Sixty-first General Assembly

Informal Thematic Debate

PM Meeting

UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING A ‘DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT’,

DELEGATE SAYS AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONTINUES THEMATIC DEBATE

The persistent underrepresentation of women in political life and decision-making was a “democratic deficit” and the discrimination they faced worldwide hindered them from unleashing their full potential, excluding them from benefiting equally from development-related services, the General Assembly heard this afternoon as it continued its informal thematic on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union on the second day of the debate, Germany’s representative expressed support for awareness-raising activities, the exchange of good practices and research in order to encourage more women to be active in politics, particularly in view of the European Parliament elections to be held in 2009.  Girls should be encouraged from an early age to participate actively in political and social life so as to build their capacity, with a view to attaining decision-making positions in the future.

Senegal’s delegate noted that women were frequently sidelined and, despite the progress made in the decade since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, they still suffered “flagrant and systematic” violations of their basic rights.  Disparities persisted between the sexes in the socio-economic and legal spheres and women’s access to resources was limited.  Their participation in political life and exercise of political power was impeded, added to which they were often subjected to extreme poverty, particularly in developing countries.

Guatemala’s representative expressed deep concern about violence against women, describing it as a multifaceted social problem stemming from manifold causes.  The Government of Guatemala had spearheaded an innovative policy agenda that provided backing for women’s institutions and increased the national coordinating budget for the prevention of violence against women by 700 per cent.  Still, the violence continued as it was ingrained in the unequal power relations between men and women, especially in rural areas.  Further concrete steps were needed to examine the extent to which women and men were complicit in that vicious cycle and pledge to end it.

The delegate from Honduras said that country’s Government was wholeheartedly promoting advances in gender equality, women’s political participation, social protection, economic equality and, above all, legal protection.  It had created institutions to play a leading role in championing the rights of women and they exerted, alongside civil society, an important influence over the submission and updating of legislation.

India’s representative said his country’s Government recognized the political, legal, educational and economic empowerment of women as a top priority.  It considered their empowerment to be a key principle of good governance and 12 years ago had reserved one third of urban and local self-government seats for women.  As a result, more than one million Indian women at the grass-roots level had been brought into political decision-making.

Kuwait’s delegate said that, although the Gulf States had made some progress in advancing the status of women, greater determination was needed to allow them to reach their objectives.  However, it was a cause of regret that women there had still not been granted equal rights and justice.  Failure to find a remedy would impede the progress and prosperity of the Arab world.  However, there had been some progress towards attaining gender equality, as Kuwaiti women now participated effectively in the political process.

Other speakers in the debate included the representatives of Croatia, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Israel, Spain, Turkey, Nicaragua, Morocco, Venezuela, Zambia, Republic of Korea, Jamaica, Viet Nam, Switzerland, Nepal, Finland, China, Malaysia, San Marino, Rwanda, Iran and Congo.

The General Assembly will meet again at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, 8 March, to conclude its informal thematic debate.

Background

The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its informal thematic debate on the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women.

Statements

AMIR MUHAREMI (Croatia), aligning himself with the European Union, said his country’s Constitution had set gender equality as one of its highest values and the Croatian Government had established strong national mechanisms and legislation aimed at achieving gender equality.

He said the Government’s newest National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality for the period 2006-2010 had both implemented the concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and introduced gender-sensitive education.  In addition, the Law on Political Parties contained a positive action measure, by which parties were allocated 10 per cent more funds for each representative of an under-represented gender.  Croatia had a growing number of women in leading positions and even more in the corporate and business environment.

Noting that women and children were the main victims of armed conflicts, he said it was important, for that reason, to see more women involved in peacebuilding and peacekeeping processes.  Moreover, in many crises, peacebuilding and peacekeeping processes had been accelerated when women had been an integral part of them.

THOMAS MATUSSEK (Germany), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said equality between women and men was an inalienable right, an integral and inseparable component of human rights and a democratic principle.  The European Union had declared 2007 the “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All”.  Women were grossly underrepresented in executive positions -- in industry, science and politics alike –- within the European Union.  They were the most untapped resource in the world and it was thus imperative to intensify efforts to create equal opportunities for all.

Noting that women currently constituted, on average, 30 per cent of entrepreneurs in the European Union, he said they often faced greater difficulties than men in accessing finance and training.  The European Union Entrepreneurship Action Plan recommended promoting an increase in women’s start-ups through, for example, better access to finance.  Regarding the persistent underrepresentation of women in political life and decision-making, that “democratic deficit” must be addressed.  In order to encourage more women to become active in politics, the European Union supported awareness-raising activities and the exchange of good practices and research, particularly in view of the European Parliament elections in 2007.

Gender equality was at the very core of development, he concluded.  Poverty could not be reduced and the Millennium Development Goals would go unattained if gender discrimination were not eliminated.  Furthermore, the gender perspective, in the design of macroeconomic policies was still marginal and often reduced to the social sectors.  That had to change at the earliest possible date.

BARLYBAY SADYKOV ( Kazakhstan) said discussions at the fifty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women showed that gender equality, women’s empowerment and the elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls remained of ongoing concern.  However, experts’ recommendations and resolutions adopted by the General Assembly provided solid ground for the future work of Member States and the United Nations system in ensuring that women and girls were protected from violence.  For its part, Kazakhstan was committed to the principles behind gender equality and had been taking measures to ensure gender equality in both legislation and practice.

In January, he said, Kazakhstan had introduced its second period report on implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and was taking steps to implement a gender-equality strategy for the years 2006-2016.  In addition, a parliamentary group called “Otbasy”, or family, had introduced draft legislation on equal rights and opportunities for women and men.  Under that draft law, emerging laws and national programmes would be made to undergo gender-sensitive evaluation.

He commended Belarus and the Philippines for arranging an international conference on trafficking in women and girls.  A group of gender experts, in conjunction with the Government of Kazakhstan, had worked out a draft law on domestic violence, and twenty-six centres were now open for women and child victims of violence.  The Government also hoped to tackle discrimination against women in the labour market, and in terms of the lack of awareness of gender issues among boys and men, and the negative consequences of gender stereotyping.

MARIAN A. TACKIE, Director, International Desk, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs of Ghana, said her country’s Constitution, in conjunction with such other international legal documents as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, were being implemented to promote women’s rights and support gender equality.  Laws and other measures had been instituted to prohibit negative cultural practices, including ritual servitude, female genital mutilation, harmful widowhood rites, early marriage and others.  A Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit had been established within the Ghana police in 63 districts and last February had seen the passing of the Domestic Violence Act.

She said that, since women’s equal participation in social, cultural, economic and political life was critical to sustainable development, Ghana had established the Women in Local Governance Fund to help women wishing to participate in public life.  In addition, a Women’s Development Fund had been set up to facilitate women’s access to credit facilities, particularly in small-scale farming, agro-processing and microenterprises.  A draft bill on the property rights of spouses was also being discussed, since the Government had identified the lack of affordable housing as a problem.  The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs was working with the statistical service to develop gender-disaggregated data.

FATEMAH ALKANDERI ( Kuwait) said the Gulf States paid appropriate attention to the role of women as they built healthy societies.  Although there had been some progress in advancing the status of women, greater determination was needed to allow women to reach their objectives.  Women’s participation in decision-making was paramount.  Kuwait denounced the wars unleashed in various regions, particularly in the Arab world, which had led to underdevelopment, which, in turn, negatively impacted women.

Taking note of the 2005 report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the promotion of women in the Arab world, she expressed regret that women there had still not been granted equal rights and justice.  That was not just a priority for women and failure to find a remedy would impede the progress and prosperity of the Arab world.

However, there had been progress towards attaining gender equality, she said, pointing out that Kuwaiti women now participated effectively in the political process, wining election to high political office.  They also served as university presidents and ambassadors.  Islam was a religion of justice and equality, and if Muslim women had been denied their rights in the past few years, that did not reflect a problem with Islamic Shari’a, but rather its misapplication and the practice of prejudicial customs.

ZEHAVIT GROSS, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, said the number of women in decision-making roles had grown over the years, with the Speaker of the Knesset (Parliament) and the President of the Supreme Court being women.  The Speaker was currently the country’s acting President.  The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education were also held by women.

However, more must be done to bring about a balanced participation of men and women in the management of public affairs, she said.  In religious circles, for example, women were thought to belong in the home, while gender stereotypes in the education system emphasized “the actualization of femininity” in the home, rather than the workplace.  A lack of official data on the participation of women in the public sphere hampered Israeli society from dealing effectively with the issue.

Over the years, Israel’s modernization had led to an increase in university enrolment for women, which, hopefully, would help steer women towards pursuing careers alongside family goals, she said.  A year and a half ago, Israel had amended its Women’s Equal Rights Law, in the spirit of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).  As such, the Government was mandated to include women in any group appointed to peacebuilding negotiations or international conflict resolution.  There was a need to normalize the presence of females in leadership posts, and for that to happen society must become more aware that basing society solely on a masculine viewpoint led to a “partial, fragmented and monistic perspective” of reality.

SILVIA ESCOBAR, Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights of Spain, associating herself with the European Union, said her country still experienced gender violence, discrimination in salaries and pensions for widows, high female unemployment and the scarcity of women in positions of responsibility in the political, social, cultural and economic spheres.  However, various laws had been developed to advance women’s issues, among them the “Organic Law” on effective equality of women and men, which had recently been approved by Parliament.  That law provided for an “implementation budget” to bring about equal treatment of women and men.

In terms of employment, measures were in place to deal with access, promotion and work conditions for women, she said.  Steps had also been taken to guarantee the balanced representation of women and men in electoral lists, in public-representation organs and on corporate executive boards.  Spain and Sweden, the two European Union member countries with the most women ministers, had together presented a project called “Pact for Equality in the European Union”, aimed at eradicating the “structural injustices” faced by women.

She recalled that, on International Women’s Day last year, Spain’s First Vice-President had agreed with female colleagues from Africa on the “Maputo Declaration”, which touched on education, health and the participation of women in the public sphere.  This year African and Spanish women would meet in Madrid to promote equality before the law.  Spain also sought to finance, through the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), projects in the Latin American region to encourage women’s participation in public life.

IVÁN ROMERO MARTÍNEZ (Honduras) said women’s rights in his country were constitutional rights and the Government was wholeheartedly promoting advances in gender equality, women’s political participation, social protection, economic equality and, above all, legal protection.  National strategies were consistent, well-defined and fully consonant with national standards.  Institutions created to play a leading role in championing the rights of women exerted, alongside civil society, an important influence over the submission and updating of legislation.

He said the National Congress had enacted advanced laws, such as the Code on Family, the Law on Women’s Equality, a law against domestic violence, a code on children and adolescence and a special law on HIV/AIDS.  Indeed, a legal framework had been forged to defend and ensure gender equality.  In the national elections, an array of independent organizations had fought zealously to champion the values and integrity of Honduran women.

While all that demonstrated progress, much still remained to be done in achieving the full participation and active involvement of women in national life, to which the Government and civil society were resolutely committed, he said.  Initiatives under way included the mainstreaming of a gender approach to the comprehensive development of women’s social and political contribution, and the launch of an institution for the prevention of intra-family violence.  The civic participation of women was also being strengthened, and information centres were being set up to disseminate information on women’s legitimate rights.  In a world in chaos, women’s voices were rising resolutely, calling for equality, justice and freedom.  They must be heard and heeded.

AYSE AKIN (Turkey) recalled several milestone legislative measures in her country’s ongoing reform process, including the adoption of a law on the protection of the family, and the new civil and penal codes.

Beyond a doubt, education was the key to empowering women, she stressed, recalling that the duration of compulsory primary education in Turkey had been increased from five to eight years in 1997.  Consequently, the percentage of girl students in primary education had increased significantly.  Turkey was now considering the transition to 12 years of compulsory education, which would be essential to ensuring girls’ full participation in secondary education.

She said a strategic plan was being presented in order to increase employment opportunities for women.  Efforts were also being made to encourage corporate social responsibility, and partnerships between the public and private sectors sought to eliminate gender inequalities in the labour force.  Furthermore, a draft law to enable paternal leave, in addition to maternal leave, had been sent to Parliament.

Noting that Turkish women had acquired the right to vote and run for elections in the early 1930s, she said that, since then, they had held various high-level positions.  However, women’s participation in decision-making was still lagging.  Turkey had been discussing various methods to accelerate that and political parties were encouraged to nominate women candidates.

BETSY BALTODANO ( Nicaragua) said the 2006 national elections had seen 17 women elected as Members of Parliament and 19 as Deputy Members of Parliament.  In addition, the head of the National Assembly’s Steering Council was a woman.  Similarly, the ruling party’s campaign chief was a woman who had pledged that women would hold 50 per cent of decision-making posts.  Women were also present in the Foreign Office and within the police.  In 2004, 16 women mayors had been elected -- 10 per cent of the total -- and more women were taking up leading positions in universities and setting up gender departments.

She said civil society organizations were actively involved in protecting women’s rights and had begun incorporating women’s issues into their agendas.  They were among organizations involved in empowering women by awarding them through microfinancing.  As a result, more women were opting to supplement their incomes by starting their own businesses, though a busy family life impeded some women.  Such loans came both from the Government and the private sector.  A survey conducted in 2001 showed that 55 per cent of businesses built on microfinance were owned by women, compared to nearly 44 per cent owned by men.  Fewer rural women tended to benefit from it, however, and therefore private and communal banks, more than 200 specialized non-governmental organizations and credit cooperatives were beginning to supply them with credit.

RHARDISSE NAJAH ( Morocco) said her country was striving to create a more balanced society where women would play a more prominent role.  There were a number of mechanisms to protect women’s rights, including an ombudsman’s office, a consultative council on women’s rights, and an agency for reconciliation and recourse.  To bring about a balance in the roles played by men and women in society, national laws were amended in a fashion that respected Islamic traditions and the international conventions to which Morocco was a party.  For example, Parliament had ratified a law in February that would grant women with foreign husbands the ability to pass on their nationality to their children.

She said Morocco had developed a complementary national strategy to combat violence against women, adding that a hotline was provided free of charge to women and girl victims of violence.  It was supported by a network comprising a wide group of organizations.  A databank provided reports and data on violence and anti-violence sensitivity campaigns were being conducted.  A national charter was being developed to improve the perception of women in national media.  In addition, a national strategy, widely supported throughout the country, was being created to bring about parity between the sexes through gender mainstreaming in all development programmes.  Meanwhile, the Government’s experience with socially-sensitive budgeting was being deepened.

ELIDA APONTE SANCHEZ, Coordinator-General for Women Studies and Special Adviser for the Venezuelan National Institute for Women, Venezuela, said her Government understood that, without gender equality, it was unable to talk about social justice.  The National Institute for Women had assured women’s major participation in the Communal Councils.  Today, political parties and electoral groups were obligated, by a resolution of the National Electoral Council, to comply with the 50-50 participation of women.  As a result, the level of women’s participation in senior political positions had soared.  In addition, the National Assembly was promulgating an organic law on women to allow them to live lives free from violence and to encourage their participation in national universities, non-governmental organizations and civil society, in general.

In the area of statistics, she said that the National Institute of Statistics, with the support of the National Institute for Women, had implemented mechanisms to mainstream gender in the national statistical system.  It was also formulating indicators disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic and afro-descendent, territoriality and other variables.  In the area of protection of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, the “National Sanitary System’s official norms on sexual and reproductive health in public and private places” had been established, as well as the national programme on sexual and reproductive health, and “Proyecto Madre”, or Mother’s Project.  Those programmes had contributed to reducing maternal and child mortality.

TENS C. KAPOMA ( Zambia) said that the effective implementation of international instruments on gender could only be achieved if the Constitution provided for equality between men and women.  In 2003, Zambia began a constitutional review process, with the aim of putting in place a “people-driven” Constitution.  Among the terms of reference, the review commission was to examine and recommend how the issue of gender equality should be addressed.  A key recommendation, submitted to the Government in 2005, was that gender equality and equality of men and women in the socio-economic sphere should be “explicitly provided for in the Constitution”.  The Constitution would be adopted through a constituent assembly and the Government would facilitate the process of gender mainstreaming into the final document, he explained.

He said his country had also developed and implemented specific policies and legislative measures.  The latter included the adoption of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act and the Zambia Development Agency Act.  The former act facilitated the establishment of the Economic Empowerment Commission.  Its functions included the provision of gender equality in assessing, owning and managing economic resources and the promotion of employment of both men and women.  That was done by recommending to appropriate authorities the removal of structural and discriminatory constraints and practices that hindered women and men from employment opportunities.  In recognition of the fact that women formed a large part of the informal sector in Zambia, the Development Agency Act facilitated the creation and expansion of women’s micro- and small-scale business enterprises and promoted women’s participation in trade and industry.

JOON OH (Republic of Korea) commended the Secretary-General’s leadership by example in balancing the gender ratio in high-ranking Secretariat positions and expressed his country’s strong support for his efforts to incorporate a gender dimension into the United Nations reform process.  For its part, the Republic of Korea had worked on enhancing women’s roles in key decision-making processes and there had been a significant increase in the number of women in managerial-level posts as well as in female representation in the National Assembly, where women accounted for 52 per cent of elected members.  Last year, the country had elected its first female Prime Minister, Han Myeong-sook.

He said the Comprehensive Human Resource Development Plan for Women, laid out by the Government in 2006, aimed to enhance the status of women by creating more jobs for them and allowing family members to share the burden of child care.  It also sought to eliminate sex discrimination in employment.  However, despite progress in women’s political and social participation, the gap between de jure and de facto equality remained wide in most countries and greater efforts were required to address persistent challenges limiting women’s access to education and employment opportunities.

CONNIE TARACENA ( Guatemala) said violence against women was a multifaceted social problem stemming from manifold causes and a major concern of the Guatemalan State and society.  The Presidential Office for Women had, therefore, spearheaded the creation of an inter-agency coordinating body to pinpoint common areas of work in developing a coherent agenda in order to formulate a comprehensive development plan for women and to promote opportunities for them.  The main achievements of that innovative process included the inclusion of women’s security in the Government’s policy agenda and backing for women’s institutions, which had seen a budgetary increase of 50 per cent.  The national coordinating budget for the prevention of violence against women had increased by 700 per cent.

Notwithstanding such efforts by society and the Government, violence against women remained a problem, she said.  A commission set up to prevent the killing of women was coordinated by the President’s Office and involved the Public Prosecutor’s Office.  Introduced only a year ago, it had already made substantial progress.  Nonetheless, the violence continued, as it was ingrained in the unequal power relations between men and women, especially in the rural areas.  To move from words to deeds, further concrete steps were needed to examine the extent to which both women and men were complicit in that vicious cycle and to pledge an end to it.

RAYMOND WOLFE ( Jamaica) said his country’s national machinery for women, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs, had undertaken a review of 42 pieces of legislation, including its Domestic Violence Act.  Jamaica had developed instruments and checklists to monitor progress and clarify the way ahead.  To that end, a national gender development index had been developed, through which data on life expectancy, enrolment ratios and estimated earnings of Jamaican women had been collected.  The Gender Empowerment Measures tool, meanwhile, indicated that more men than women held decision-making posts.

He said gender equality and the empowerment of women could be achieved through increased involvement by women in decision-making processes, including through political participation.  Indeed, Jamaica was one of 11 countries to have a female Head of State or Government.  But gender parity was still elusive in both the political sphere and within private corporations.  In addition, women’s incomes and level of academic achievement were below those of men.  Concerted action was needed both within and outside Government to yield the desired results.

NGUYEN TAT THANH ( Viet Nam) said that, over the past few years, gender perspectives had been mainstreamed into many Government policies and plans, including programmes on growth, poverty, employment, reproductive health care and education.  Viet Nam had a national strategy for the advancement of women and the National Assembly had adopted, at the end of last year, the Law on Gender Equality.  Thanks to gender-related policies and laws, women were now participating actively in decision-making and more than 27 per cent of National Assembly members were women.  In lower-level elected organs, the percentage ranged from 20 to 24 per cent.  One third of Supreme Court judges were women.

Stressing the importance of economic independence for women, he said that had become the number one priority of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Women.  Numerous measures had been undertaken to facilitate women’s employment, entrepreneurship and income generation.  Women accounted for 19 per cent of leadership positions in the country and more than 41 per cent of highly-skilled professionals.  Women’s access to credit, especially microcredit in rural areas, was facilitated through local branches of the Women’s Union, and the repayment rate was over 99 per cent.  In addition, a draft law on domestic violence now under consideration would prohibit all acts of domestic violence and make their prevention the responsibility of all Government agencies and individual employees.  It would also spell out protection measures and remedies for victims, as well as punishment for perpetrators.

PETER MAURER ( Switzerland) said the systematic integration of a gender perspective and the defence of women’s rights in all bilateral and multilateral activities was a priority for his country.  Concrete measures were being taken at both the national and regional levels for the express purpose of promoting equal opportunity for women and men, making it a general rule in all of Switzerland’s structures, procedures and activities.  While Swiss women had only won the right to vote in 1971, their situation had improved considerably in the intervening years, and the concept of gender equality had been enshrined in the Constitution in 1981.  But there was still a long way to go, and the country was lagging behind in several areas, including women’s participation in decision-making.

With that in mind, he said, the Swiss Government believed that national elections later this year would provide an excellent opportunity to advise political parties and women’s organizations on various ways to encourage women to contest parliamentary seats.  To that end, the “Mentor Project”, which had run from 2000 to 2006, had been particularly important in bringing women with considerable experience in public life together with some 250 younger women to help them better develop political acumen through individual coaching.  Switzerland was also determined to take greater advantage of women’s expertise in the country’s international peacekeeping efforts.  The Swiss National Action Plan for Women, due to be published shortly, took gender perspective into account and called for women to participate in all areas of conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

MADHUBAN P.PAUDEL ( Nepal) welcomed the report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel for United Nations System-Wide Coherence, especially its recommendation to strengthen the Organization’s gender architecture.  However, when acting on that recommendation, gender-related efforts at the country and regional levels should not be diluted.  Indeed, the need for stronger national and regional gender architecture could not be ignored.

He noted that Nepalese women had played a critical role in the country’s “political transformation” from a nation marked by a decade-long conflict to a democratically inclusive one.  The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in November 2006, between the Government and the Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist, had resulted in strong gender equality and women’s empowerment commitments, including through their increased participation in the affairs of the State.  Agreement had also been reached to do away with the Citizenship Act and the Interim Constitution would guarantee the civil liberties and fundamental freedoms of the people and ensure the rights of women and formerly marginalized groups.  As a party to numerous international human rights instruments, Nepal stressed the importance of increased technical assistance from the United Nations in the implementation of those instruments.

ANNELI VUORINEN ( Finland) said the United Nations had been at the forefront of improving women’s’ status since its founding.  Thanks to the crucial work spearheaded by the Organization, an ambitious and comprehensive international framework to promote equal rights for women and girls had been established and a broad acceptance of gender equality as a critical component of human development created.  While that was a significant achievement, there was a clear need to strengthen joint efforts and performance.

Despite considerable advances, however, gender inequalities persisted in all countries, she said, adding that the importance of gender equality could not be overstated.  The empowerment of women was a prerequisite for the Millennium Development Goals.  Gender inequality could fundamentally undermine the effectiveness of development policies.  Societies that discriminated on the basis of gender paid a high price in terms of greater poverty, lower quality of life and slower economic growth.

She stressed that the Millennium Goals relating to women could not be met without radical changes in the work of the United Nations system.  Despite the efforts made, there had been a widespread “policy evaporation” whereby political commitments to promote gender equality had been lost in programme implementation.  Gender-equality work needed enhanced visibility and resources, and the establishment of an Under-Secretary-General post for gender equality issues would be a step in the right direction.

AJAI MALHOTRA ( India) said his country’s planning process was fully committed to enabling women to be equal partners in development.  A separate department for women and child development, created in 1985, had been upgraded to a central ministry in 2005.  The Government’s Common Minimum Programme recognized the political, legal, educational and economic empowerment of women as a top priority, and considered the empowerment of women as a key principle of good governance.  India’s reservation 12 years ago of one third of urban and local self-government seats for women had marked a turning point in its effort to empower women.  As a result, more than a million Indian women at the grass-roots level had been brought into political decision-making with the invaluable support of civil society.

He said India’s strategy for empowering women also included reducing the female poverty ratio by 5 per cent by 2007, and by 15 per cent by 2012, as well as slashing the gender gap in literacy.  To advance the economic empowerment of rural households, including women, a national rural employment guarantee programme had been launched in 2006.  It provided 100 days of assured wage employment annually to every rural household, and at least one third of beneficiaries must be women. 

So-called “gender budgets” had now become an integral part of the budget exercise, he said, adding that self-help women’s groups had also made a significant impact on rural women’s economic empowerment, benefiting nearly 10 million rural families.  New schemes were being implemented to widen the base of women entrepreneurs, including special schemes promoted by financial institutions.

LIU ZHENMIN ( China) said he was pleased to see that, since the Fourth World Conference on Women and the General Assembly’s special session on women, gender equality and empowerment of women had been incorporated into national policies, and gender-related issues had been given greater prominence in the policies and activities of the United Nations system.  However, in some countries, women still did not have equal social status with men, nor could they enjoy the same economic and social rights.  For its part, China had always attached importance to the enhancement of women’s status, and had harnessed the creativity of women -- and women’s initiative -- in the political, economic and social fields.

He said that China’s law on the protection of women’s rights and interests explicitly called for equality between men and women.  Also, to implement the commitments arrived at in Beijing, China had enacted the second national programme of action to promote gender equality, covering the period from 2001 to 2010.  A mid-term review had been conducted in 2006, in which the country had found that it was on track: women’s employment had gone up; as had the ratio of women in politics; and women’s health had also improved.  In addition, women’s issues had been incorporated into economic and social development plans, resulting in improved laws and strengthened data collection.  As a State party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, China stood ready to work with others to safeguard women’s rights.

WESTMORELAND PALON ( Malaysia) said women’s empowerment and achieving gender equality were critical to the achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication.  In an increasingly competitive international environment and integration of the world economy, new and strategic initiatives were needed to provide a more enabling environment for women to enhance their roles as active participants in the socio-economic spheres.  In meeting a more competitive global environment, it was crucial to increase efforts to upgrade women’s skills in all spheres.  In an era of globalization and technological sophistication, the promotion of technology and innovation-driven strategies was of paramount importance.  Indeed, the role of information and communication technology as a tool for economic and social development was central to women’s empowerment.

He said the focus of many countries, including Malaysia, was on creating high performance and resilient small- and medium-sized enterprises equipped with strong technical and innovation capability.  Women should seize every opportunity to fully participate in the process.  Research and development would help to identify opportunities for women in new areas of growth, including bio technology, and allow them to tap into new and diverse opportunities that would help to generate new sources of income.  Women’s potential increasingly hinged on the effectiveness of training programmes.  Special attention should be given to single mothers, the number of which was steadily increasing.  Partnership and cooperation was essential to achieving gender equality.

PAUL BADJI ( Senegal) said that, despite the important role of women, they were frequently sidelined in decision-making.  Despite the progress made since the 1975 First Conference on Women in Mexico, and the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action a decade ago, women continued throughout most of the world to suffer flagrant and systematic violations of their basic rights and disparities between the sexes in the socio-economic and legal spheres, among others.  Their access to resources was impeded, as was their participation in political life and exercise of political power.  Added to that was the situation of extreme poverty, to which women were often subjected and which negatively impacted entire economies, particularly in developing countries.

In a number of countries, he said, women continued to exercise fewer human rights, less access to incomes and resources and decision-making, yet their primordial contribution to community life, food production and sustainable development was undeniable.  For decades, they had shown their ability to mobilize and achieve brilliant results in all areas if given the opportunity to express themselves and invest their efforts.  Thus, the international community must focus on investing adequate resources to ensure gender equality in all areas.  No poverty reduction project or reliable development programme could leave out women, who made up half of those targeted by such programmes.  It was time to move from recognizing women’s rights to ensuring their effective enjoyment.

DANIELE D. BODINI ( San Marino) said that, as the current Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, his country embraced that body’s policy aimed at achieving equal gender representation at all levels.  It was also San Marino’s belief that the family was the cornerstone of society and that women would always play a vital role in family life and in bringing up healthy and happy children.

All successful and enduring civilizations had had a strong family structure, and there was no substitute for a strong family unit in allowing parents to pass down values, morals and religion to their children, he said.  San Marino encouraged women around the world to obtain the resources and education they needed to become independent, and to strike a balance in their work and family life for the sake of society.

JOSEPH NSENGIMANA ( Rwanda) said gender inequality in his country had been exacerbated by the 1994 genocide and years later, despite the Government’s keen political will, numerous consequences of that tragedy still kept women and children in an inferior position.  The Government had set up various mechanisms to assist and protect women and children, besides conducting awareness campaigns by the President and First Lady.  It had adopted affirmative-action legislation which had led to virtually equal representation in the House of Representatives, where 49 per cent of the delegates were women.  That gave Rwanda one of the highest numbers of women representatives.

He said that, since education was a basic human right and an essential tool in the realization of one’s full potential, the Government had set up a gender-sensitive national educational policy.  In addition, it had ratified most international legal instruments on the rights of women and children.  On marriage and inheritance, the girl child now had the right, like her brothers, to inherit her parents’ goods.  The National Council for Women and the National Council for Youth were helping to promote the empowerment of women and youth.  A gender policy promulgated in 2004 sought to ensure “gender equal” access in all areas of development, and that the specific needs of both women and men would be taken into account through the development process.  To avoid discriminatory legislation, major revisions of key codes were under way.

PAIMANEH HASTAIE ( Iran) said different approaches were needed to address the complicated phenomenon of violence against women.  They should be undertaken while simultaneously bringing about the realization of women’s rights, including their right to development, and by strengthening the family.  An enabling international environment was required to bring that goal to fruition.  For its part, Iran had sought to empower girls and women through a family-based approach, involving a comprehensive policy that dealt with education, physical and mental health care, nutrition and the economic situation of women and children.

She said several influential stakeholders were involved in that endeavour, including religious leaders, civil society and non-governmental organizations.  Awareness-raising campaigns and programmes were being pursued to increase knowledge about women’s and girls’ rights.  Laws had been enacted to protect and promote those rights in the areas of pornography, sexual exploitation and trafficking.  Progress had also been made in improving girls’ access to education, training and health care.  Measures to bridge the gender gap in school enrolment had led to a 62 per cent increase in the number of girls admitted to universities.

CHANTAL MARYSE ITOUA-APOYOLO ( Congo) said her country deemed the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to be one of the most important women’s rights instrument ever conceived.  Indeed, lasting sustainable development could not happen without the active involvement of women.  Goal 3 of the internationally agreed development goals -- to promote gender equality and empower women -- was the key to achieving the other seven goals.  The Congolese Government was doing everything it could to equip itself with a dynamic gender policy, on the basis of agreements adopted by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

She said the national Constitution, established in January 2002, incorporated a gender dimension requiring the establishment of gender focal points within the Government.  Informational sessions had been organized to benefit politically ambitious women, with a view to increasing their participation in the next elections.  In conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Congo sought to reduce school dropout rates among girls, and to encourage their entry into the science and technology field.

To help reverse the feminization of poverty, favourable loans would be awarded to women, with the help of UNDP and the World Bank, and incentives would be given to women to set up savings accounts, she said.  Training sessions would be organized for women in a variety of industries, such as clothing design, embroidery, food production, catering and information and communication technology.  Concerned by the femininization of HIV/AIDS, an anti-AIDS council had been set up under the President’s authority.  The success of those and other efforts could only be sustained with help through United Nations women’s organizations like UNIFEM or through a gender-inclusive approach by such bodies as the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.

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For information media • not an official record