of new legislative measures that provided women with greater social security, health care and income, and lifted the travel ban on Iraqi women, which had previously prevented their travel without a male escort. Women were also being given more employment opportunities nationally and abroad, in Iraq’s Foreign Service. However, national efforts needed the support and endorsement of the international community and international organization, and she expressed her hope that, together, all Member States would work cooperatively to help empower women across the world.
NOBUKO KUROSAKI (Japan) said that her Government was actively engaged at both the national and international levels in promoting a gender-equal society. Sharing her country’s experiences, she listed the efforts to eliminate violence against women, achieve gender equality and advance the status of women in society. In particular, an amended Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims had come into force in January 2008.
The phenomenon of violence against women in conflict situations remained pervasive, she continued, stressing the need to tackle the issue in a comprehensive manner. She highly commended the Security Council for reaffirming its political commitment in that area by adopting resolution 1820 in June, following the adoption of 1325 on women, peace and security in 2000. Japan had co-sponsored that resolution, together with 51 countries. It was also important for women and men to participate as equals in the decision-making and negotiation of peace agreements. They must also be provided with a peace education. It was necessary to integrate a gender perspective into national legislation, policy and structure, in post-conflict societies. Japan had provided support in that area to a number of countries, including Liberia and Afghanistan.
Commending such efforts as the Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women and the inter-agency campaign to end female genital mutilation, she, also, said that many States had joined the “Say NO to Violence against Women” initiative by UNIFEM. In Japan, an anti-violence campaign was carried out every November to raise awareness of the issue. Japan was also preparing to sign onto UNIFEM’s campaign, at the ministerial level. The year 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the enactment of the basic gender equality law in Japan, and the country was ready to move on to the next stage of its efforts to realize a gender-equal society. This year marked the beginning of a drive to achieve a work-life balance. The targets to be reached by the year 2017 are: 10 per cent as the rate of paternity leave; 80 per cent as the rate of maternity leave; and 55 per cent as the targeted job persistency rate for women after and just before the birth of their first child.
She added that, in order to address the gender issue, which cut across all United Nations activities, coordination and strategic partnership within the United Nations system was essential. Japan reaffirmed its commitment to active contributions to the ongoing discussion on how the United Nations could promote its policies and programmes in the area in a more coherent, efficient and effective manner.
IDREES MOHAMED ALI MOHAMMED SAEED (Sudan), aligning himself with the Group of 77 and China, noted that the world was united in its commitment to the advancement of women. Likewise, Sudan believed in gender equality and recognized the important role of women in society, particularly in the area of reconstruction. Around 18 per cent of all members of Parliament were women, and a new electoral law resulting from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement would soon require 25 per cent of the seats in the country’s legislative body to be filled by women.
He said Sudan supported the right of women to equal pay for equal work, and that Sudanese women enjoyed the same retirement age as men. Their participation in the economy had increased, as had their participation in various Government institutions. In 2007, Sudan adopted a comprehensive policy on the advancement of women, encompassing health issues, environmental concerns, education, economic rights, effective participation in politics, conflict settlement, peace consolidation and the upholding of women’s rights.
He went on to encouraged UNIFEM to expand its donor base, so as to enable it to better carry out its mandate. He added that the international community must act to uphold the rights of Palestinian women living under Israeli occupation. Further, countries should honour their official development assistance, and end economic embargoes in favour of more inclusive economic policies.
ISMAT JAHAN (Bangladesh), aligning herself with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the Millennium Development Goals provided a holistic framework for mainstreaming the gender perspective into a new vision of development. Greater synergies should be forged among the Millennium Goals, Beijing Declaration and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, as a means to achieve all other development goals. The role of women in rural and agricultural development and food production should be enhanced and efforts should be made to help women build their capacity as “agents of change” in national development strategies. However, she noted that reliable data on gender issues was critically important to inform gender-responsive policymaking and implementation, and more efforts should be made in that regard.
Published on: 2008-10-14
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