WOMEN"S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE HEARS INTRODUCTION OF INITIAL MYANMAR REPORT

Press Release
WOM/1159

WOMEN’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE HEARS INTRODUCTION OF INITIAL MYANMAR REPORT

It had been decided during 1999 to increase the membership of the Myanmar National Committee for Women’s Affairs and that of its subsidiaries, that country’s representative told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning, while introducing Myanmar’s initial report on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

As the Committee began considering that report, he said that the National Committee had, also during 1999, opened a new counselling centre for victims of violence and launched radio programmes to explain laws protecting women. The Government had also made efforts to prevent violence against women and rehabilitate the victims. Prior to 1997, the Government had not collected detailed gender-sensitive data and was thus experiencing difficulties in implementing the National Plan of Action.

Regarding reproductive health, he said that while Myanmar had no statutory provision for abortion services, hospitals would provide follow-up care for women who had had unsafe abortions. Promotion of reproductive health included safe delivery and motherhood, birth spacing, and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Community representatives and volunteers were trained to deal with those issues and educational material included gender- specific messages.

Following the report’s introduction, comments and questions were posed by Committee members. Several of the experts expressed concern about the report’s lack of information on such issues as resources allocated to women’s programmes and situations in which violence was committed against women. That lack of data could hinder the Committee’s ability to engage in a constructive dialogue and to realize the de facto status of women in Myanmar.

Two other experts sought further information on the effects of ethnic conflicts in Myanmar on women in border areas and in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hear further comments and questions by the experts.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this morning to begin its consideration of the initial report of Myanmar on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The report cites the specific attention paid to sexual equality and the rights of women by the State Constitution of 1947 and the 1974 Constitution. Those instruments state that women shall enjoy equal political, economic, social and cultural rights; mothers, children and expectant mothers shall enjoy those rights as prescribed by law; children born of citizens shall enjoy equal rights; and women shall enjoy freedom of rights guaranteed by law as regards marriage, divorce, partition of property and succession and custody of children.

Addressing various articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the report describes Myanmar's national machinery and programmes for the advancement of women (Article 3) and measures taken by the Government for that purpose (Article 4).

Regarding social and cultural patterns (Article 5), the report states that traditions and customs expect a woman to control the purse, prepare food, make clothing and look after the children. Myanmar culture and religion strongly influence the mentality and behaviour of men and women alike. The teachings of Lord Buddha that rape and sexual violence are great sins serve as protection for women and children.

With respect to trafficking in women and suppressing their exploitation (Article 6), the report says there are cases of Myanmar women being lured to neighbouring countries by false promises of better job opportunities. To prevent women and young girls from falling victim, training centres have been established in border towns since 1992 to provide vocational training and to help girls and women to engage in income-generating activities.

Further steps, according to the report, include the dissemination of information on trafficking cases and measures along the border, including a prohibition against women between the ages of 16 and 25 years crossing the border unless accompanied by a legal guardian.

Regarding equality in political and public life at the national level (Article 7), the report states that women have equal rights to vote and to contest elections. The number of women seeking high positions in public offices, politics and business has risen in the past decade. Those include directors-general and managing directors and one university rector.

At the international level, the report says, women have represented Myanmar in international forums since the 1930s, when they participated in the drafting of the constitutional reforms in London, and in 1947, during the drafting of the country's Constitution. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, women represent 27 per cent of the home-based staff and 20 per cent of the diplomatic personnel in embassies abroad.

On education (Article 10), the report cites an enrolment ratio of 105 boys to 100 girls at the primary level, 104 to 100 at lower secondary, and 84 to 100 at upper secondary in the 1996/1997 academic year. The transition rate from primary to lower secondary was 63.6 for boys to 58.1 for girls. The transition rate from lower to upper secondary was 75.6 for boys to 80.8 for girls.

According to the report, 40.9 per cent of students in technical and vocational schools in 1995/1996 were girls. At the tertiary level, 57.8 per cent of the undergraduates from professional institutes and universities were female. Among those who pursue post-graduate study under the Ministry of Education, the ratio of men to women is 1:4.3.

Almost all forms of education at all levels are co-educational, the report says. Most primary and secondary level institutions have been so since 1962. Out of 38,808 schools, only nine (eight for girls and one for boys) remain as single-sex schools in three cities. However, they recently started accepting both sexes in primary-level classes.

The report goes on to describe Myanmar's implementation of the Convention's articles in the fields of health (Article 12), finance and social security (Article 13), rural women (Article 14), equality before the law (Article 15) and appropriate measures relating to marriage and family relations (Article 16).

Introduction of Report

U WIN MRA (Myanmar) stated that women legally enjoyed equal rights with men in political, economic, administrative and social areas in his country. The family was the basic unit, with the father at the head of the household and the mother playing the major role in rearing children. Consequently, the Government had placed much importance on ensuring equal access to health services. Those services, currently being upgraded, were intended to provide a holistic, life- cycle approach to women’s care, ranging from the girl child to women of reproductive age and older women. The National Population Policy, the Food and Nutrition Control Committee and the Environmental Health Programme, among other governmental groups, have established policies for using the primary health care approach.

On the issue of abortion, he said there was no statutory provision for related services. However, if women had had an unsafe abortion, hospitals would provide follow-up care, including post-abortion contraception. Promotion of reproductive health included safe delivery and motherhood, and birth spacing, as well as the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Community representatives and volunteers were trained to deal with those issues and gender specific messages were included in educational material. He noted another area of his Government’s concern was violence against women. To counter that phenomenon, they had made efforts to prevent violence and rehabilitate the victims.

Education determined women’s access to paid employment, control over fertility, family size and spacing, and the well-being of her family, he continued. Therefore, Myanmar was implementing programmes to enable every individual regardless of gender to acquire basic education. The State’s existing education policies did not discriminate against women. Activities were being undertaken in a skills based literacy programme for women and girls with collaborative efforts of the Early Childhood Development Project and Education Sector Study Project, as well as by strengthening and upgrading teacher training colleges.

He outlined the activities of the Myanmar National Committee for Women’s Affairs, and noted that during 1999 a decision had been made to increase that body’s membership and that of its subsidiaries. During 1999, the National Committee had opened a new counselling centre for victims of violence, launched radio programmes to explain the laws that protected women and provided stipends to several needy students in rural areas, in addition to others. He said that prior to 1997 the Myanmar Government had not collected detailed gender-sensitive data and were, thus, experiencing difficulties in implementing the National Plan of Action.

Questions and Comments by Experts

An expert noted that Myanmar was the largest country in South-East Asia, with a rich history going back to the ninth century. In the modern era, its women had played an important role in the struggle for independence and had emerged as important political leaders. One of them, Aung San Suu Kyi, had been the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, she said, there was a lack of data in the initial report that could hinder the ability of Committee members to engage in a constructive dialogue and to realize the de facto status of women in Myanmar. It was also difficult to ascertain the status of women vis-à-vis men. There was little indication of the kind of funding provided for the implementation of projects mentioned in the report and in the Permanent Representative’s oral presentation.

Regarding ethnic conflicts that had plagued Myanmar, she expressed concern over the situation of women and children in border areas and in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Did women in refugee camps have access to the services indicated in the report? she asked.

Noting that Myanmar had a very large rural population, she asked how many rural women there were and to what extent they enjoyed access to the projects mentioned in the report.

Referring to Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention, which deal with equal rights and discrimination against women, respectively, an expert wanted to know whether those principles would be embodied in the State’s new Constitution as they had been in the previous ones in 1947 and 1972. Would a new definition of discrimination be incorporated reflecting its intention and impact as inscribed in the Convention? she asked. Without statistical data, it was impossible to determine the extent of discrimination in Myanmar. Therefore, more light needed to be shed on the Convention’s status in Myanmar.

Article 2 made it clear that the Government, as well as other organizations, groups and agents in the country, should not practise discrimination in any form, she continued. She wondered whether actual cases of discrimination committed by military personnel against women were monitored. She was always suspicious that institutional machinery could include legislation that contained hidden forms of discrimination against women.

Another expert said she was interested in the implementation of article 2 from another angle. Taking into account Myanmar’s multi-ethnic and multi- religious character, had the article been included in its total form in the State’s Constitution? she asked. As Myanmar had a majority ethnic population, how did the Government ensure granting of equal rights? Many times, women were responsible for upkeeping traditions, she observed. How were all women of different ethnic groups guaranteed the same rights and respect for government policies, even when those contradicted their religion and tradition?

Another expert, referring to article 3, expressed pleasure at the existence of several national committees in Myanmar that had made people aware of the needs of women in education and other priority areas. However, information was lacking about the human resources allocated to women’s programmes by the relevant ministry. The 1995 Beijing Conference had pinpointed allocation of such resources as a critical priority area.

She noted that some of the bodies in charge of promoting the advancement of women were not full-fledged women’s ministries, but also had other responsibilities, such as social services. Those ministries did not have adequate resources. While Myanmar’s National Plan of Action had identified six priority areas for action, including violence against women, priority should also be placed on the need for women in decision-making positions from which they were often excluded. Women should be included at the parliamentary, ministerial and other decision-making levels.

Another expert, referring to ethnic conflicts, expressed concern over possible infringements against women by military forces. The Committee needed to know the areas of violence against women, whether they were exposed to violence in custodial situations or under interrogation. Were they exposed to rape or other excesses by military forces? What mechanisms were in place to create awareness of the Convention among defence forces so as to minimize infringements, if not eliminate them?

She said that, like many former British colonies, including her own country, Myanmar still had colonial legislation on its statute books, particularly the Penal Code of 1860 which contained several discriminatory provisions. What was being done to amend that and other legislation? Were there any efforts to repeal such legislation?

Another expert said creation of the National Committee had been a positive development, as it provided a mechanism for women to exercise their rights. It was unclear, however, how information was being collected. For example, data had not been forthcoming on the number of complaints about violations of women’s rights. Also, that Committee did not seem to have permanent officials who were devoted to the task. What was the difference between the Working Committee and the National Committee? she continued. Did the National Committee have any influence and did it collect statistics on the number of women in the different social sectors? She reiterated the difficulty in evaluating the situation in Myanmar due to the lack of statistics. What were the goals of the 20-year plan that the report had mentioned? Did they include aspects for the advancement of women in leadership positions and in non-traditional areas of employment? She noted the predominance of rural women in the population and requested more information on their situation, as well as that of street children, particularly girls.

Another expert said she also did not understand the functions of the Committees that had been mentioned and sought information about their gender composition and structure. She also requested an explanation of the functions of the Ministry of Social Welfare, which had been designated a national focal point for women.

An expert requested further clarification on the methods used to allow individuals to file complaints with the Working Committee. What were the kinds of cases that were presented to the Committee and how many were they?

Another expert asked what percentage of women participating in Working Committees were representatives of the Government or non-governmental organizations. What criteria were used to designate them? She asked whether the Convention had been translated into Myanmar’s ethnic languages and in which areas. What were the status of and statistics on women’s non-governmental organizations in Myanmar, and how active were they? Had they participated in writing up the initial report?

Another expert, referring to the initial report’s opening paragraph on article 4, asked whether the reference to women having already achieved equality was merely according to law or in reality. She also sought clarification about references in the report that tended to reinforce the image of women as care- givers and homemakers. What measures had been taken to ensure they were involved in all areas of national life?

What programmes were in place to help the advancement of women? she asked. Were there special tribunals and courts to deal with cases of violence against women?.

Another expert, referring to article 5, stressed the need to take a strategic approach in using accomplishments to build a platform on the basis of folk tales. Women could use the media to disseminate folklore so that they could preserve the positive progress. Negative stereotypes underlay all the problems of women.

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