DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, ADDRESSING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S SUMMIT, UNDERSCORES

NEED FOR POSITIVE CHANGE IN TRANSFORMING GENDER RELATIONS

 

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s speech to the International Women’s Summit, as delivered in Nairobi, today, 5 July:

I wish to take this opportunity to thank our hosts for the hospitality afforded us since our arrival in this beautiful city of Nairobi.

I also bring you warm wishes and best regards from the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

I am honoured and excited to be with all of you to discuss the literally vital theme of women’s leadership in fighting AIDS.  I pay tribute to the World YWCA, the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS, and other partners who made this conference possible.  You are all crucial allies of the United Nations.

From the birth of the United Nations, women have made judicious and skilful use of our Organization as a platform to voice their needs, demands and priorities.  From the signing of our Charter -- which proclaims the equal rights of women and men -- and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, through subsequent instruments that codify human rights and fundamental freedoms, the United Nations has been a constant partner and ally of women around the world.

For more than 60 years, the Commission on the Status of Women has made remarkable contributions to improving the lives of women and girls around the globe.  Since 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been the primary global instrument in the work for true gender equality in the home, the community and society.  And, thanks to the Beijing Platform for Action, we have a clear road map for all actors -- Governments, civil society and the United Nations family -- to end discrimination against women and girls, and to speed up progress towards gender equality.

Gradually but steadfastly, in the life of the United Nations, we have sought to integrate a gender perspective into virtually every aspect of our work -- reflecting the growing understanding that we cannot solve any challenge that touches on the lives of people around the world without looking at how women are affected and how they can be part of the solution.

We are currently striving to strengthen our gender architecture and considering replacing our fragmented arrangements with one consolidated and well-resourced entity, with a strengthened mandate for systemwide leadership.

The UN has also increasingly become a forum for action on the subject of this conference -- the fight against the alarming spread of HIV among women and girls, and the burden which the impact of AIDS imposes on them.

A year ago, when Governments met at the UN to adopt the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, they pledged to promote gender equality and empowerment of women and girls as a way to fight the pandemic.

This year, the Commission on the Status of Women called for specific attention to prevention, treatment, care and support for girls -- including addressing the needs of girls at risk, girls heading households and girls caring for the chronically ill.

It called on Governments to address the root causes of the feminization of women’s and girls’ increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

And it called on Governments to educate men and boys to accept their role and responsibility.  It encouraged the involvement of men and boys in adopting safe, non-coercive and responsible sexual and reproductive behaviour.

This is why United Nations teams are working with Governments to ensure national AIDS strategies work for women.  But this is often far from straightforward.

As the Commission clearly has understood well, the factors that drive the feminization of AIDS cannot be addressed piecemeal.  But, to be honest, despite our best intentions, many of our activities remain rooted at project level: we have still to make the leap from project to programme, to achieve truly systemic change.

We know what that change should look like: real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls.

Change that will transform relations between women and men at all levels of society.

Change brought about through the education of girls, through legal and social reforms, and through greater awareness and responsibility among men.

Change that will free boys and men from cultural stereotypes and expectations, such as the belief that manhood comes from showing “who’s boss” or from frequenting sex workers.

Change that ensures women have job opportunities, rights to land ownership and inheritance.

Change that gives women full access to practical options that can protect them and their children from HIV -- including antiretrovirals to prevent parent to child transmission, and microbicides, as they become available.

Change that will allow women to take their seat at the decision-making table and play to the full their role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

This challenge will take all our courage and commitment.  It will require sustained political leadership at the highest levels, combined with energetic and creative leadership in civil society and in the private sector.

This conference, ladies and gentlemen, has been partly supported by the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS -- an alliance of civil society groups, networks of women living with HIV, United Nations agencies, Government and business representatives, and celebrities that has come together to mobilize action on women and AIDS.

Alliances like this are critical to bringing about positive change.  If we have learnt one thing over the past 25 years, it is that only when we work together with unity of purpose can we defeat AIDS.

But to have real impact, they must be guided by two key principles -- and they are accountability and a drive to achieve measurable results.

So, my challenge to each of us here today is to set clear aims and be prepared to be held accountable in our personal lives and in our professional responsibilities.  For that is what true leaders do.

As Deputy Secretary-General -- and as a woman from Tanzania, one of the most affected countries in this region -- I will do everything in my power to ensure that the issue of women and AIDS is high on the international community’s agenda -- and that is actually where it belongs.

Keep the faith and keep up the fight.  Thank you very much.  Muchas Gracias.   Asante Sana.

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For information media • not an official record