TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN FACES FINANCIAL CRISIS COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN TOLD

5 March 1999

Press Release
WOM/1109

TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN FACES FINANCIAL CRISIS COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN TOLD

19990305 Former Director Says INSTRAW Cannot Function Beyond August 1999; USG for Economic and Social Affairs Stresses Need for Immediate Support

Unless funds became immediately available, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) would no longer be financially functional beyond August 1999, Yakin Erturk, the former Director of the Institute told the Commission on the Status of Women this morning, as it met to discuss the situation of INSTRAW.

The critical financial situation that began in 1992 had become an institutional crisis that threatened the existence of the Institute, she warned. If the contributions for 1999 were not realized, the implementation of its 1998-1999 biennial work programme would be seriously jeopardized. At a time when the Institute was trying to effectively meet the challenges of a new era, it was regrettable that diminishing funds continued to be a major obstacle, she added.

Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that over the past year and a half, the Institute had prepared a work programme and he had met with the donor community to present that programme. The new plan emphasized joint projects with other United Nations agencies in order to maintain a core programme of work. The Member States of the United Nations needed to decide if INSTRAW was a priority and some resolution of the matter should be determined in the current year. The purposes of INSTRAW were deemed to be important at the Beijing Conference and in other places and those in the Secretariat were committed to supporting its work. He added that resolution of the issue should not be delayed until the Economic and Social Council meeting in July -- immediate support was needed now.

The representative of the Dominican Republic expressed great concern over the administrative situation at the Institute. In particular, she had questions about the status of the Director's post. The former Director,

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Yakin Erturk, had resigned from INSTRAW, and yet she was before the Commission today speaking on its behalf. There had yet to be a satisfactory explanation for that situation from the Secretariat.

The representative of Cuba said there had been attempts in the past by a large number of delegations to merge INSTRAW and UNIFEM. INSTRAW was not just one more institute in the United Nations system. There had been a trend to devalue the agencies that worked for the needs of women. Whatever decision was taken through the Economic and Social Council, he stressed that a permanent solution to the problems of INSTRAW must be found.

The representative of Ethiopia said that all women's machineries were being marginalized and suffered from a lack of resources. INSTRAW was just one example of that. Its objective should be well defined, so it could meet its goal of raising the status of women. Defining the role of the Institute based on the needs of member countries should be the future direction of INSTRAW, if it was going to survive. Many women's agencies should redefine their objectives, or they too would face marginalization and a lack of resources.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Mexico, Namibia, Spain, Turkey, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Ghana and El Salvador.

The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. Monday, 8 March, to hold a discussion on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001 for the Division for the Advancement of Women.

Work Programme

The Commission on the Status of Women met this morning, as part of its follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), to discuss the review of mainstreaming in organizations of the United Nations system. It had before it three reports of the Secretary-General.

The report on follow-up to and implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (E/CN.6/1999/2 and Add.1) contains a joint work plan for the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It emphasizes efforts undertaken by the Secretariat in support of mainstreaming a gender perspective and follow-up activities, including activities undertaken by non-governmental organizations and other United Nations bodies.

It states that the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women has continued to work with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the development of a project on mainstreaming a gender perspective in multidimensional peacekeeping operations. A draft project proposal was made available to interested delegations in mid-1998, and pledges of support were subsequently received from a number of Governments. The project has four major objectives: to analyze the extent to which a gender perspective is reflected in all stages of peacekeeping operations, with a view to strengthening that perspective; to increase the number of women in multidimensional operations at all levels; to assess the impact of peacekeepers on the local population, in particular women; and to review the contribution of local women to peacekeeping and peace support activities. It is anticipated that implementation of the project will commence in early 1999. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations has also stepped up its efforts to improve gender balance at Headquarters and in the field.

Further follow-up took place with the Office of Internal Oversight Services. The Special Adviser discussed with the Office opportunities for including gender considerations in two ongoing in-depth evaluations -- of disarmament and of electoral assistance. The issuance of the two in-depth evaluations in 1999 for the Committee for Programme and Coordination might provide a good basis for assessing how gender considerations further inform the work of the Office, the report states.

A gender advisory group consisting of representatives of all divisions and offices of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and chaired by the Special Adviser was established to support gender mainstreaming in all activities of the Department, according to the report. Various conference review processes in which the Department has the lead or is a major participant (the International Conference on Population and Development and the World Summit for Social Development) and the coordinated and integrated follow-up to United Nations conferences are receiving priority attention.

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In reviewing specific mandates with regard to women, the report also discusses progress made in relation to the situation of Palestinian women. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1998/10, requested a report on the situation of Palestinian women and assistance provided by organizations of the United Nations system. The present report covers the period from September 1997 to September 1998 and is based on information from United Nations bodies monitoring the situation of Palestinians in the occupied territories as well as in refugee camps.

Based on those reports, the Secretary-General found that daily life of women continues to be adversely affected by the Israeli occupation, particularly by the imposition of security-related measures, such as closures, which had a detrimental impact on their socio-economic condition. As in the past, Palestinian women were experiencing the gender-specific impact of those measures, which was reinforced by existing inequalities in society between women and men. Frequent Israeli closures have been a major factor behind the 18 per cent drop in the gross national product (GNP) of the West Bank and Gaza and the 35 per cent drop in per capita GNP between 1992 and 1996.

In an addendum to the report, the Secretary-General provides an update of the synthesized report on national action plans and strategies for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. At its last session, the Commission considered a such synthesized report, which was based on national action plans and other sources of information available to the United Nations system. It contained an analysis of national action plans submitted by 85 Member States and one observer to the Secretariat. The scope of this year's report was limited to the action plans submitted by 20 Member States. The majority of those plans focused on the following critical areas of concern: women in power and decision-making; violence against women; and women and health.

According to the report, the national action plans covered all the critical areas of concern, but they tended to reflect national priorities and limit themselves to some critical areas of concern, reflecting regional differences and preferences. In Angola's strategies, for example, the participation of women in the peace process figured as the first area of concern. The majority of plans contained both general policy recommendations and concrete action proposals. Only a few plans establish comprehensive time- bound targets and benchmarks or indicators for monitoring. Ghana, for example, defined targets for every strategic objective and action.

The national action plans constitute the basis for an assessment of the implementation of the Platform for Action by the year 2000 and will be useful for examining the success of policies and projects, the report states. They will further aid in the assessment process if Governments use them to report on implementation. The review and appraisal will examine how policy commitments have been converted into concrete policies followed by actions.

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Also before the Commission will be a report on improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (E/CN.6/1999/5). The report states that, in its resolution 53/119 of 9 December 1998 on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the resolution, including by providing statistics on the number and percentage of women in all organizational units and at all levels throughout the United Nations system, to the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-third session.

In the same resolution, the Assembly reaffirmed the goal of 50/50 gender distribution by the year 2000 in all categories of posts within the United Nations system, especially at the D-1 level and above, with full respect for the principle of equitable geographical distribution, in conformity with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, and also taking into account the continuing lack of representation or under-representation of women from certain countries, in particular from developing countries as well as countries with economies in transition.

Since 1 January 1998, the increase in the percentage of women on appointments subject to geographical distribution has been marginal, rising only from 36.8 per cent to 37.1 per cent. As of 30 November 1998, there were 893 women out of a total of 2,404 staff on geographical appointments, as compared to 885 women out of a total of 2,407 staff on geographical appointments on 31 December 1997.

While the overall increase in women's representation has been slight, notable progress has been made in improving the representation of women on geographical appointments at the D-1 level, the report states. The number of women at this level has risen from 51 in December 1997 to 65 as of 30 November 1998. This corresponds to a significant increase in women's representation at the D-1 level, from 24.3 per cent in December 1997 to 31.3 per cent in November 1998. As of 30 November 1998, the percentage of women on appointments subject to geographical distribution at the D-1 level and above was 26.9 per cent.

The report goes on to say that the Secretary-General, in his report to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session, noted that the decline from June 1997 to June 1998 in the percentages of women promoted to the P-5 level (from 56.8 per cent to 35.6 per cent) and appointed at the P-5 level (from 55.6 per cent to 31.6 per cent) was of special concern. Although there has been a small increase in the number of women at the P-5 level since June 1998, the percentage of women at this level has declined further, both in the category of staff on geographical appointments and in the larger population of staff with appointments of one year or more.

This is attributable to the considerably lower rate at which women are recruited and promoted to this level. During the period 1 January 1998 to

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30 November 1998, only 23.5 per cent of the staff appointed at the P-5 level through the Appointment and Promotion Board were women. Of the staff promoted to the P-5 level through the Appointment and Promotion Board during this period, 38.4 per cent were women. The trend, if it continues, will have serious effects on replenishment at the D-1 level and above, the report states.

During 1999, priority will be given to the development and implementation of gender action plans in individual departments and offices. These plans will be tailored to the staffing requirements of individual offices, taking into account projected vacancies through the year 2000, including retirements by gender, and the availability of qualified women for inclusion in candidate pools. The objective of these plans will be to develop concrete and practical strategies on a department-by-department basis for implementing the goal of gender balance in the global Secretariat.

The Commission also had before it a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) on the elimination of violence against women (document E/CN.6/1999/6). In its resolution 50/166, the General Assembly emphasized the importance of taking holistic, coherent and coordinated actions to eliminate violence against women at the national, regional and international levels. In the same resolution, it designated UNIFEM to play a catalytic role in promoting joint actions and to strengthen its activities to eliminate violence against women in accordance with the recommendations set out in the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.

Pursuant to that resolution, the Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women was established in 1996 and became operational in 1997. The report highlights some of UNIFEM's activities in the past year pursuant to the mandate given by the Assembly.

According to the report, in 1998, UNIFEM received $1.8 million from governments and non-governmental organizations in contributions to the Trust Fund, which were utilized to support 29 new projects. Through those projects, the Fund addressed issues such as domestic violence, health and trafficking in women. The strategies utilized in each project varied according to the issue targeted, and include awareness-raising, training of professionals, public education, including legal literacy, advocacy, servicing for victims, and action-oriented research.

For its part, UNIFEM worked on increasing its institutional capacity to develop ways to share the experience gained from the implementation of the Trust Fund, the report continues. Of particular importance was the creation of the learning component for the Trust Fund, whose primary functions has been to conduct overall review and analysis of the project portfolio, extract lessons and results obtained through its interventions and contribute to

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improve the funding policies and guidelines of the Trust Fund. As the only international funding mechanism that is exclusively devoted to addressing the problem of violence against women, the Trust Fund offers a unique prism from which the phenomenon of violence against women in all its forms can be analyzed and explored globally, the report states.

The report goes on to say that, as a contribution to the United Nations commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNIFEM launched a series of inter-agency regional campaigns to eliminate violence against women in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific. The three regional campaigns shared the goal of raising public awareness about violence against women as a violation of human rights, highlight its economic and social costs to society, and bring together the efforts of the United Nations system in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

Further, the report says that, as part of its efforts to support and encourage partnerships for networking, UNIFEM will hold a global inter-agency videoconference entitled "A World Free of Violence against Women" on International Women's Day, 8 March 1999, during the forty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women. To facilitate in-depth discussion at the videoconference, UNIFEM launched, in collaboration with the World Bank and Global Knowledge Partnership, an Internet working group discussion entitled "End-violence". The Group offers a unique virtual site dedicated to the discussion of the issue of violence against women.

Statements on INSTRAW

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said it was the duty of the United Nations to support and strengthen the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). The basic problem right now, however, was money. Under the statute of INSTRAW, the United Nations was required to run the Institute only out of resources put into the Trust Fund for it.

Over the past year and a half, the Institute had prepared a work programme and he had met with the donor community to present that programme, he said. The new work plan placed a certain amount of emphasis on joint projects with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNIFEM and others. There was also an inter-agency workshop scheduled. Through those joint activities, INSTRAW had attempted to maintain a core programme of work through those various joint activities.

He added that INSTRAW was now confronted with a serious situation and resources had been reduced so much that the Institute was having difficulty seeing how it could continue functioning. The Institute last year had a deficiency of $1.3 million. The situation became so severe that the

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controller came to the Secretariat and said it should start thinking about freezing activities. The Member States of the United Nations needed to decide if INSTRAW was a priority. Some kind of resolution of the matter should be determined in the current year. The purposes of INSTRAW were deemed to be important at the Beijing Conference and in other places. Those in the Secretariat were committed to supporting the work of the Institute.

YAKIN ERTURK, former Director of INSTRAW, said that if the projected contributions for the Institute in 1999 were not realized, the implementation of its 1998-1999 biennial work programme would be seriously jeopardized. During the United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities held in November 1998, only $374,000 was pledged to the Institutes's Trust Fund, indicating that the expected financial support would not be made available to complete ongoing projects. That limited support was further evidenced by the insufficient response to the Institute's invitation to Member States, mainly in the European region, to the international dialogue that was to take place in The Hague, Netherlands in January 1999.

She said the objective of the dialogue was to discuss the research and training priorities of development cooperation programmes, in order to provide inputs for elaborating a new strategic work plan for INSTRAW. In December 1998 the Controller informed the Institute that, in view of the limited funds available in INSTRAW's Trust Fund, it would not be possible to approve the allotment of funds for 1999 until the future direction of the Institute became clear. Expenditures for that period had to be kept within the limits of unspent amounts from the 1998 allotment, representing $700,000. Accordingly, INSTRAW management was compelled to prepare a revised budget within the ceiling of the $700,000.

The Institute was presently operating under that revised budget, which only allowed operations until the end of August 1999, she continued. It was also interesting to note, she added, that since its inception, only a total of $20,681,000 had been contributed to the INSTRAW Trust Fund. One of the immediate consequences of the present situation was the postponement of the nineteenth session of the INSTRAW Board of Trustees, scheduled for 8 to 12 February, until possibly April 1999.

The revision of the budget also entailed staff reduction measures, she said. Last year eight general services posts were abolished in June. A further seven were abolished in February of this year and the remaining posts would be abolished in June of this year. The two professional posts would remain functional until 31 August. With regard to the Liaison Office in New York, following the resignation of the professional staff member in October 1998, there had been no funds to recruit a replacement.

She said the critical situation that had been building up since 1992 had finally become a real institutional crisis, threatening the very existence of

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the Institute. Unless funds became immediately available, INSTRAW would no longer be financially functional beyond August 1999. Its legal status, as well as its position within the United Nations, would need to be urgently addressed. Despite the relevance and timely execution of research projects and a new proposed strategic work plan for the Institute, sufficient resources needed to finalize the present biennial work programme could not be secured. It was regrettable that, at a time when the Institute was trying to effectively meet the challenges of a new era, diminishing funds should continue to be a major obstacle.

Before opening the floor for comments from delegations, PATRICIA FLOR (Germany), Chairperson of the Commission, said that the situation of INSTRAW was important. However, it was clear that the Commission was not in a position to take a decision in regard to the Institute. There was no report on the situation of the Institute before the Commission and a decision on INSTRAW would be considered at the next session of the Economic and Social Council.

CRISTINA AGUIAR (Dominican Republic) said that having a discussion on the matter of INSTRAW in the Commission was important. Her delegation was greatly concerned over the administrative situation in the Institute. In particular, she had questions about the status of the Executive Director post. The former Executive Director, Yakin Erturk, had resigned from INSTRAW, and yet she was here today speaking on its behalf. There had yet to be a satisfactory explanation for that situation from the Secretariat.

RODOLFO REYES RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said that, in informal consultations there had been discussions on the situation of INSTRAW and Commission members were awaiting more information on the subject. There was an underlying situation in regard to the Institute that needed to be addressed. There had been attempts in the past by a large number of delegations to merge INSTRAW and UNIFEM. INSTRAW was not just one more institute in the United Nations system. The issue was the will to support women's rights. There was a need for an integrated approach in promoting women's rights and human rights. There had been a trend to devalue the agencies that worked for the needs of women. Whatever decision was taken through the Economic and Social Council, a permanent solution to the problems of INSTRAW must be found.

AIDA GONZALES (Mexico) said that she had witnessed attempts to try to get rid of INSTRAW in the past. But there was a need to strengthen INSTRAW through more clarity in its work and better programmes. The Institute was established in 1975 as an autonomous, independent institute to promote research and disseminate information on the situation of women. INSTRAW had a mandate to design new and innovative ways to better integrate women into development. It was important for the Commission to get information on the situation of the Institute. It was a pity that INSTRAW was in such a situation, because it had just designed a new, comprehensive programme of

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work. She asked Mr. Desai if he was referring to speaking to "major" donors, when he said he had met with donors on the situation of INSTRAW.

HAZEL DEWET (Namibia) said it was regrettable that an institution created to address women's issues was being affected by such disastrous events on the eve of a new millennium. She was fully aware that the Commission was not mandated to make a decision on INSTRAW, because that fell under purview of the Economic and Social Council. The situation, however, "affects us", because the Institute was for women. The Commission must keep abreast of the issue. She hoped women's issues would not be subsumed because of the lack of contributions. She looked forward to a future report and stressed that the Institute's mandate was still very valid.

AURELIO FERNANDEZ (Spain) said his country was one of the donors supporting INSTRAW. It was important to have a serious discussion of the matter, so that the right decision could be taken at the summer session of the Economic and Social Council. Spain believed in the equality of women. Their roles must, therefore, be taken seriously and given proper consideration. There was a lack of resources and a lack of agreed views on how INSTRAW's training and research programmes should be implemented. Dialogue on making the Institute's programmes more effective was needed.

AHMET ARDA (Turkey) said the situation faced by the Institute today was the culmination of a long process. His delegation had opposed the merger between INSTRAW and UNIFEM because the mandates of the two organizations were different. Turkey, by rejecting that idea, was also aware that it had the responsibility of supporting INSTRAW. It had done that to the best of its ability. Although his country's support was small, it was one of the major donors to the Institute. The question of how to encourage contributions to INSTRAW must still be addressed.

ANDREA ROSA DELGADO CANTARERO DE MORALES (Nicaragua) said that this was not the right time or place to deal with situation of INSTRAW. It would be better to wait for the matter to be taken up in the Economic and Social Council when the appropriate documentation would be available.

DEYANIRA RAMIREZ (Costa Rica) said INSTRAW was very important to the Latin American region and for women. However, the Commission did not have the appropriate documentation before it on the subject and it could not take a decision on the financial crisis at the Institute.

DEENA HUQ (Bangladesh) said it was high time that effective measures be implemented for collecting and arranging funds, so the work of INSTRAW was not hampered. On the topic of training, she asked what sort of training was being organized? Was it designed according to needs for a specific country or was their one programme for all countries? Such training programmes should be tailored for specific needs. In recruiting a new director for INSTRAW,

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efforts should be taken to consider an equal number of female and male candidates.

MARY GRANT (Ghana) said several years ago there was an important discussion on why INSTRAW should remain a separate institution. It was argued that the Institute was important enough to remain on its own to carry out its mandate. She questioned whether appointing a new Director at this time was appropriate, if there were no funds for the Institute. Her delegation would like it conveyed to the Economic and Social Council that INSTRAW was a crucial issue for the Commission and for women in general. The work of INSTRAW provided vital training and vital research for the women in development.

HAILE MIKEAL (Ethiopia) said that all women's machineries were being marginalized and suffered from a lack of resources. INSTRAW was just one example of that. Its objective should be well defined, so it could meet its goal of raising the status of women. Defining the role of INSTRAW based on the needs of member countries should be the future direction of INSTRAW, if it was going to survive. It was time for many women's agencies to redefine their objectives, or they too would face marginalization and a lack of resources.

CARLOS ENRIQUE GARCIA GONZALEZ (El Salvador) said the Institute was a key player in the training and advancement of women. At the threshold of a new millennium and the envisaged culture of peace, training and education were essential if goals were to realized. The Economic and Social Council was the best body to respond to the crisis affecting the Institute.

Mr. DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, responding to comments from the floor, said that while the issue of the Institute would be considered in the Economic and Social Council, the present forum was very valuable. The Government of the Dominican Republic, a small developing country, had provided substantial support to the Institute and was to be commended, in light of all the obstacles that confronted the country. The concerns of the Dominican Republic on administrative support for the Institute had been noted. He reaffirmed the Economic and Social Council's commitment to support INSTRAW in an appropriate manner.

Responding to a question on the donor meeting last year, he said the Institute did receive significant support from developing countries. When those countries, therefore, requested funds for INSTRAW from other donors, it should be remembered that they too were giving to the Institute. Also, it was not as if every donor had walked away from the Institute. Many still supported it. Significant pledges for 1999 had been received from Austria, China, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Africa and Turkey. Also in 1998, a number of developing countries who had not made pledges made payments to the Institute, including Barbados, Colombia, Chile, Egypt, Bolivia, Indonesia, Japan, Lesotho, India, Madagascar and Paraguay.

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He said the one message he was getting from everyone was that the Institute and its programmes were worth supporting. The question on mobilizing funds from new sources was a valid one. Last year, for example, $150,000 was raised for project purposes. Those funds, however, were for a specific project. They were not a substitute for direct support for the Institute. However, alternative mobilization of funds would certainly be further examined.

He said the current situation regarding INSTRAW was serious, but he hoped that pledges for 1999 and the payments of the last year were a reflection that the Institute was still broadly supported. Discussions would be completed on the issue this year in the Economic and Social Council. A high value was placed on the work of the Institute and the problem must be resolved once and for all, not on a year-to-year basis. However, he urged all present not to wait until the Economic and Social Council met in July to resolve the issue -- immediate support was needed now.

Ms. ERTURK, former Director of INSTRAW, said it was positive to hear support for INSTRAW expressed by members of the Commission. In her 16 months at INSTRAW, it had been recognized that a problem existed in determining to what extent training programmes met the needs of member countries. The issue of relevance became a serious matter, which was addressed in the new programme of work. However, given the limited number of staff at INSTRAW, it was not possible to provide the services needed. The new vision was very innovative, but it could not be implemented due to the lack of funds.

On concerns expressed over the Director's post, she said the chief constraint in recruiting a Director was money. She was still committed to INSTRAW's work and it would be a shame to let the work that had been accomplished in the last year go astray. She said she was ready to provide guidance for INSTRAW until a new Director was appointed.

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