ISO: ARG *************************************************************************** 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 Statement by Argentina Amb. Ms. Zelmira Regazzoli to the Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing, 7 September 1995 Madame President, First of all, allow me to thank the Government of China for their hospitalityas the host of this Conference. I would also like to congratulate you and otherofficers of the Conference on their appointment, on behalf of Dr. Carlos SaúlMenem, President of the Argentine Nation. We have no doubts but that under yourleadership our important work will come to a successful completion; my delegationis committed to achieving this objective. Let me also emphasize briefly, on behalf of the Argentine Government, thedifficult preparations undertaken by the Secretary-General of this Fourth WorldConference, Dr. Gertrude Mongella. We are approaching the end of a century of extreme violence and nobleaudacity. In the first three decades of this century, the principles of itsfundamental changes had already been established through the avant-garde trends inphilosophical, artistic, scientific, technological and political thinking. Thiscentury has taken humankind to space, yet it has been unable to mitigate war,hunger, ignorance, injustice. This century has offered humankind many advances, yetin recent times has filled us with fear that the necessary action to achieve a moreeffective organization might shatter the moral and intellectual values that we haveacquired. This World Conference summons us now to reflect upon the issue of women. We are entering on a globally related world and must ensure that it will bebased not on homogoneity but on complementarity in diversity. We must realize that where popular wisdom is concerned, the people who haveconserved it, who have developed without denying it, are those who are able toachieve full maturity In this process we have, as women, an essential contribution to make, for wetramsit and engender culture, we epitomise dialogue, a way of thinking that willnever fail to reconcile thought and action. This IV conference brings us together to consider the subjectof Women. The subject of women is not just a subject, it is also a problem, and as suchit requires: Creativity and Operativeness In the past it was merely considered a subject, and hence was relegated vis àvis other problems considered to be a priority... When subjects become problems, other methods must be resorted to. This then is our inescapable and immediate commitment: to bring aboutchanges that will give us structural strength. The Heart of this option is Education. The importance of strengthening the role of women to achieve true equalitybetween women and men can no longer be denied. We are equal in terms of our dignity as human beings, our diversity isrichness and complementarity. The challenge is to create a social space obtainednot by a displacement of men and not by imitating the male model, but by workingtogether with them. It is not a question of occupying spaces in terms of quantity, but ofinnaugurating a new style, linked to a feminine culture. The attitudes of men willbe modified leading to a more equal and mature relationship. To-day we are faced with an interesting development, since characteristicsthat were traditionally considered to be feminine are now being incorporated asbasic training for high-level male managers and business men: -the development of sensibility -a capacity for mediation and dialogue -more personal treatment of others -agreement-making that goes beyond the simple overcoming of conflict. It has been found that these characteristics, apart from achieving bettereconomic returns, can lead toa greater loyalty to the work and to the company. What women have been doing for centuries on a daily basis now turns out tobe:A LEADERSHIP MODEL We must work on the re-forumlation of states to gurantee social equity ineducation, work, health, housing and all matters that affect the well- being andhappiness of humanity. This conference must stress the fundamental role of women as: -the centre of life -the creator of the home bringing people together -the motivator of values -the creator of culture and a decision-maker -the creator of new styles for leadership and the exercise of power, goingbeyond a view of power as domination and perfecting the concept of democracy as apriority choice for the common good. -a healer of the wounds of the past and a helper of the deprived of to- day. -a promotor of hope -linked to the world of spiritual values -a hostess at the banquet of peace The problem of peace is essential. A very contemporary question springs to mind ? What would happen if there were more Ministers of Defence ?.. Science and technology sustain the economic power of the developed countries,and the insecurities of those assaulted by inequality. The global outlook leads us to the question as to whether the benefits willalso be universal. As is always true of times of crisis,this is a time of challenge, requiringhard thinking and imagination. We await the XXI century with the need to think about all those factors thathave prevented human beings not only from reasonable material development but alsofrom spiritual growth, which is what gives a real meaning to life. Women must aim at a new type of creation, a true growth, with the commitmentof all states, so that with the effective development of the priorities establishedin the Platform of action by this Conference, it will be possible for us to embarkon the third millenium as true participants in the great decisions.Madame President, What have we achieved since Nairobi in Latin America and the Caribbean? Ours is the only region in which all States have ratified the Convention onthe elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. The Nairobi forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women, withequality, development and peace as their objectives, were the framework foractivities in Latin America and the Caribbean. For the Decade, our region added tothese objectives that of equitable productive development, thus incorporating newdynamics to the process by integrating that objective to the issues of development,peace, international cooperation and the pursuit of social progress. Looking forward, the Nairobi strategies remain a powerful guiding force. Theyhave made it possible to stress crucial points and to suggest action in order toovercome obstacles; they are not limited to socioeconomic aspects, since they alsoprovide for specific action to change cultural patterns and empower women in thepublic sphere and in the household. The strategies deal with the advancement ofwomen as individuals, their economic self-sufficiency and their dynamiccontribution to society; they elaborate demands from the particular perspective ofwomen and reaffirm their role as social agents.Madame President, Our region is in the forefront in the efforts to combat violence againstwomen. The 24th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), heldin Belem do Pará, Brazil, in 1994, adopted the Convention for the prevention,punishment and erradication of violence against women. This regional legalinstrument, elaborated by the Inter- American Commission of Women (ICW) was wellreceived at the international level. The Convention establishes the responsibility of States to take adequateaction in order to prevent, punish and erradicate violence; it enshrines theprinciple that violence against women is a violation of human rights and defines itincluding acts of physical, sexual and psychological violence in the public or theprivate domain that may cause damage or suffering to women.Madame President, With great pleasure, we declare that the Argentine Republic is one of themain countries concerned with the development of a policy ensuring equalopportunity for women. This does not mean that we have achieved the final goal ofequal opportunity, namely, the effective presence of women in all areas of society,but we remain certainly committed to that goal. The greater participation of women in our national decision-making processesis proof of this commitment: a National Council of Women and a Cabinet ofPresidential Women Counsellors have been established; legislation has been adoptedfor the considerable increase of the quota of women in our parliament, therebyincreasing to 30% the participation of women in the conventional assembly whichundertook the process of reform of our national Constitution in 1994. Among theprinciples enshrined in the reforms, human life was granted protection from thetime of conception, thereby ensuring the rights of the child from the very start ofhis or her mother's pregnancy and the establishment of a wide social securityscheme to provide for the mother and the child from helplessness (art. 75, para23). Equal political rights also have constitutional standing (art. 37). We arealso proud of our programmes on equal opportunity in education and employment, ourdomestic violence act and our regulations on sexual harassment. All theseachievements reflect the political will of the current administration to forgeahead in a process initiated 40 years ago by Ms. Eva Perón and what was at the timea great a political model. The introduction of the clauses that would recognize the women's rights in anew Constitution was a worrying issue shared by women representatives of politicalparties, lawmakers, academicians and women in the juridical field. From different areas it was supported the proposal of the constitutionaldelegates in order to crystalize in Chapter 4, among the Congress Responsabilities,article 75, paragraphs 22 and 23, of the new Argentine constitution, the hierarchysystem of treaties with other nations, with international organizations andconcords with the Holy See. The text of paragraph 22 reads (non official translation):"The treaties andconcorts are above the law. The American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Men;the Universal Declaration of Human Rihts; the American Convention of Human Rights;the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; theInternational Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol; theConvention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the InternationalConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;the Conventionon the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the ConventionAgainst Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment; the Convention onthe Rights of the Child ; according to their degree of implementation,they haveconstitutional hierarchy, do not abolish any article of the first part of thisConstitution and should be understood as complementary to the rights and guaranteesrecognized by them." "They may only be denounced, in every case, by the Executive with theprevious approval of the two thirds of the whole membership of the Chamber orRepresentatives and the Senate." " In order to possess constitutional hierarchy, the other treaties andconventions on human rights, after being approved by Congress, will require thevote of two thirds of the whole membership of Representatives and the Senate." Paragraph 23: "To make laws and promote positive action measures that securereal equality of opportunities and treatment and the full enjoyment and exercise ofthe rights recognized by this Constitution and by international treaties on humanrights in force, particularly regarding children, women, elderly and handicappedpersons." "To prescribe a special and comprehensive social security regime protectingchildren in helplessness situations, from pregnancy to the end of the period ofelemental education, and of mother during pregnancy and the lactation period."Madame President, For Argentina, education is a fundmental right, an indispensable instrumentfor the achieval of the goals of equality, development and peace. This right, as established under our New National Constitution, in laws thatpreceded it or developed from it, ensures effective gurantees for women to be ableto act in the case of all problems emerging in the world of to-day that requiretheir special participation. Matriculation figures for women at all levels of the educational system pointto the respectful and welcoming attitude towards women that prevails in thecountry. Neither in the field of education nor any other is there discriminationtowards women in Argentina, hence our women have a full and active awareness oftheir dignity, their gifts and their mission, a clear image of women as mothers andwives, joined to men for the procreation of children. And also a clearunderstanding of the role to be played by women with their capacity for using theirmaternal ability in all spheres of family, social, political, cultural and economiclife. An important step forward is marked by the Federal Law on Education, number24.145, that was approved in 1993. It establishes the criteriae to be adopted bythe Nation in the implementation of educational policy, effective equality ofopportunity, the rejection of all types of discrimination and the suppression ofany type of discriminatory stereo- type in teaching material. The placing of provincial educational services under the authority ofprovincial political and legal structures marks a respect for and strengthening offederalism, as established by our history, our laws and our National Constitution. In establishing basic syllabus contents for education to ensure the unity ofnational educational policy, commitments entered into by Argentina under theConvention for the Rights of the Child have been respected. These guarantee thejust intervention of parents in the choice of type of education most suited totheir children. The basic syllabus eliminates any idea of confrontation between men andwomen, thereby ensuring the riches for society of a harmonious and respectfulrelation beween the sexes. Aware of the true current of thought and the values that are traditional inArgentina, out educational system lays special emphasis on the family as the basicsocial cell, recognizing that the dignity of a woman derives from her "being as aperson" and her "being as a woman" indispensable for the harmonious life ofsociety, be it within the family or in other spheres of society and of life. As Pope John Paul II has said, and this is endorsed by our President,Dr.Carlos Saul Menem, the future of the world depends to a great extent on theawareness of our women of themselves, of the just recognition that is owed to them,and to the education that we give them. As we stated on the occasion of the International Conference on Populationand Development, held in Cairo, we conceive the family as the union of man andwoman; in their coming together lies the generation and realization of humankind. It is important that our work results in the guidance of activities towardsdevelopment. The situation of women is not only of interest to them, but to societyas a whole. In order to improve that situation, women must participate fully in theglobal development process of every community. The consolidation of democracy is closely linked to the presence of women incommon spheres of action. In this context, their access to levels of decision-making, governance and political participation in general have gradually integratedwomen in society. The integration of the identity of women in the mainstream of societyinvolves their unlimited access to all fields and endeavours of human action on anequal footing with men.The fundamental challenge is therefore to contribute to thecreation of a political environment whereby a proposal inspired in tolerance andrespect may emerge and whereby a social project based on the coexistence of andinterrelationship among different social subjects rather than on exclusion, mayhave a chance to develop.Madame President, In a world tending towards a new equation of State, civil society, family andperson, we express our strong belief in the family as the protagonist ofsocioeconomically and environmentally sustainable development. In a world where hope depends upon an increasingly participative democracy,we express our strong belief that the promotion and protection of human rightsstarts at the very heart of the family. Our systems of justice must combat every act of injustice, discrimination andviolence against women and ensure their participation in all areas of society. In a world whose values show signs of crisis, we reaffirm our strong beliefin their strengthening within the family. In a world which tends towards the establishment of economic zones andglobalization, this Fourth Conference must be an opportunity for all women on Earthto strengthen their bonds of solidarity and for all peoples and governments tocommit themselves to the pursuance of common goals in the name of equality amongall human beings.Madame President, In conclusion, let me quote a verse of the Song of Ecclesiastes:"Why is oneday more lovely than another if the light of each day cometh from the sun?" Thank you very much.