ISO: MDV *************************************************************************** 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 Honourable Ms. Raashida Yoosuf Minister of Youth, Women's Affairs and Sports of The Republic of Maldives at the Fourth World Conference on Women; Equality, Development and Peace Beijing, 11 September, 1995 Madam President, Secretary General of the Conference, Distinguished Delegates. Assalaam Alaikum... It is, indeed, a great honour for me to participate in the Fourth World Conference on Women: Equality, Development and Peace. I bring (greetings and good wishes of the Government and people of the Maldives to our gracious hosts and the distinguished participants of this Conference. I would like to share with you the actions taken by the Maldives towards the advancement of women and reaffirm my government’s commitment to integrate gender perspectives into the policy-making processes and work towards a gender balance in all areas. 2. At the outset, I would like to thank the Government and the people of the People's Republic of China, for the excellent arrangements made for this conference and for the warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation. I would be failing in my duty if I do not express our deep appreciation to Ms. Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Ms. Patricia Licuanan, Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women, for their dedication and commitment to ensuring genuine equality between women and men. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, 3. We, the women of the Maldives are fortunate to be able to enjoy equal rights as our men in most areas, including the right to property ownership and the right to vote. We have equal opportunities in education and equal pay for equal work. Women are represented in the Citizen’s Majlis or the Parliament, the Citizen's Special Majlis or the Council for Constitutional Reform and the Cabinet, while a large majority of our civil service comprises women. 4. The Maldives advocates the active involvement of women in the mainstream development process. Following the adoption of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the Maldives has taken several steps to strengthen the national machinery for the advancement of women in order to increase it's effectiveness and influence over the promotion of women's equality. 5. In this respect, the then Department of Women's Affairs was upgraded to ministerial level, under the portfolio of the Ministry of Youth Women's Affairs and Sports, which portfolio I am proud to be holding. 6. We have acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and will endeavor to bring our national laws into line with its provisions wherever necessary. 7. Keeping in view the spirit of development, based on the principles of equality and social justice and acknowledging the vital role women play in the development of the country, a national policy on women, has been developed. Important provisions of the policy include the achievement of a socially and morally justified partnership between women and men in the development of the country, on the basis of equality and social justice, which are political imperatives that no democratic government can ignore. 8. We believe that Beijing Platform for Action must reflect the fundamental values of family responsibilities, the reality of which cannot be over emphasized as recognized by the Cairo Conference on Population and Development. While acclaiming this reality, I am pleased to note that my Ministry is engaged in finalizing arrangements for convening a national conference on family integrity, to instill and enhance family values and responsibilities in the Maldivian society. 9. The task ahead of us is to lay the foundation for real and actual equality for women. Therefore, it is obvious that we have to translate into action the national goals we have set for expanding women's economic capacity and commercial networks and to provide women with access to credit, savings mechanisms, and to promote women’s self- reliance. 10. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of non- governmental organisations in the Maldives, working towards advancement of women. I am happy that some of these NGOs participated in the NGO Forum. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, 11. It is our hope that the coming years will witness an increase in participation of women all over the world in economic policy and activities through securing of economic rights for women and women's access to resources, employment, information, technology and trade; and the overall elimination of occupational segregation, and the creation of a flexible work environment, ensuring gender equality in all realms of society. 12. Inequality in decision-making and power sharing is an issue faced by many nations. We are committed at national level, to establish a gender balance in governmental bodies and committees, as well as in other areas, to achieve equal representation of women and men. 13. Further, every effort possible is being made to integrate women's concerns in all public policies and generate and disseminate gender disaggregated data and information. 14. We protect and promote the equal rights of women and men to engage in political activities and hope that the years ahead will see a significant increase in the number of women in political decision-making. Madam President, Distinguished delegates: 15. We strongly condemn violence against women and the girl-child. Whereas issues such as trafficking and infanticide, are not major concerns to us at the national level, I regret to say that we have reason to believe that, as in other countries throughout the world, violence against women does occur. I would like to express our commitment to eliminating violence against women and to creating institutional mechanisms so that women and girls can report acts of violence against them in a safe and cc)confidential environment. We wish to undertake an extensive study on violence against women in order to promote ways of overcoming and eliminating lt. Among other things, we would also work towards encouraging the media to promote a positive and balanced portrayal of women. In education, we aim at reaching 100% literacy, including basic legal literacy for women, to empower women with knowledge of their rights. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, 16. The Platform for Action to be adopted at this Conference is aimed at establishing a basic group of priority actions to be carried out into the next millenium. 17. Our concerns have been forwarded to this Conference through many proposals, including the Jakarta Declaration of 1994 adopted by Asia-Pacific nations and the Dhaka Resolution of 1995 adopted by SAARC countries in July, this year. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, 18. It is now Up to us to work towards achieving the goals of the Platform for Action. Let us reaffirm our commitment towards the advancement of women. Let us make the Fourth World Conference on Women a conference of commitment and action. Let us act today, so that we may meet at the next World Conference on Women, on an equal footing with men, to celebrate our achievements. Thank you, Madam President.