ISO: MLT *************************************************************************** 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 DELEGATION OF MALTA FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMAN STATEMENT BY THE HON. GIOVANNA DEBONO PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR FAMILY AFFAIRS MINISTRY FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1995 BEIJING, PEOPLES' REPUBLIC OF CHINA Madame President, In focusing on women's right to equality, development and peace we reaffirm that faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of women and men solemnly proclaimed in the Charter by the peoples of the united nations fifty years ago. Women's right to equality, development and peace is of concern not only to that half of the world's population directly impacted as immediate victim of its denial or beneficiary of its enjoyment, but to the whole of humanity which recognises, in the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. During the past half a century much has been attained. These achievements hold promise but are not in themselves the promise. It is only when women and men share as true partners the rights and responsibilities with which we are charged as trustees of the family, the local community, the state and our global society that we can claim that women's right to equality, development and peace has become part of the common heritage of humankind. Madame President, We cannot envisage a change in the part without contemplating an evolution of the whole. Our commitment to the equal status of women necessarily implies consequent transformation in power structures as whatever level power is exercised. A comprehensive approach may be dreaded by some because of the fear which the unknown generates. The alternative, however, is that of a piecemeal reform which bears the risks of one step forward being followed, out of panic or lack or resolve, by two stages backwards. Soon after taking office in 1987, my Government opted for and adopted the comprehensive approach. The equal status of women was established as a priority - not as a mere political objective, but more importantly as a social objective that integrates in a more direct manner the positive Legacy which women have con>,nbuted over the centuries to the evolution of the community. Our vision of change is founded on the three basic pillars of human rights, freedom and human dignity. All three are interrelated. Weakness or denial of any of the three undermines the equal status of women. It would be futile to have rights of paper without the freedom to exercise them. It would be tragic if rights and freedoms were not coupled to a social vision that cherished the innate dignity every human being. Apart from ,providing a network of 'legislation to ensure and enhance the equal status of women, we must strive so free the social environment from the grip of sexist attitudes. Indeed, even n the most tempered toots of access would be blunted if forced to chisel unnaturally at the walls of resistance of that citadel called intolerance. We would equally fail if our caring society were to discard that minimum safety-net that assures a dignified existence for all human beings. Our will to change requires the provision of the tools of access, a social milieu that treasures equality between women and men as a value, and a concept of the human existence that nurtures the right to life and dignity of each and every human being. It is within these parameters that my Government has operated during the past eight years. We have revised our Constitution and completely reviewed legislation to bar discrimination based on sex and eliminate the subordination of women. Provision was made for temporary measures of affirmative action to correct `accumulated imbalances between the two sexes. Having provided this essential legal framework, we proceed to strengthen the means to entrench each women's individual freedom to fully participate at all levels of society. Education is the main guarantee of this process. Free education for girls and women from the most junior level to the highest tertiary level, within a few short years, has brought about a veritable revolution in the gender composition of the professions. Today more than 49% of the student body at our university is made up of women who, like their male peers, have their education fully funded by the State and receive monthly stipends as undergraduate or graduate students. This cultural transformation should remove prejudice against women elected representatives. Our current, near total imbalance at the national legislature, has already been challenged by a wider presence of women elected during the recent local council elections. In Malta, a dignified existence for all is assured by a broad programme of social services ranging from free .,medical aid, including the provision of comprehensive obstetric and maternity services, to retirement pensions; social assistance; subsidised housing; care oriented programmes for the very young, the elderly and the handicapped and rehabilitation programmes for drug addicts. Our national report details the extent of services provided and measures our achievement in living up to and beyond our engagements in Nairobi. Madame President, Rooted in our conviction that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, and committed to provide the protection to which the family entitled, legal provisions relative to the power structure within the family were carefully scrutinised in the light of the equal status of women. Amendments to the Family Law introduced the concept of equal partnership in marriage. The undisputed decision making authority formerly vested in the husband as head of the family, now appertains to both partners who have equal rights and responsibilities including joint responsibility for children and in the administration of any property acquired after marriage. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims the entitlement of motherhood and childhood to special care and assistance. Women should be afforded the right to choose whether to dedicate themselves, totally or for a number of years, to the upbringing of the family, or whether to peruse uninterruptedly their career outside the home. This is a choice that only the parents can make. The State, in the commitment to protect the family and to provide special care and assistance to motherhood, has bound itself to facilitate this choice being made Apart from providing programmes to assist mothers in the upbringing of children, the State has assured through legislation women's right to maternity leave at full pay; to children's allowances; to kindergarten. ten facilities, and to retaining after a period of absence from the place of work. Laws provide the institutional framework for the equal partner-ship in marriage, but the consolidation of the partnership also requires a transformation in the attitudes of both spouses in general and of the husband in particular. Awareness of this factor has motivated a re- examination of school text-books and recommendations to the media to encourage a new sensitivity to the unfair burden that traditionally- ascribed roles would impose on the wife if assuming them on her own in addition to employment outside the home. Madam President, Notwithstanding society's efforts to enhance equality, solidarity and dignity in the relationship between the two sexes, there are some who rather than the might of right, believe in the right of might. Traditionally condemned and penalised in our society, the use of violence against women, children and the elderly is today intolerable. Malta has both strengthened the arm of the law to combat this anti- social behaviour and buttressed assistance services to the victims. Brutal as violence against women is in normal times, it is evil, amoral and depraved when encouraged or quasi-institutionalised in time of conflict. The solidarity of the international community can never heal the wound inflicted by such acts of savagery witnessed again in different areas of conflict. In can only mitigate the pain by seeing to it that the victims obtain the adequate moral and physical support required in such instances. Our will to assist the victims of violence against women, in times of peace or conflict, would fail miserably if it were not parallel by an equally strong determination to prosecute an incarcerate. its perpetrators. States have intensified their effort to apprehend, prosecute and sentence those responsible for such abominable acts when they occur within their boundaries. So too should the international community intensify its current efforts to bring to justice those responsible for such acts of horror in times of conflicts. As a county that has lived the agony of siege and daily serial bombardment for the duration of the Second World War, we in Malta know how true it is that women bear a disappropriate burden in times of conflict. This suffering, already unavoidably great when conflicts break out, cannot be tolerated to evelve to levels of inhuman torture with women targeted as tools of war. Madame President, In recent years the international community has focused on the specific problems faced by migrant workers. Aware of the anguish often generated by uncertainty in employment conditions and sensitive to the pain of family separation we must continue to strengthen our resolve to combat experience when and where it occurs. The millions of refugees living in utter misery and destitution in camps world-wide are an affront to humanity's conscience. Efforts to aid the UNHOR in its noble mission should never be allowed to falter, but neither can we ease our attempts to restore stability in countries or regions disrupted by conflict or tension. Much as refugees appreciate aid that helps them survive, and cherish asylum when granted, their strongest desire remains that of one day returning home to live and work in peace. Madam President, We have come to Beijing determined to carry the torch of emancipation into the year 2000. our effort to see justice done to women not only unfettered half of humanity but liberates the whole world community. We have yet to witness the fruit of partnership between both sexes. When that happens, our past concept of mankind will melt and blend into wider, more representative notion of humankind. Thank you.