Press Briefing by UN Development Fund for Women

 

While there was much to celebrate on International Women’s Day, it was also an occasion for reflection because the progress made had been too uneven and slow, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

She noted that much progress had been made around the world in legal terms, particularly in the areas of property rights, protection of migrant workers and changes in the family code.  Some 120 governments had gender-equality policies and 179 had signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  In some countries, there were more women in parliament than ever before, especially Rwanda, where they made up 49 per cent of the legislature.

Despite those gains, however, a million women and girls were still being trafficked around the world, she said.  There was no progress when many women and girls still worked in sweatshop conditions, even in high-growth countries, and when HIV/AIDS increasingly took on a young woman’s face.  Much remained to be done in bringing about gender equality and justice in an increasingly insecure and unequal world.  Women everywhere were calling for action in five critical areas that could be regarded as levers for greater change on behalf of women and girls.

One message was extremely clear -- there could be no security without building on women’s human rights and ensuring their security everywhere, she emphasized.  It was extremely important to end violence against women -- especially when used as a weapon of war -- and impunity.  Women must be secure in their homes, workplaces and communities.  Second, a secure world must be linked to development and the eradication of poverty.  The best way to do that was to close all gender gaps in income and to provide decent and secure work for women, including in the informal sector.  A third call for action entailed ensuring that women had access to economic assets in terms of inheritance rights, land and property.

Fifth, women must be present at every peace table and wherever the future of communities and societies were being forged and resources allocated, she emphasized.  Also, there must be a gender perspective in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.  Finally, there was a need to upgrade all the effective strategies that had worked on behalf of women and girls as the world moved from “Beijing+10” to the “Millennium+5”.  Those strategies must be well-resourced, so that the alternatives created by women no longer remained as alternatives, but became the major paradigm for action.

Asked about UNIFEM’s communications with the 179 countries that had ratified the Convention, Ms. Heyzer said that the Fund had been monitoring their conversion of those ratifications into gains on the ground.  While many countries had done tremendously well in aligning national laws with international norms and standards, it was important to ensure that they engaged with rule-of-law institutions like courts and police stations that could help with implementation.  Also, the whole area of investment in institutions and resource allocation was a major concern and many gains made by women could be lost very easily through State failures, war, epidemics, natural disasters or HIV/AIDS.

What kind of help was provided to countries that could not manage on their own? the same correspondent asked.

Ms. Heyzer said UNIFEM had been able to ensure that women in countries emerging from conflict were able to take advantage of even the smallest opportunities.  In all such countries where the Fund was engaged, women had been participating in elections, even in the most difficult situations.  A clear example was Iraq, where women had made up 31 per cent of participants in January’s elections.

Another journalist asked for examples of countries where women were still denied property rights and where honour killings continued.

The UNIFEM chief said that, of the many countries in Africa that were struggling to change inheritance and land-rights laws, Rwanda was a good example, having tried, since 1999, to make that happen one case at a time.  The Fund was trying to ensure that countries in South Asia and the Middle East also re-examined their laws.  Regarding honour killings, they continued in many parts of the world, but more important was the use of rape to protect honour, as illustrated by the recent case in Pakistan.  It was important to have strong women’s advocates, especially now that information technology could immediately amplify local events at the global level.

Asked whether any Middle Eastern country besides Morocco had changed its property rights, she said a network of human rights lawyers was examining ways to align international standards and norms like the Convention to national laws and, more importantly, to local customs and practices.  The Palestinian Authority was a good example of that and UNIFEM was also working in Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries.

What had the two-week Beijing+10 achieved besides preventing a rolling back of the Platform for Action? another journalist asked.

Ms. Heyzer said it had brought governments and civil society together again to work on a common agenda.  It had also reaffirmed the need to make the world more secure on the basis of women’s human rights and of linking that security not only with rights, but also with development and poverty eradication.  The 10-year review had reaffirmed a quiet revolution that no longer had to be so quiet.

Another correspondent asked how better implementation could lead to more rapid advances for women’s rights.

She said there were many actions that could be implemented quickly, given political will.  For example, it would be very easy to close gender gaps in wages, to create secure working conditions for women everywhere and to eliminate sweatshops.  However, beyond the accountability of the State, there was a need to include the markets and the private sector in the dialogue.  It was also important to educate women about their rights, to strengthen advocacy so that they could claim their rights, and to strengthen State institutions so they could take on such practices on an everyday basis.

Another correspondent sought a comment on the appointment of China’s first woman provincial governor and on the political status of women in that country.

She said Chinese women had shown a lot of courage in terms of moving agendas forward.  Many of them wanted the wealth and opportunities generated in that high-growth country to reach as many people as possible, especially in the poorer rural areas, and to see less social stratification.  Women in the right political positions would help that happen.

Referring to the 31 per cent women’s participation in Iraq’s elections, another journalist asked about the non-participation of women in Saudi Arabia’s recent local elections.  Ms. Heyzer expressed the hope that what was happening in Jordan, Morocco, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries would accelerate change in the region.

Another correspondent asked about UNIFEM’s stand on a resolution that would purportedly equate prostitution with trafficking.  How could prostitution be curbed?

She replied that it was important to see trafficking in the wider context of international migration.  As long as it was difficult for people to find decent work in their own countries, and given the continuing inequalities and insecurity around the world, people would continue migrating in search of work.  And as long as there were no proper channels or protection many of them would be migrating illegally and consequently falling into the hands of organized crime, including traffickers.  It was important to ensure that the international economic architecture could provide economic security and rights for as many people as possible.

Asked which countries were the most notorious in terms of trafficking, she said criminal networks thrived wherever there was war and conflict, failed States and destroyed economics, as well as where it was extremely difficult for people to have livelihoods.  Exposure to trafficking happened where those conditions occurred side-by-side with high gender inequalities.  At the same time, it was important to examine male entitlements and gender power relationships in destination countries.

The same journalist asked how the United Nations system would move forward vis-à-vis the Beijing Platform and the Millennium Development Goals when the former was seen as more ambitious than the latter.

Ms. Heyzer said that the Millennium Goals were targets and indicators set within a measurable time frame.  However, they were based on the Millennium Declaration, which set forth a vision of a world free from want and fear.  The Declaration took into account many of the issues discussed at the Beijing Conference and at Beijing+10, including ending violence against women.  The important thing was to ensure that the necessary resources were available and that the effective gender equality strategies developed in the context of the Women’s Discrimination Convention and the Beijing Platform became central to all the Millennium Goals.

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