ISO: ECU
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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 MRS. JOSEFINA VALLALOBOS DE DURAN BALLEN,
FIRST LADY OF ECUADOR,
IN THE 4TH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN


More than half of mankind is hoping that this Fourth World Conference
on Women, which without a doubt is one of the most transcendental
events of -the decade, will confront z)positively not only the
multiple challenges of achieving substantial progress in. the
elimination of the inequalities which exist in the process of human
development of women and men, but that it will also promote women ' s
actions concerning environmental, human rights, population and social
development issues recently discussed in major United Nations '
conferences

This is not just a conference in which women's issues are to be
addressed, as some people tend to think. It is a conference
concerning the human being in all his/her complexities . The problems
to be analysed here equally concern women and men of all ages, races
religions and cultures. Their solution is in. the hands of the
governments and the civilian society of both industrialised and
developing countries. After centuries of injustice and
discrimination, this is a soldiery and shared responsibility that no
one can avoid .

The Social Summit of March, 1995 unveiled a problem that is as old as
mankind: social inequalities have created a  huge gap between the
rich and the poor.

According to UNDP’s report on human development, the conditions of
men and women around the world are very different. We are alarmed by
the findings of this study as to the fact that women account for 70%
of the poor world-wide; two thirds of all illiterate people are
women; their economic and political influence is almost non-existent
compared with men; in the global economy, 11 billion dollars go
unregistered as they pertain to non-remunerated work done by women;
and in every country women are in a worse position than men. This
inequality has a universal nature, with dramatic effects on all
developing countries.

In Latin America, the most prudent calculations denounce that 60% of
the population lives below the poverty line. Much of what affects us
in the third World, the misery which stifles increasingly greater
areas around the world, is due to the insensitivity of the first
world. The responsibility for development cannot be left exclusively
in the hands of the governments of poor countries. Rich countries
must fulfil the obligations arising from the Social Summit, Or
Copenhagen. The wealth of some should not, necessarily entail the
poverty of others . For developing countries, the terms of exchange
are becoming increasingly unfair .

According to the report on human development already mentioned, those
countries who have adopted policies concerning equal opportunities
and gender condition and which have fostered the empowerment of
women, are currently at the top of the list of nations with the
highest rate of women ' s development . We coincide With Mr . James
Gustave Speth, Administrator of UNDP, in that " investing in the
training of women and empowering them so that they may exercise a
choice are measures that are not only intrinsically valuable, they
are also the safest way to contribute to economic growth and
development in general".

In this century we are living in, which is dying simultaneously with
many moral values that-t have allowed mankind to survive, we have
seen man explore outer space, but we have also seen him sink to the
most inconceivable aberrations . The advancement of women and the
solution of our vast social. problems do not necessarily mean the
weakening and the disappearance of family and true values; rather, we
need to give attention to truly priority problems such as the
protection of women’s rights, their contribution to development and
the respect of their dignity and their guarantees as human
beings.Notwithstanding the universal declaration of human rights and
fundamental freedoms of men, reaffirmed in the action program agreed
in Vienna in 1993 which explicitly recognised that the human rights
of women and the girl-child are an inalienable and indivisible part
of universal human rights, there has been a steady increase o£
violence against women, sexual harassment and exploitation,
systematic violations as war weapons, and ethnic cleansing. We hope
that this conference will adopt: measures similar to those taken at
regional level by the American countries in the Inter-American
Convention to Prevent, Eradicate and Condemn Violence Against Women
and to establish the relevant penalties to punish those crimes in all
national legislation’s.

Despite the fact that. maternal mortality has considerably decreased
around the world, there are still countries where mortality rates are
still high. No woman should die during labour; therefore, it is a
priority obligation of every government to enhance mother-children
health policies, and to increase the resources destined to this
noblest of all causes. , the protection of human life from its
conception.

The increase in HIV/AIDS cases around the world, which have reached
the level of a pandemic, supports a reflection on the fact that it
coincides with the sexual freedom we are currently experiencing. Much
of this is due to the misuse of the mass media, especially the
television, which has stripped us of the most important element in
these types of relationships, that is love and respect inside the
couple. There is no doubt that the source of this evil. is sexual
promiscuity, which ignores all moral or natural restraints. it is
regrettable that now many of the victims are innocent women and
children. The solutions to this problem should go beyond material
considerations and should recommend a reversion to healthy habits and
morality .

Speaking of women's health, we have to think of all the aspects of
women's health, including tropical and cardiovascular diseases as
well as cancers which kill more women than the AIDS virus .

Malnutrition affecting women and children in wide areas Of the world
is another evidence of the  defective distribution of resources
world-wide. The amounts of money destined to food programs are less
than one tenth of what is destined to weapons programs.

The Fourth World Conference on Women is not only a challenge for the
entire world but a responsibility for women. All the countries of the
world are represented here, presupposing multiple cultures, political
and legal systems, religions, races and proper customs that must be
respected. Tolerance, such as it was defined by the General Assembly
of the United Nations, should be put into practice. The success of
this conference will depend upon its ability to interpret this
diversity without undermining moral and traditional values. Thus, all
the countries shall be able to sign, without reservations, and apply
without misgivings a platform for action which means so much for so
weaken world-wide solidarity towards all women, besides jeopardising
the positive results of the Conference.

My country, Ecuador, in South America, wishes the best of successes
to this World Conference, and it shall. work towards the advancement
of women with the belief that improving the general condition of
women will enhance the standards of living of all o f mankind.

Thank you.