EFFECTS OF MODERNIZATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION OF FAMILIES AMONG ISSUES DISCUSSED IN COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN
Press Release
WOM/914
EFFECTS OF MODERNIZATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION OF FAMILIES AMONG ISSUES DISCUSSED IN COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN
19960318 While modernization is eroding traditional community support for families in some countries, industrialization in others is driving more women into the labour force, creating new child care challenges for governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, according to speakers addressing the Commission on the Status of Women this morning. They were participating in a dialogue on the theme of child and dependent care, including the sharing of family responsibilities.The representative of Ghana said that in her country, child care was traditionally the responsibility not just of the extended family, but of the entire community. However, modernization was giving rise to the nuclear family system, with extended support diminishing. The Government could not shoulder the responsibility for child care alone, so it encouraged the participation of the private sector and non-governmental organizations in that effort.
Traditionally, families took care of the disabled, but modernization was eroding that practice, so that now the disabled could be found begging in the streets, she said. The Government, working with non-governmental organizations, was undertaking to address that problem. Although it was taking a number of measures, those measures alone would not succeed. It was necessary to reinstate traditional values as part of child and dependent care strategies.
Canada said that in all societies, traditional structures were changing. In Canada, it took two incomes to support a family, so both parents must work and neither had adequate time to devote to child care. It was imperative to measure the volume of work involved in child care in order to design strategies to address the problem.
Swaziland said cultural practices played a great role in determining how family responsibilities were distributed. For example, in some cultures, fathers were forbidden from having contact with newborns. Women must stand up as agents and beneficiaries of the development process and men must stand up and take responsibility within the family. Chile said that for work to be shared equally within the family, it was necessary to democratize relations.
Women's Commission - 2 - Press Release WOM/914 11th Meeting (AM) 18 March 1996
Cuba said efforts were made there to enable women to understand their rights so that they could change the prevailing order.
Rapid industrialization in the Republic of Korea had drawn more women into the labour market, that country's representative said. It was therefore all the more essential that parents shared family responsibilities. Changes in partnerships could be brought about through the joint encouragement of governments and corporations.
The representative of Namibia said increasingly, women in her country were becoming economically active, creating new problems for child care. The Government had begun to initiate measures in response, but it was only since last year that paid maternity leave was granted. Child labour, child prostitution and absence from school were increasing in many countries, and it was critical to design programmes to redress those problems.
Italy, on behalf of the European Union, said the development of public and private care services constituted an investment which would increase the participation of women in the labour market. The unremunerated work of women, including child and dependent care, must be recognized. It was important to recognize the role played by the educational system in changing the perception of gender roles for girls and boys.
Also taking part in this morning's dialogue were the representatives of China, Israel, Thailand, Japan, United States, Guinea, Mexico, Sudan, Ecuador, Pakistan, France, Botswana, Angola, Finland, United Kingdom and Sweden.
In another action this morning, Azerbaijan introduced a draft resolution on the release of women and children taken hostage and imprisoned during armed conflict (document E/CN.6/1996/L.1). By that text, the Commission would strongly urge all parties to conflicts to immediately release women and children hostages. The Secretary-General and international agencies would be urged to use their capabilities towards that end.
At the outset of the meeting, the Commission Secretary read out a seven- part text of draft conclusions and recommendations on poverty so that participants could hear it in all official languages.
The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 20 March, to hear the introduction of drafts and to conclude its general discussion.
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