ISO: MHL
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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


REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
Statement by MRS. NEIJON EDWARDS
HEAD OF DELEGATION


Thank you Madame President,
Excellencies,
distinguished Ministers,
Representatives,
Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, I
thank you, Madame  President, for the capable manner you are presiding
over the deliberations of this conference. I  would also like to extend
my sincere appreciation to the Government, and the people of China -
especially the women for making this conference a reality, and providing
the services we need in  order to devote our attention to the needs of
women throughout the world. I would like to express  my gratitude to the
delegation of the Philippines for its strong leadership on behalf of the
G-77, and  I would like to associate myself with the remarks made by
that delegation.

It is an honor for the Marshall Islands to appear before you today to
discuss the issues and  challenges facing Marshallese women both in the
present, and as we approach the next century.  The new millennium holds
the promise of significant progress for women, yet still requires the
commitment of new and additional resources in order to implement the
Platform for Action. New  and additional resources from the
international community, along with specific commitments by  national
governments, have become part of the standard package for facilitating
development. It is  therefore the hope and expectation of the Government
of the Marshall Islands that the  international community will pledge
the necessary financial and technical resources to implement  the
objectives of the Conference on Women as it did at the Vienna, Barbados,
Cairo, and  Copenhagen conferences.

Madame President, today I will briefly highlight my Government's
national priorities for assisting  women, the course of action we are
taking to realize our goals, and the most glaring impediments  to
development facing women in the Marshall Islands.

The Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands is actively
supporting efforts to implement  the National Women's policy born out of
the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategy process. Planning  workshops have
been held to incorporate the issues raised by local women with the
strategies  agreed to in Nairobi. Based on this planning, the Government
of the Marshall Islands has  committed itself to:

- strengthen the Women's Affairs Division in the Ministry of Social
Services, as well as its  non-governmental counterpart, the National
Council of Women;

- establish a contact point in each ministry, and relevant agency to
assist with the implementation  of the National Women's Policy;

- conduct gender sensitivity training at all levels of national and
local government;

- require the Office of Planning and Statistics to include gender in all
new data and studies;

- support the eleven critical areas of concern identified by women
during the planning sessions,  including; education, health, culture,
and support of Women’s business initiatives, and;

- continue population education to combat our 4.2% annual population
growth rate which we have  neither the land space, the resources, or the
services to provide for.

While we are actively engaged in creating solutions to address our
national problems, there are  other impediments to the development of
women which are out of our control. As most of you are  undoubtedly
aware from statements that any Government has made at several United
Nations  gatherings, the Marshall Islands is still struggling to
overcome problems directly resulting from the  effects of the nuclear
weapons testing program on our islands which the United Nations itself'
supported and condoned. 'The radiation that the population was exposed
to at the time of the tests,  and the lingering radiation in the
environment and food crops where people live has caused  numerous health
and environmental problems which we lack the ability and the resources
to solve.

Unfortunately, Marshallese women have been suffering silently, and
differently from their male  counterparts. Because radiation causes
extensive damage to the reproductive system? women  throughout the
nation are plagued with birthing problems, and associated illnesses. As
I speak  today, the Government of the Marshall Islands is trying to
mobilize its energies to address a new  and startling fact about female
health which has just been  calculated: the leading cause of death now
for women in the Marshall Islands is cancer of the  reproductive system.
Although the level of health care available to pregnant women in the
Marshall  islands is inadequate, there is no doubt that there is a link
between this new cancer statistic and  the radiation which these women
have been exposed to. We know this is true since there is a direct
correlation between the distance from ground zero where women live, and
the incidence of  birth anomalies, stillbirths, and miscarriages. Madame
President, I still hear the cries of Marshallese  women who have been
exposed to radiation. If I could bring you the voices of these women on
every  atoll they would tell you about the children that have been born
without bones, with extra, or  missing limbs, or with gross
abnormalities which deify all imagination. Marshallese are  experiencing
these harrowing births in a culture which does not discuss failed
pregnancies. As you  can imagine, Madame President, this makes it very
difficult to get accurate information, or to help  women understand more
about their reproductive health problems.

It is my hope, Madame President, that the international community will
help provide us with the  expertise necessary to address our health and
clean-up needs. In the report accompanying the  extension of the Nuclear
non-Proliferation Treaty, the Member States adopted language which
welcomes   steps to safely resettle any human populations displaced by
nuclear contamination: and to restore  the economic productivity of
these areas. I he report also ". . .acknowledges the existence of a
special responsibility towards those people of former United Nations
Trust Territories who have been adversely affected as a result of the
nuclear weapons tests conducted  during the period of the trusteeship."
I would be remiss if I did not thank the United States  Government for
its continued willingness to address the contamination and health
problems. I hope  that special attention can now be focused on the
plight of women in the aftermath of the Cold War.

In the Marshall Islands, we understand first-hand the devastating
effects that radiation from nuclear  testing causes. We know its human
and environmental implications, and we do not wish them on   any of our
Pacific neighbors. For this reason, we join the speakers before me who
have strongly  denounced an end to all nuclear weapons testing. Nuclear
testing is a crime against humanity  which has been thrust upon the
Pacific region. It is immoral and arrogant to continue to use the
Pacific region as the world's testing ground for weapons. How can the
same weapons which are  too destructive and dangerous to detonate within
the borders of 'the industrialized nations be  acceptable for  the
Pacific region? Madame President, I whole-heatedly condemn the
Government  of France's resumption of testing in the Pacific. I urge
Governments throughout the world to hear our  collective voices of
protest and anger, and to successfully complete negotiations of' a
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

In closing, Madame President, it has been a long and arduous journey
from Nairobi to Beijing.  Enormous amounts of human and financial
resources have been dedicated to the creation of the  Platform for
Action.

The Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands is firmly
committed to the Platform for Action, and the time has now come to
translate our words into tangible actions that will assist women, and
humanity. Finally, let us not think of ourselves as people from
different nations, but as Mothers and caretakers of the world.

 Thank you, Madame President.