Commission on the Status of Women

Fifty-fifth Session

6^th & 7^th Meetings (AM & PM)

Education is Gateway to Unlocking Women’s Potential, Commission Hears,

 

as Nearly 70 Speakers Describe Initiatives Forged by Governments

 

Speakers Say Education’s Unique ‘Multiplier Effect’ is Powerful

Driver of Development, Decisive Catalyst in Promotion of Peace, Equality

Education was the gateway to economic opportunity and the key means for unlocking women’s potential, the Commission on the Status of Women was told today as it continued its high-level review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome of the General Assembly’s twenty-third special session on gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century.

During the day-long meeting, nearly 70 speakers, many of them ministers and other senior officials from the capitals, affirmed education’s unique “multiplier effect”, saying it was a powerful driver of economic development and a decisive catalyst in the promotion of peace and equality.  It also had the power to reduce child and maternal mortality and increase entrepreneurship and job opportunities, while also helping reduce violence against women and girls, speakers said.

Underscoring the degree to which they believed educational choices and performance affected the employment outlook for both men and women, and could make the critical difference in changing the status of women, speaker after speaker outlined their national efforts to shore up enrolment rates among girls and women at all levels of schooling.

Progress in closing the gender gaps in education had been made across all regions, with many countries, like Senegal, United Republic of Tanzania and Turkey, reporting gender parity in basic education.  Their gains, their representatives said, had been the result of a wide variety of initiatives, ranging from the establishment of boarding schools in Turkish villages and small settlements where girls were apt to drop out of school to the provision of separate sanitation facilities for girls in the United Republic of Tanzania.  Senegal had increased access of young children to health care and education, with that strategy proving to be particularly effective in both rural and urban areas.

In countries where the goal of universal primary education for girls was largely secured, efforts now aimed to improve enrolment rates at secondary, tertiary and vocational schools and to reduce the dropout rates among girls, delegations said.  In Namibia, a policy to support teenage mothers as they continued their studies had recently been enacted, that country’s Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare reported.

A number of countries acknowledged, however, that while their overall university enrolment of women might be higher, female students still shied away from male-dominated fields, including — critically — the “STEM” subjects of science, technology, economy and math.  That was as true in the developed world as the developing one, with countries from both groups often using scholarships to encourage girls to take up those disciplines.  In Argentina, for example, 47 per cent of the science-based scholarships now went to girls.

Many countries were also using role models to raise the profiles of the more science-based, technical fields through media and outreach programmes that targeted girls starting in basic and secondary schools.  Under a working scientists ambassadors programme in the United Kingdom, professionals visited schools to talk about their careers.

A number of speakers highlighted their efforts to promote non-traditional education training and employment opportunities for young people.  The Minister of State for Social Development of the Bahamas pointed to her country’s Technical and Vocational Institute as a success story in that area, while Finland’s Minister of Culture and Sport suggested that, outside traditional educational structures, sports offered a dynamic way to bridge gender gaps.  Cameroon had built 84 women’s empowerment and family centres, as well as a technology centre to enable professional integration of women and girls who had dropped out of the formal education system.

Also speaking today were ministers and high-level officials from Liberia, Australia, Zambia, Sweden, China, Italy, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Luxembourg, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iran, France, Nicaragua, Qatar, Nigeria, Indonesia, Mali, Jordan, Chile, El Salvador, Greece, Panama, Uruguay, Norway, Pakistan, Niger, Honduras, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Spain, Gabon, Barbados, Paraguay, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Poland, Portugal, Angola, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Philippines, Russian Federation, New Zealand, Israel, Costa Rica, Germany and Sudan.

Representatives of Kenya, Mozambique (on behalf of the African Group), Nauru (on behalf of the Pacific small island developing States), and Japan also spoke.

Also participating were representatives of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality and the African Women’s Caucus.

The Commission on the Status of Women will reconvene at 10 a.m. Friday, 25 February to hold a panel discussion on progress made in implementing agreed conclusions on “the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child”.

Background

The Commission on the Status of Women met today to continue its general debate in its fifty-fifth session, which will run until 4 March.  The session’s priority theme is “Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work”.  For more information, please see Press Release WOM/1839 of 18 February.

Statements

VABAH K. GAYFLOR, Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia, said her Government had made significant efforts to ensure that a gender perspective was mainstreamed into the development, implementation and evaluation of national policies and programmes.  Various instruments had been developed to create a more equitable society for men and women, including the national gender policy, decent work bill, non-formal education policy and the gender equity in politics act.  The Government also had revised the national education curriculum.  As a result of such actions, there had been a marked increase in girls’ enrolment in school.

Women and girls played a critical role in Liberia’s economy, she said, producing 60 per cent of agricultural products and accounting for 80 per cent of traditional activities in rural areas.  Yet, limited access to education and skills training impeded their entry into the formal labour market.  To address that issue, Liberia had developed programmes to increase women’s access to various types of non-formal employment, including through an economic empowerment of adolescent girls project, launched in March 2010, and a women’s entrepreneurship programme, which provided women with intensive training in master weaving.  Liberia had made job creation a priority, with numerous microfinance programmes designed especially for women.

IDA ODINGA (Kenya), aligning with the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, and the African Group, said education was a tool for social justice and economic development, as well as a means for unlocking women’s potential.  Women’s active participation in education, especially in science and technology, would create more job opportunities.  The links between gender equality, women’s rights and economic development was increasingly apparent, which was why Kenya had developed a new Constitution, among other things, outlining the Government’s commitment to gender equity.  It recognized the aspirations of all Kenyans and was based on the principles of human rights, freedom, democracy, development and the rule of law.

She said free primary education, guaranteed under the Constitution, would contribute to achievement of Millennium Development Goal 2 (universal education).  Moreover, the 2002 Persons with Disabilities Act called for all learning institutions to address the needs of children with disabilities, to ensure promotion and protection of their rights.  The Government was expanding programmes essential for basic education, especially for the girl child and girls with special needs, which helped to increase girls’ school enrolment.  To realize the Millennium Development Goals and Kenya’s “Vision 2030” blueprint for prosperity, the maximum exploitation of science and technology was essential.

KATHERINE MARGARET ELLIS, Minister for the Status of Women for Australia, welcoming the establishment of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), said her country was proud to have been one of the first to pledge multi-year core funding to that body.  Australia recognized the ability of science and technology to improve women’s daily lives and to assist them in advancing their aspirations.  Together they had the capacity to be key drivers for economic development.  Australia proudly celebrated its first female Nobel Laureate, Elizabeth Blackburn, who had received that award in molecular biology.

She said Australia would host a summit promoting women’s leadership in science and technology.  The country also considered education to be fundamental in achieving strides in that field.  To that end, its aid programme would significantly increase its investment in education over the next five years.  As a result of that aid, more than 600,000 girls already had been able to access schools close to their homes in Indonesia, while more than 36,000 girls in Pakistan had entered primary school.  Domestically, disadvantages persisted among Australia’s Aboriginal population, and the Government was dedicated to closing gaps.  Its aid programme was also working to reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  The negative preconceptions about women in non-traditional roles must be dispelled, at home and abroad.  Flexible work options for women must also be created.  Women must be freed from the appalling levels of violence against them, and Australia had just developed a national plan for that.

SARAH SAYIFWANDA, Minister for Gender and Women’s Development of Zambia, aligning her remarks with those made on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Group of 77 and China, pledged her country’s full support to UN Women.  Zambia recently had released its sixth national development plan for 2011 to 2016, with the major theme of poverty eradication.  Among other things, that plan recognized gender equality as a precondition for achieving its goals.  It also identified education, training, science and technology as prime movers of development.

She said her country had continued to achieve increasing enrolment levels of girls and boys at all levels of schooling, with a notable rise in the number of girls enrolled in primary school.  Nevertheless, disparities remained in the educational fortunes of boys and girls, with girls showing much higher dropout rates.  It was Zambia’s vision that every boy and girl should acquire the skills necessary to ensure a decent life.  It also recognized the importance of the pursuit of science and technology by girls and women as a focus of their studies and future careers.  The Government had recently sent a gender-based development bill to parliament for enactment.

NYAMKO SABUNI, Minister for Integration and Gender Equality and Deputy Minister of Education of Sweden, said: “Let’s be honest, we cannot achieve equality between men and women with a single political decision.”  Such change took time, and more than anything, “we need to begin early, by changing the way we raise and educate our children”.  Discussing global gains, she said school attendance was rising rapidly and the gender gap narrowing.  However, there were still 72 million primary school-aged children out of school, most of them girls.  Sweden had a long history of promoting gender equality in employment and education, but challenges remained, as expectations differed for girls and boys and they were not treated equally.

In other parts of the world, she said, girls and women faced different problems.  Girls did not complete their education, mainly — apart from practical problems such as school fees — because of discrimination resulting from traditions and customs, violence and early marriage.  Each day, 28,000 girls under age 18 were married.  She also underscored the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights.  “Women and girls die because political leaders do not agree and do not focus on women’s health,” she said.  The right to decide and exercise control over one’s body, sexuality and reproduction was fundamental for everyone, and sexuality education must be an important part of school curriculums.

SONG XIUYAN, Minister and Vice-Chair of National Committee on Women and Children under the State Council of China, aligning with the Group of 77, outlined progress made in promoting gender equality and protection of women’s rights.  China had revised laws and regulations to promote and protect women’s rights, with 2010 seeing the formulation or revision of four laws, including the law on the mediation and arbitration of rural land contract disputes, which safeguarded land contract rights of rural women.  Among other efforts, China had promoted the full realization of goals outlined in the National Programme for the Development of Chinese Women, the guiding document for promoting women’s interests.

Moreover, she said the Government also was increasing its financial investment in solving the most urgent problems in women’s development, she explained.  To ensure women’s health rights, the Government had allocated ¥2.2 billion ($340 million) in 2010 from the central budget to subsidize rural women undergoing in-hospital childbirth, as well as to treat breast cancer and for cervical cancer scanning. As for UN Women, she urged greater efforts to alleviate poverty among women and improve their health. Developing country needs should be addressed as a matter of priority, while the principles of transparency and geographical balance must be applied in the allocation of financial and human resources.

MARIA ROSARIA CARFAGNA, Minister for Equal Opportunities of Italy, said the plans she had announced during the Commission’s sessions last year — “Italia 2020: action programme for the inclusion of women in the labour market” and the related memorandum of understanding — had encouraged the presence of women in the labour market with the introduction of concrete new measures.  As a result of those plans, new child-care services had been launched and tax breaks for southern Italian women enacted.  Those programmes had been followed by other, smaller initiatives that focused on the principles of equal opportunity and gender mainstreaming, with many of them promoting female entrepreneurship, especially in southern Italy.

She said that while the number of women pursuing careers in the sciences had increased remarkably over the past 20 years, only a minimal share of the leadership positions in research were occupied by women.  To tackle the persistent gender disparities in the scientific and technological fields, Italy had launched two projects to support good practices in the field of scientific research and to monitor, direct and analyse gender diversity in university public research programmes.  Italian state school had also introduced “the week against violence”, which was now in its third edition.  Overall, Italy’s commitment to the fight against gender-based violence had been constant and it had, for the first time, adopted a national plan to fight violence against women and stalking.

LORETTA BUTLER-TURNER, Minister of State for Social Development of the Bahamas, aligning her remarks with those made on behalf of the Group of 77 and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said her country had undertaken a number of initiatives to ensure its full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.  The Bahamas recognized, however, that women and girls throughout the world still experienced gender discrimination and faced stereotypes in the home and the workplace, as well as at school.  Cyber threats were increasingly targeting young women, girls and also boys.  She highlighted the CARICOM initiative on non-communicable diseases, which affected more women than men, and called for Member States to support the upcoming high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases, to be convened in September.

In the Bahamas, the education and employment acts fully ensured equal education rights for boys and girls, as well as full employment and decent work for men and women, she said.  Boys and girls were able to pursue the same subjects at all levels.  One success story was the promotion of non-traditional education training and employment opportunities for young people, with the establishment of the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute.  A resource booklet to promote careers in science and technology had also been produced in 2006 for secondary schools.  The Bahamas would continue to strive to increase the participation of women and girls in the fields of education, training, science and technology.

SHIRIN SHARMIN CHAUDHURY, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh, aligning with the Group of 77, said her Government had formulated policies and actions to speed women’s empowerment.  Women had been mobilized to stand up for their rights, especially in the garment industry.  There was also a trend of women working on construction sites.  The Government had made gender parity in school enrolment a priority, and in 2010 had committed to mainstreaming gender issues.  Indeed, women were important agents of social transformation, and as such, reducing the feminization of poverty was a particular focus.

In agriculture, she continued, the Government provided loans to women for homestead gardening, among other activities.  One programme gave priority to female-headed households in every village, while another had established 10 model “women-friendly” hospitals.  Gender-responsive budgeting was in place and covered 10 ministries.  Also, women were at high levels of decision-making, including as Prime Minister.  However, with emerging challenges of climate change and food insecurity, it was important to provide women access to education and skills development.  Efforts must be made to integrate women’s role in macroeconomic policymaking, as well as in capacity-building, to ensure their meaningful participation in the decision-making process.

ALEJANDRINA GERMAN, Secretary of State for Women Affairs, Dominican Republic, also aligning with the Group of 77, outlined national efforts to achieve gender equality.  Education was a constitutional right, strengthened by the principle of equality between women and men.  Educational law incorporated gender equality as a fundamental condition for development, and there had been significant advances at the university level, with 2009 data showing that for every 100 men enrolled in higher education, 140 women were enrolled.  Also, women’s access to employment had increased in the media sector.

However, she said, women continued to enter traditional trades and careers, including nursing, education and foreign languages, while men embarked on careers related to science and technology.  As such, she urged promoting measures to create conditions for women to access more and better jobs.  Another challenge was to close the gap of employment inequality.  Today, there was 23 per cent unemployment among women, and 10 per cent among men.  There was also high representation of women in informal work, which in turn increased wage inequality.  Women received 27 per cent less income than men for equal work.

SHAHRIZAT ABDUL JALIL, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia, said her country recognized that women’s access to and participation in education and training, as well as science and technology, was essential to a country’ development.  Further, Malaysia considered women’s access to scientific and technological knowledge and skills to be a rights issue, in as much as education was a basic right.  In its path towards a developed, high-income nation, the Malaysian Government had introduced several frameworks, including the Transformation Plan, the Economic Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model and the Tenth Malaysia Plan, with the latter committed to increasing the proportion of women in the workforce from 47.3 per cent presently to 55 per cent by 2015.

She said that while science had once been a male-dominated field, it was now being taken up by women, who, showing great enthusiasm, were achieving much success.  The top three management positions in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation were now headed by women, and more than 50 per cent of the second management tier was women.  Among its other initiatives, the Malaysian Government was also funding non-governmental organizations from its national budget to enable them to implement activities and programmes for women’s advancement.

FRANÇOISE HETTO-GAASCH, Minister for Equal Opportunities of Luxembourg, aligning her remarks with those made on behalf of the European Union, expressed full support for the work programme for UN Women, introduced by its Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet.  Overall, responsibilities must be balanced and fairly shared between men and women.  To that end, analysis on the distribution of tasks in public and private life was needed, and the gender-equality agenda must include the participation and support of men.

She noted that the European Union’s strategy “Europe 2020” had set goals for girls completing their studies and for women’s employment work. In that context, the segregation of men and women must be avoided in schools and universities, and in every field of work.  Clearly, women and girls must be encouraged to embrace science and technology.  Flexible working arrangements and child- and elderly-care services were also needed.  Stressing that women’s abilities were complementary to those of men, she said gender diversity should not be considered a burden in the corporate world, but a “trump card” for businesses.

RONA AMBROSE, Minister for the Status of Women, Canada, said her Government had made an eightfold increase in its core contribution to UN Women.  Recently, Canada had launched an action plan for implementing Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security. “Violence against women and girls must stop,” she stressed, explaining that Canada also had introduced tougher laws, invested in shelters and strengthened victim support and awareness raising in that regard, especially in aboriginal and refugee communities.

She said her Government also had launched its first ever strategy to address the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada, as well as its first “call to action” to address honour-based violence.  Canadian women had urged community leaders to take action against such violence, as it was vital that everyone lived free from abuse.  Canada was proud to partner with organizations striving to inform women about their rights and to speak out against abuse.  The Government had increased funding to the highest level ever, “because we know that there is much work left to do”, she said.  “Together we will make a difference.”

LULAMA XINGWANA, Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities of South Africa, aligning with the Group of 77, as well as the African Group and SADC, said her country strived for 50-50 representation in all spheres of society.  South Africa’s parliament was comprised of 44 per cent women, with 43 per cent women of the cabinet and 40 per cent of local government.  Explaining that key priorities for the 2009-2014 period included job creation, health, combating corruption and crime, and rural land reform, she said the Women’s Commission’s theme found resonance in those priorities.  Women’s access to education and training was central to poverty eradication, and she called for support for developing country efforts to achieve gender equality.

In South Africa, she said, it was compulsory for every child under age 15 to attend school.  She described a Government programme to educate girls and boys on gender-equality issues, and another – “Techno Girls” — to expose girls to the work world.  To reduce violence against women and girls, in 2010, the Government had reintroduced the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units in all policing areas, which specialized in investigations of all types of sexual offences, domestic violence and child abuse.  The “Thuthuzela care centres” had been recognized by the United Nations as a model for providing one-stop services for survivors of gender-based violence.  She reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

OLIVIA N. MUCHENA, Minister for Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development of Zimbabwe, said that despite the many challenges facing her country, it had gone a long way to enhance the pillars of the Commission’s current priority theme.  Zimbabwe had surpassed the target Millennium Development Goal in terms of access to basic education.  It also had a 92 per cent literacy rate, leading the Africa continent.  Through the Basic Education Assistance Module, her Government had instituted measures to assist vulnerable children, especially girls, allowing them to attend and stay in school.  It had also built schools to ensure that all children could access a school within a 3 kilometre radius from their homes.  To encourage girls to take up science, mathematics and technical subjects at secondary school, a programme of science and math camps for girls had been adopted in all provinces.

She said her country was working with the non-governmental organization, E‑Knowledge for Women in Southern Africa, which promoted the effective and efficient use of information and communications technology by women in urban and rural areas.  In conclusion, she called on the United States and the European Union to unconditionally remove the economic sanctions unfairly imposed on her country to allow it to facilitate the education and economic empowerment of women and girls.

FATEMEH AJORLOU, Member of Parliament of Iran, aligning her statement with the one made on behalf of the Group of 77, said the Commission provided the chance to exchange views on issues of concern related to women.  At the same time, it allowed review of the policies and strategies adopted in the area of women’s issues, which in some cases had failed to consider the diversity of cultures and characteristics of various civilisations.  The Iranian Government believed that the Commission should adopt a complementary approach towards gender issues derived from human nature.  Neglecting the central role of women in the management of family and society while attempting to compare men with women in the world of work without due attention to their natural rights would derail the real path of women’s advancement.

She said her country had made “gender justice” its basic strategy for identifying the real factors undermining the rights women and preventing any exaggeration of related efforts.  The establishment of UN Women was a big step forward towards the long process of the Organization’s reform, but its success was based on its support for women and its adoption of strategies rooted in the recognition of and respect for the religious, national and cultural diversities of societies and nations.  It should also explore ways and means of developing an ideal localized model.  Iran hoped that the recruitment of staff for the new Gender Entity would fully respect equitable geographical distribution.  Finally, she expressed disappointment that the Secretary-General’s report on “the status and assistance to Palestinian women” had overlooked the root causes of today’s situation in Palestine.

ROSELYNE BACHELOT-NARQUIN, Minister for Solidarity and Social Cohesion of France, aligning with the European Union, underscored her Government’s attachment to the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Convention and the Beijing Platform for Action, among other international instruments.  In France, equality had been integrated into all spheres of society.  Prostitution was a form of violence against women.  Indeed, all rights must be respected, including women’s civil status and sexual health.  Stressing that women’s rights were part of universal human rights, she said that France was a non-faith-based State, which allowed it to address such issues.

In that context, she said there should be no mention of cultural or other obstacles to achieving such rights.  Women were able to deal with domestic affairs — why should they not be able to deal with the economy, of which “they are quite capable”.  In the area of science and technology, green technologies had opened new possibilities for women.  “We have to break the glass ceiling and give women an opportunity to carry out their ambitions.”  Equality must be affirmed and learned, and that was also true of sports, which underscored principles, such respect for others.  To fight violence against women, France, together with the Netherlands, was submitting a text to the General Assembly to combat it.

MARCIA RAMÍREZ, Minister for Family of Nicaragua, said her country’s national human development plan had at its core human welfare.  Summarizing results attained in the implementation of the Beijing Platform, she said women’s access to land and productive goods had increased.  The “zero hunger” policy, among other things, provided seeds and animals to women, while the “zero profiteering” programme provided low-interest credit to women to improve their businesses.

In education, she said a national literacy campaign had reduced illiteracy, allowing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare Nicaragua “free from illiteracy”.  A new curriculum provided gender-equality training for boys and girls.  In the area of health, all health-care services were free, and a community family-care model brought health care to women’s homes throughout the country.  Other advances included guaranteed medical attention and shelters for pregnant women in need.  To combat violence against women, specialized units in police stations had been established.

DOREEN SIOKA, Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare of Namibia, aligning her remarks with those delivered on behalf of the Group of 77 and SADC, said her country recognized that educational choices affected the employment potential of men and women alike.  As such, her Government continued to prioritize education and training during the budget process.  Despite high levels of enrolment, girls still faced challenges, including inadequate prevention and management of teenage pregnancies and economic pressures.  Those challenges resulted in lower school retention rates, which the Education Sector Policy for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy had been enacted to address.

She said that while enrolment rates at tertiary institutions were higher among women than men, women were not choosing to study male-dominated fields in proportional numbers.  To rectify those gender imbalances, young girls were being offered scholarships to encourage them to enrol in science and commercial courses.  Namibia would continue its efforts to prepare students, particularly women and girls, to enter science and technology fields.

JUHAINA SULTAN AL-ESSA, Vice-President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs of Qatar, said her Government aimed to raise the status of women at all levels.  The State respected human rights and the elimination of discrimination against women in all its forms.  It supported women’s advancement and their equal access to education.  Its national plan “Vision 2030” stressed the need for women to participate in all walks of life, including in decision-making positions.  Qatar’s national family strategy also supported women’s right to work in all fields.  The Government was seeking to increase women’s educational successes, including by improving their literacy rate, which stood at 95.4 per cent.

In other areas, she noted that Qatar was allocating over 2 per cent of the national budget to support scientific research.  Its Council for Information and Communications Technology had launched a training programme for 2010 entitled “Women’s Work from Home”, which enabled women to create a balance between family and career responsibilities.  She stressed that Qatar’s efforts were not limited to the national level, but incorporated the local and international spheres as well.

JOSEPHINE ANENIH, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development of Nigeria, aligning with the Group of 77, as well as the African Group, recognized that education and training of women and girls was an essential tool for achieving gender equality and national development.  In Nigeria, the gender gap was being bridged in primary school enrolment and completion.  Governments at every level of the country were aware of the need to address negative gender stereotypes attached to science education as a domain for male students.

She said that to encourage girls to study science, all-female science secondary schools had been established in some states and science clubs created in all federally run secondary schools.  On decent work, to address the fact that women had almost no representation in high-level public and private-sector positions, the Government had set up programmes at local, state and federal levels to create a balanced playing field.  Along with employment and wealth-creation programmes were strategies to improve women’s participation in politics.

AWA NDIAYE, Minister of Gender and Relations with African and Foreign Women’s Associations of Senegal, aligning with the Group of 77, said Senegal was among the four sub-Saharan countries to have achieved parity of girls in school.  Senegal sought integrated development for children and had designed a programme to increase access of young children under age 5 to health care and education, which had been the most effective strategy to address that issue in rural and urban areas.

She said efforts had also been made to include a gender perspective in schools and teacher training programmes.  Given the low number of girls in sciences, Senegal was providing scholarships to girls for such education.  “It is important to have well-qualified girls,” she said, emphasizing that a fund had been created to help youth in suburban areas, as well as university graduates, find jobs.  “We want to ensure that men and women have an equal right to jobs.”  A new law outlined gender parity in institutions dealing with elections.

SRI DANTI, Secretary of the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia, aligning her remarks with those made on behalf of the Group of 77, said the meeting offered the opportunity to build on the cumulative gains towards equality between women and men, and further those with policies that would deliver results.  In Indonesia, the gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education was nearly closed.  Efforts were now turning to improve the quality of education and to accelerate the completion of the nine-year compulsory education programme.  Several manuals had been published outlining guidelines for gender mainstreaming throughout the educational sector.  The illiteracy rate in Indonesia had decreased by 5 per cent from 2008 to 2009.

She said Indonesia was working to incorporate gender mainstreaming within its Five-year national development plan, and poor communities, including female-headed households were being targeted in poverty reduction efforts.  A special fund had been allocated for women’s economic groups to strengthen small businesses.  Access by women to microcredit and microfinance was improving.  Among other pro-women policies, a national and subnational task force in anti-trafficking had been developed and a budget for the task force’s five-year plan set out.  The Indonesian Government was working with Parliament to finalize the draft bill on gender equality.

MAIGA SINA DAMBA, Minister for the Advancement of Women and Children of Mali, aligning her statement with those made on behalf of the Group of 77 and the African Group, said her Government emphasized women’s advancement as a central component of its economic development efforts.  Access by women and girls to science and technology, which provided a unique avenue to further the status of women and girls, should be at the heart of women’s policy.  In that context, the establishment of UN Women was a welcome milestone in the women’s agenda at the United Nations, and Mali fully endorsed the five pillars underpinning its work plan.

She said that Mali was implementing the Ouagadougou action plan on combating poverty and was committed to expanding the number of jobs held by women.  It would continue to work to truly advance the status of women to enable them to participate fully in the country’s development.

SALWA DAMEN, Minister for Social Development of Jordan, said it was a crucial moment for advancing women’s status.  Her Government was working tirelessly to ensure equal access to education, training, science and technology to enable women to participate equally in the country’s development.  Women’s enrolment in education represented over 50 per cent.  In the political arena, women occupied 10 per cent of seats in parliament and 20 per cent of seats in municipal councils.

Since 1977, she noted, Jordan also had sought to ensure women’s participation in national councils and boards, which was at 13 per cent today.  The judiciary included female judges, while in the diplomatic sphere, women occupied 15 per cent of the positions, with 5 per cent serving as ambassadors.  Women were also active in peacekeeping.  However, women comprised only 14 per cent of the labour market.  As such, Jordan was working to create an encouraging environment for women, and pursuing policies to ensure more women to become involved in decision-making in all levels of society.  In the area of health, women’s mortality was higher than the average global rate, a situation Jordan sought to remedy.

CAROLINA SCHMIDT, Minister for the National Service of Women of Chile, said the election in 2006 of the first female President had been “a milestone” for her country.  However, a pay gap persisted between men and women in Chile, and in 2010, programmes were designed to reduce those pay differences.  Chile also sought to improve hiring practices, and both maternity and paternity leave.  Further, the Government was working to ensure that women’s work at home and in the workplace were reconciled.  On health and education, progress had been made, she said, pointing to a drop in maternal mortality and campaigns to reduce non-transmittable chronic diseases.  The Government also provided sex education to teenagers.

She said Chile had almost achieved universal access to education for girls and boys, and was working to ensure that women were treated the same as men and not discriminated against because they had children.  Chile was endeavouring to reduce domestic violence and had launched a campaign that paid special attention to men with violent tendencies, and shelters for women were also available.  In 2010, Chile had promulgated law 2480, which outlined a maximum penalty for men responsible for the murder of their partner.  Also last year, Chile had submitted its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

SANDIP VERMA, House of Lords Spokesperson on International Development and Women and Equalities of the United Kingdom, said access to education was the gateway to economic opportunity.  Education played a critical role in international development.  To that end, the United Kingdom aligned itself with the statement made on behalf of the European Union.  Where the dearth of female students in science and technology occurred, that lack of engagement was a great loss to society.  Noting that girls generally performed better than boys when they did study “STEM” subjects — science, technology, economy and math — she acknowledged that some disciplines still remained male-dominated.  That was due, at least in part, by the negative perceptions held by children and their key influences, including parents.

Domestically, she said, the British Government sought to influence children’s choices through guidance counsellors and career advisers.  More specifically, it was also providing support to schools to encourage girls to study physics.  Under a working scientists ambassadors programme, those professionals went into schools to talk about their careers.  Turning to her country’s international development programme, she underlined its investments in girls and women in support of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  Girls and women were at the heart of its development policies, with support to girls to complete school and access the labour force, as well as own property.

YANIRA ARGUETA, Executive Director of the Institute for the Development of Women of El Salvador, endorsed the statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and the Rio Group.  El Salvador had established and expanded its national health services and set up a department to promote inclusive and non-sexist public policies.  It also had an inclusive educational plan that provided schoolchildren with uniforms and supplies.  In other areas, a national literacy programme was working to decrease the country’s rates of illiteracy.

Describing the trade in women as part of the violence and organized crime against women, she said the Government was creating a national body to fight that national and international crime.  The national legal framework was being strengthened to enable women to have a life free from violence.  The Institute for the Development of Women had established a consultative council to foster dialogue among the main women’s movements.  Stressing the Government’s slogan, “to grow, include and unite”, she underlined its commitment to moving from good intentions to action to achieve real equality for women.

MARIA STRATIGAKI, Secretary General for Gender Equality, Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and e-Government of Greece, underlined the gender dimension of information and communications technology — Google, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter — in people’s struggle for democracy and human rights in the Middle East and Northern Africa.  For its part, Greece had faced tremendous difficulties in overcoming its economic crisis and increasing development.

She said the secretariat for the country’s gender equality programme for 2010-2013 outlined four goals: protection of women’s rights; prevention of all forms of violence against women; support for women’s employment; and use of “cultural creation” to highlight the goal of gender equality.  The Government also was drafting a gender equality bill, slated for completion in May, and launching a hotline on 8 March to provide consultation for female victims of violence.  In that vein, it was also funding a programme for non-governmental organizations to promote an action plan in the area of violence against women.

MARKELDA MONTENEGRO DE HERRERA, Director of the National Institute of Women of Panama, aligning with the Group of 77, as well as the Rio Group, said her country had grown by 2.3 per cent in 2009, and in 2010, by 6.9 per cent.  Moreover, unemployment had dropped from 14 per cent in 2004 to around 6.7 per cent today.  Amid those gains, Panama also had distributed wealth.  In the area of education, strategies had been devised for literacy campaigns and pro-equality curriculums.  Support also had been provided to achieve political parity.

In other areas, she said special attention also focused on pregnant women, women’s access to land tenure and preventive measures to eradicate violence in all its forms.  She added that a bill was being drafted to prevent human trafficking.  The Institute of Women, created in 2008, ensured Panama’s compliance with international instruments, as well as with national rules for equal opportunities, gender equality and women’s human rights.  In other areas, Panama was working to ensure women’s equal access to legal, economic and political opportunities.  Despite such gains, however, there were challenges to ensuring access to justice, dealing with gender violence and ensuring economic equality.

LEYLA COŞKUN, Director General on the Status of Women of Turkey, said her country agreed that women’s equal access to scientific and technological knowledge and skills was first and foremost a rights issue.  Turkey carried out multifaceted activities in accordance with the objectives outlined in its ninth development plan, whose benchmarks included achieving 100 per cent schooling for girls and boys at all levels, eliminating illiteracy among women and providing enhanced and diversified vocational training programmes for women in order to increase their employability by 2013.  Turkey had closed the gap between girls and boys at the primary school level and had established boarding schools in villages and small settlements, particularly where girls dropped out of school.  It had recently been working on providing infrastructure, such as safe transportation.

As a result of those efforts, she said, the schooling rate of girls had nearly reached 100 per cent and the gender gap at the primary school level had been reduced to 0.6 per cent.  The Ministry of National Education had initiated a project to facilitate study of information technology and to promote safe Internet use starting in preschool.  Efforts were also being made to ensure that skills and capabilities achieved in formal and informal education could be transferred to the workplace.

VIVIAN B. PENDER, Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, speaking on behalf of the more than 800 participants at the Committee’s 21 February consultation day, said her recommendations focused on five areas: education and training; employment and decent work; gender-responsive products; discrimination and violence against the girl child; and UN Women.  Its strongest recommendation emphasized early learning and the role of parents.  In addition, the community must support parents.  Also, the economic dimension of schooling must be considered. Early education must be free and families should be subsidized for sending their daughters to school.  Textbooks and curriculums must use positive images of girls and women involved in science and technology, and teachers should be trained to recognize stereotypes in teaching science and math.

She said the NGO Committee also recommended a review of products to ensure they were appropriate for girls and women.  To bring women into business, new forms of training should be created, and particular attention should be given to ensuring access to technology for women and girls in rural areas.  Different technologies should be used to heighten communication, engagement and awareness to end violence and discrimination against girls and women.  Concluding, she called for sustainable contributions from Members States for UN Women.

BEATRIZ RAMÍREZ, Director of the National Institute for Women of Uruguay, said her country was working to create equality between girls and boys.  Outlining the situation in the education sector, she said there were no meaningful differences in some areas between boys and girls, but basic lower and middle education showed certain problems.  Further, women’s education levels were not reflected in the labour market; women registered higher unemployment, and their pay was 70 per cent that of men.  When there were children at the home, women’s work was represented as unpaid labour.  The completion of education cycles, professional training and fellowships were all areas in which measures were being devised to alleviate the situation.

Drawing attention to a literacy campaign implemented by the Ministry of Social Development, she said that, in 2009, illiteracy had dropped by 1.8 per cent.  To improve women’s access and participation in science and technology, the National Institute for Women, along with specialized science and technology agencies, had developed materials to be used at all levels.  Also, a plan had been designed to allow adolescents to attend public school without obstacles, which included the provision of fellowships.  In 2011, Uruguay would implement a new public education policy for technology and engineering, which would take into account women’s equality.

INGRID FISKAA, State Secretary of International Development of Norway, said men and boys must take a greater share in family care.  “This is good for society as a whole”, especially as it promoted women’s access to decent work, which provided a source of dignity, wealth and power.  For its part, Norway had introduced universal and free primary education for all more than 100 years ago.  Today, close to 80 per cent of women had a job.  Abroad, Norway contributed more than $80 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to educate girls in developing countries, and had made the International Labour Organization (ILO), with its “Global Jobs Pact”, a strategic partner in foreign policy.

Many believed that countries must develop and become rich before they empowered women; however, “this is wrong”, she asserted, explaining that the mainframe of Norway’s own policies had been put in place decades ago while it was still a poor country.  Norway also had promoted and protected sexual and reproductive rights, including to safe abortion, measures that had made its economy more productive and competitive.  Challenges included a segregated labour market and a lower average pay for women than for men.  However, unemployment was only at 2.6 per cent.  Oil only accounted for 7 per cent of gross national product (GNP), while human resources represented 80 per cent of national wealth.  She expected UN Women to bridge the gap between the United Nations normative work and the situation on the ground by improving operational activities to better help Member States.

FIRDOUS ASHIQ AWAN, Minister for Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan, aligning with the Group of 77, said her country’s Constitution guaranteed equal rights without discrimination on the basis of cast, colour, sex or race.  It ensured women’s full participation in all spheres of national life.  The realization of gender equality and support for women’s empowerment had led Pakistan to elect the first female Prime Minister in the Muslim world, Benazir Bhutto, who had worked side by side with her male colleagues, providing an example of how dedicated women could ably lead nations.

Among steps taken to empower women, she said, the National Commission on Status of Women had been a driving force behind legal reforms in the field of gender equality.  Pakistan also had the distinction of having the first female Speaker of the National Assembly in South Asia, and had adopted laws to improve the protection of women’s rights.  Also, the Government had directed that a 10 per cent quota for women be observed in the public and private sectors.  In education, the gender parity index for adult literacy had increased in the last six years, and the Government had made strides in increasing girls’ enrolment and retention rates in primary, middle and high schools.

DANIEL ANTÓNIO (Mozambique), speaking on behalf of the African Group and aligning with the Group of 77, said that despite much progress in expanding basic education to girls throughout Africa, more work was needed to make science and technology attractive to women and girls.  Weak institutional and technical capacity remained a challenge on the continent.  To combat those weaknesses, important legal frameworks had been established in Africa to increase the participation of women in science and technology.

He said the African Group strongly believed that the combination of pro-women legislation, investing in girls’ education, training of women in professional skills and promoting women’s access to science and technology would enable women to significantly contribute to poverty reduction and the achievement of sustainable development across the continent.

STEFAN WALLIN, Minister of Culture and Sport and Minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, said equal access of women and girls to education was an important human right and key to implementing the Beijing Platform for Action.  Women’s rights were a priority of Finland’s human rights policy.  Education was an essential instrument to give women and girls the knowledge to be active participants in their societies, including in making decisions about their bodies, their sexuality and reproductive health.  Thus, Finland consistently supported the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights internationally through development cooperation.

He stressed the need to support boys and girls to allow them to make educational and career choices based on their individual qualities, strengths and motivations, and not on their gender.  To combat gender stereotypes, it was important to access guidance materials in the writing and use of textbooks.  Outside the traditional educational structures, sports offered a dynamic way to engage citizenry and bridge the gender gaps that persisted in positions of leadership and decision-making.  Investing in girls and women would have a multiplier effect across all the international development goals.  Education in particular was a decisive catalyst for all human development and a powerful driver of economic development and more peaceful and equitable societies.  Information technology could reduce child and maternal mortality, increase entrepreneurship and job opportunities, and help to reduce violence against women and girls.

MARIE THÉRÈSE ABENA ONDOA, Minister for Women’s Empowerment and the Family of Cameroon, discussing gains made, said her country had built 84 women’s empowerment and family centres, as well as one “appropriate technology centre” to enable professional integration of women and girls who had dropped out of the formal education system.  In the area of employment, women represented 44.5 per cent of the national work force.  Equal access to labour markets existed; however, women’s promotion to senior positions was still a “weak point”.  To promote female entrepreneurship, Cameroon had published a guide on credit and investment opportunities, but women’s economic empowerment was not yet fully felt.

In the area of health, she said, Cameroon had high maternal and child morality rates, and was working to fight both HIV/AIDS and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation.  Cameroon had ratified most international and regional instruments for the protection of women’s legal rights.  In the science and technology sphere, all programmes had shortcomings, such as women’s limited access to credit, partial implementation of laws and social and cultural barriers — such as forced marriage, weak interest in science among girls, high maternal and neonatal mortality rates — all of which prevented women’s advancement in that field.

SANADY TCHIMADEN HADATTAN, Minister of Population, Promotion of Women and Protection of Children of Niger, said women’s and girls’ access to education, science and technology was a priority in efforts to reduce poverty.  Policies to implement that strategy had led to several successes.  A gender perspective had been integrated into sectoral policies and tools for gender analysis had been prepared.

She said that gender also had been taken into account in the budget, and a 10‑year education plan which prioritized girls’ education was currently being implemented.  Important steps had also been taken to encourage female entrepreneurs in the non-agricultural sector, and the Government had opened credit lines for women, especially through regional banks.  Women’s representation in decision-making had increased, thanks to a quota law.  Finally, she said, Niger was aiming to adopt a law on the personal status of women.

MARÍA ANTONIETA BOTTO, Minister of the Institute for Women of Honduras, said all the participants in the Commission had, more or less, the same issues and, thus, the opportunity for strategic engagement provided by the current Commission session should be seized.  In many societies, significant progress in eliminating gender disparities had been made in the area of education, but the larger goal of gender equality, however, persisted in many other areas.

Speaking of her country’s own situation, she underlined differences between the rural and urban populations in terms of access to education.  In the workforce, women were earning 66 per cent that of their male colleagues, despite greater parity in education.  As a result of Government polices, gender perspectives were being incorporated at all levels of education, and girls and women were being given empowerment training in rural areas.  Tangible progress had been made in that regard, with women currently comprising the majority of the medical and nursing school student bodies.  For its part, Honduras welcomed the appointment of Michelle Bachelet as Executive Director of UN Women.

MARJORIE MICHEL, Minister of Women’s Affairs of Haiti, aligning with the Caribbean Community, the Rio Group and the Group of 77, underscored education as crucial to social change and economic growth, sustainable development and social well-being.  Data showed that Haiti, in many respects, was moving towards the Millennium Development Goals in the areas of education and gender equality.  It had seen progress in primary school enrolment, yet it still faced problems similar to other countries in the region.  Students had long distances to travel, particularly in rural areas, and sexist stereotypes persisted.  Apart from education challenges, cholera had killed thousands, and girls and women living in camps after the 2010 earthquake were subjected to violence.  A major campaign had been launched to combat that violence and its perpetrators were punished under a 2005 law.

CELINE YODA-KONKOBO, Minister for the Advancement of Women of Burkina Faso, said education was key to development.  To attain education for all, her Government had created various mechanisms; however, problems persisted, especially in attaining gender equality in basic education.  The Government had assumed an obligation to educate girls and boys up to age 16.  A review of curriculums had been undertaken to take into account gender, as well as the rights of women and children.  Further, an accelerated literacy programme had been established, which, along with other measures, had led to increased school enrolment.  Burkina Faso also had undertaken reforms to increase competitiveness in the private sector and guarantee better working conditions for both genders.

SONIA ESCOBEDO, Minister of the Presidential Secretariat of Women of Guatemala, said her country had made progress since the Fourth Women’s Congress in Beijing, especially in countering racism and promoting a strong policy of social development.  In the area of health care and education, free services were provided and illiteracy had been tackled.  Despite such gains, sexist stereotypes persisted, and if they continued, opportunities for women would be limited in new educational areas, in the labour market and in non-traditional areas.

While gains had been made in dealing with violence against women, especially femicide, sexual violence in Guatemala’s post-conflict era continued, she observed.  She voiced support for Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) as an important tool to eradicate sexual violence against women and girls, and urged that root causes be tackled.  Sexual stereotypes at all educational levels must be eliminated, violence against women must be stemmed and sexuality education must be promoted, which would avoid unwanted pregnancies.

HUSSUN BANU GHAZANFAR, Acting Minister of Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan, said her country was on the threshold of change in fields where women had traditionally been invisible.  The recent Peace Jirga boasted women’s participation at the level 25 per cent and women comprised 12 per cent of the High Peace Council, while a gender strategy was currently being developed in the priority area of political reconciliation.  Despite the challenges, in the recent elections, two women had run for the presidency and women had made up 10 per cent of candidates for the provincial councils, a nearly 20 per cent increase from the previous elections.

She said that Afghan women were now equal with men under the law, with discrimination and violence against them outlawed.  They would benefit from the comprehensive 10-year plan of action to advance their status.  Education and service delivery had steadily improved, as had implementation of commitments to international agreements.  However, the security, political and economic situation in the country continued to hamper enjoyment of development for both genders, and her Government was profoundly grateful for the international assistance it had received.  Despite lacking technical skills to deal with all their enormous problems, the Afghan people had the inner strength to overcome the challenges they faced, with continued support from the international community.

BIBIANA AÍDO, Minister for Equality of Spain, recalled that her country had co-facilitated the process that gave birth to UN Women and was one of the largest donors to that entity.  With respect to the Commission’s current theme, Spain believed the gender gap in educating children currently affected too many girls worldwide and must be closed.  Academic and training initiatives must also be launched to address the persistent stereotypes that segregated men and women.

For its part, Spain was incorporating more women in scientific and technical disciplines, she said.  A greater number of women were working in those fields, a situation that translated into more wealth and more gross domestic product (GDP). But while a greater number of women needed to be working, it should not be at any cost; a situation where women earned less than men must not be tolerated.  In other areas, Spain had made the effort to combat violence against women and girls a priority of State policy.  Such violence not only degraded those who perpetrated it, but also the societies in which it existed.  The tools to face those problems existed; it was time for action.  “Will must be translated into reality,” she urged.

CLAUDINE MINVOULA, Minister Delegate for Health, Social Affairs, National Solidarity and Family of Gabon, aligning with the African Union and the Group of 77, welcomed the establishment of UN Women, expressing hope that it would increase coherence in worldwide action to promote women’s advancement.  Gabon’s Constitution ensured the same rights for women and girls as men and boys.  School was compulsory in Gabon and major efforts had been made to breathe new life into the educational sector and vocational training.  Those initiatives included building schools, supplying free textbooks, hiring more teachers and providing scholarships, especially to girls.  To aid young mothers, child care had been improved.  Special training geared towards their needs was also offered.

She said that Gabon’s labour code provided equality for all workers before the law.  A new survey on employment and unemployment was being developed to improve understanding of the labour market.  A national strategy on gender equality had recently been adopted in order to reduce violence against women and girls.

IRENE SANDIFORD-GARNER, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health of Barbados, said her country had prioritized action in five of the areas of critical concern identified by the Beijing Platform — gender mainstreaming, health, violence against women, women and poverty, and women in decision-making — and the implementation of plans and programmes in those areas was being carried out by the Bureau of Gender Affairs, relevant ministries and civil society groups, along with other strategic partners.  Gender sensitivity training, aimed at challenging stereotypes and raising awareness about practical and strategic gender needs, was another priority.  Although the country was facing challenges in achieving the level of gender parity to which it was committed, it was pressing ahead with the development of a national plan on gender, which would set the framework for truly gender-sensitive plans and programmes.

She said it had long been recognized that inequality between men and women was an obstacle to safe sex, and thus, a powerful factor in the transmission of HIV/AIDS.  Barbados was sparing no effort to heighten awareness about that situation, and the Gender Affairs Bureau had begun conducting outreach programmes with the help of churches, community groups and non-governmental organizations.  The Bureau had also received assistance from UN Women, among others, on health education and training.  Studies carried out in 2009 showed that some 33 per cent of all Barbadian women had endured domestic violence, and while the Government had enacted legislation on such abuse in 1992, it “cannot legislate behaviour”.  As that was the case, Barbados had, among other efforts, put in place police training courses and collaborated with strategic civil society partners on awareness-raising campaigns and establishing battered women’s shelters.

TERESITA SILVERO, Head of Cabinet in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Paraguay, aligning with the Group of 77, as well as the Rio Group, described successes in 2010, saying the third national plan of equality for the 2008-2017 period was organized around the strategic goals of the Beijing Platform for Action.  Public services to prevent gender violence and trafficking had been expanded by training staff and enhancing the number of shelters for victims.  Work undertaken by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare had led to the creation of five centres that addressed the needs of family violence victims.  Further, the Women’s Bureau, the Supreme Court of Justice and gender commissions of both Houses of Congress had agreed to prepare a bill to eradicate such violence.

Among the immediate challenges in Paraguay was an absence of comprehensive laws for the prevention, protection and eradication of violence and trafficking in persons, she said.  While several institutions collected data on women, official statistics had not been integrated within a unique information system with internationally comparable indicators.  Departments and municipal governments had yet to adopt equality plans and allocate budgets to local women’s policies.  Finally, there was an urgent need to understand and respect the world view of indigenous women, which would be an “indispensable” step for outlining gender policies geared towards their culture.

MARLENE MOSES (Nauru), speaking on behalf of the Pacific small island developing States, said the roles of men, women and children had their roots in diverse cultural and traditional value systems.  The role of women was still closely associated with family care and support for men’s economic activities.  That trend was reflected in women’s choices of work in the formal sector.  Despite increasing numbers of educated women, most were employed in hospitality, teaching and other support services sectors.

Many Pacific small island developing States were challenged by their small geographic and population sizes, as well as high frequency of natural disasters, and thus, she said, education and training in science and technology careers were vital in order to elevate women above such challenges.  In one encouraging sign, at the University of the South Pacific, female enrolment in science and technology programmes had increased steadily over the last three years, and in one programme, exceeded male enrolment.  As climate change had hindered women’s access to land and property, and owing to the multifaceted nature of global crises, international support for programmes that provided access to education for women was more crucial than ever.

IDELTA MARIA RODRIGUES, Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality of Timor-Leste, welcoming the establishment of UN Women, said her counrty was a member of its Executive Board.  The country had also had its first-ever candidate to the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee, Maria Helena Pires, elected.  Among the achievements made in promoting gender equality since the last Commission session in 2010 was the promulgation of a law against domestic violence, which provided for legal protection and remedies, and support to survivors of domestic violence.  A national plan of action on gender-based violence was also set to be drafted in 2011.

In the area of gender-responsive budgeting, she drew attention to two allocations for gender initiatives which had recently been approved.  The first was a special allocation to implement the law against domestic violence, and the second was for training women in rural areas to improve their nutrition and that of their families, as well as to increase market-oriented production.  Awareness-raising through theatre on the value of education for girls sought to increase the number of girls in schools.  In the health sector, a workshop had been held to sensitize participants about gender, women’s mental and reproductive health, and barriers to accessing health services.  The country had also developed a new mechanism that would replace the current inter-ministerial gender focal points with gender working groups within each ministry, consisting of high-level officials at the national and district levels.

SOREY CHAN, Vice-Minister in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia, said gender equality had been improving progressively her country.  Cambodian women were recognized as the backbone of economic and social development.  The Government had been working together with non-governmental and civil society organizations to fight poverty and rebuild Cambodian society.  The poverty level had declined, owing to significant economic growth and remarkable economic stability.  The Government had also provided scholarships, additional training programmes, accommodation and safe transportation to female students, which had greatly enhanced girls’ admission to primary schools.  The overall access to primary and reproductive health services had improved, and maternal and children’s health care was a priority in the health sector.

Additionally, she said the provision by the Government of small and medium-sized loans to women and communities had steadfastly increased, and the Government was implementing a law to prevent domestic violence and protect the victims, as well to combat human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.  The Government would continue to implement its policies aimed at increasing women’s participation in decision-making — strengthening legislative frameworks on violence against women; improving girls’ access to education and training in technology; allocating more resources for school development; improving access to sustainable microfinance; and building health-service centres especially for women.

ELŻBIETA RADZISZEWSKA, Government Plenipotentiary for Equality of Poland, said that ensuring full access for girls and women to education, training, science and technology was a precondition for progress and sustained development.  It was timely that 2011 had been named the year of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, an outstanding Polish scientist and the discoverer of radium and polonium.  In Poland, both girls and boys had the duty to continue their education until the age of 18, and Polish law guaranteed equal treatment with regard to gender, among other things, in education and employment.  Thanks to fighting stereotypes and cultural patterns that were disadvantageous for women, women now prevailed among the graduates of secondary and higher schools in Poland.

She said a draft amendment of the country’s law on higher education, adopted in 2010, envisaged, among other things, the simplification of the scientific career path for women and men, and closer links between the academic world and the labour market.  Other relevant projects included “gender index”, “socio-economic activation of women on local and regional level” and “girls to technical universities”.  The latter encouraged female high school students to take up engineering studies, especially in the strictly technical faculties, which were the most future-oriented, the most lucrative and the most open to the international labour market.

UMI ALI MWALIMU, Deputy Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children of the United Republic of Tanzania, aligning with the Group of 77 and SADC, said science education for women and girls would provide them with the tools they needed to make sense of the world and empower them to make informed decisions on critical aspects of their lives.  Considering women’s limited participation in decision-making to be a major problem, her Government had reviewed the Constitution in an effort to provide for affirmative action for women in the national Parliament and among local councils.  Women now accounted for 35 per cent of all seats in Parliament and the current Speaker was a woman.  In Zanzibar’s House of Representatives, women numbered 30 per cent.

She said gender parity had been attained in basic education and the gap had narrowed substantially in higher education.  In a recent gender-related review of its education and training policy, the Government had addressed making the school environment more girl-friendly by urging schools to provide meals, boarding and sanitary facilities for girls.  More teachers were also being recruited.  Specific institutional policies to address gender imbalances in science and higher education had recently been introduced and had yielded some positive results.  Nevertheless, the Government faced challenges in translating its gender-mainstreaming policies into practice.  Obstacles included capacity-building in gender analysis, insufficient gender-disaggregated data to influence policy and planning, weak capacities of gender machineries and people’s mindsets.

ELZA PAIS, Secretary of State for Gender Equality of Portugal, aligning with the European Union, discussed a programme for governance and equality that had made gains over the last five years in the legislative arena.  In that context, she cited laws that decriminalized voluntary abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and promoted sexual and reproductive health.  Another law on parity outlined quotas for ensuring women’s representation in local, legislative and European parliamentary elections, while a parental leave law also had been enacted.  She also cited a new law on same sex marriage, which she described as a “humanistic law” to alleviate human suffering.

Even within that solid framework, she said, challenges remained in moving from de jure to de facto equality.  With that in mind, policies were centred on six national action plans, which affirmed values related to combating discrimination and which broadly outlined a view that included women as part and parcel of the business world.  In that regard, she urged the creation of a new civilization that did not waste valuable human resources, such as women, and which promoted social economy, among other values, as long-term investments to achieve sustainable development and social coherence.

PAULA S. SACRAMENTO NETO, Vice-Minister of Family of Angola, associating with the African Group, the Group of 77, as well as SADC, said her country boasted a “significant presence” of women in many professions previously dominated by men.  Nonetheless, a gap persisted between the genders in accessing information and communications technology.  More women and girls were receiving higher education, which reflected a significant improvement in access.  In that context, she underscored the critical importance of those technologies to economic development, especially their role in reducing poverty.

With that in mind, she said, the Government had promoted investments in that sector to encourage their widespread use.  Since women and girls had the highest literacy rate and school enrolment, she was certain that, in the short and medium terms, the benefits of programmes that involved cyber cafes, computer training and science fairs, among other things, would be observed.  The success of such measures to empower women in science and technology also would benefit from the fact that Angola’s Minister of Science and Technology was a woman.  Special attention was also being paid to rural women, including women with disabilities, to equip them with qualifications to ease their integration into society.

MADINA JARBUSSYNOVA, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said that in her country, the Beijing Platform for Action had triggered the creation of policies and strategies for gender equality and adherence to relevant international and regional instruments.  The Government had set a goal of 30 per cent representation of women in decision-making to be achieved by 2016.  Moreover, the National Commission on Women Issues and Family Demographic Policy emphasized cooperation with political parties to promote gender mainstreaming, women’s political advancement and a gender-balanced composition of electoral candidates’ lists.

The Government also placed great emphasis on women’s economic advancement, she said, adding that poverty reduction, improved social and financial “determinants” and gender-sensitive financing all were considered primary catalysts towards that goal.  However, women’s input to Kazakhstan’s GDP was less than 39 per cent, a fact reflected in the existing wage gap.  Women’s salaries were 66 per cent that for men, and the National Commission had recommended that government bodies increase that percentage to 80 by 2020.  Concerning education, Kazakhstan had achieved universal access for girls and boys to primary and secondary schooling, while the Constitution guaranteed free secondary education.  In the area of higher education, 52.8 per cent of all students were female, she added.

HIROKO HASHIMOTO (Japan) hoped that this year, with the official launch of UN Women, the momentum of concrete progress would build further in gender-related undertakings.  In her country, the latest plan for gender equality would enhance efforts to achieve a society with universal equality, human rights and respect for diversity, with a focus on gender equality in science, technology and academics, among others.  The plan aimed to tackle remaining gaps in women’s employment and pay levels, with concrete targets.  Measures to promote men’s participation in household tasks would also be promoted.  Japan had hosted three conferences on gender equality last year and continued to promote learning environments conducive to girls’ education.  With the objective of accelerating women’s participation in peacebuilding, the country was supporting the UN Women project to counter violence against women in Afghanistan, among other initiatives.  It would continue to cooperate closely with the international community on that issue.

GLORIA BONDER, Special Representative for Women’s Issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina, said that due to the importance her country placed on the role of decent work in creating social cohesion, it had included its achievement as an additional Millennium Development Goal.  Argentina was also striving to improve its science and technology sectors by expanding the number of research units in its universities.  A greater number of scholarships were being granted in science, with 47 per cent of them being awarded to women.  That had resulted in an increase in the number of women in those disciplines.  Argentina believed that women should have greater participation in decision-making roles.

She said the country’s education law guaranteed universal and free education to all inhabitants.  All students were also guaranteed access to sex education.  The Government was working towards the access of boys and girls to all levels of schooling, including through a universal allowance per child and a plan to reduce the technological gap by 2012 through the provision of 3 million computer notebooks to secondary school students.  Within the Argentinean Council of Women, a special unit had been created to reduce violence against women, while on the legislative front, a law against trafficking in women and girls had been adopted, as had a law to prevent and prosecute instances of domestic violence.

EVA ABDULLA, Member of Parliament of the Maldives, said that recent studies showed that, in the Maldives, one in three women aged 15-49 had experienced physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime.  In response, the Maldives had amended its criminal sentencing guidelines to provide more appropriate punishments for perpetrators.  Additionally, its Parliament was in the final stages of establishing a domestic violence bill, which for the first time would allow for the monitoring of abuse cases and publication of annual statistics.  The Maldives held the second-highest rank on the United Nations gender-related Development Index in the South Asian region, a fact that was underpinned by the country’s lack of institutional discrimination.  However, common gender stereotyping threatened to erode those gains and erect obstacles to future progress.

She said unemployment was disproportionately high among women, and men continued to have almost twice as much presence in the Maldivian labour force.  To address that problem, the Government had undertaken a gender empowerment project, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship development and business skills.  There was evidence that families were removing girls from a well-rounded education, including extracurricular activities meant to develop leadership skills, and that religious extremism was shaping negative attitudes towards women and girls.  It was necessary, therefore, to respond with more concerted efforts to encourage participation and mend attitudes.

PATRICIA B. LICUANAN, Chair, Commission of Higher Education of the Philippines, welcomed the recent creation and launch of UN Women, but stressed that expectations were high and that there was “a lot” riding on the Organization’s new gender entity.  As UN Women began its work in earnest, her delegation wished that the United Nations was more gender-focused at the country level and that all the Organization’s agencies “really worked for women”.  The Philippines also wished the United Nations would help make gender central to national planning and would work more closely with women’s civil society groups.  Her Government remained deeply committed to the Beijing Platform for Action, the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Convention and the Millennium Development Goals.  Its comprehensive gender equality law translated the Convention into national legislation.

On the theme of the session, she said women and girls in her country, in almost every area of education, outnumbered men and boys, and the dropout rate for girls was much lower than that of men.  To reverse that trend, the Government had scaled up its inclusive education policy through the Education for All 2015 Plan, which aimed to bring all school-age children into the system and carry out dropout reduction programmes, alternative learning systems, distance education and back-to-school programmes for out-of-school youths and adults, most of whom were boys.  For the Philippines, the issue seemed not to be gender parity in education, but access to education for the poor and those living in rural areas.  There were also concerns about lagging gender tracking in fields of study and career choices.  Women dominated the fields of education, humanities and business administration, but remained underrepresented in science and technology, law, and fine and applied arts.  To address those trends, the Department of Education conducted training of teachers and school administrators on integrating gender and development into curricula and sought to raise teachers’ awareness of gender issues. 

OLGA SAMARINA, Director-General, Ministry for Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, said that ensuring genuine gender equality and women’s status was among the most important tasks for the international community.  The right to education was an inalienable right of every Russian citizen, regardless of gender.  Decent education today meant training specialists for the future, regardless of their gender.  Girls accounted for 50 per cent of all primary school students, 55 per cent of secondary school students, 57 per cent of tertiary-level students, 45 per cent of post-graduate students and 47 per cent of students in doctorate programmes.

Economic independence was also important, she said, noting that the Russian Federation shared the ILO approach of championing gender equality in ensuring decent work for all.  Women had traditionally maintained a solid position and were the backbone of many sectors, including administration.  They were a “motor force” for entrepreneurialism, heading 70 per cent of all small enterprises.  There were 2.6 million women on maternity leave and to ensure their return to work, a skills retraining system had been set up, in line with ILO guidance.  Finally, she said that the first task of UN Women must be to establish a relationship between the Executive Board and the Commission, with a view to harmonizing political leadership and operational strategies.

ROWENA PHAIR, Chief Executive, Ministry of Women’s Affairs of New Zealand, conveyed her Government’s appreciation for the sympathy and support received following last week’s devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake.  As for the business at hand, she said her delegation was joining others in the session because they all wanted positive and faster change.  “We must lift the bar on our expectations of ourselves sand each other,” she stressed, calling on her compatriots to work together to find more effective ways forward, and to leave behind those practices and polices that were “not achieving the progress we want”.  Working on the frontier of gender equality was not always comfortable, but everyone must challenge — and change — the system, she said.

On the situation of women in her country, she said that while the overall picture might be “mixed”, women and girls were faring quite well in the education sphere.  Indeed, more women under 50 held bachelors’ degrees than men in the same age group.  Women’s participation in the labour market and their relative pay had increased as a result of higher qualifications, “but the impact is not as great as we’d expect”, she said, adding that there was still a pay gap and the labour market was segregated to some extent.  Moreover, despite rapid improvements in education outcomes for Maori women, they and other indigenous women still faced challenges.  On other issues, she said the Government continued its efforts to rid itself of “barbaric practices”, including domestic violence, sexual violence and child abuse.  “We have a sound legislative framework, a responsive police force, a nationwide network of women’s [shelters] and high profile social marketing to change attitudes,” she said.

TZIONA KOENIG-YAIR, National Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour of Israel, said that over the last decade, the Government had enhanced public awareness and expanded public budgets to advance the status of women.  Among the most prominent mechanisms in that regard was the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, situated within the Prime Minister’s office, which published a guide on women’s rights and sponsored innovative research, among other things.  In the area of employment, the Commission acted as an ombudsman in cases of workplace discrimination against women and minority groups.

Access to education had also seen major gains, she said, noting that the majority of students studying for a university degree in 2010 had been women.  In terms of the peace process, Israel recognized that women must be part of the negotiations from the earliest possible stages and the Government had recently amended the Women’s equal rights law in the spirit of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).  Overall, ensuring equal access to education, full employment and decent work were integral to Israel’s agenda, she said.  Ultimate success in the country, and around the world, would also depend on engaging men in all programmes dealing with social change and economic development.

MAUREEN CLARK, President of the National Institute for Women of Costa Rica, aligning with the Rio Group and the Group of 77, underlined the important strategic links between education and employment.  In Costa Rica today, girls and women were generally better educated than men.  Nevertheless, the fact that there were fewer women in scientific career fields created precarious employment conditions.  Currently, there was a greater presence of women in the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed.  The Government was taking a number of strategic actions to provide care to those groups and individuals in the belief that such action was a social responsibility.  Moreover, women’s access to all benefits must be guaranteed.  At the same time, a national network of child care and development services had been developed to further support for women.

Costa Rica, she said, had concentrated on economic and social investments for poor women over the last two decades, ultimately improving their access to the labour department.  It recognized, however, that quality employment was the best way to achieve sustainable quantitative gains in the labour market.  She challenged the Commission to institute robust gender-equality policies and expressed hope that UN Women would be a means, as well as a catalyst, for doing so.

WALTRAUD DAHS, Head of Division of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany, supporting the statement delivered on behalf of the European Union, said that a life-cycle perspective guided German gender-equality policy and was an important starting point for education strategies, which held the key to the realization of chances in almost all aspects of life.  Lifelong learning was therefore an important consideration.  Today, she pointed out, girls in Germany generally obtained higher schooling qualifications than boys, but in many cases did not use them to the fullest because they were still focused on careers typical for women.  She outlined programmes meant to counter that phenomenon.

In order to try and reduce the gender pay gap, she said, the Government offered software to employers that analysed the problem for a particular business and helped generate ideas on how to overcome it.  The tool would be introduced at a lunchtime event on 25 February at the German Mission to the United Nations.  In development policy, Germany used a rights-based approach to promote equal education.  She expressed enthusiasm over the founding of UN Women and the possibility of the Women’s Commission’s contributions to the new body.  She affirmed her country’s commitment to support the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) through the indicators recently adopted.

KHADIJA ABU GASIM HAJ HAMED, Adviser to the Minister in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Social Insecurity General Directorate, Women and Family Affairs of Sudan, aligning with the Group of 77 and the African Group, said her Government was working to eliminate gender disparities in education.  It had elaborated an education policy for women and created specialized structures in that context.  While the enrolment rate for primary school-age children was high, secondary school rates still posed a challenge.

She said her country also was working to maximize agricultural possibilities, and thanks in part to the use of advanced methods of harvesting, the “technological literacy” rate was high.  In emphasizing equity and justice, Sudan believed in women’s central role in advancing societies and had adopted legislation towards that goal since the 1970s.  Sudanese women had gained equal pay for equal work and received equal pension aid.  They also had been prevented from undertaking work that involved carrying heavy weights.  Moreover, the Central Bank had earmarked 12 per cent of its credit ceiling for women.  Women’s political participation had grown since 2006, reaching 25 per cent in parliament and the legislative councils.

A representative of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality said education was essential for sexual and reproductive health.  Keeping girls in school beyond the primary level, diversifying their educational opportunities and ensuring that schools remained free from all forms of violence had been positively linked to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and should form a basic part of national development policies.  Gender stereotypes and discrimination were root causes of segregation in the labour market, and eliminating myths about aptitudes of girls and boys should be combined with overcoming the gender “science stereotype” in the workplace.  Women must be involved on equal footing with male scientists, especially in programmes related to HIV infection, where gender-sensitive insights could spur research.

A delegate from the African Women’s Caucus, which represented several women’s rights organizations, recognized that education and training for girls and women was a fundamental human right to which States and the United Nations had committed.  She noted with great concern that, although gender parity in primary school enrolment had been achieved in many African countries, millions of girls still lacked access to quality education, due to persistent discrimination and gender stereotyping.  She called for implementing a holistic approach to women’s and girls’ education by integrating into school curricula practical technology-based skills such as leadership, analytical and financial skills, which supported the “do it yourself” culture.  Zero-tolerance policies should be enforced in schools to prevent sexual abuse, and career guidance plans should be improved.

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For information media • not an official record