ISO: DEU *************************************************************************** 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 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Please check against delivery Statement by Ms Claudia Nolte Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Fourth World Conference on Women Madam Chairperson, distinguished delegates, First of all, let me express my support for the statement made by the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. In 4 weeks, exactly 5 years will have passed since the restoration of German unity after more than 40 years of separation. I am very happy that, for the first time, women from the former German Democratic Republic are taking part as members of the German delegation in this conference and in the NGO-Forum. In 1989, hundreds of thousands of citizens of the German Democratic Republic, women and men, asked for democracy and freedom. The end of communist rule and the unification of Germany put an end to injustice and the arbitrary rule and gave freedom to the people. At present, the two parts of Germany are growing together. 40 years of diverging experiences in our country have now to be merged in a constructive and forward-looking process. One of the major challenges consists in solving the difficult issues in eastern Germany which were either caused or brought to light by the unification process. Women have been particularly affected by this transition. They bear the brunt of the job cuts as a result of the process of economic restructuring. We shall continue to face up to this challenge and do everything possible to improve their opportunities. Although problems women face all over the world are very different, there are many issues that we must tackle together. To me human rights for women are the focal point of this conference. I appeal to all of you to respect human rights for women as integral part of the universal, indivisible and inalienable human rights. These must not be restricted on grounds of religion, culture or tradition. They must be guaranteed in order to ensure that women and girls can fully and truly enjoy them. All of us - our host country as well as all the other states in the world - are called upon to denounce, prevent and punish violence against women as a violation of human rights. This includes infanticide, forced abortion, prenatal sex selection, and trafficking in women and girls. The respect for human rights and combat against violence affecting women are ethical imperatives. Violence against women and girls remains an important issue in Germany. We have succeeded in adopting numerous statutory improvements. For instance the provisions of penal law governing the trafficking in human beings have been tightened. Legal protection for the victims of sexual offenses has been improved. I am making every effort to make rape within marriage a legal offense. We shall continue to work towards the elimination of violence against women through continued special campaigns. Respect for human rights for women is one of the fundamental prerequisites for equality between women and men. In the past years United Nations' conferences have shown that global challenges cannot be mastered without equal participation of women, strengthening of their rights and continuous empowerment. The Federal Government considers it important to ensure that women all over the world learn to know their rights and are put in a position to assert them. In the framework of our bilateral development cooperation we will provide from 1996 to the year 2000 US$ 40 million for projects in the fields of legal and socio-political counseling in developing countries, with a particular emphasis on the interests and needs of women. Thus we want to contribute to a socially balanced economic and investment policy in developing countries so that women get an equal share in the economic and social development. Absolute poverty and structural discrimination still deny women in many parts of the world access to education, employment and economic independence. Women remain largely excluded from political economical and social decision-making. That is why we need economic empowerment of women. We all are called upon to further develop strategies and implement measures to ensure the equal participation of women at all levels and in all areas in a spirit of partnership between women and men. Since the Third World Conference on Women in 1985, much progress has been made in Germany towards equality of women and men. However the constitutional right of equality and equal access to resources does not automatically abolish all forms of discrimination in real life. In current debates in Germany equality is increasingly being measured by the degree of sharing between women and men: sharing of power and status, of rights and duties in the responsibility and to give up privileges. This social process needs political support while at the same time requiring the commitment of each and every person. To encourage this process of social change and as a follow-up to this conference, I intend to declare the year 1996 with regard to women's policy a year of "Equality, Participation Partnership" . Building upon the public awareness raised by the Fourth World Conference on Women we want to launch adequate activities and campaigns to raise the awareness of men and women for inequalities which still exist. In order to implement the decisions adopted in Beijing I shall convene a national follow-up conference. The national preparatory process made it evident that greater attention has to be paid to the needs of disabled women and the topic of "women and the environment". The preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women have led to intensified dialogue between government and non-governmental organizations in Germany. I consider it important to continue this dialogue. Shaping the relations between nations is not left to the governments alone. Non-governmental organizations and associations have entered the game and become players beyond national boundaries. At the eve of this conference, there was an intensive debate in Germany about the conference venue. I sincerely hope that holding this conference here will make a lasting contribution to achieving full respect of human rights in China and all over the world. We will be measured by our ability to fully implement the Program of Action of this conference.