PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORK OF WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE DURING TWENTY-FIRST SESSION

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORK OF WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE DURING TWENTY-FIRST SESSION

High rates of teenage pregnancy, the denial of access to school for teen mothers, the dismissal of pregnant unmarried teachers, punitive abortion laws, and the lack or absence of sexual and reproductive health information were among the many concerns raised by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women during its twenty-first session, Rosalyn Hazelle, expert member of the Committee from Saints Kitts and Nevis, told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press conference.

The 23-member expert body, which monitors States parties' compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, will conclude its three-week session on Friday. Joining Ms. Hazelle were Yakin Erturk, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women; Aida Gonzalez Martinez of Mexico, Chairperson of the Committee; and fellow expert Silvia Cartwright of New Zealand.

Ms. Hazelle said another major concern was States who cited traditional, religious and cultural beliefs as rationale for not addressing or eliminating infringements of women's human rights. The Committee urged the parties to be more mindful of their commitments under the Convention.

Reproductive rights for women and girls were viewed by the Committee as coming under threat in a number of areas, she continued. Discrimination against teenage mothers continued during their education. That made it more difficult to break the cycle of poverty, if the mother was already impoverished. It also reduced her ability to seek and gain employment. Research indicated that a poorly educated mother was unable to adequately safeguard her own health or that of her family.

Another area was the denial of continued employment of women due to pregnancy, she said. An example was the dismissal of teachers when they became pregnant. That denial was seen as an impediment to a woman's ability to sustain herself and her family, as well as preventing her from contributing to her country's development.

The Committee continued to see violence against women as a very important factor in the daily lives of women, she went on. The human rights and health of the girl child and women were at risk with continued exposure to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The high level of teenage pregnancy might be an indication that adequate education and services in the area of reproductive health were not readily available. It was also seen as an indication of possible sexual abuse of young girls.

Ms. Erturk said that the Convention, which had been ratified by 163 States parties, was the most comprehensive human rights treaty focusing on women's rights issues. The year 1999 had been significant for both the Committee and the Secretariat for two reasons. First, the draft Optional Protocol to the Convention had been adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women in March. Second, on the first day of the current session, the Committee had celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention by the General Assembly.

Among those who had attended the celebrations were Deputy Secretary- General Louise Fréchette; Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai; the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King; and the first Chairperson of the Committee, Luvsandanzangyn Ider of Mongolia. That afternoon, a round-table discussion had been held on the impact of the Convention at the domestic level. Participants included former and current members of the Committee, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and non-governmental organizations.

Ms. Gonzalez said that the Committee would be having a three-year celebration. While 1999 marked the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, 2000 would mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Convention, and 2001, the twentieth anniversary of the Convention's entry into force. The Committee was committed to the evaluation of the implementation of the Convention, since it was vital for the advancement of women and the achievement of equality. The reports of Georgia, Nepal, Belize, Chile, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom had been considered during the current session.

The year 1999 had marked a turning point for the Committee, with the adoption of the draft Optional Protocol, said Ms. Cartwright. The Protocol would mark a fundamental change in the Committee's work. It was too soon to say when it might come into force, as that required 10 ratifications. During its twenty-first session, the Committee had found that, in some countries, formal equality had been achieved. However, the really hard work was to ensure de facto equality. The question was how State parties intended to realize their stated objective of achieving equality between women and men.

The Committee had seen some new trends, she went on. In the area of health, it was increasingly concerned over the increased use of tobacco and alcohol by young women. It was also seeing the serious impact of policies which permitted trafficking in women and allowed for unsafe practices when it came to reproductive health.

A correspondent asked how many countries were reviewed every year and what impact those reviews actually had on governments in changing or refining their practices. Ms. Gonzalez replied that among the impacts the reviews had on countries was to raise awareness among policy-makers and officials, and

Press Conference on Women - 3 - 24 June 1999

among the public in general. One of the important results of the Convention had been making women aware of their rights and position in society.

Ms. Cartwright added that the total number of reports considered each year was between 15 and 20. One example of the impact of the Convention was that most States had now implemented coordinated policies concerning violence against women, which had not previously been the case. Another example, involving New Zealand, was that, following criticism from the Committee last year on the absence of a coherent maternity leave policy, legislation had been introduced in the last couple of months.

Asked why, when 163 countries had ratified the Convention, only 98 had to date submitted initial reports, Ms. Gonzalez replied that, according to the provisions of the Convention, each State party was obligated to submit an initial report within one year of ratification. Currently, there were about 20 to 25 countries which had not submitted their initial reports to the United Nations.

On occasion, the initial report was so delayed that the Committee encouraged a State party to combine that report with their second periodic report, added Ms. Cartwright. The other factor was that it had only been recently that the Committee had begun meeting twice a year. It was finally able to try and make inroads into its backlog of work.

Ms. Erturk added that the Division for the Advancement of Women was in the process of organizing training seminars to assist those countries who had not yet submitted reports and to provide them with guidelines for preparing the reports.

A correspondent asked if the Committee had discussed reported organized trafficking in women in the Kosovo area, and whether it had any plans of adopting a special recommendation on that. Ms. Gonzalez said that, from time to time, the Committee had made known its concerns about situations where women's human rights were particularly at risk. In 1993, for example, it had drawn attention to alleged human rights violations inflicted on women in the territories of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The Committee was committed to examining similar grave violations of women's human rights in any part of the world, she added. Civilians were increasingly targeted in conflicts, and women and children increasingly bore the brunt of conflict situation. Women and children also comprised the majority of the world's refugees and displaced persons. The Committee urged the international community to pay special attention to the human rights of women and the protection of those rights, as well as the full implementation of all the provisions of the Convention. It also called on the Secretary- General and all those concerned to ensure that, in setting up any United Nations mission, a gender perspective be applied to all aspects of the mission's work.

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