ISO: NOR
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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


Grete Berget
Minister of Children and Family Affairs
Norway,

THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN,
Beijing 1995


Madam Chair,

 When Prime Minister Ms Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1986 announced the
first government in Norway, m which nearly half the members were
women, she said these words: It is in the interest of society as a
whole that women's values and women's sense of justice be integrated
into political life. For a few weeks people thought that this
government looked strange. But we soon became used to it. By now it
has become the normal pattern. A government with only a few women
members would not be considered quite legitimate. It would be thought
to be undemocratic, and even look a bit silly. Women have become
entrenched everywhere in the political structure. Nearly 40% of the
members of parliament are women, and the President of Parliament is a
woman. In the last general elections two years ago all three
candidates for prime minister were women.

How did we get this far?

Let me state at the outset that equal and justice for women does not
come by itself. It involves changes in deeply rooted attitudes. It
requires political will and dedicated work on the part of political
parties, NGO's, trade unions and many others. And it takes time. Rome
was not built in one day. We started our steady march towards
equality more than 20 years ago. The process is nearly complete in
political life, but we still have a long way to go in other areas.

The adoption of gender quotas was important to ensure women their
fair share of political posts. By now all major political parties
behave as if they had a quota system, whether or not they have
formally adopted such rules. At first quotas were controversial, as
they still are in many countries. By now they are widely accepted,
because we have seen the good results. We have never been accused of
having to elect less qualified women simply because they are women.
There are plenty of talented and qualified women around. Quota-
systems simply mean that you have to look a little bit harder.

The large number of women in political posts has changed the
political agenda, and issues that tend to be of particular interest b
women, have high priority. How to strengthen the family and safeguard
the welfare of children take centre stage in our election campaigns.
A number of concrete reforms have been introduced over the last
years.

Family values and concern for children are important to us. There was
concern in the beginning that children would suffer when their
mothers took up employment outside the home in the 1970's and 80's.
Our answer was to adopt various mechanisms that would make it easier
to combine work outside the home and family life for both men and
women Working life has to adapt to the needs of families with small
children, rather than vice versa. Working parents with small children
have a number of legally protected rights. After the birth of a child
they may take one year of parental leave with 80% of their normal
pay. This leave can be taken out flexibly, as a so called time-
account scheme, so that the parents may work for instance a 6-hour
day until the child is more than 2 years old without loss of income.
The parental leave is paid by the government. Both parents may also
take one year unpaid leave each in addition to the paid leave, With
job security and protection of seniority. Parents with children under
the age of 12 may also stay at home with full pay for 10 days each
when their children are ill. And they may ask for reduced working
hours. The establishment of child care centre is progressing rapidly.
In Norway we spend more money on children and family affairs than on
National defence. We all work hard to complete our dream of a society
where men and women with small children both work a shorter day
outside the home, their children spend part of the day in a
stimulating environment outside the home, and there is enough time
for family life.

The one unfulfilled part of this dream is the role of men, and
particularly their role as fathers. All over the world children see
too little of their fathers. This is especially true in
industrialised societies. Men have left the home, and now it is time
for them to come back. The absence of fathers in the everyday life of
children is harmful both to the children, to women and to the family.
We now pay much more attention to this problem, and we even use some
gentle coercion. Fathers must take a minimum of four weeks of the
paid parental leave after the birth of a child. Most Norwegian men
fully agree with the need for equality also in the home, but as yet
they do not quite live up to their own ideals. A major reason for
divorce is frustration on the part of women because men do not take
their share. Both the joy of having children and the responsibility
for housework should be equally shared between man and wife. We are
on our way towards a new family pattern adapted to modern life.
Family values and equality for women are two sides of the same coin.

But, we will not reach equality if we do not make men move also. The
first Nordic conference on men took place in Stockholm earlier this
year. The father role, men's sexuality and sexual violence were
discussed, and the need to arouse global interest was stressed. We
want to firmly establish men's gender role on the global agenda for
equality, development and peace.

Norway has proposed that the Beijing Platform for Action shall call
for decriminalisation of women who have had an illegal abortion. We
hope that delegations seriously consider this proposal. Resorting to
an illegal and dangerous abortion is a desperate act on the part of
the unhappy woman. To treat her with compassion and care seems to be
the only humane way to deal with the situation. The large number of
women who die or are seriously injured from dangerous abortions is
similar to a major war that goes on quietly, year in and year out.
This vast problem must be given its due place at this Global Women's
Conference. In my own country we have been able to eliminate this
problem completely. For close to twenty years the woman herself has
had the last word in the decision to have an abortion or not. There
was fear, including among those agreeing with the new law, that the
number of abortions would rise. This did not happen, the number has
remained at the same level. the only change was that by now all
abortions are safe.

Norway was very pleased when it was decided to include a section on
the girl child in the Plan of Action. This section should be required
reading for anyone who might still question the seriousness and
extent of discrimination against girls and women. Gender-selective
abortions are tragic testimonies to the fact that girls in large
parts of the world are considered to have less value than boys and to
be a burden to their parents. New-born girl babies may be killed or
seriously neglected Girls may be given less and poorer food than
their brothers. They receive less health care and less education, and
are expected to carry a heavy work load from early years. They may be
subjected to the inhuman tradition of genital mutilation and to
sexual exploitation. The heart-rendering and dramatic stories of what
happens to girls demonstrate the root causes of discrimination of
adult women. The Vienna Declaration states that the human rights of
girls and women are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of
universal human rights. Fundamental freedoms and human rights are the
birthright also of girls - and our common responsibility to protect.

The 1995 Human Development report documents that 70 per cent of the
world’s poor are women. And there seems to be a trend towards
increasing feminizabon of poverty. This will not change until girls
and women get equal access to education, until their special health
needs are taken care of, until women can participate fully in
politics and have equal access to economic resources. An important
barrier to economic equality in my country was done away with in
1974. Until then, the right to take over farm land was for the oldest
son. Now the firstborn child, regardless of sex, is entitled to take
over the farm..

We have a clear strategy also in our development co-operation (aid)
to ensure that programmes benefit women and help to improve women's
economic opportunities, their access to education and health
services. In order to achieve is required. The 20/20 principle, which
was adopted on voluntary basis at the Social Summit, could be an
important tool if implemented with a gender approach. Norway is ready
to realise a tenderised 20/20 contract, and I hope this conference
will bring us closer to make this a truly global commitment.

The high social and economic returns of investing in women is now
fully documented, not least by the recent World Bank report on
gender. The consequences should be that ministers of finance and
planning throughout the world take the lead in implementing the
Platform for Action from Beijing - for the benefit of their own
country’s economy, and a better life for women, children and men. We
can only reach gender equality by taking action in a range of fields.
It will not do to commit ourselves only to a limited number of
measures. The Government of Norway will, as a matter of course,
commit itself to the entire Platform for Action.

Thank you for you attention.