WOMEN'S COMMISSION CONCLUDES GENERAL DISCUSSION ON INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
Press Release
WOM/1108
WOMEN'S COMMISSION CONCLUDES GENERAL DISCUSSION ON INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
19990304 Need for Data Analysis, Adequate Funding Stressed by SpeakersRepresentatives stressed the need for data analysis and adequate funding in the development of effective institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, as the Commission on the Status of Women concluded its general discussions on the topic this afternoon.
The representative of Canada said that gender analysis must be done both inside and outside of government. She highlighted the need for qualitative and quantitative data in such analyses. A major area for gender analysis was unpaid work. She noted that globalization could drastically alter patterns of both paid and unpaid work. The United Nations system should give relevant attention to such data and analyses.
There should be definite allocation of resources for women in national budgets, said the representative of the Philippines. Women were taxpayers and half of the country's producer of products and services. Public budgeting was, intrinsically, a political activity in which power played a crucial role. Reserving part of it for female agenda issues would advance the women's cause substantially.
National machineries in Africa still suffered from marginalization in national government structures, unclear mandates and a lack of adequate staff, training and data, said a representative of the African Women's NGO Caucus. There was also inadequate support from the national political leadership. As a matter of urgency, governments should equip national machineries and national statistical services to collect gender, sex and age disaggregated data and also measure and value women's unwaged work.
The representative of the United States said it was time to take a systematic and comprehensive look at the subject of machineries. The Commission should ask the Division for the Advancement of Women to send out a questionnaire to countries to find out what they were doing or not doing. If
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questions were asked correctly, they would illuminate and guide the Commission. A systematic questionnaire would also assist greatly, as the preparations continued for the Beijing +5.
On the topic of women asylum-seekers, a representative of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, said that on any given day, 15,000 asylum-seekers and immigrants were held in detention centres across the United States. In her organization's investigation into that subject, it found that women asylum-seekers faced physical and verbal abuse in detention centres and frequently endured prolonged imprisonment in conditions that failed to meet international principles of refugee protection and basic standards of decency and compassion.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Germany, Russian Federation, Israel, Dominican Republic, Italy, Turkey, India, Malaysia, France, Netherlands, China, Spain, Senegal, Japan, Australia, Cuba, Morocco, Mexico, Ghana, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Malawi and Mali. The observer for Switzerland also spoke.
Statements were also made by the representatives of the following NGOs: NGO Caucus on Institutional Mechanisms; International Union of Local Authorities; Huairou Commission; NGO Committee on the Status of Women Task Force on Older Women; and Third World Network African Secretariat.
Commission Work Programme
The Commission on the Status of Women met this afternoon to continue its dialogue on institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women. (For background information, see Press Release WOM/1104 of 3 March 1999.)
The Commission also had before a report of the Secretary-General entitled Annotated comparison of the draft optional protocol and the amendments proposed thereto with the provisions of existing international human rights instruments (document E/CN.6/1998/7) of 19 December 1997. In that report, articles of the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women were compared with the provisions of four international human rights instruments whose procedures were similar to those envisaged in the draft.
Dialogue on Institutional Mechanisms
CHRISTINE BERGMANN, Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany, spoke on behalf of the European Union and the associated countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
She said full implementation of Chapter H of the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) could only be reached if two requirements were met: implementation of a consistent strategy of mainstreaming the gender perspective; and creation of an effective national machinery for the advancement of women at the highest possible level of government, as well emplacement of as a net of focal points throughout government and advisory equality bodies. Regarding the successful functioning of national machineries and focal points, the Union felt that location was crucial. Governments should position the leading national gender unit at the highest possible level of government.
Further, she continued, governments should nominate gender focal points at the national, regional and local level in each governmental institution and ensure their support from and access to senior management levels. At the same time, all other government units should take on the task of promoting gender equality as their own responsibility.
Another aspect was mandate, she said. Governments should ensure that national machineries, as well as focal points within specific institutions, were also supported at the highest level of government and entrusted with clearly defined mandates that defined their function as policy advisory bodies. A further aspect was accountability mechanisms. Accountability should be based on transparent, effective monitoring mechanisms and tools,
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such as statistics disaggregated by sex and age, performance indicators, expert scrutiny and regular public reporting.
GALINA GALKINA (Russian Federation) said the problems of social partnerships need to be reviewed, given the troubled times that her country was currently experiencing. Legislation had provided mechanisms that furthered cooperation between non-governmental organizations and the Government. The work of the Union of Women of Russia was a good example of cooperation between the Government and non-governmental organizations. That Organization helped women to adapt to life and also represented their interests. It offered special support, such as seminars to retrain women who did not have a job. While the partnerships between non-governmental organizations and Government were working, there was still a need for more openness. Democracy in the relationship could be improved, since governments did not always listen and were not always willing to act on advice.
ORIT ADATO (Israel) said that, based on the principle of equality between women and men, Israel was the only State in the world where military service was compulsory for men and women. In many cases, it served the functions of other social institutions in creating attitudes and training people for careers. The military needed to be reflective of the principles of gender equality. Women were active in all aspects of the military and a women's corps had been started to ensure that their role in the military would continue to grow. Armies had been historically male-oriented institutions, so steps had been taken to break the glass ceiling and ensure that military promotions were given equally to whomever was qualified, male or female.
NITYA RAMAKRISHNAN, NGO Caucus on Institutional Mechanisms, said that attention should be paid to unwaged labour, which affected women all over the world. There should be mechanisms set up within governments to address unwaged labour issues. Also, different sections of civil societies, such as school teachers, should be involved in creating strategies for gender empowerment.
IRMA NICASIO (Dominican Republic) said her Government, in its efforts to help women overcome cultural restrictions, had made sure that there was always a female presence at some of the highest levels of State. In addition, legislative measures had been adopted aimed at changing the status of women. Action had been taken under the Beijing Platform for Action, in order to follow up on how equality efforts were progressing for development and peace. Further, the Director-General for Promoting Women's Rights had helped establish mechanisms for the advancement of women. In addition, laws existed to punish violence against women and all Government organizations were dedicated to ensuring that the laws were enforced.
BIANCA POMERANZI (Italy) said that positive changes had taken place in her country. Since 1996, the Government had been responsible for the
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advancement of women. However, she underlined that the percentage of women in the Government was the lowest since the birth of the Republic. There were practically no women in the court system. Her country was, therefore, managed mostly by men. Draft legislation on disaggregated data by sex, recently adopted by the Government, was now undergoing parliamentary scrutiny. Italy's experience demonstrated that effective mainstreaming of women into politics was difficult, especially when women wanted to bring certain issues out of the margins and into the national agenda.
SELMA ACUNER (Turkey) said the promotion of gender equality was a relatively new concept in the public administration of her country. The institution-building process for the advancement of women materialized at State level in 1990, with the establishment of the General Directorate on the Status and Problems of Women. That was followed by the establishment of the Ministry Responsible for Women's Affairs and Family in 1991. The fact that the women's unit was located at the highest level in the Government was a clear indication of the State's commitment to the advancement of women. However, the machinery operated with insufficient budgets and personnel and encountered all the difficulties of cumbersome bureaucratic processes. The Directorate, nevertheless, had been invaluable in putting the women's agenda in the public sector.
MARGOT WIKSTROM, International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), said her organization, which had been in existence since 1913, was an international association of local governments. She drew attention to her Organization's Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government, which was launched in Zimbabwe in November 1998. It was a clear statement by local governments on their commitment to gender equality, and their proposals for achieving it. In all countries of the world women were still under-represented in local decision-making. The Declaration represented the consolidation of beliefs and commitments of local government bodies from all regions of the world.
Ms. AGGARWAL (India) said the Department of Women and Child Development was a mechanism to mobilize support for governmental and non-governmental cooperation. It was also meant to integrate gender perspectives in all Government policies and ministries. Besides that, the National Committee for Women reviewed legislation to safeguard the interests of women. The Parliament for the Empowerment of Women functions as a watch dog, to ensure that the goals of the Beijing Platform were being implemented. It had supported the formation of women's self-help groups through partner non- governmental organizations. In the Government's current five-year plan for development, the needs and interests of women were included for the first time.
MARIAH HAJI MAHMUD (Malaysia) said the National Council of Women and Development had a new mandate, so it could be a more effective mechanism for promoting the rights of women. Since 1997, the Government had allocated
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additional resources to carry out programmes for women. A joint committee of government and non-governmental organizations held regular meetings on development issues. Non-governmental organizations were able to provide input in all Government plans. Her country would continue its efforts to improve the status of women, in line with the Beijing Platform for Action.
FRANCOISE GASPARD (France) said it was essential that there should exist within each government a ministry for women's rights. And, it was important to remind governments that such a ministry was as important as any other in the government. They needed to understand that it should be at the forefront of polices on civil society. Since 1995, there had been a body for monitoring parity for men and women. Local level efforts had been emphasized, because it was what went on locally that determined true equality. The French Government was now composed of 30 per cent women, but that was still not enough. The French Senate was discussing an action to increase the number of female candidates for Senate.
SARA LONGWE, African Women's NGO Caucus, said national machineries in Africa still suffered from marginalization in national government structures, unclear mandates and a lack of adequate staff, training and data. Also, there was inadequate support from the national political leadership. As a matter of urgency, governments should equip national machineries and national statistical services to collect gender, sex and age disaggregated data and also measure and value women's unwaged work.
ANNE NIEHAUD, Huairou Commission, said that since the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, many States had made commitments to implement measures to promote the equality of men and women. She stressed the importance of ensuring that those commitments were carried out. The Huairou Declaration was the ideal tool to help achieve that. She hoped that all the work relating to Beijing +5 and all other subsequent efforts to the year 2000 were successful.
FLORA VAN HOUWELINGEN (Netherlands) said that, in her country, ways were being sought to integrate the aims of emancipation policy into mainstream policy. For that purpose, an instrument had been developed to assess the possible undesired side-effects of policy, the so called "gender impact assessment". That instrument was used to determine what kind of effects, intended or otherwise, a given policy proposal was likely to have on the process of emancipation. Those effects were assessed on the basis of equality and autonomy. The different ministries themselves were responsible for the application of that instrument.
Ms. CAI CHENG (China) said that institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women were highly significant for the implementation of the Beijing commitments. Governments bore primary responsibility for implementing the Beijing Platform for Action and establishing the necessary national
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mechanisms. Her country attached great importance to that point. The advancement of women cut across all aspects of social life. In China, the Working Committee for Women and Children was the national mechanism for the advancement of women. It was comprised of 23 Government departments and five non-governmental organizations. It was responsible for the implementation of laws, decrees and programmes concerning women and children.
DOLORES FLORES (Spain) said the national mechanism in Spain was the National Institute. There was also the Sectorial Conference on Women, which coordinated policies on equality. Most national policies had been implemented with the agreement of the various ministerial departments. There was also a database on the situation of women and men which was updated periodically. The private sector, the education sector, the media, NGOs and other areas of civil society had all been integrated into the work of the equality mechanisms of Spain.
AMINATA NDIAYE, Minister of Family, Welfare and Solidarity of Senegal, said that since 1978, Senegal had a special department for promoting women's affairs. It had also taken a number of steps to strength institutional mechanisms in regard to health and the struggle against poverty. There were currently five ministerial departments that were headed by women. As the United States First Lady said this morning, "competence had no gender" and those ministries were run very effectively. There were women's groups that ensured that other governmental departments were representing Senegalese women. There were more than 6,000 women's groups that were meant to help rural women. It was very easy to make declarations, but it was important to give women at the grass-roots level a voice in policy.
JEANE SMITH, NGO Caucus on Older Women, said the overwhelming issue of concern for older women was poverty. Another major issue was the invisibility of older women. The future of all women depended on the way older women were perceived. The world needed to make older women more visible. Until that happened, young women also would not achieve gender equality. Often women in their 60s and 70s were becoming the primary parent for their grandchildren because their own children were being killed by wars or dying of HIV/AIDS. More than half of those aged 60 and older lived in developing countries, where their income and social security were not guaranteed. Even in developed countries, their social security was under attack. Governments should research the connection between age and poverty, and older women should be included on the agenda for the special session of the General Assembly next year.
YORIKO MEGURO (Japan) said the political will of a nation to achieve gender equality was best reflected in its institutional mechanisms. In Japan in 1994, prior to the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality was established to implement comprehensive measures in that area. The Headquarters was composed of the entire cabinet
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with the Prime Minister serving as president. In response to the Beijing Platform, the Headquarters adopted the "Plan for Gender Equality 2000" in December 1996. The Plan emphasized the importance of: strengthening the national machinery, implementing comprehensive policy measures, and collecting, organizing and disseminating information that would contribute to a gender-equal society. It also proposed concrete ways of achieving those goals.
SHEILA REGEHR (Canada) stressed the importance of looking at machinery for all levels of Government. She also reiterated the importance of understanding gender mainstreaming as a process that did not replace targeted policies and priorities but complemented them. Canada also recommended a focus on the importance of gender analysis. Such analysis must be done both inside and outside of government. She highlighted the need for qualitative and quantitative data in such analyses. A major area for gender analysis was unpaid work. That issue was a priority one for her country. She noted that globalization could drastically alter patterns of both paid and unpaid work. The United Nations system should give relevant attention to such data and analyses. When addressing the issue of unpaid work there was need to consider the wide variety of family arrangements.
PRU GOWARD (Australia) said Government ministers had met on the status of women and had made considerable progress, especially on the issue of violence against women and housing for women. It was clear that, to be effective, national machinery needed to be embraced by other sectors of civil society such as private businesses. On the issue of unpaid work, the Government had conducted two national studies which had found that men were doing more child care and house work. To help families with an unpaid worker, a modest tax break was offered.
SARAH OCRAN, Third World Network African Secretariat, said a recent meeting found that in the 23 years since Member States decided to create national machinery for women, those mechanisms had not been effective in advancing national equality and equity. National machineries must be non- partisan and free from political patronage. They should also have legal powers to advance their goals. There was also a need to increase the amount of resources available so they could fulfil their mandates.
KATHY HENDRIX (United States) said it was time to take a systematic and comprehensive look at the subject of machineries. The Commission should ask the Division for the Advancement of Women to send out a questionnaire to countries to find out what they were doing or not doing. If questions were asked correctly they would illuminate and guide the Commission. A systematic questionnaire would also assist greatly, as the preparations continued for Beijing+5.
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PATRICIA SCHULZ, observer for Switzerland, said there were a number of mechanisms at the national and local levels that actively cooperated with each other and NGOs. The mechanism at the national level operated on the same level as other federal bodies and it was provided with financial resources. It was found that it was not useful or could even be negative to provide funds if the departments could not handle resources in a qualified way. There was a need for institutional mechanisms specially charged with achieving equality for women with men. Even if the resources of such mechanisms were insufficient, they still could play a positive role in bringing about the awareness of women's needs in policies.
ANA MILAGROS MARTINEZ RIELO (Cuba) said the Government provided support and recognition for achieving equality among men and women. There were ideas to design policies that promoted the status of women at all levels. The Cuban Women's Federation promoted laws and amendments and worked with State authorities to further equality. It had a membership of 83 per cent of the female population in Cuba and it enjoyed recognition throughout society for its work. Given the difficulties in Cuba, due to four decades of blockade, women's achievements were very significant.
MARY BASSIOUNI, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, said that, on any given day, 15,000 asylum seekers and immigrants were held in detention centres across the United States. That included hundreds of asylum seekers who had no criminal record. In her organization's investigation into that subject it had found that women asylum-seekers faced physical and verbal abuse in detention centres and frequently endured prolonged imprisonment in conditions that failed to meet international principles of refugee protection and basic standards of decency and compassion.
JAMILA ALAOUL (Morocco) said her country was involved in a number of efforts to promote the status of women and promote the health of women and young girls. The promotion of women's rights in Morocco had always been a priority for the Government. Success in that regard had been seen in a number of development projects that took into account the needs of women. Remarkable progress had been made in the area of promoting awareness through government efforts in training and education. In March 1998, a new ministerial department was created for the social protection of women and children. The human rights ministry also carried out an action plan to combat violence against women.
AIDA GONZALEZ-MARTINEZ (Mexico) said her country had responded to all the recommendations of the Commission. Efforts had addressed areas such as civil rights and reproductive health for women, basic health for men and women, and legal and civil plans which promoted women's rights. Mexico's national programme for women was administered by the social controllers function which was made up of men and women from all social walks. In addition, various offices of the state were establishing focal points for the
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gender perspective. It was important that the Commission follow up the recommendations of the Expert Group on the Strengthening and Support of National Women's Mechanisms.
MARIAN A. TACKIE, Director of the National Machinery of Women of Ghana, said her country's national machinery was a unique example of how link-ups with ministries and NGOs could effectively come up with policies to advance the causes of women. The National Machinery advised the Ghanaian Government on all matters related to the women in development. It also identified and managed policies and programmes. It liaised with the relevant ministries and had representation on the major related committees and boards. It also encouraged networking with NGOs. Collaboration with those organizations had influenced various policies in favour of women's rights.
AMELON B. REYES (Philippines) drew attention to ensuring that there was a definite allocation for women in national budgets. Women were taxpayers and half of the country's producer of products and services. Public budgeting was intrinsically a political activity in which power played a crucial role. Reserving part of it for female agenda issues would advance the women's cause substantially.
PATTI O'NEIL (New Zealand) said mainstreaming a gender perspective in government was a priority for her Government. In early 1996, the Government undertook work on mainstreaming and conducted numerous seminars on gender issues. Analysis in regard to gender had an impact on policy development. Good arguments and analysis could only be developed with good data. There had been increased funding to ensure reliable statistical information was available. After 10 years of efforts, the Government was undertaking a project to carry out a survey to provide data on men and women's unpaid activities, such as household work and voluntary work in the community, as well as child care. That information would be used to improve services and policies in that regard.
BOK SIL LEE, Director of the Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs of the Republic or Korea, said the Presidential Commission implemented a number of policies to advance the status of women. Legislation was enacted in 1997 to prevent all domestic violence and recognized that domestic violence was no longer a private matter. There was also a law to prevent discrimination at all levels in society. The Presidential Commission was empowered to investigate gender discrimination and take measures to rectify inequality when it occurred. Other countries should take measures to further women's rights to improve societies in the next millennium
DOROTHY THUNYANI (Malawi) said the National Commission for Women in Development was the national machinery for women in her country. In the past, it was underfunded and understaffed like many national machineries in other countries. Following the Beijing Platform for Action, however, the National
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Commission was made into the official watchdog and advocate on gender issues. It had complete autonomy with its own budget and staff. It also had a visible NGO representation. Measures were also taken by the Government to address the lack of women at policy-making positions. Gender training was also considered important for improving awareness of gender issues. A gender training team helped to introduce women's issues and needs in development plans.
NAMINATA SISSOKO DEMBELE (Mali) said her country had adopted various formulas to establish equality between men and women. Among the many notable achievements was the establishment, in 1993, of a commission for women which answered directly to the Prime Minister. The aim was to facilitate and establish policies and programmes that would promote equality. There was also demand for a full ministry to be set up to promote women and the family. A women's plan of action was in place as was a new strategic plan geared towards establishing women's equality.
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