PRESS BRIEFING BY UNIFEM

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNIFEM

At a Headquarters press briefing this morning, the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Noelene Heyzer, introduced the Women's Peace Petition Initiative, a petition which, after being circulated around the world via mail, fax, Internet and word of mouth for six months, has collected some 100,000 signatures from 100 countries. The petition was to be presented this afternoon to the General Assembly President, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine).

Dr. Heyzer was accompanied by the Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau, Cora Weiss; the Ambassador of Liechtenstein, Claudia Fritsche, who is Dean of Women Ambassadors at the United Nations; and Senator Margaret Reynolds, representing Ambassador Penny Wensley of Australia. Also at the briefing, representing two other organizations that made a major effort in distributing the Petition were: the President of the International Women's Tribune Center, Dr. Pamela Fraser-Abder; and a representative of the World Council of Churches' Office to the United Nations, Gail Lerner. A young girl from Turkey, Miriam, who signed the Petition on behalf of the next generation, was also present.

Opening the briefing, Dr. Heyzer said the message was clear -- women wanted peace in their societies and homes. They were at the centre of peace movements because they knew the cost and effects of violence in war-torn societies and conflict-prone families. The two demands presented in the Petition were: to make war an unacceptable and illegitimate way of resolving conflict, in the same way that slavery, apartheid and colonialism had been outlawed; and to transfer at least 5 per cent a year of military expenditure to health, education and employment, for the next five years. The initiators of the Petition were overwhelmed by the enormous response and diversity of support, and signatures would continue to be collected through the year 2000, with women organizing worldwide to usher in a commitment to the building of peace, development and equality for the new century and the next millennium.

Ms. Weiss said she hoped President Udovenko would integrate the ideas of the petition into the work of the General Assembly. Women had enough violence, as they reached to the end of the bloodiest century in the history of humankind, and had come together, motivated by the initiatives and decrees of the Fourth World Conference on Women, to write the petition.

All they asked, she continued, was that every country across the board transferred, every year, a small fraction of their military budgets to support sustainable communities, health, education, employment, job training, literacy, and clean water -- things that would help women achieve their rightful place in society. In addition, war, like slavery, apartheid and colonialism, should no longer be a legitimate institution, supported by laws.

UNIFEM Briefing - 2 - 24 October 1997

Women had become deliberate targets of war. Rape had become a weapon of war, and women made up the largest number of refugees from conflict, she said.

Ms. Fritsche said it was a sad fact that women and children were the main victims of armed conflicts, and it was women who maintained the structures in their societies during times of war. As a result, women tended to be the primary peace advocates in just about every country and every war situation. It was time for the United Nations Member States to change the way conflicts were settled. More preventive diplomacy needed to be employed to deal with conflicts before they erupted. Women had to play a greater role and be given a greater share in preventive diplomacy and post-conflict peace-building.

Ms. Reynolds said that, if there were more women in the decision-making positions in the General Assembly, as well as nations, the petitions would not have been necessary. Women were tired of leaving the decision-making to men, because, frankly, they had not done a very good job when it came to conflict resolution. According to an Australian saying, when the Department of Defence had to hold a cake sale to raise money for their battleships, then the priorities concerning expenditures would be set right. In addition to the 5 per cent transfers, the defence departments of the world needed to start being pro-active in raising their own revenue.

A correspondent asked why it was important to have more women at the peace table, beyond the issue of equity. Ms. Fritsche responded that women would bring the special qualities necessary for preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping. Women, in general, had a great ability to listen and adapt quickly to situations. They also had a broad outlook towards the problems. They were entitled to be at the peace table, without any justifications. Since women represented half of humanity, they had a right to participate.

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