IN ALMOST EVERY SOCIETY WOMEN GATHER, PREPARE AND SERVE FOOD, BUT EAT LAST WFP REPRESENTATIVE TELLS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/EF/2783

IN ALMOST EVERY SOCIETY WOMEN GATHER, PREPARE AND SERVE FOOD, BUT EAT LAST WFP REPRESENTATIVE TELLS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE

In almost every society in the world, women gathered, prepared and served the food, but, most of the time, they ate last, a representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning as it considered women in development and human resources development.

Women and their young children were the first to suffer when crops failed or a nation was seized by violence, he said. Gender statistics on living conditions and the status of well-being also showed that hunger and poverty had a disproportionate effect on women. The activities of the Programme attempted to raise women's income, improve women's literacy and provide them with the majority of its food aid. The empowerment of women was essential to development, particularly to food security, he stressed.

The empowerment and integration of women in development would be enhanced only by looking at the overall status of women, the representative of Namibia said. Speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), he called for actions to be taken to repeal and reform laws, amend constitutions and change practices which still discriminated against women. Women's access to quality education must be enhanced, and gender stereotyping in the curriculum should be removed.

The representative of China said human resources should be at the centre of development. Countries must train, develop and make full use of the capacity of its human resources to achieve sustainable social and economic development. The United Nations system should continue to emphasize human resources development in developing countries to promote international cooperation in that area.

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In an introductory statement, the Special Adviser to the Secretary- General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Angela King, said it was the responsibility of the society as a whole to reduce gender-based inequality and discrimination and increase women's access to opportunities and resources. Policy-makers at both the national and international levels must always consider whether or not their policies contributed to the goal of gender equality.

The Principal Officer of the Social and Development and Poverty Elimination Division of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), John Lawrence, also made an introductory statement.

Statements also made by the representatives of Luxembourg (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), United States, Russian Federation, Ghana, Slovakia, Republic of Korea, Japan, Jamaica, Nepal, Israel, Colombia, Egypt, Tunisia and Iraq, as well as by a representatives of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The representatives of Iraq and Kuwait spoke in the exercise of the right of reply.

Also this morning, the representative of the United States introduced a draft resolution, on business and development, which would have the Assembly call on United Nations funds and programmes to incorporate private sector support for sustainable development in programmes, country cooperation frameworks and development assistance frameworks. The Secretary-General and the operational development agencies of the United Nations system would be requested to focus analytical work on the role of the private sector, including the informal sector, in sustainable development.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 4 November, to hold a panel discussion on "Financial and Development Issues in Emerging Markets", moderated by the Associate Administrator of the UNDP, Rafeeuddin Ahmed.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to consider, under the general heading "sustainable development and international economic cooperation", women in development and human resources development. The Committee was also scheduled to hear the introduction of a draft resolution on business and development.

The Committee has before it the Secretary-General's report on mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies: a preliminary framework for action (document A/52/345) which applies gender analysis to the unpaid sector of the economy, fiscal policies and trade liberalization policies. The lessons learned by applying gender analysis to those issues served as the basis for the policy-oriented conclusions and recommendations also included in the report.

Gender analysis viewed the micro-level, the meso-level and the macro- level of the economy as linked and integrated, the report states. At the micro-level of family, households and firms, emphasis was placed on gender as a critical factor in structuring capabilities, endowments and resource allocations. At the meso-level, norms and practices of institutions were seen as biased if they failed to recognize the importance of reproductive work, if they excluded women or if they feminized women's participation by reinforcing their dependence on men. Gender analysis applied at the macro-level showed that the biased outcome of economic policies resulted from the gender biases existing at the micro-level and meso-level of the economy and of society in general.

According to the report, mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies also offered insights into macroeconomic policy-making. When gender analysis was applied to economic policies, the connection between paid and unpaid sectors of the economy was revealed in a numbers of ways, including by -- making unpaid work visible; reshaping the understanding of the functioning of the paid economy; reshaping basic assumptions on which macroeconomic models and policies were based; and facilitating the understanding of how intra-household dynamics affected markets and the outcome of macroeconomic policies.

The report lists the following principles as a prerequisite for mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies: taking cognizance of the gender-based impact and constraints of macroeconomic and sectoral policies; ensuring equal investment in women's and girls' human capital, in terms of education, training and health; taking into account reproductive activities in investment and other policy measures and policy assessments; and, integrating the paid and unpaid sectors into economic strategy.

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In addition, the report recommends that mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies should be effected in line with a number of conditions, which were in compliance with recent international agreements, such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Those conditions include: incorporating the gender perspective into programme design, implementation and evaluation of all entities involved in development; undertaking measures to achieve gender balance in economic decision-making; assisting governments to implement gender-sensitive economic policies; and creating opportunities for women to express their needs and interests for incorporation into national and sectoral policies, programmes, and budget processes.

According to the report, the promotion of gender equality by removing restrictions on women's access to, and control over, resources, opportunities, incentives, income and wealth, should be pursued not only as a human right and for reasons of social justice, but also as a strategy to promote economic efficiency and sustainable development.

Also before the Committee is the Secretary-General's note on human resources development and implementation of Assembly resolution 50/105 of 20 December 1996 (document A/52/540).

According to the note, two significant and relevant developments had taken place since the adoption of the resolution that had a direct impact on human resources for development within the United Nations system: the active efforts under way within the system to coordinate assistance to countries in the follow-up to the major global conferences held during the 1990s; and, the package of United Nations system reform proposals announced by the Secretary- General on 16 July 1997, which were now being implemented throughout the system.

Several innovative themes, running through the United Nations conferences that had been held since 1990, bore directly on human resources development policies and practice, the note says. There was general acknowledgement of the unsustainability of current production and consumption patterns in both the North and South, necessitating a reappraisal of the purpose of those institutions that perpetuated such patterns. The concept of sustainable livelihoods for all, but in particular for those living in poverty, offered a fresh, useful framework for development strategies that could guide human resources development and could address some of the shortcomings of earlier strategies.

Where former human resources development approaches had generally concentrated on policies at national levels, strategies for sustainable livelihoods must be grounded in local communities and governance structures, the note states. Yet the value of the sustainable livelihoods approach was its overarching conceptual structure. Ideas such as sustainable livelihoods, as put forward by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), offered

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potentially fresh meaning and direction to human resources development, particularly as regards anti-poverty strategies.

Operational progress concerning the significance of linkages between sustainability, employment, gender, human resources development and poverty eradication for policy formulation and programming had been complemented with relevant policy research, according to the note. For example, led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Inter-Agency Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods was established. On the basis of seven country studies carried out by various United Nations agencies, the Task Force endorsed and recognized crucial links between livelihoods and employment and proposed that future United Nations programming activities build on those linkages, as a means to eliminating poverty.

Collectively, the concepts and factors affecting integrated human resources development strategies and, thus, the implementation of Assembly resolution 50/105 signified deep and formative changes in the way the United Nations system assisted countries in human resources development, the note states. Those substantive contributions must be carefully assessed by focusing on how people could most effectively prepare themselves for and then develop more sustainable livelihoods, and on what policies and programmes could best facilitate that process. The implications for the United Nations system reforms of more cohesive and coordinated programmes and support at the national level must also be addressed.

In light of new developments, the Secretary-General suggests that the note should serve as an interim update for the Assembly, but that more detailed reporting on the implementation of resolution 50/105 should take explicitly into account key new factors. Thus, the Assembly might wish to consider recommending that a comprehensive and intersectoral review of the implementation of resolution 50/105 be undertaken during 1997 to 1998, with express reference to the United Nations system reforms and to other major substantive human resources development initiatives currently under way or contemplated by the organizations of the United Nations system.

By a draft resolution on business and development (document A/C.2/52/L.13), sponsored by the United States, the Assembly would call on the United Nations funds and programmes to incorporate private sector support for sustainable development in programmes, country cooperation frameworks and development assistance frameworks, while ensuring a gender perspective within those programmes. The Secretary-General and the operational development agencies of the United Nations system would be called on to focus analytical work on the role of the private sector, including the informal sector in sustainable development, in the implementation of the Assembly resolutions 48/180, 50/106 and the present draft. The Assembly would also call on Member States to implement the United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions.

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ANGELA KING, Assistant-Secretary-General, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said reducing gender-based inequality and discrimination and increasing women's access to opportunities and resources should be the responsibility of society as a whole. All entities at the national and international levels must share those responsibilities. Policy makers must consider whether or not those policies contributed to the goal of gender equality. Most United Nations bodies were taking the lead in mainstreaming women's needs and interests into their programmes and projects.

By adopting the gender perspective, the report presented evidence that gender inequalities were frequently perpetuated through economic processes, she said. It also revealed that gender-based factors were known to have an impact on the outcomes of many economic policies.

JOHN LAWRENCE, Principal Officer, Social Development and Poverty Elimination Division of the UNDP, read out the note by the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 50/105 (document A/52/540).

HENRI SCHUMACHER (Luxembourg), speaking on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Norway, said it was vital to step up efforts to promote equality between genders. It was vitally important that women have equal right to: title over land; credit; inheritance; resources; opportunities for advancement; and income. A large share of the work done by women, including reproductive activities, was unpaid and that contributed to a considerable reduction in women's incomes in comparison with men. As a result, the number of women living in poverty was increasing steadily. Strengthening the autonomy of women was a key factor in the work to eradicate poverty.

Economic strategy should take into account women's actual and potential contributions and create the necessary conditions whereby women and girls, equally with men and boys, could achieve that potential, he said. All policies, including economic policies, should contribute to the goal of gender equality. Such equality was the human right of women and men to participate in, and benefit equally from, social, political and economic life. States should take steps to facilitate women's access to economic activities and economic resources, health care and education with the aim of achieving gender equality.

The Union very much regretted the late publication of the Secretary- General's report on human resources development, he said. Human resources must be developed in order to promote sustainable development. Much could be done in that domain by the developing countries themselves, with the international community's assistance, on the basis of each country's specific needs and skills. Primary education, particularly for girls, and basic health care should be priorities in human resources development. Progress in human

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resources development would depend on each country's political will, supported, where necessary, by outside assistance and effective cooperation between the public and private sectors.

SHIRLEY ROBINSON HALL (United States) said it was important to incorporate gender into the early strategic planning process for economic growth -- when decisions were being made about how to intervene in the structure of the economy itself. The goal must be to improve systematically women's economic opportunities and legal rights and to increase the awareness of policy makers and the general public. In the long term, the increased income-earning capacity of women encouraged families to invest more in the education and health of their children, which increased their lifelong ability to be productive members of society. Increased female wage employment also led to: women's higher status in the household; their economic and social autonomy; and to their higher self-esteem if they retained some control over their earnings.

Stressing the importance of mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies, she said it should be done at the policy development, design, implementation and evaluation levels. Measures should be taken to achieve gender balance in economic decision-making. National mechanisms to promote the advancement of women should be strengthened and commitment to the principle of mainstreaming was necessary at the highest level. Creating an enabling environment, which allowed women to express their priorities, needs and interests was also desirable. Improving data collection and taking steps to measure and value unpaid work would lead to more effective economic policies and programmes.

MIKHAIL SAVOSTYANOV (Russian Federation) said his Government was convinced that the economic reforms of Member States should give special attention to the social dimension, the change in the role of good governance and the input of civil society in the development process. United Nations efforts in helping countries in human resources development should be commended. Also, special support should be given to the operational programmes and funds of the United Nations in establishing and strengthening national capacity-building.

He said he could not be more specific about the work being done by the United Nations in carrying out Assembly resolution 50/105 because, once again, delegations did not receive the Secretariat documentation in time. Because of that, delegations could not substantively discuss the issues that came before the Committee and they were prohibited from making the necessary recommendations.

It was necessary to ensure the full participation of women in the development process, as a whole, and in human resources development in particular, he said. His Government commended the most recent session of the Economic and Social Council and its discussion of mainstreaming the gender

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perspective in development issues. He agreed with the Council's conclusions. The Council described specific tasks for the United Nations system, to assure gender integration in the activities of the Organization. The Secretary- General's report contained a number of practical recommendations that could be used by countries and the United Nations system, particularly in national capacity-building.

CIU YANG (China) said women were an important force in development. Without their active and effective participation, economic and social development would be difficult to achieve. It was only through their full participation that women's political, economic and social advancement could be secured. The international community should continue to advance the status of women and create conditions for the promotion of women's participation in development.

Noting that human resources should be at the centre of development, she said there was the need to train, develop and make full use of the capacity of human resources, so as to achieve sustained and sustainable social and economic development. She hoped that the United Nations system would continue to give priority attention to the human resources development of developing countries, with a view to promoting international cooperation in that area.

JACK WILMOT (Ghana) said mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies was one way to effectively integrate women into development. The Secretary-General's report, however, unduly focused on such mainstreaming at the expense of the national and international action required to promote the role of women in such areas as decision-making, education and training. Women in developing countries could not benefit from most national measures until they were equipped to do so through education or training.

The Secretary-General's report could have contained specific recommendations regarding disadvantaged women in least developed countries, since they faced different challenges from their counterparts in industrialized countries, he said. His Government hoped that those concerns would be taken into account in the preparation of future reports. Perhaps future reports could also include relevant linkages between the subject and other items before the Committee, such as the eradication of poverty, human resources development and environmental and sustainable development.

Leaving women out of the development process meant significantly reducing a country's potential to fully achieve its development goals, he said. It was necessary to educate, train and empower women with all the necessary means so that they could contribute to the development process, in much the same way as was done for men.

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MILOSLAV HETTES (Slovakia) said globalization must be accompanied by progress in the social sphere. Every State, company, multinational enterprise and individual should receive its share from the benefits of globalization. Otherwise, the tensions arising from that phenomenon might endanger social stability, which was the basis for a good functioning of national societies and, in its final result, of the whole international community. Changes in countries in transition aimed at democratization of social systems required the formulation of adequate economic and social policy principles. Parallel to the economic transformation, special attention had to be given to transformation in the social sphere, which motivated and stimulated economic changes and the behaviour of individuals.

Development of the social sphere in Slovakia after 1989 had been formulated parallel to economic development, he said. The concept of the social sphere was based upon a mutual relationship between labour and the social sectors, a synchronization of labour relations, labour incomes and social insurance, complementary pension schemes, social assistance and state social support.

In order to reorient United Nations development activities towards more sustainable human development, the international community needed to improve human resources development, he said. The Economic and Social Council needed to be more involved and empowered in that field.

NOELEEN HEYZER, Executive Director, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), said UNIFEM's economic empowerment activities covered the strengthening of women's organizations to increase their bargaining power at the community level and in the market place; engendering mechanisms which delivered support for economic activities; and assisting with the building of women's economic capacity. The Fund had supported trade fairs, training in export marketing, linking women with new and emerging markets as well as technology and credit, South-South exchanges and increased capacity to network and advocate policy changes.

Listing six opportunities for engendering United Nations development assistance and advancing gender mainstreaming among the United Nations agencies and between the United Nations system and its government and civil partners, she said those opportunities would include inter-agency thematic groups on gender and women's empowerment; gender action plans and indicators of gender equality and women's empowerment; multi-donor coordination mechanisms; standing advisory groups made up of gender experts from governments, non-governmental organizations, women's groups and academia; and building capacity in gender impact analysis and gender-sensitive programming and accountability of all staff of the United Nations country team to promote and support effective programmes to achieve women's empowerment and gender equality.

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HYE RAN YOO (Republic of Korea) said women were key contributors to the economy, through both paid and unpaid work, but too often their role was ignored and discounted in the development process. National development policies and strategies tended to be gender-biased, regarding men as the standard representative human actor and women as merely an appendage of men. That trend seriously hindered the full integration of women into the economy by undervaluing the economic worth of their work, neglecting to invest in the human capital of women and severely restricting their access to productive resources such as land, credit and technology. The goals of poverty eradication and sustainable development would never be achieved until women were brought fully into the development process. The Secretary-General's report would have been even more valuable if it had contained more information on what concrete measures could be taken by the Untied Nations system in its efforts to more effectively mobilize and integrate women in the development process.

Human resources development was an essential component of sustainable development, she said. National governments needed to invest in the development of human resources if they were to effectively seize the opportunities and weather the challenges of globalization and international economic cooperation. In their pursuits of economic reform and structural adjustment, governments should consider the long-term benefits that arose from investing in human resources. International development cooperation should place more emphasis on supporting national efforts to promote human resources development. South-South cooperation had an important role to play in that process. It was also critical that efforts to promote human resources development incorporated the promotion of gender equality through investment in women's and girl's capital.

YUTAKA YOSHINO (Japan) said women accounted for the greater percentage of the productivity of developing countries, but the impact of development on women and the roles of women in the development process had not been fully assessed and evaluated. To achieve genuine progress towards that end, women must be given opportunity to put their abilities to full use at every stage of the development process and to benefit from the results. The grim reality, however, was that women constituted 70 per cent of the illiterate population and suffered both socially and economically from gender inequality. That was a grave impediment to sustainable development.

He said the improvement of the situation of women in the context of development would require programmes directly targeting and benefiting women, such as those that increased the enrolment of girls in primary education, extended micro-credit to enterprises run by women and improved the judicial system to foster the participation of women in all spheres of society. Also, there was a need to incorporate the gender perspective into development programmes, from the programming stage up to the evaluation stage in order to ensure that they had a positive impact on women. Women should participate in the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

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DAVID PRENDERGAST (Jamaica) said investment in human resources was key to the development process. Strategic planning in human resources policy should encompass all the relevant sectors and include close articulation with the macroeconomic context. Human resources development required inter- sectoral linkages and a more integrated multi-disciplinary framework which bridged traditional sectors and new actions. Development strategies must respond to current realities and should not simply replicate the past. Strategies for sustainable development should be aimed at raising the quality of life of all groups and sectors in society, particularly the poor and disadvantaged. The challenge for the international community was to continue to implement action-oriented plans and programmes at the national, regional and global levels.

The effective integration and mobilization of women was an important aspect of human resources development, he said. The contribution of women should be considered not only from the conventional perspective aimed at improving conditions of education and health, but also concerning the generation of resources, increased productivity and greater participation in decision-making processes.

The United Nations and its agencies should take into account the complexities of each country's socio-economic, cultural and political environment when providing guidance to Member States in implementing human resources development strategies, he said. The Organization, in collaboration with developing and donor countries, must continue to set a clear course based on a strategic vision of development that emphasizes the betterment of human conditions, including environmental sustainability and participation of all groups and countries in the process of development.

MOHAMMED EL KOUHENE, Programme Officer, World Food Programme (WFP), said gender statistics on living conditions and status of well-being had shown that hunger and poverty had a disproportionate effect on women. Not only were women the first to suffer in emergencies, but they accounted for most of the word's 800 million hungry poor as well. Indeed seven out of 10 of the world's poor were women earning less than one dollar a day. It was ironic that women were often so hungry and poor. Women produced 80 per cent of the food in Africa and 60 per cent in Asia. In almost every society in the world, women gathered the food, prepared the food and served the food. Yet most of the time, women ate last.

Explaining that the WFP considered the empowerment of women essential to development, particularly to food security, he said its activities had been targeted at raising women's income, making them the majority of the beneficiaries of its food aid and investing in women's literacy. Women and their young children were the first to suffer when crops failed or a nation was seized by violence; WFP believed that they must be first in line when food aid was provided.

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DEVI BOHARA (Nepal) said no country could sustain the current level of development, let alone improve the living standard of its people, without the effective role played by women in development. Given an opportunity, women could perform on a par with men in all spheres of activities, whether political, economic or social. The prevailing cultures, customs and attitudes in many societies had retarded the successful transition of women from inactivity or wasted activity to productive action. It was incumbent on the international community to end the disparity between men and women and bring them together at all levels of national development.

An enabling environment was required for women to play a meaningful role in larger economic activities and register their participation in the political sphere in proportion to their access to education and health sectors, she said. The empowerment of women throughout the world and their leadership role in securing sustainable human development would eventually contribute to lasting peace, democracy and good governance. Women must have wider involvement in the management and decision-making that directly impact their personal lives. Without the equal sharing of power and resources and without greater gender-balance and participatory governance, achieving equality between men and women, as envisaged in the United Nations Charter, would simply remain a myth.

Her Government was fully conscious of the urgent need to integrate women in the political, economic and social fields of its national development, she said. The framework of Nepal's ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) identified three major areas for strengthening the role of women in development: integrating women in the mainstream of development; eliminating gender inequality between men and women; and empowering women through more affordable access to education, technology and communications.

ILAN MOR (Israel) said investing in education of girls and women contributed to economic growth, improved child survival and overall health and reduced fertility, thus helping to slow population growth rates. Investing in women was central to sustainable development.

He said women still faced barriers in contributing to and benefiting from development. Such barriers included low investment in female education and health, restricted access to services and assets and legal and regulatory restraints on women's participation in economic, political and civil spheres. The inequitable situation needed to change. A gender approach towards development was surely the answer. To effect a permanent change for the betterment of the status of women, it was necessary to encourage women to realize their full human potential in the society; they must share political and economic control of the power centres.

MARTA GALINDO (Colombia) said in the 1990s mandates stemming from United Nations resolutions focused on the human component of development, including human resources development and mainstreaming of gender perspective. Her

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Government recognized that economic reform and structural adjustment programmes might have a negative effect on human resources development. The dynamic international economy, advances in technology and the development of countries had heightened the globalization of the world economy and the formation of regional trading blocks. Globalization had also resulted in a number of risks to national economies with direct repercussions on certain sectors, including the beneficiaries of government social services, particularly women.

The processes of globalization and national structural adjustment programmes had hit women hard, she said. The proportion of women who were heads of households was growing. In many cases women also faced discriminatory policies in labour markets and were paid less than men for the same work. Those conditions had a direct impact on the health and well-being of women and their families. In addition, women's employment had been shifted to informal markets where there was no security. Women suffered from inequity in the public and privates sectors, and the current forms of development were built upon non-equitable structures in which the inequality of women and men was central. The international community must work to improve income distribution, create new job opportunities and upgrade education for women. The work of the United Nations should be systematic and consistent to achieve those targets.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said promoting women's access to and control over productive resources such as land, livestock, markets, credit, modern technology, formal employment and a good and sustainable quality of life had been a long and painful process in the region. The SADC believed that women's active participation in development must be enhanced if its ideals and goals were to be achieved. The empowerment and integration of women in development would be enhanced only by looking at the overall status of women.

He said SADC countries were committed to repealing and reforming all laws amending constitutions and changing practices which still discriminated against women. It aimed at enhancing access to quality education by women and men and removing gender stereotyping in the curriculum, career choices and professions and making reproductive and other health services more accessible to women. Specific actions for economic policies and access to structures and resources included the consideration of sector planning officers and economists on gender as an important planning variable, and review of inter- country trade policies and tariff regulations to facilitate better and greater access to markets by women within the SADC.

AMANY FAHMY (Egypt) said her Government accorded special importance to the development of women. Women were an essential component in Egypt's five year plan (1997-2002), which proceeded from the belief that the development of women should take place as a part of the comprehensive development of society as a whole.

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Mainstreaming gender perspective into economic policy was mentioned in only three paragraphs of Assembly resolution 50/104, on women in development, she said. The other 10 paragraphs emphasized the importance of international cooperation for development in all its aspects. The preambular paragraphs stressed the pivotal role women played in different economic activities, including the elimination of poverty in developing countries. The report of the Secretary-General, however, was confined to one element -- mainstreaming the gender perspective into economic policies -- and put aside all the other elements of the resolution, including the progress achieved in implementing all of the elements.

The involvement of women should not be viewed in a narrow way, she said. The transfer of technology would not lead to employing female workers unless women improved their skills. Export policy analysis, as well as commercial liberalization through globalization, did not reflect the organic link between the reduction of women's labour, on one hand, and the economic environment, on the other. In addition, constraints on trade, such as labour standards, reflected on the standards of income and hence the standing of women in the sectors of training, education and health.

The Secretary-General's report contained misleading outcomes concerning the role of women in agriculture, she said. It also did not include any reference to steps taken on the international level or by the United Nations system to implement the provisions of the resolution that called for support of efforts of developing countries in development and called for the involvement of women in those efforts.

NEZIHA BEN YEDDER (Tunisia) said national efforts at improving the status of women should be consolidated in order to accomplish the goals the international community set for itself at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen. But national efforts must be strengthened by those of the international community, especially efforts of the United Nations system. Priority should be given to the efforts of developing countries in the choice, formulation and implementation of development policies. Donors, international financial institutions and regional development banks should make sure that resources were made available to women.

Reviewing her country's progress towards integrating gender equity in the development and implementation of development policies, she said mainstreaming women in development was a priority. Tunisia was promoting equality of opportunities. The right to work was being reaffirmed and the principle of non-discrimination at the workplace was being stressed. Tunisia had the lowest population growth rate in Africa. Tunisian women were making progress in every areas of life. Tunisia commended the efforts of UNDP, WFP and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) towards improving the status of women, achieving food security and increasing their access to credit.

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KHALED AL-HITTI (Iraq) said the report on women in development concentrated on steps that should be taken by national governments at the microeconomic level. It ignored the importance of basic macroeconomic variables. Analysing factors and variables that impacted the microeconomic level of women was important but not sufficient. Such analyses presumed that women lived in prosperous societies and only needed to change structures and social and legal norms to achieve the attainment of their legal rights. External factors and variables at the macroeconomic level, including the lack of North-South cooperation, environmental degradation and unjust economic measures, resulted in the deterioration of lives, he said. That also meant that the status of women deteriorated, because women were a vital part of the life of society. Women were the active elements in any family, therefore, if the family prospered in society, the conditions for women would improve. Women could not achieve progress at a time when the situation of the society was deteriorating. It was necessary to study the conditions of women in the framework of the society in which they lived. The social, economic, and educational conditions in Iraq were deteriorating due to the continued, unjustifiable economic sanctions imposed on the country, he said. His Government called upon the Secretariat, particularly the Division on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, to take into account the situation of those specific country variables, particularly on the situation of women, in the preparation of future reports. The advancement of women throughout the world was a coin with two sides, one was national and the other was international. The international facet had not been accorded the necessary attention in the report before the Committee.

Introduction of Draft Resolution SETH WINNICK (United States) introduced the draft resolution on business and development. Right of Reply SALEH AL-MULLA (Kuwait), speaking in exercise of the right of reply, said he was responding to a claim of the Iraq representative that the status of women in that country had declined because of United Nations sanctions. Iraq had to be requested to implement all provisions in Security Council resolutions, including the return of Kuwaiti citizens and stolen Kuwaiti property. If that was achieved, the sanctions would be lifted and the status of women would be elevated. KHALED AL-HITTI (Iraq) asked why the representative of Kuwait had responded to his statement when he had not mentioned the Kuwaiti Government. If Kuwait insisted on being dependent on others that was its own business. He said he would not condescend to answer the polemics put forward. Mr. AL-MULLA (Kuwait) said he was merely making a correction for the record. The representative of Iraq had claimed that sanctions had led to the deterioration of the status of women in Iraq. Two resolutions had been adopted that were relevant to Kuwait, and they asked for the return of Kuwaiti citizens and property. That was the will of the international community.

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