MAINSTREAMING GENDER PERSPECTIVE AGAIN FOCUS OF DISCUSSION AT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Press Release
ECOSOC/5718
MAINSTREAMING GENDER PERSPECTIVE AGAIN FOCUS OF DISCUSSION AT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
19970710 Speakers Call for More Practical Action and Increased Resources To Ensure Equal Enjoyment of Benefits of UN Programmes and Policies(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 10 July (UN Information Service) -- How to "mainstream" a gender perspective into United Nations programmes and policies was again the focus of discussion as the Economic and Social Council continued its annual substantive session this morning.
Echoing views heard over the last two days, delegations agreed that increasing the participation of women at the national and international levels, and within the United Nations, was essential to ensuring that United Nations development efforts benefited women and men equally. But some argued for a clearer definition of "mainstreaming" that could serve to turn theory into action. According to the representative of Finland, if a definition of "mainstreaming" was not agreed upon, it would be difficult to tackle existing coordination problems. Meanwhile, the representative of Russia said the United Nations approach to the "mainstreaming" issue appeared to be over-theoretical and ran the risk of being nothing but arcane paper-churning. Practical action and the approach needed to be simplified, the Russian delegate added.
Concrete implementation of mainstreaming objectives also required an increase in resources, several delegations stated. The representative of South Africa pointed to the "mere" $13 million allocated in 1997 for the United Nations Fund for the Development of Women (UNIFEM). UNIFEM had such an important role to play in developing countries that consideration should be given to increasing its resources and to providing it with a training programme for developing countries, through its Africa Section, she said.
Illustrating concrete progress in mainstreaming, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said the growing recognition of the connections between unrealized potential in development, continuing environmental concerns, the growth of poverty and the marginalization of women had encouraged the integration of social aspects in
proposals for sustainable development. UNEP, among other things, now screened all projects to ensure that they met gender-sensitive criteria; had created a favourable environment for recruitment of women staff; and, through its environmental-law programme, encouraged the right of women to manage, own, and make decisions on land use.
Other agencies and programmes of the United Nations system providing information on their mainstreaming efforts were the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Labour Organisation. The representatives of El Salvador, Indonesia, South Africa, Belarus, Namibia, the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica also took the floor, as did a spokesperson for the American Association of Retired Persons, a non-governmental group.
The Council resumes its meeting in the afternoon to continue the discussion on mainstreaming gender perspective.
Statements
MAGDALENA VON BECKH WIDMANSTETTER (Argentina) said gender mainstreaming was a necessary tool in all national and international planning to ensure that women enjoyed the same benefits as men. Within the United Nations, it was essential to propose a mechanism for periodical monitoring of gender mainstreaming with means such as assessment indicators and selection of best practices. Efforts of cooperation within the system needed to be stepped up at the highest level of development planning in all fields. Appropriate resources had to be provided to enable the system to mainstream the gender perspective.
ELIZABETH DOWDESWELL, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said an environmentally sustainable approach to development depended on contributions from women. The growing recognition of the connections between unrealized potential in development, continuing environmental concerns, the growth of poverty and the marginalization of women had encouraged the integration of social aspects in proposals for sustainable development; women's voices had always been present in the debates on sustainable development. Women's attempts to act as stewards of the environment and provide for the basic needs of their families were not adequately supported by society. UNEP, among other things, now screened all projects to ensure that they met gender-sensitive criteria; had created a favourable environment for recruitment of women staff; and, through its environmental-law programme, encouraged the right of women to manage, own, and make decisions on land use.
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PAUL GRECU (Romania) said there was a need to continue exploring the concept of mainstreaming a gender perspective, and to develop suitable methodologies and mechanisms for translating it into practical action. The reform process currently under way within the United Nations offered an excellent opportunity to integrate gender issues in all its policies, programming and operational activities. Meanwhile, the national dimension of gender mainstreaming needed to be reinforced through international cooperation and assistance. Romania deemed such cooperation, especially in the areas of modern communication technologies, statistical methodologies on gender data processing, gender-related training and mobilization of resources, as indispensable.
MANA SOLEDAD ARGUETA (El Salvador) said mainstreaming gender perspectives was complex and difficult, as all recognized; pursuing the goal should not be seen as justification for duplication in programmes and policies, but as requiring an even greater degree of cooperation and coordination; this important subject should be dealt with in a single one of the General Assembly's main committees. In El Salvador, results were beginning to be achieved as a result of the creation of focal points for fostering gender perspectives; but more financial support and training were needed, and the approach needed to be incorporated into regular, traditional work programmes that originally had been developed without such a perspective. Women should be empowered, and such an attitude was recognized as an indispensable requirement for development in El Salvador. Many steps to do this already had been taken.
LI SANYA (China) said the report of the Secretary-General on mainstreaming a gender perspective in the United Nations presented pragmatic, multi-dimensional recommendations. Translating those recommendations into action would not be an easy process, and a clear-cut political will was essential. Gender perspective should be integrated in the United Nations system in a comprehensive way. Achievements already reached and obstacles still in the way should be evaluated to provide guidance. The United Nations bodies had to provide adequate human and financial resources to ensure gender mainstreaming was carried out.
JANE ZHANS, of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said gender mainstreaming was first of all the responsibility of senior management; second, gender focal points, as advocates for and agents of mainstreaming, needed to be strengthened -- their situation of being understaffed and underfunded needed to be rectified; third, coordination within the United Nations system had to be improved. ILO considered it important, for example, for the Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) -- the women-specific entities of the system -- to further strengthen coordination among themselves and with
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other United Nations agencies. Progress was being made, but more practical measures and greater teamwork were needed to meet the challenge.
ANNA-MAIJA KURPI (Finland) said the debate on mainstreaming the gender perspective should centre on coordination aspects and discuss problems and experiences between national governments and United Nations bodies. Finland had a number of concerns, including whether governments and organizations truly understood what the concept of mainstreaming meant. If there was not a shared understanding of the concept, how could problems of coordination be tackled? Monitoring and accountability were another concern, because they required tools and resources to be carried out.
VLADIMIR PARSHIKOV (Russian Federation) said the first steps had been taken to implement a system-wide approach to gender issues; nevertheless a single approach to "mainstreaming" did not yet exist. In Russian opinion, the United Nations approach to this issue appeared to be over-theoretical, to run the risk of being nothing but arcane paper-churning, as happened with many United Nations activities; indeed, listening to the way the matter was described, the terms used, a person outside the United Nations might have trouble understanding what was being talked about. Practical action was needed on measures already established, and the approach should be simplified and focused on practical matters -- each action of the United Nations, simply, should be aimed at achieving equality between women and men. If further regulations were established, they should be practical rather than theoretical.
NINA BRANDSTRUP, of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the FAO continued to strengthen the commitment of its staff to mainstreaming gender in its programme of work. The consultative and participatory process to develop the Women in Development/Gender Programmes of Action for 1996-2110 was a major mainstreaming initiative. An inter-Departmental Committee on Women in Development had also been established, and the FAO was fostering institutional support for mainstreaming gender issues within the agency as well. Maintaining the visibility of gender concerns within the organization was another important aspect of mainstreaming.
JULIE BARBERO-BACONNIER, of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said women migrants were especially likely to suffer hardships, discrimination, and abuse, and IOM, in its mainstreaming work, had taken a number of steps to help them; trafficking in women led to numerous human-rights violations; an IOM study to be issued tomorrow explored the trafficking of Philippine women to Japan for sexual exploitation, and it and a similar research project carried out in the Dominican Republic looked at trafficking from the sending countries' perspective. Other IOM projects were aimed at helping victims of such trafficking. Among additional projects were
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a number aimed at empowering migrant women in South America. Within the IOM, steps were being taken to redress gender inequities in employment.
MOHAMOOD M. HASSEIN (Kenya) said the country believed that the success of mainstreaming initiatives required a strong commitment to equal rights, equal opportunities, equal responsibilities and to the equal participation of women and men in all national, regional and international bodies and policy-making processes. The United Nations system had an important role to play in developing and implementing a comprehensive policy programme for mainstreaming the gender perspective in its activities; subsequently it could assist Member States with technical assistance designed to integrate gender concerns in policies and programmes for sustainable development. Regional commissions of the United Nations, along with other sub-regional structures, had a significant role to play in promoting and assisting pertinent national institutions in monitoring and implementation. But adequate resources had to be earmarked for women's programmes.
DEWI WAHAB (Indonesia) said mainstreaming the gender perspective needed to be made more visible, particularly in the policies and programming of various United Nations bodies and agencies. A more strategic orientation must be initiated; gender perspective must be brought into the deliberations and work of the main committees of the General Assembly; and in taking up budgetary matters, the Fifth Committee should ensure continued consideration of gender mainstreaming. Interaction between chairmen of various commissions, particularly with that of the Commission on the Status of Women, should be encouraged; the reports of INSTRAW and UNIFEM should be submitted to that Commission so that the Council could be advised on how best to harmonize the implementation of their mandates to avoid overlap. Better data collection, gender analysis, and improved gender expertise at Headquarters and in the field must be obtained.
I. ENGELBRECHT (South Africa) said it was clear that the perception still persisted that certain technical areas or projects and abstract processes of policy and programme development were gender-neutral and need not lend themselves to gender mainstreaming. There was a need for specific measures to address this disadvantage and bring a gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the United Nations system. Mainstreaming was still lacking, notably in areas relating to legal matters, humanitarian assistance, economic issues and political land security issues. The performance of all entities within the system regarding their efforts to mainstream gender needs should be monitored on a regular basis, with progress reported to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Council and the General Assembly. But the responsibility for mainstreaming did not stop at gender experts: all United Nations staff should be required to either receive basic training to be gender competent or improve their skills. Resources were also an important factor -- UNIFEM's budget for 1997 was a mere $13 million. UNIFEM had such an
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important role to play in developing countries that consideration should be given to increasing its resources and to providing it with a training programme for developing countries, through its Africa Section.
ALENA KUPCHYNA (Belarus) said successful mainstreaming of gender perspectives required that it be a part of all decisions on programmes and activities, and that it be considered when evaluating results; that must occur, furthermore, at all levels of the organization; explicit decisions must be adopted to do this, and sufficient funds allocated. The Commission on the Status of Women had a catalytic role to play in this process; the elements needed for true progress were allocation of adequate resources, a high degree of dedication by senior management, equal representation of women and men at high levels of the organization, and development of realistic indicators for evaluating work done and progress achieved.
BREDA PAVLIC, of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the agency paid particular attention to the development of sensitive statistics and indicators in areas of concern and to the integration of gender guidelines in the evaluation of UNESCO programmes. Steps were also being taken to introduce accountability for mainstreaming at all levels in the organization. The percentage of professional women in UNESCO had increased from 30.03 percent in 1990 to 37.12 percent in 1997.
GLADYS GUTIERREZ (Dominican Republic) said particular attention must be paid to equity in the participation of women at all levels of decision making and direction within the United Nations system; it was important to incorporate a gender perspective into programmes for eliminating poverty throughout the world, in programmes for peace negotiations, and in establishment of a system for monitoring how well efforts to implement a gender perspective was working. Cooperation with NGOs was vital, and gender mainstreaming was necessary not only at the top but at regional and local levels. INSTRAW's institutional capacity should be strengthened, as it provided valuable statistics and outlooks on the subject.
AYMEE HERNANDEZ (Cuba) said all efforts at mainstreaming the gender perspective would be insufficient if the more complex and less visible aspects of the socio-economic marginalization of women were not considered. Behind the figures and statistics that tended to prove that women were being increasingly integrated into society there was also the perpetuation of the same patterns of inertia that contributed to that marginalization. In Cuba, progress had been made despite the blockade of the United States; one of the country's main aims was improving the living conditions of all its people, including women. More than 40 per cent of Cuban women worked; they occupied 29 per cent of all leadership positions, and made up 80 per cent of all health professionals. Poverty was a problem for people all over the planet, especially women, who had fewer opportunities in all areas and made up 70 per
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cent of the poor. The problem would not be solved by the liberal recipes now in vogue, which had actually decreased the number of persons and women working. Yet there was not a single mention of the word "poverty" in the draft conclusion on the issue of mainstreaming currently circulating.
SELMA ASHIPALA MUSAVYI (Namibia) said the first step for implementing the Platform of Action of the 1995 Beijing Conference on women was establishment of a gender perspective throughout the United Nations system; still, when one looked at the national level, such issues continued to be seen as "women's issues" rather than as development issues and issues linked to the progress of all mankind; it was important to have a common premise of what was meant by gender mainstreaming; it was only from that basis that an outcome could be achieved that would allow implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action. In Namibia, the ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming into all policies and programmes of the United Nations was to enhance activities at the national level and to end the "feminization" of poverty. The problems and rights of the girl child needed much greater attention.
E.R.M. PERERA (Sri Lanka) said the government was in the process of implementing its national plan of action to promote gender equality. Seeking gender equality should be a goal which all strived to achieve before the turn of the century, because it was an issue which could assist the international community in addressing all other challenges.
JOAQUIN ALVAREZ (Costa Rica) said the situation in Costa Rica revealed progress in women's status, but much remained to be accomplished; a law had been passed to promote the social equality of women and there had been major advances in efforts to eliminate discrimination based on gender. In education and health, access for women and men was equal; in the economic sphere advances for women were apparent. Balanced policies and programmes of action were needed, among other things, in matters of macro-economics and training.
ROSINA WILTSHIRE, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said three challenges faced the organization in its implementation of mainstreaming a gender perspective. The first was partnership with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sectors; implementing gender mainstreaming at the operational level required close cooperation with the NGOs and the private sector, but the legal and financial steps needed for UNDP to carry this out had taken longer than expected. The second challenge was moving from war and crisis to sustainable human development. The third was cross-cutting gender mainstreaming budgets. Appropriate expenditures were needed to ensure the outcome.
IRENE HOSKINS, of the American Association of Retired Persons, speaking on behalf of the Geneva NGO Committee on the Status of Women, which grouped some 50 non-governmental organizations, said many of the documents before the
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Council at this session did not contain a specific mention of gender concerns, indicating the United Nations system was still a long way from true integration of gender perspectives into all of its activities; on the other hand much had been achieved, and it was clear that progress was being made in improving coordination on the matter. More such coordination was needed, however; accountability for making progress should be required, and specific targets set. And capacity building and cooperation with NGOs in gender matters should be improved.
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