HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AFFIRMS HER COMMITMENT TO STRUGGLE AGAINST GENDER DISCRIMINATION

4 February 1998

Press Release
WOM/1026

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AFFIRMS HER COMMITMENT TO STRUGGLE AGAINST GENDER DISCRIMINATION

19980204 Issue Will Receive Priority Attention, She Tells Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, this afternoon told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that she was firmly committed to taking up the struggle against widespread gender discrimination as a matter of priority. Her Office would seek to strengthen the human rights of women and integrate them into the broader human rights framework.

The High Commissioner's work in support of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women would include a number of concrete initiatives, she said. They included campaigning for the universal ratification of the Convention and advocating human development programmes which promoted gender equality and non-discrimination.

Despite recent achievements, women still faced serious inequalities in virtually all societies and spheres of activity, Mrs. Robinson told the Committee. Women constituted the overwhelming majority of people living in poverty and the majority of the world's illiterate. They worked more hours than men, and their participation in economic and political decision-making remained very limited. Human rights efforts must be redoubled to build a global partnership in support of their implementation.

The Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Angela King, that Mrs. Robinson's presence in the Committee was a sign of her commitment to promote genuine and balanced gender equality. Several experts joined in expressing their appreciation for Mrs. Robinson's resolve to advance the human rights of women.

Concerned about non-compliance with the Convention, experts urged the High Commissioner to give greater visibility to the Committee's work. Recent country reports to the Committee had been more rigorous and detailed than ever, but countries needed to be encouraged to comply fully with their obligations under the Convention. The United Nations was urged to engage in energetic action to demonstrate its solidarity with all women of the world.

Committee Chairperson Salma Khan, the expert from Bangladesh, said that at a time when women worldwide faced violence and oppression, it was significant that the Committee and the High Commissioner were intensifying their commitment to women's rights. Mrs. Robinson's visit to the Committee, only months after assuming her position, reflected her solid intention to contribute to women's human rights.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 6 February, to consider the reports of its working groups on issues relating to women and health and on the Committee's working methods.

Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights

MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Secretary-General, in his reform programme, had stressed that human rights were integral to the promotion of peace and security, economic prosperity and social equity, and that they were intimately linked to the substantive programmes in those areas. He pledged that the highest priority would be given to strengthening substantive and technical support to human rights legislative bodies, treaty bodies and special procedures. Efforts to establish common data banks, and the implementation of research and analysis aimed at assisting those bodies, would be accelerated.

She said that emphasis on human rights was at the core of the United Nations work in the current year, as the international community commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights efforts must be redoubled to ensure their implementation, prevent human rights abuses and violations, build a global partnership for human rights, and ensure that the promotion and observance of human rights -- along with peace, democracy and sustainable development -- would serve as guiding principle of the twenty-first century.

Despite achievements in the area of women's human rights since adoption of the Declaration, women still faced serious inequalities, both in law and in practice, she said. That was the case in virtually all societies and spheres of activity. The overall responsibility of her Office was to be a catalyst for human rights in all spheres of activity. Women constituted the overwhelming majority of people living in poverty, and they represented the majority of the world's illiterate. They worked more hours than men, in work which remained mostly undervalued. Moreover, their participation in economic and political decision-making remained very limited.

She said it was her firm intention to make the struggle against such widespread discrimination on the basis of gender a priority for her action as High Commissioner. Efforts to strengthen women's human rights and to integrate them in the broader framework of human rights focused on a number of concrete initiatives. Those included a campaign for the universal ratification of the

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Women's Anti-Discrimination Convention and the removal of substantive reservations; increasing women's awareness of their human rights; advocating human development programmes which promoted gender equality and non- discrimination; and efforts to strengthen the partnership between national and international women's and human rights non-governmental organizations.

She highlighted some recent developments of particular interest to the Committee, including the special attention given to issues of reform at the eighth meeting of the chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies. They stressed that the opportunity to meet occasionally at Geneva would greatly enhance their relationship with the other human rights mechanisms. At the same time, the rapid development of the human rights website had already led to a much better flow of information between the Committee and the other treaty bodies. They also discussed how the gender perspective could be fully integrated into the work of the human rights treaty bodies.

She drew attention to several recent reports which emphasized the subject of violence against women. Those included a report by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women to the Commission on Human Rights, which focused on violence that was perpetrated and/or condoned by the State. Such violence included custodial violence and violence against refugee and internally displaced women. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the territories of the former Yugoslavia gave special attention in her report to the use of rape as a weapon of war. The recent report of the General Assembly to the Commission of Human Rights by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography contained a very useful analysis of the impact of media and education, both in preventing and exacerbating the commercial sexual exploitation of children, particularly the girl child.

She said her office was implementing a project to integrate gender into all technical cooperation projects. Among its tasks, the project was making a detailed assessment of current technical cooperation practices with respect to gender. Also, a term on gender and the human rights of women was established in her Office in September 1997. She stressed her strong personal commitment to the promotion and protection of the human rights of women and pledged her fullest support to the Committee's work. That applied in particular to its work on an optional protocol, as well as on the Convention's implementation at a practical, country level.

Follow-up Comments A number of experts thanked Mrs. Robinson for her statement, expressing appreciation for her commitment to human rights and particularly the rights of women. The High Commissioner was urged to use every opportunity to give greater visibility to the work of the Committee. It was also requested that a meeting be convened of treaty bodies to address the issue of compliance with the Convention, particularly by countries whose reports to the Committee were overdue.

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A great deal needed to be done to arrive at effective implementation of the Convention, and there were many Members States that have not yet ratified the Convention, one expert said. The reports presented to the Committee recently had been even more rigorous and detailed than ever, but countries should be encouraged to comply even more completely with the Convention. The Committee should have further opportunities to discuss issues with the High Commissioner, and a meeting should be scheduled in Geneva to increase coordination between the Committee and the High Commissioner's Office.

Reservations to and non-compliance with the Convention were a major concern for the Committee, another expert said. Many countries had reservations to key articles of the Convention, which, in practice, meant they were not complying with the Convention at all. Compliance with articles 2 and 16, for example, contained essential provisions of the Convention. The Committee and the High Commissioner should make a common effort to deal with that issue. [Article 2 deals with legal and administrative measures to eliminate discrimination; article 16 concerns the elimination of discrimination against women within marriage and the family.]

One expert said that the problem of violence against women and the trafficking in women worsened every day, and that poverty and world labour practices contributed to the subjugation of women. Most revolting were the fundamentalist movements, which were denying women the right to life, social and political power, and education. There should be energetic action to show that the United Nations stood in solidarity with all the women of the world.

SALMA KHAN, Committee Chairperson, said that at a time when women faced violence and oppression all over the world, it was significant that the Committee and the High Commissioner were demonstrating their commitment to women's rights. Mrs. Robinson's visit to the Committee only months after assuming office showed her commitment to women's human rights; she would make a worthy contribution to the protection of those rights.

ANGELA KING, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said that Mrs. Robinson's presence was sign of her commitment and leadership in the area of women's human rights. The Special Adviser pledged to continue her efforts, in partnership with the High Commissioner's Office, to continue to address gender issues.

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