ISO: NGA *************************************************************************** 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 ADDRESS BY THE HEAD OF NIGERIA'S DELEGATION, HER EXCELLENCY, MRS. MARYAM SANI ABACHA THE FIRST LADY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN, BEIJING CHINA SEPTEMBER, 4TH - 15TH 1995 Madam President, I have the honour and privilege to bring to this august International Conference the fraternal greetings and messages of good will from the Government and People of the-Federal Republic of Nigeria. I must begin by congratulating You Madam President on Your well deserved election to preside over this important conference. We are very confident that your leadership of this meeting will satisfy the yearning of multitude of people all around the world who share our great ideals of peace, development and equality as a basis for improving the status of women. Madam President, I must equally express our deep appreciation and gratitude to the government and People of the People’s Republic of China for the very generous hospitality extended to us since our arrival to this great Country. We also wish to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the secretary General of this Conference, our dear sister Madam Getrude Mongella, and members of her secretariat, for their efforts in ensuring very successful Preparatory Processes for the conference. The Nigerian delegation would like to seize this opportunity to congratulate the entire United Nations System for Promoting the interests of women in their various activities. We believe that the continued support especially of the regional Commissions and specialised agencies will ensure that women issues remain at the centre of the global agenda. We equally congratulate the United Nations for attaining it's 50th Anniversary and wish for more years ahead of Promoting Peace} security and international co-operation in the world. Madam President, it is indeed very gratifying for all of us here witnessing this meeting in which governments and Peoples of the World will once again negotiate consensus on the ways and means of improving the quality of life of women. It is on record that ten years ago in Nairobi, Kenya, we adopted a landmark declaration on forward looking strategies for the advancement of women. For us in Africa, the Nairobi meeting was the watershed for galvanising the awareness of our womenfolk and for making the government to embark on various Programmes to improve the social, economic and Political status of women. In Nigeria the last ten years have been remarkable in bringing women issues into the mainstream of our National agenda. At Present our womenfolk are highly mobilised to ensure that issues dear to them receive priority attention. On its part, government has come to take women issues very seriously and with due regards to all universal affirmations on improving the status of women. consequently, the Nigerian Government has signed all international agreements that promote the advancement of women. Internally, the government regularly consults with women not only on matters of direct relevance to them but in every single issue that affects our national society. Indeed, as a practical demonstration of a strong commitment to women issues, the Federal Government up graded its national Commission for Women to a full fledged Ministry for Women Affairs with a woman as Cabinet Minister, Similarly, the Government recently Passed a law establishing a National Centre for Women Development to serve as a resource base for the conduct of research and for co-ordinating the activities of women organisations within and outside the country, Madam President, the recognition of the challenges facing societies of strengthening women's role in the family spurred us to launch the Family Support Programme in 1994. The Programme intends to complement the efforts of the government Particularly in the area of social service delivery, and support programmes that sustain family cohesion and improve the quality of life of its individual members. In the implementation of the Family Support Programme, co-ordinating committees have been set up at the local community levels to ensure that our various projects reach the grassroot, At the National and States levels, Special Trust Fund have been established to Provide steady funding for Projects with active support of Non-Governmental Organisations and Philanthropic individuals. Indeed as Part of gains of the Family Support Programme, arrangements are now at advanced stage to establish a national referal Hospital for Women and Children to specifically address tile Peculiar Health Problems of Nigerian families. similarly, various Projects in the core areas of Education, Health, Agriculture, Women EntrepreneurshiP have been earmarked for Improving the quality of life of some under privileged populations Indeed prior to all this endeavour the government in Nigeria had established two specialised Financial Institutions; the Peoples Bank and "Community Banks", which are mandated to operate more flexible lending conditions than the conventional banks as a deliberate policy to promote entrepreneurship among our women, Madam President, while I have taken sometime to enumerate the gains achieved on the advancement of women in Nigeria, I do not want to create the impression that it has been a bed of roses, and that all the Problems that are disturbing to women are now over. certainly, our women, like the rest of their sisters especially in the developing world are battling for survival under very harsh and discriminatory traditional Practices which marginalise the women and make them the underdog of the very society they nurture and sustain. EQUALITY Madam President, I believe, right from the time when decision to convene this global conference was mooted, nobody is left in doubt of its need and in particular the suitability of its theme. Thus, as we discuss the issue of women and development in this Beijing Meeting we invariably have to apply gender Perspectives to national, regional and global issues. The predominantly patriarchal nature of most societies in the developing world enthrone our male counterparts at the helm of affairs who should now be willing and ready to accept and appreciate the capabilities of the women folk. In this respect we must determine our unique concern and Priorities on our action programmes realising that women cannot emerge economically strong even in the next century unless they are given ample access to development opportunities as has been available to the menfolk. We therefore must be ready to engage everyone else from all parts of the world in the rewarding task of Promoting equality that entail shared responsibility and partnership. It is for this and many other similar reasons that I special 1Y appeal to the General Assembly of United Nations to appeal to all member nations to make constitutional provisions that make it mandatory for a given Percentage of women to be involved in key policy-making areas of governance. This will go a long way to redress the serious imbalance being presently experienced and facilitate the emergence of meaningful participatory democracy in the context of Politically correct gender perspective. Madam President, the issue of equality is very dear to women, We must therefore come out with concrete measures to ensure its effective realisation. In this regard, I believe that education is one of the greatest equalizer of opportunities that will up lift the status of our women. Formal and non formal education are very crucial for the girl child to optimally realize her potentials and contribute to the process of development. But in the Present circumstances, there is a need to provide special programmes for the education of our women especially at higher levels. I will call Upon countries all over the world to consider establishing special universities exclusively for women as a way to reduce gender gap in higher level manpower Position. We in Nigeria are now considering a proposal of establishing a Special University for Women. Madam President, I must point out that the task of ensuring equality is by no means an easy task. A lot could be done to address the issue right from the beginning through realisation that all sexes of the human race are equal. But in a situation where we show preference for the boy-child over the girl-child and accord them unequal treatments in favour of the boy, we are indirectly creating a gender gap that would be difficult to remedy in later years. Equality could be further achieved by improving the security of our women against their practical difficulties. It is desirable to consider establishing special insurance scheme for women to avert difficulties emanating from divorces, widowhood or any other unforseen circumstances. We in Nigeria are considering a proposal towards establishing such an insurance scheme for our women. DEVELOPMENT Madam President, I must point out that any genuine effort to develop tile citizens of developing nations must tackle the burning issue of poverty eradication among the Populace. In this respect we must recognise that our efforts in the African region to fight poverty and under development are adversely affected by heavy debt burdens. Consequently, various nation states have helplessly continued to watch their citizens being impoverished despite the various reform programmes of the International Financial Institutions which failed to provide desirable benefits. I believe the United Nations has a responsibility to deal with this reality In similar vein, I also believe tile developed nations should take keen interest and demonstrate firm and Practical Commitment to reducing the poverty and anguish of the developing nations. While on the other hand, the developing nations should evolve effective ways and means of reducing their over dependence on foreign assistance. Similarly; international financial institutions should strengthen their moral commitments to humanity by Providing long moratorium on debt repayments for the developing nations or ideally, out-right debt cancellation so that developing nations can have a new lease of life and make progress, Indeed Madam President, I will recommend that this conference calls for the urgent convening of an international forum to discuss the external debt situation of developing nations to ensure that we do not enter the 21st Century with this monumental hinderance to development PEACE Madam President, as we converge for this conference nobody is left in doubt about the centrality of world peace in the agenda of our meeting. We certainly need peace without which no amount of effort to improve tile quality of life of our women folk can attain any appreciable success. We need universal Peace of mankind to advance as rational beings endowed with special qualities with which to think, reflect and draw Plausible and objective conclusions. But universal Peace can only be established and sustained when individual countries not only preach but ensure that peace effectively exist within their territorial borders. There is no doubt that the recurring Problems of strife, wars and different forms of violence give women, as wives and mother serious cause for concern. As You are aware, women and children are always the biggest casualties of devastation of war and conflict, It will therefore, not be out of Place for us to think of ways and means of ending this human tragedy which is now witnessing a dramatic increase. Undoubtedly, peace and Progress will continue to elude us for as long as certain People or nationalities flout the rules of civilised behaviour. I must reiterate that the continuing wars such as the one in Rwanda, Liberia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chechnya, to mention but a few, do not augur well for tile establishment of Peace around the world. These devastating wars are un-called for, unreasonable, and highly condemnable. Clearly, arrogance and bigotry whether borne of irrational feelings resulting from claims of racial superiority or other differences should not warrant armed conflict, I must strongly point that no individual has a choice or control over his or her Predestined conditions of sex, socio economic back ground or geographic location. In this regard there is no scientific or moral justification for any group to wipe out another either in the name of "ethnic cleansing" or “racial superiority.” I will appeal to women all over the world to collectively come together and Prevail over the current trend of warfare in many Parts of the world. I strongly believe that the path to follow in ensuring universal Peace is humanising our societies by recognising the inherent inalienable dignity of every human being regardless of his or her social milieu, We need to tolerate one another and work harmoniously and in concert for the promotion of the well being of mankind, We must Plant the seed of societal Peace right. from our homes by providing appropriate and unprejudiced training to our Young children, These efforts should be complemented by school and other training institutions in the society, On their part, governments and nongovernmental institutions should evolve programmes and projects specifically devoted to the Promotion of world peace, I would like to seize this opportunity to inform you that as part of its contribution, the Federal Republic of Nigeria has recently established the International Institute for Training for Peace to serve the training needs of the whole African Region in this area, I hope other nations will evolve whatever else that may support the quest for peace on this Earth. Indeed my delegation would like to propose to this conference to recommend to the General Assembly of tile United Nations the convening of world conference on peace before the end of this century. The major task of the conference will be to chart a new course for the International Community in line with the objectives enunciated by the United Nations Secretary General’s "Agenda for Peace". The 21st century must be a century of peace for the world. We must accept that this is a Priceless sift which our generation of leaders should bequeath to the succeeding generation. Madam President, I strongly believe many challenges face this historic conference, We must therefore resolve all our issues with unfailing determination and commitment to save our women folk from degradation, exploitation and despair. We must translate into action our faith in preserving human dignity defending the institution of the family in its traditional set up, and promoting the goals of equality, development and peace. I pledge the full support of tile Nigerian delegation this endeavour and reiterate our commitment to ensuring the successful implementation of the outcome of the Beijing Conference. In this respect, we look forward to a mid-decade review where most of the currently identified obstacles should have been eliminated. Madam President, we came to Beijing with high hopes. Heads of government, First Ladies, Ministers, Diplomats, Technocrats, Civil Servants, Officials of the United Nations and other organisations, women and men from all walks of life are here today gathered to do nothing else but to demand the best ways to improve the status of women. I strongly believe that the time is now and the Place is here for the United Nations, the people of the world and the women in particular to come together and collectively move the world towards sustained achievement of peace, development and equality as we march towards advanced civilisation. Madam President, thank you once again and God Bless.