BEIJING CONFERENCE CONFIRMS WOMEN'S RIGHTS NON-NEGOTIABLE, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF CONFERENCE TELLS THIRD COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/SHC/3319

BEIJING CONFERENCE CONFIRMS WOMEN'S RIGHTS NON-NEGOTIABLE, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF CONFERENCE TELLS THIRD COMMITTEE

No Excuse for Delay Implementing Platform for Action, She Says; Dominican Republic Concerned by Merger Process for INSTRAW, UNIFEM.

"The Beijing Conference on Women has confirmed that the human rights of women are non-negotiable and any delay in their implementation must be considered to be anti-people and anti-women", the Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Gertrude Mongella told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), this afternoon, as it resumed its consideration of the advancement of women and the outcome of the Conference.

With the momentum created by the Conference, there was no excuse for postponement or for delaying actions, she said. Any delay in the implementation of the Conference's Platform for Action meant an increase in women's illiteracy. It meant that women would continue dying in childbirth and in armed conflicts. It was up to the 189 States that had adopted the Platform to rally the necessary political will and find the resources for its implementation.

Also this afternoon, the Under Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, introduced the report on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women, on behalf of the Secretary-General. He said the commitment made by States during the Conference needed to be demonstrated by concrete actions and the Platform for Action must lead to fundamental change.

The representative of the Dominican Republic said her country was very troubled by the way in which the Secretariat had chosen to deal with the proposed merger of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The lack of transparency and the complete disregard of many mandates given by Member States in various resolutions dealing with the proposed merger was a cause of grave concern. She added that the proposed institutional reforms should be an integral part of the general reform of the United Nations, including the Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council.

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Statements were also made this afternoon by the representatives of Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Algeria, Spain (on behalf of the European Union, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Hungry, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania), Egypt, Malaysia, Cote d'Ivoire, Mexico and China. The Deputy Executive Director (Operations) of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also made a statement.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 15 November, to continue its consideration of the advancement of women and the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to resume its consideration of the advancement of women and implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace.

The Committee has before it reports on: the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (document A/50/38); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (document A/50/346); the improvement of the situation of women in rural areas (document A/50/257/Rev. 1); violence against women migrant workers (document A/50/378); the activities of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) (document A/50/538); implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2000 (document A/49/398); and traffic in women and girls (document A/50/369). (For background information on those reports, see Press Release GA/SHC/3317 of 10 November.)

Newly released reports before the Committee this afternoon concern the Fourth World Conference on Women and implementation of its results, the merger of INSTRAW and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) activities.

The report of the Fourth World Conference on Women (A/CONF.177/20) contains, in Chapter I, a resolution by which the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (September 1995) approved the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The Beijing Declaration is contained in Annex I of the report. The 38- paragraph joint Declaration sums up the positions and the proposed actions agreed upon in the Platform for Action. In the Declaration, Governments expressed their determination to intensify efforts and actions to achieve the goals of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2000 adopted in 1985. They asserted their determination to promote the economic independence of women by providing education, training and primary health care. Furthermore, they called for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls and urged the international community to commit themselves fully to the implementation of the Platform for Action.

The Platform for Action is contained in Annex II of the report and identifies objectives and actions in 12 areas considered to be the main obstacles to women's advancement. Those critical areas are poverty, education, health, violence, armed and other conflicts, economic participation, power-sharing and decision-making, national and international

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machineries, human rights, mass media, environment and development, and the needs of girls. Recommendations are addressed to various elements of the international community, particularly governments, international financial institutions, bilateral donors, the private sector, academic and research institutions, non-governmental organizations and the mass media.

Chapter II of the report contains information on attendance and organization of work of the Conference. Chapter III contains the general exchange of views on the second review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies, the main conclusions and recommendations of regional preparatory conferences, and the national priorities and commitments at the second to fifteenth plenary meetings, from 5 to 15 September 1995. Chapter IV contains the report of the main Committee, which included the organization of work, the consideration of the draft platform for action and the draft declaration. The report's Chapter V contains reservations made by different States on the different paragraphs of the Platform for Action and the Declaration.

Also before the Committee is the Secretary-General's report that stems from General Assembly resolution 49/161 of 23 December 1994, on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women (document A/50/744). The report focuses on those recommendations that have immediate implications for action at the international level, including those requiring consideration by the Assembly at its fiftieth session.

According to the report, the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action were adopted by consensus on 15 September by 189 Governments. At the level of the United Nations and its agencies, the strengthening of the capacity of the system to support an integrated, effective follow-up to the Fourth World Conference should be a key objective in further pursuing the ongoing reform process. Effective implementation of the Conference recommendations will require that existing machinery and institutions sharpen their focus, set clear priorities for action, establish accountability mechanisms and use available resources efficiently.

Also, the report states that within the United Nations itself, the requirements contained in the Platform for Action have given added impetus to the interaction between INSTRAW, UNIFEM, the Division of the Advancement of Women, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

According to the report, the Secretary-General will review the different United Nations mechanisms for the advancement of women with a view to making them more mutually supportive and effective, eliminating any duplication and ensuring that the essential linkages are strengthened between the setting of standard and operational activities. A central objective of the overall reform process should be enhancement of the capacity of the Organization in

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support of global policy-making. Also, the capacity of UNIFEM to provide effective operational support for follow-up action at the national level, and to exercise a catalytic role in promoting inter-agency coordination at the country level, will need to be fully utilized.

The report contains recommendations for action by the General Assembly at its fiftieth session which include: calling upon the Member States and the international community to commit themselves to the Platform for Action through the early development of specific implementation strategies, such as the establishment or improvement of national machineries for the advancement of women; and deciding to review the implementation of the Platform on a biennial basis. Furthermore, the recommendations invite the Economic and Social Council to utilize its high-level coordination and operational activities to further policy coordination and inter-agency cooperation towards the achievement of the Platform.

The Economic and Social Council is also invited to review and strengthen the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women. At the same time, the Commission would be invited to maximize its contribution to the follow-up of the Conference, including by monitoring implementation and policy development. In addition, the Assembly would call for mobilization of resources from all sources to further the implementation of the Platform, including sustained contributions to voluntarily funded programmes for the United Nations activities on gender and development.

Also before the Committee is a note by the Secretariat, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 49/160 of 23 December 1994, transmitting the results of an updated report on the merger of INSTRAW with UNIFEM (document A/50/747-E/1995/126). The proposal, submitted to the Economic and Social Council through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), was elaborated by a task force established by the Secretary-General. It was chaired by the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and composed of two members of the Board of Trustees of INSTRAW and two members of the Consultative Committee of UNIFEM, with the assistance of the Directors of the two entities and representatives of UNDP and the Division for the Advancement of Women.

According to the note, in commenting upon the proposal by the Secretary-General, the ACABQ considered that the Secretary-General's report did not describe clearly the purpose and advantages of the proposed merger and did not provide a clear analysis of the financial benefits resulting from the merger. Furthermore, it was not indicated how any savings would be utilized to strengthen research and training programmes. In addition, although the primary purpose of the proposed merger was not financial, the savings in management and support costs of $605,500, anticipated under the new organizational structure proposed by the Secretary-General, would allow a net increase of 23 per cent in the total INSTRAW resources to be devoted to

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substantive research and training activities. The specific additional research and training programmes to be financed through these savings would be matters for the appropriate governing body to determine.

According to the note, under the proposal of the Secretary-General, research activities would be undertaken in New York, with existing capacities in this respect being supplemented by utilizing the expected savings. It is similarly envisaged that the development of training materials would be undertaken in New York, building on related activities of UNIFEM and other New York-based entities. The facilities in Santo Domingo, for their part, would host various decentralized, regional and interregional group training activities funded from the resources of UNIFEM, INSTRAW and other United Nations organizations. Under the Secretary-General's proposal, the facility in Santo Domingo would have the capacity to provide logistical support for group training, including printing and dissemination of documents and reports, as well as provide administrative assistance to participants.

The ACABQ also comments on the need for further analysis of the short- and long-term effects of the merger on programme delivery of both INSTRAW and UNIFEM, the note states. According to the report of the Task Force, the proposed merger should result in UNIFEM and INSTRAW complementing each other to eliminate duplication. On the one hand, merger with UNIFEM would enable INSTRAW to keep its finger on the pulse of the research needs of operational activities for the advancement of women. On the other hand, UNIFEM would have ready access to research outputs that can be adapted and applied at both the policy and grass-roots levels. It is thus expected that the synergies to be achieved would have a beneficial effect on programme delivery of both INSTRAW and UNIFEM.

The ACABQ also questions the cost-effectiveness of INSTRAW operating in two locations, the note states. The proposed training facility in Santo Domingo could be utilized on a cost-effective basis, as indicated, by a variety of organizations, including INSTRAW and UNIFEM. The functions of the staff in both UNIFEM and INSTRAW would remain basically unchanged except for those of the Director, whose responsibilities would include management of both the UNIFEM and the INSTRAW programmes. The staff of the Communications and External Relations Section and the Management Services Section would provide support, in their respective areas of competence, for both UNIFEM and INSTRAW activities.

The "reinforcement" of linkages would occur as a result of both programmes being overseen simultaneously by a single manager and reviewed together by the same governing body and intergovernmental organs, the note continues. In addition, working together in a common location would afford the possibility of additional synergies with the Division for the Advancement of Women and the United Nations departments responsible for economic and social policy as well as operational activities for development.

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The Committee also has before it a Secretary-General's report that stems from General Assembly resolution 49/167 of 23 December 1994 on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat and 49/222 A and B of 23 December 1994 and 14 July, respectively, concerning the question of women in the context of the Secretary-General's new strategy for human resources management (document A/50/691).

In those resolutions, the Assembly recalled the goal set in its earlier resolutions to accord greater priority to the recruitment and promotion of women in order to achieve by 1995 the targets of 35 per cent representation of women in posts subject to geographical distribution and 25 per cent representation for posts at the D-1 level and above. The long-term goals of the plan of action included achieving gender parity regarding women in the Secretariat, particularly that of 50 per cent women in posts subject to geographical distribution, and 50 per cent women in high-level posts by the year 2000.

According to the report, the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM), through the Office of the Focal Point for Women, participated in the preparatory work for the Fourth World Conference on Women. The elements of the Platform for Action relating to women's participation in decision-making and in power structures are particularly relevant, the report states.

The percentage of women in posts subject to geographical distribution increased during the period under review from 32.6 per cent on 30 June 1994 to 34.1 per cent on 30 June 1995, the report continues. The percentage of women at the D-1 level and above increased from 15.1 per cent on 30 June 1994 to 17.1 per cent on 30 June 1995. The major reason for the increase was the concerted effort of programme managers, OHRM and the appointment and promotion bodies. For the first time, more women were approved for promotion than men, 51.4 per cent during the period 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995.

The percentage of women at the Assistant Secretary-General and Under- Secretary-General levels remained the same, two at each level, or 11.8 per cent, the report states, and intensified efforts will have to be made to appoint or promote women to the higher levels if the target of 50 per cent women in higher-level posts is to be met in the next five years. The representation of women in posts subject to geographical distribution showed the same imbalances as in 1994. Three regions -- Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa -- continued to register the lowest representation among the regions. The highest percentages were registered by North America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, and Asia and the Pacific.

According to the report, in order to reach the target of 50 per cent by the year 2000, approximately two of every three vacancies should be filled by women. The Steering Committee for the Improvement of the Status of Women in the Secretariat, in its capacity as an advisory body to the Secretary-General,

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continued to provide support and guidance during the course of the year. Its support included monitoring the efforts to appoint and promote more women staff and improving their conditions of work.

One of the most important contributions of the Committee during the year was the survey it conducted on the constraints preventing the achievement of the goal of equality for women, the report continues. The survey indicated that, in addition to long-standing constraints, restructuring and decentralization, the lack of competitive salaries and limited opportunities for spouse employment were affecting the Organization's ability to meet its targets for the advancement of women.

Also, the report states that during the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Secretary-General was asked to establish a high-level post in the Office of the Secretary-General to act as the Secretary-General's adviser on gender issues and to help ensure system-wide implementation of the Platform for Action, in close cooperation with the Division for the Advancement of Women. The General Assembly may wish to extend the target of 50 per cent women and men in posts subject to geographical distribution by the year 2000 to all other categories of posts.

Also before the Committee is a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Administrator of the UNDP on the activities of the United Nations Development Fund (document A/50/410). It reviews and updates the key elements of the programming framework of UNIFEM and describes initiatives undertaken by the Fund in 1994. It further outlines the Fund's future direction to meet current challenges and the priorities of women in the twenty-first century.

Created to address the economic and social advancement of women, the Fund gives direct technical and financial support to women in developing countries, the report states. The Fund also recognizes and addresses issues to further women's economic and political empowerment. In order to promote the key issues for the empowerment of women, the Fund has developed a programme framework -- the Women's Development Agenda -- which is based on the principle of social justice and addresses women's basic rights to sustainable livelihoods and secure lives. The Agenda's two principal elements are the economic and the political empowerment of women.

According to the report, UNIFEM has focused its policy and programme priorities on economic empowerment in three specific areas: economic restructuring; sustainable livelihoods; and building stable lives and healthy communities. For example, the Fund's assistance to African women has promoted food and income security by supporting women's access to agricultural resources, training and research, as well as by increasing the awareness of policy makers of the key roles of women in the economy.

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Structural adjustment programmes and their implications for women's activities in the Africa region are also a matter of priority concern, the report continues. The UNIFEM seeks to respond both to the problems and opportunities presented by those programmes. In cases where women's livelihoods have come under pressure, UNIFEM has funded a number of innovative initiatives that support women's survival strategies. It has also tried to find ways of assisting women to respond equally with men to investment and employment opportunities resulting from privatization.

The report also describes specific actions of the Fund with non- governmental organizations, such as its work through ACCIÓN in Latin America. With that programme, UNIFEM has increased women's access to credit, strengthened the network of affiliates in Latin America, and influenced the broader community of development practitioners and policy makers regarding women and credit.

In pursuing its role as a catalyst for mainstreaming gender issues in the development process, UNIFEM has been an advocate in a wide variety of settings and with a wide spectrum of development partners. Specifically, its advocacy work has focused on four constituencies: the United Nations and other development organizations; participants in global meetings and conferences; civil society and the women's movement at large; and beneficiaries and governments in programme countries.

According to the report, the Fund's role at the Fourth World Conference on Women included: identifying key women's non-governmental organizations and networks and providing them with opportunities to participate in all aspects of the preparatory process and in the actual Conference; obtaining funds from various sources to enable UNIFEM to support the participation of grass-roots women in conference preparations; and developing a media strategy to increase media awareness of women's concerns and the goals of the Conference.

Secretary-General of World Women's Conference

GERTRUDE MONGELLA, Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women, introduced the report of the Fourth World Conference on Women. She said the Conference had been a great success, "the largest Conference in the 50-year history of the United Nations". The non-governmental organizations who had attended it had demonstrated their commitment to the cause of women. "They brought their vitality and richness of perspectives to the preparatory process and to the Conference." Furthermore, they had disseminated and shared information globally, which had created unprecedented interest in the event.

The Platform for Action was a very specific document and everybody was accountable for its implementation, she continued. It left no room for spectators. Everyone was an actor in the process of implementation. With the momentum created by the Conference, there was no excuse for postponement or

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for delaying actions. Any delay in the implementation of the Platform meant an increase in women's illiteracy. Any delay meant that more women would continue dying in childbirth and in armed conflicts.

"The Conference has confirmed that the human rights of women are non- negotiable and any delay in their implementation must be considered to be anti-people and anti-women", she emphasized. Women must be crusaders in the implementation of the Platform for Action. The political will of governments who had committed themselves in Beijing needed to be maintained. It was up to the 189 States who had adopted the Platform to rally the necessary political will and to find the resources for its implementation.

In addition, the role of the United Nations in the success of the Conference needed to be highlighted, she said. The Organization had facilitated the internationalization and globalization of the women's agenda. However, people should not assume that structures and attitudes had automatically changed after the Conference. "Changing the structures, management cultures and people's mentalities must be part and parcel of the implementation of the Platform for Action", she emphasized.

Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination

NITIN DESAI, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, introduced the report on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women, on behalf of the Secretary- General.

The commitment made by States during the Conference needed to be demonstrated in concrete actions, Mr. Desai said. The Platform for Action needed to lead to fundamental change. Immediate action and accountability was crucial. States needed to implement the Platform quickly and effectively. Also, a new unity of action in the system as a whole needed to be created, in order to support national action, and the work of intergovernmental organizations must be harmonized.

The Secretary-General's suggestion to create an inter-agency advisory board on the empowerment of women should be highlighted, he continued. The Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) had adopted a statement reaffirming the commitment of its members in supporting the advancement of women. In addition, the Secretary-General had called for the creation of a high-level post to act as his advisor for gender issues. The Secretary- General would continue efforts to enhance the status of women. He called for a continued involvement of non-governmental organizations in the advancement of women.

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NEIJON R. EDWARDS (Marshall Islands) said that her country was actively supporting efforts to implement the National Women's Policy, which was born out of the Nairobi forward-looking strategy process 10 years ago. Planning workshops had been held to incorporate issues raised by local women with the strategies agreed upon in Nairobi.

She said that the education of women was crucial to an improved overall economic performance. In combating educational inequalities, governments must be aware of the need to send the right signals to parents by providing clear opportunities for women in the workforce. With the proper education, women in Marshall Islands could gain access to productive assets and control the gains from their labour in the interest of family, community and national development. By increasing women's participation in the development process through the integration of gender issues in economic development programmes of governments, women could extend their roles beyond traditional reproduction and community management and play a major role in creating a balanced society.

She said that women in her country were suffering because of damage to their reproductive system by radiation. The leading cause of death among women was cancer of the reproductive system and there was a link between that new cancer statistic and the radiation to which those women had been exposed. There was a direct correlation between the distance the women lived from ground zero and the incidence of birth anomalies, stillbirths and miscarriages.

JULIA TAVARES de ALVAREZ (Dominican Republic) started her statement by requesting the Secretariat to ensure that "this statement be reflected as thoroughly as possible in the summary records of this meeting." Her country would not insist that the two reports pending on the proposed merger of INSTRAW and UNIFEM be available as a condition for starting consideration of the item. However, it insisted that the Third Committee must take a decision on that matter before it finalized its consideration on the advancement of women.

She said that the proposed institutional reforms of all United Nations bodies that dealt with the advancement of women should be an integral part of the general reform of the United Nations, including the Secretariat and the Economic and Social Council, as well as other arms of the Organization. She was very troubled by the way in which the Secretariat had chosen to deal with the proposed merger. The lack of transparency and complete disregard of many mandates given by Member States in various resolutions dealing with the proposed merger was cause of grave concern to the Dominican Republic and other developing countries.

Referring to the intention to move INSTRAW to New York, she said that decisions that affected the functional structure of United Nations bodies should not be based on hearsay, without having the evidence on which to base

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them. Unfortunately, that was the way all items having a bearing on the advancement of women had continued to be dealt with in the United Nations. The recent article in Time magazine proved unequivocally that, for a variety of reasons, the question of the advancement of women was not being correctly addressed.

DENISE ALMAO (New Zealand), speaking also on behalf of Australia and Canada, expressed disappointment that in its first half century of existence, the Secretariat had consistently failed to draw from and utilize fully the talents of half the world's population. It had never come close to reflecting in its composition the fundamental principle contained in the Charter, namely the equal rights of women and men.

She said that in 1990 Member States had sought to intensify efforts for improving the representation of women in the Secretariat by setting two targets. They had called for a 35 per cent overall participation rate of women in posts subject to geographical distribution by 1995 and for a 25 per cent participation rate in posts at the D-1 level and above by 1995. Those targets would not be met.

She said that the equitable representation of women in the Secretariat should be approached in an overall context of human resources planning and management. However, achieving the very modest targets set in 1990 would have been a powerful encouragement for the United Nations and other international initiatives promoting full participation of women in aspects of decision- making. Given the failure to realize the 1990 targets, both the Secretariat and the Member States should redouble their efforts to ensure that other important targets for the advancement of women in the Secretariat were achieved.

She welcomed the Secretary-General's effort to integrate the Strategic Plan of Action for the Improvement of the Status of Women in the Secretariat (1995-2000) into the new management culture being developed for the Organization. Australia, Canada and New Zealand believed that further initiatives should be undertaken urgently. Any review of policies and procedures should also include examination of grievance redress systems. The introduction of an equal employment opportunity policy would complement the Secretariat's current efforts at establishing a clear policy direction on personnel practices.

AMINA MESDOUA (Algeria) said the Beijing Conference had been the climax of years of conferences, which had reminded the world that no progress could be possible without the participation of women. However, a great number of the poor and illiterate worldwide were still women. No balanced society could exist without the participation of women. In her country, free and compulsory universal education had been established, as well as equal pay for equal work.

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Those measures were part of her country's efforts to improve the situation of women.

MARINA SUBIRATS (Spain), also speaking on behalf of the European Union and of Cyprus, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Hungry, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, said governments should, no later than 1996, develop comprehensive strategies or plans of action, including time-bound targets and benchmarks for monitoring and implementing the Platform for Action in full. In addition, non-governmental organizations should be encouraged to contribute to the design and implementation of strategies related to the Platform. Also, governments needed to ensure that national machineries were established or that they were effective.

The European Commission had prepared a new action programme on equal opportunities for women and men, she said. It was aimed at promoting mainstreaming and supporting measures in the field of employment and decision- making, in accordance with the results of Beijing. In addition, her country was organizing, through the Spanish Women's Institute, a seminar in Madrid at the end of November, on policies related to the follow-up of the Beijing Conference.

The Commission on the Status of Women needed to develop a multi-year work programme for the period 1996 to 2000, to review the priority areas of concern in the Platform, she said. Such a programme would also take into account the work of other functional commissions. In addition, the international financial institutions could play an important role in the follow-up process of the Women's Conference. "The Bretton Woods Institutions and the United Nations should establish regular and substantive dialogues, for more efficient coordination of their assistance and by taking into account gender perspectives", she said.

KARIM WISSA (Egypt) said that his country had started to chart the course to implement the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women. Egyptian society recognized the special role of women in social life and the effectiveness of the role of women. No active programme could be achieved without positive participation by women. Egypt was advancing the role of women socially and economically. It was expanding participation of women at all levels and finding ways to make women economically independent.

Democratic infrastructure was one of the vital fields in which Egyptian women worked, he went on. Women created the first climate of democracy for children and by effective participation in various social areas, women emphasized the meaning of equality. International cooperation for the advancement of women was necessary. States and non-governmental organizations and other organizations needed to work together to implement the outcome of the various global conferences.

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NAFISAH MOHAMED (Malaysia) said that the feminization of poverty was a reality requiring immediate attention and action. Women comprised 70 per cent of the 1.3 billion people earning less than $1 per day, the benchmark of absolute poverty. In developing countries, rural women were responsible for more than 55 per cent of the food grown and comprised 67 per cent of the agricultural labour force, yet they remained stricken by poverty. Poverty of women was the poverty of society at large.

She said that education had a major role in addressing the "feminization of poverty". Educating women and the girl-child was a necessary investment for the continued promotion of economic and social development. Educated and literate women tended to have greater access to employment, income, health care and nutrition. They would also be able to impart guidance on values and offer support to their families. Malaysian women had benefitted from the investment in education. More women than men went on to post-secondary education and they represented 44.3 per cent of students in the universities.

She said that a comprehensive health concept should be examined covering all aspects of women's physical and mental health. As women were exposed to specific dangers in various types of employment, laws should be formulated to provide protection to working women. Violence and abuse against women and the girl-child continued unabatedly in various parts of the world. Those criminal acts should be condemned and the international community must ensure that the criminals were brought to justice. As for the institutional mechanism for implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action, she was not inclined toward any new mechanism. Rather, she would prefer the utilization of existing mechanisms.

DIENEBOU KABA CAMARA (Cote d'Ivoire) expressed concern at the "international fatigue" that seemed present after the Beijing Conference. The advancement of women to high-level posts in the Secretariat had not progressed. While the implementation of the Beijing Declaration depended on the will of governments, the international community could not forget its fundamental role.

United Nations agencies had a major role to play in the advancement of women, she continued. However, they needed to receive adequate financial resources to continue their work. She stressed the importance of UNIFEM and INSTRAW in the advancement of women. However, she had noted a reduction in the budget of development activities in recent years. In Beijing, the World Bank had expressed its commitment towards the advancement of women and other financial institutions must take similar steps.

GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were encouraging developments for the advancement of women worldwide. They also provided guidelines, so that the United Nations could check on their implementation. The United Nations system must be consistent in its approach

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to women's issues. The documents on both the Declaration and the Platform must be disseminated. Extensive networks of cooperation that went beyond borders had been put into place and, for that reason, such documents must be available in all languages. His Government was in the process of establishing a national programme for women, which would facilitate the participation of women in all aspects of society.

FENG CUI (China) said that as host country of the Fourth World Conference on Women, China wished to express thanks to all countries for their contribution to the success of that Conference and the non-governmental organization forum. She said that the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action would play an important role in accelerating implementation of the objectives set in the Nairobi strategies and in enhancing the status of women across the world. To achieve those objectives, all States and the international community must take prompt measures to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action and adopt a practical follow-up to the Conference.

She said China had always advocated the equality of men and women and attached importance to the advancement of women. It had also committed itself to protecting women's rights and eliminating discrimination against women by giving full play to women's initiatives and creativity. Her Government was also promoting women's general participation in the economic sector, construction, social development, and decision-making in state and social affairs. The broad masses of women had made great contributions to the development of the national economy.

She said that a series of legal instruments relating to the protection of women's rights and interests had been promulgated. A great number of women had assumed leadership posts and the number of women employed had reached 264 million, accounting for 44 per cent of total employment. Equal pay for equal work had been basically achieved. The Government had also identified several priority areas, including the adoption of a preferential policy for women in economically backward areas.

KARIN SHAM POO, Deputy Executive Director (Operations) of UNICEF, said that if the authentic breakthrough that Beijing heralded was to take place, the follow-up strategies that Member States agreed to begin developing by the end of 1995 and implementing not later than the end of 1996 would have to be designed and implemented with the active participation of women themselves, non-governmental organizations and grass-roots organizations. The UNICEF, together with its sister agencies in the United Nations system, was ready to assist where it could be most useful.

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She said that the logical place to start implementing the Beijing Platform for Action in order to achieve the most far-reaching and enduring progress, would be among girls. The UNICEF had identified three key areas for priority action in providing assistance to governments in the implementation of the Platform for Action -- girls education, adolescent girls and women's health, and children's and women's rights. The UNICEF was working toward greater gender responsiveness. It was beginning to use the life-cycle approach and the gender equality and empowerment framework in planning and shaping its programmes.

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