ISO: NPL *************************************************************************** The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Secretariat. *************************************************************************** AS WRITTEN Statement by Hon.Sahana Pradhan Leader of the Nepalese Delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, September 5,1995) Madame President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen I join the previous speakers to congratulate you, Madame President, on your unanimous election to the presidency of this august gathering. It is only a fitting recognition of your remarkable contribution to the advancement of women in China and elsewhere. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my delegation's deep gratitude to the government and people of China for the warm welcome and cordial hospitality accorded us in Beijing, a city of momentous history, rich culture and exquisite art and architecture. Our tribute is due to the Secretary-General of the United Nations who, with his vision and commitment to women's cause, has been instrumental in bringing about many improvements in the status of women within the United Nations and in stoking us to do more to improve our lives across the world by tireless work to organise this conference. Ms.Gertrude Mongolia, Secretary-General of the Conference also deserves our accolade for her ingenuity and dedication for making this conference a resounding success. Madame President,We have traversed through two decades since the first ever conference on women was held in 1975. It is now time to serious]y take stock of our achievements and failures to chart a more pragmatic and decisive course for the future. Women enjoy, all over the world, adult franchise today. They are becoming literate and educated. They have somewhat improved access to health facilities and employment markets. Some improvements, though uneven as they are across nations, have been registered in the status of women over this period. These gains, let me stress, are neither satisfactory nor irreversible. Madame President, Equality of women with men is still a far cry and has remained as elusive as ever for most of our sisters around the world. Majority of women have been largely untouched by socio-economic development and their role as equal and important partner in the maintenance of peace in the world is largely neglected. Trials and tribulations in many a society have not been any less for the majority of hapless women. Discrimination is still rife across the world. Girl children are still first to be called in as helping hands and last to enjoy educational opportunities and health care. Women still bear the brunt of` violence against innocent civilian victims in conflict situations. They are subjected to rape, mutilation and deprivation Domestic violence against women is still almost as endemic today as it was 20 years ago. Women still do not have the freedom of choice neither have they control over their bodies in reproductive process. Women's human rights are still widely refracted or denied. Women still lack access to economic resources in many societies and have unequal access in almost all societies. Increasing feminization of poverty is but one stark indicator of unequal access to economic resources and opportunities. Women are yet to be recognized, let alone internalized in development process, as agents and beneficiaries of sustainable development. Advancement in science and technology has been frequently used against women. While many new frontiers that have been created are not women friendly, many gadgets are being put to wrong use. Prenatal identification and abortion of female foetus has become a serious concern in developing countries. This coupled with the neglect of girl children and dowry deaths ominously indicate an upcoming demographic imbalance with its attendent social problems. Madame President, Together we must change this situation and working concertedly we can improve the status of women. And to me, the change must focus on the empowerment of women at the core and build outwards to cover the multifarious aspects that need addressing in a holistic manner. Tinkering at the margins alone will not do much good. I should add, only the empowerment of women will secure women's gain irreversibly. It is not an easy proposition, let us face it. We will have to work in concert two fold: to carefully protect the gains already made and to tread into new frontiers by persuading our societies to change whenever possible and by putting up an irresistible force of conviction wherever necessary. We must recognise that it will make an onerous demand on us for a balanced, prudent, conviction driven and yet delicate handling of our march towards equality in all aspects of national and international life. We must understand, that a wild chase for modernization of a certain mold will not unshackle us from the present bondage. We will have to build, and help build, women's advancement around our own core values, of course, stripped off the cloud of superstitions and encumberance, to evolve healthy societies with distinct identities of our own. Madame President, I am immensely pleased to be part of a process which is changing women's lives profoundly world wide. From the day I marched for women's voting rights in Nepal in 1948 to today we have come a long way but we have still much further to go. In those days our fights and movements were isolated. Today, we have great opportunity to learn from each other derive strength from each others successes and to move forward together. I hope now we can move much faster and overcome the forces of conservatism with our solidarity and mutual support. We have, in Nepal, begun to pursue a holistic approach to women's advancement. The overall goals of national development In Nepal, are economic growth, poverty alleviation and reduction in regional disparities. In these endeavours, significant WID inputs and components have been incorporated. Our government is committed to the objective of a broad based, participatory rural development and is putting substantial resources to converting the rhetoric of participatory grass roots development into practice. Women will be given specific attention in such programmes. The first commitment, therefore, has been to revisualize women as integral rather than as sectoral beings. WID as well as "mainstreaming" programmes are being recast based upon this reconceptualization. The Constitution of Nepal provides for equal rights to men and women. The laws infringing upon the Constitutional provisions are being identified and presented to the legislature for amendment The government will also prepare and present a bill within one year to the legislature providing for equal rights to women in relation to ancestral property Legal provision in relation to violence on women, including those related to trafficking shall be reviewed and the enforcing agencies shall be strengthened. Approximately 49 percent of the population is currently under the poverty line, the majority being women. The government has recently announced its intention to alleviate absolute poverty in the next 10 years. A plan of action is being devised to adequately emphasise components directed towards alleviation of poverty among women. We are aware that structural adjustment and market oriented development tends to leave the vulnerable and the weak, specially women, behind. Therefore, existing credit of supply and income generation programmes for women shall be expanded for broader coverage. While the overall health status of women ire Nepal has improved, it nonetheless remains at an unsatisfactory level. As in all SAARC countries, maternal mortality constitutes the ]leading cause of death and disability among Nepali women, most of which are preventable. A large number of adolescent girls and women experience pregnancy as a private struggle between life and death. Despite the increasing trend in the use of maternal health care and Family Planning services, they are far from the access of majority of women need. His Majesty's Government of Nepal is determined to combat the causes of maternal mortality by ensuring women and men with quality Reproductive Health Care and other services based on life-cycle approach. Enhanced emphasis shall be provided to combat iodine deficiency, anemia and maternal mortality such that the current rates are halved by the year 2000. Immunization coverage shall be programmed to reach 90 percent by 2000. Literacy rate among women has been rising in the last 15 years. Female literacy has increased from a mere 4 percent in 1971 to 25 percent now, but it is still less than half of` male literacy of 55 percent. To combat such a situation, the government has prepared and is implementing, programmes to achieve universal literacy and reduce drop out rate within the next five years. All primary schools will be served by at least one female teacher and quotas will be enforced in technical schools, short-term training’s and scholarships for girl students. Efforts are underway to make development administration gender responsive by instituting regulations under which programmes and projects are screened and audited from the mainstreaming perspective. WID cells will be established in all developmental line ministries as well as all major law enforcing agencies by the next three years. The government is seeking to review the process through which the entry as well as career prospects of women employees in the government can be further facilitated. The Secretariat of the recently instituted Council for Women and Children, which is chaired by the Prime Minister and which is mandated to recommend policies for the advancement of women, coordinate intersectoral activities and monitor the implementation of WID programmes, shall be further strengthened. Non-governmental organizations, in keeping with the standing policy, shall be encouraged and supported to implement as well as to support community based organizations to carry out advocacy, institution-building and service providing programmes for women. Madame President, I wish to emphasize that His Majesty’s Government of Nepal attaches a singular importance to the present Fourth World Conference on Women, and is also seriously committed to take appropriate measures to mobilise and involve women, both as key actors in, and beneficiaries of development. The successful implementation of these commitments together with the Platform for Action, however, requires full commitment for technical and financial resources from the international community and multi-lateral financial institutions. It also requires free and unrestricted access to the global and regional markets for the goods and services produced b) the country. In conclusion, Madame President, I take this opportunity to urge the United Nations to decide in favour of undertaking review of the status of women some time by 2000 to assess decisions taken by this important Conference. We on our part are eager and willing to work together with the international community for the overall development of women in Nepal and elsewhere. I call upon us all, both women and men, to vow for working in concert for equality between women and men, development and peace throughout the world for us to rejoice in our achievements in the next Conference on Women Thank you!