ISO: 
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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.
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AS WRITTEN


Speech by the Commonwealth Secretary-General,
Chief Emeka Anyaoku at the Women's Affairs Ministers' Meeting,

Beijing, 3 September 1995, 2.00-5.00 p.m.


When we last met in Cyprus in 1993, our intention was that we would not 
meet again until our next meeting in 1996. However, the Fourth World 
Conference on Women has provided a most welcome opportunity for us to 
convene rather sooner than we expected. I think this is an auspicious 
sign that our goals will be achieved even sooner than we anticipated. 

Meeting here on the eve of the Conference, reminds us of our special 
identity within the United Nations, and our responsibility to share our 
unique experiences with the rest of the world. I am sure that by the end 
of our deliberations today, we will have mapped out our strategy for 
making a distinctive impact on the World Conference. 

At your last meeting, you asked me to set up an Expert Group which would 
review and revitalise the 1987 Plan of Action on Women and Development 
and develop a Plan which would take Commonwealth women into the next 
century. You were anxious to ensure that in putting forward strategies 
and measures for accelerating our progress towards achieving Equality 
for Women, the Plan should be innovative and address new and emerging 
issues. You were equally concerned that it should be firmly grounded in 
the realities in which governments operate. 

I took these concerns on board when I set up an Expert Group with 
members drawn from governments, international organisations and NGOs. 
The Group also sought views from a broader base through consultations 
with member governments, Divisions in the Secretariat, and NGOs. After 
the Group submitted its proposal for the Plan of Action, I forwarded it 
to all governments inviting their reactions, and suggesting a procedure 
through which we could reach agreement on it, in principle, in time for 
the Beijing Conference. Your response was most encouraging, and 
governments were able to reach agreement in Malta in June of this year. 
The 1995 Plan of Action therefore encompasses ideas of people from all 
regions of the Commonwealth as well as a wide range of interests and 
expertise. We can all truly claim ownership of it. As we agreed, we will 
present it to Heads of Government, in Auckland in November, to seek 
their endorsement. 

The 1995 Plan marks a shift in emphasis from 'Women and Development' to 
a focus on 'Gender and Development'. We believe that with a systematic 
integration of gender concerns into mainstream activities, we will have 
a more equitable distribution of resources and sharing of power between 
women and men. Only in this way can we be sure, that in every policy 
which we make, in any programme on which we embark, women and men have 
an equal chance of making the decisions, taking part in the activities 
and enjoying the benefits. We cannot settle for less than this. 

We will complement this mainstreaming approach by continuing with women-
specific programmes. These have a critical and strategic role to play 
and a well-proven track record. When we want to break through new 
frontiers or make sure that critical gender issues remain on the global 
agenda, women-specific programmes will continue to make a salient 
contribution. 

The new Plan of Action proposes that the strengthening of institutional 
capacity is the sine qua non of the Plan's successful implementation. It 
accepts that for too long we have tried to handle gender issues with 
machineries which lack resources and effective linkages with key 
government ministries. Time and time again, you have drawn attention to 
the fact that in spite of the undoubted efforts made by Women's Bureaux, 
their impact has been less than expected. Clearly, the time has come for 
us to devise a strategy which will overcome these problems. 

The Plan of Action has taken up this challenge, by making the 
strengthening of National Women's Machineries and the establishment of 
Gender Management Systems central features of the Plan. Governments are 
now committed to intensifying their efforts to strengthen national 
machineries. They will enhance their ability to influence policies by 
placing them at the highest possible levels. They will improve their 
professional expertise, by ensuring that their officers have adequate 
skills in gender planning and analysis. They will strengthen their 
capacity for supporting gender integration in other ministries by 
establishing focal points in all Ministries. 

As governments operate within this co-ordinated framework, a sharp focus 
will be given to their work by concentrating on a number of agreed 
priority issues which are of special concern to the Commonwealth. We 
will build on the advances made in political and human rights, and in 
social and economic development in which the Commonwealth has 
established its reputation, and where it has demonstrated comparative 
advantage over other multilateral organisations. In this way, we can 
hope to develop areas of good practice which can serve as models for 
other organisations. 

The strength of the Plan of Action lies in the complementarity of 
actions to be taken by governments and the Secretariat, who will work as 
partners to achieve agreed strategic objectives. On their part, 
governments will undertake national initiatives, selecting from fifteen 
components which span key gender concerns. They will do so in the spirit 
of innovation and flexibility, working within their own overall national 
development plans. In effect, governments will be working towards common 
goals but with variations in practice depending on their resources, 
priorities and specific problems. 

A noticeable feature of the Plan is that it puts considerable emphasis 
on effective monitoring and reporting systems to be conducted at the 
highest level of government, whose effect will be to sharpen the review 
process. Without this, governments will not be able to take stock of 
their progress, identify areas in which progress has been slower than 
expected or determine areas in which they have success stories of useful 
experiences which they could share with other countries. The 
Commonwealth’s spirit of collaboration, coupled with the flexibility 
with which governments can operate, and improve their monitoring and 
reporting processes is something we should share with other countries at 
this Conference. We should also make them aware that our governments are 
determined to ensure that gender issues are not exclusive to women but 
concern everyone; that problems faced by women are not isolated 
problems, but are part of national development problems; that issues 
highlighted by women are not subordinate to wider government planning 
but merit attention in their own right at the highest policy-making 
level. 

At the Secretariat, we are fully committed to implementing the Plan of 
Action. Even before the Expert Group finished its work, we had taken 
advantage of its observations to see that all Divisions incorporated a 
gender dimension in the planning and implementation of their programmes. 
Divisions have already indicated how gender issues will be integrated 
into the fifteen programmes on which the Secretariat operates. We have 
also agreed to adopt nine measures which will strengthen our capacity to 
provide training, advice and technical assistance to governments. In 
particular, we will work with governments to strengthen their national 
machineries and to establish viable gender management systems. Gender 
integration will feature in our support for planning, training awards, 
provision of experts and consultants and development of training and 
resource materials. We will institute a system of gender accounting to 
monitor the effectiveness of our activities in implementing the Plan of 
Action. I can assure you that gender integration will be effectively 
pursued in all aspects of Secretariat work, including personnel policies 
and activities relating to its planning, implementing, monitoring and 
evaluating programmes. 

No matter how well devised a Plan is, it can only be effective if it has 
adequate resources. We live in a world of competing demands for 
restricted funds. Priorities have to be established. Existing funds have 
to be re-allocated and used cost-effectively. If governments are 
committed, for example, to strengthening National Machineries, then they 
must, as a matter of priority, ensure that these bodies have adequate 
and appropriate financial and human resources. We may vary in the type 
of machinery which we set up, but we must remain resolute in our 
determination to establish machineries which are viable, and are 
equipped to carry out the tasks required of them. As Ministers 
Responsible for Women's Affairs, you are undoubtedly familiar with the 
difficulties encountered in seeking funds for your programmes, and 
especially in persuading other ministries to make provision for gender 
integration. Together, we must explore new strategies for increasing the 
flow of resources to gender concerns. Failure in this area will leave 
the Plan of Action still-born. 

This meeting presents an ideal forum for us to discuss our input into 
the World Conference. You will recall that in Cyprus, it was agreed that 
we should present the Plan of Action as part of the Commonwealth’s 
unique contribution to the Beijing Conference. The next speaker will 
make a presentation on the linkages between our Plan of Action and the 
UN Platform for Action which will be discussed at this Conference. This 
should help us work out a strategy for making the most effective 
Commonwealth impact on the Conference. We believe that the Plan of 
Action is a good model to share with other governments. Among its 
highlights which we hope would commend themselves to other governments 
are the importance of strengthening national machineries, the attraction 
of having common goals to achieved through a flexible approach and the 
need to have well-defined monitoring and reporting systems. 

We must press the point that we can no longer live in a world in which 
women are faced with major inequities and imbalances in the enjoyment of 
their rights and in the distribution of resources. We must urge that 
success in achieving equality should be measured not simply in terms of 
'opportunities' but in terms of 'outcomes'.