***************************************************************************
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


Council of Europe - Conseil de l'Europe  
EMBARGO UNTIL 7 SEPTEMBER 1995 AT 18hOO LOCAL TIME  
UNITED NATIONS FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN 
Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 

Statement by Mr. DANIEL TARSCHYS 
SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE 

 
Excellencies,
ladies and gentlemen, 
 
As Secretary General of the Council of Europe - a European organisation  
of intergovernmental co-operation, bringing together 36 like-minded  
European States - I am honoured to address this august Assembly. 
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the Fourth United Nations World  
Conference on Women is a portentous occasion. It will not be recorded in  
the annals of history merely because it is the, as yet, biggest  
gathering of the international community, but principally because its  
topic features among the most burning issues on the agenda of the World  
community: the promotion of women's rights and equality between women  
and men, which is synonymous with the promotion of Human Rights,  
themselves the foundation of justice, development and peace in the  
world. 

Equality, development and peace. These are the central themes of this  
Conference. They mutually reinforce each other. Without equality, there  
can be no real development, and the active participation of women in the  
events of our time is crucial for stability and peace. Yet, it is  
essential to acknowledge that any development worthy of that name must  
be a development for Human Rights. The respect for Human Rights, their  
protection, fuller realisation and promotion are an inseparable part of  
the process towards better, more just, peaceful and fully-developed  
societies. The promotion and realisation of women's rights and equality  
between women and men must be approached from the standpoint of Human  
Rights, which require respect of the dignity, integrity and liberty of  
all human beings, be they women or men. Women's rights and Human Rights  
are one and the same thing. 

Such is the thinking within the Organisation of like-minded nations  
which I have the privilege to head. It has been in this vein that the  
Council of Europe has been actively contributing to this momentous event  
over the past months, firstly through the convening, in February 1995,  
of a European Conference on the theme "Equality and democracy: Utopia or  
challenge?". This Conference, the conclusions of which were prepared by  
her Excellency the President of Iceland, Ms Vigdis Finnbogadottir,  
focused on equality in the perspective of Human Rights and genuine  
democracy. The reports of the discussion groups and the conclusions have  
been reproduced in a document which has been placed at your disposal. In  
June 1995, an informal exchange of views was organised with Council of  
Europe's member States and other like-minded nations to review the state  
of preparations of this Conference. On this occasion, a comparative  
survey of the Draft Platform for Action with previous international  
commitments in this field was issued. 

More recently, in July 1995, the Committee of Ministers of the Council  
of Europe -the executive organ of the Organisation - adopted a Message  
to this Conference, stating its conviction that "the values underpinning  
pluralist democracy, Human Rights and the rule of law cannot be fully  
achieved until equality between women and men has been obtained" and  
reiterating its "commitment to the principle of equality between women  
and men as a fundamental principle of Human Rights". It expresses the  
firm hope that this principle will be approached in the same way at the  
Fourth World Conference. 
 
That, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, is the message that I wish to  
convey to you from the Council of Europe. 
 
Human Rights are universal and indivisible 

Since its inception, in 1949, the Council of Europe has had as its  
central mission the safeguard and promotion of pluralist democracy, the  
rule of law and Human Rights. These values have since been proclaimed as  
being those of the international community as a whole. They must not be  
regarded as a luxury which only relatively wealthy westernised States  
can afford: in particular, no State can afford to use poverty, over- 
population and insufficient degree of development as pretexts for  
postponing, neglecting or denying the enjoyment of Human Rights by  
persons within their jurisdiction. 

The fact that the international community has not yet succeeded in  
ensuring full respect for Human Rights worldwide should not lead us to  
the hasty conclusion that the philosophy underpinning Human Rights has  
proved to be ineffective in creating a better World. On the contrary: it  
is a sign that Human Rights must constantly be fought for and that it is  
the disregard of Human Rights which constitutes the obstacle to a more  
peaceful, just and developed World. Human Rights are an essential  
countervailing factor: they limit the arbitrary abuse of power, notably  
the power of the State over the individual, but also the power of  
individuals or groups of individuals over others. Human Rights  
circumscribe the exercise of power and attenuate its violence. Respect  
for and the enjoyment of Human Rights are - to quote the Committee of  
Ministers' message - "the duty of every State, irrespective of social,  
cultural, moral or religious traditions, economic or political systems". 

The World is facing a multiplicity of challenges: war, ethnic cleansing,  
exacerbated nationalism, racism, intolerance, violence, religious  
fanatism and fundamentalism, poverty and hunger, social exclusion,  
unfair distribution of wealth between and within societies, to mention  
only a few such challenges. While Human Rights may not be the universal  
aspirin, the absolute remedy, for solving all the World's problems, it  
must be acknowledged that the persistence and increase of many such  
problems is due to the fact that Human Rights and their underlying  
values are rejected, flouted or are insufficiently known, espoused and  
applied. 
 
The Human Rights edifice is founded on the equal dignity and worth of  
all human beings. Human Rights are inherent to every woman, man or  
child. As such, they are universal and can not be relativised on grounds  
of "particularities" of a political, social, economic, cultural, moral  
or religious nature. Human Rights are indivisible and form a whole, be  
they civil, political rights will not be able to accede to development  
and enjoyment of economic and social rights. As stated at the World  
Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, Human Rights are universal,  
indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.  

This Conference owes it to the world at large-through the Platform it  
will adopt and the action it will advocate- to reaffirm this principle  
loud and clear. 
 
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let us also remind ourselves that  
Human Rights are not only yours and mine. They are above all those of  
the most vulnerable in our societies who are entitled to the respect of  
their dignity, integrity and rights, irrespective of their sex, race,  
colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or  
social origin, property, birth, status or other condition. Human Rights  
imply solidarity between and within societies and, as such, are the  
responsibility of every human being and every State structure. 
Women's rights and the right to equality between women and men are Human  
Rights 
 
It is a well-known fact that women, because of their gender, are still  
today exposed to violations of their Human Rights 
 
The deterioration of socio-economic conditions in some parts of the  
World, the emergence of State condoned religious and other forms of  
fundamentalism, the perpetuation of non-democratic regimes, the increase  
in international and internal conflicts, as well as other factors, have  
let loose forces in many countries against women's rights and against  
their position in society. This backlash, alongside the survival of  
attitudes, customs and practices in certain countries, which assimilate  
women to sub-human beings, has given rise to a litany of examples of  
denial of Human Rights for women. The examples are perhaps most flagrant  
in such areas as physical and other forms of violence against women;  
trafficking in women and forced prostitution; forced marriage; mass  
rapes and coerced procreation; genital and sexual mutilation; prenatal  
selection of gender; coerced abortion; infanticide of baby girls, all of  
which are abhorrent attacks on the life, dignity and integrity of women  
and the unborn and born girl child. Women are also denied such basic  
rights as the possibility to take free and responsible decisions  
concerning reproduction and life styles, including whether and when to  
have children; they suffer from shortcomings in reproductive health;  
they are often denied access to education on an equal footing with men;  
they are generally paid less than men for work of equal value and do not  
enjoy equal opportunities on the labour market; they are persistently  
under-represented in political and public life. Women constitute 70% of  
those living in poverty in the World; they represent two thirds of the  
illiterate population. These are just a few examples, lifted from the  
numerous reports which illustrate the preoccupying extent of the denial  
of the Human Rights of women all over the World. They demonstrate that  
the power relationship between women and men, in which women are still  
regarded as lesser(sub-human) beings in many societies, constitutes a  
formidable obstacle to the enjoyment by women of their Human Rights. 
 
Do we want to carry over this shameful heritage into the 21st Century?  
Or do we want to offer new generations of women and men a better life  
based on mutual respect of the two components of humankind: the feminine  
and the masculine? We must clearly opt without for the latter. 
 
That means that we must make sure not only that no ground is lost at  
this Conference, but also that it paves the way for genuine equality  
between women and men in the Century come. Genuine equality will give  
women the right to defend their own multifarious interests and  
perspectives, and society will be able to draw benefit from the  
experience, the competence and the creativity of women. 

A major step in the right direction was made in the Declaration, of the  
World Conference on Human Rights, stating that "the Human Rights of  
women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible  
part of universal Human Rights". In the Council of Europe, we feel that  
it is of the utmost importance that that principle should be  
unambiguously reaffirmed by this Conference, and that it will take on  
board the statement of Her Excellency, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, in her  
conclusions of our February Conference, namely "it is totally  
unacceptable that in the name of "cultural traditions", "religion",  
"regional particularities" or level of development, women continue to be  
denied their fundamental rights and freedoms, their right to self- 
determination, the right to exercise their citizenship". 

International-standard setting can be instrumental in "setting the tone"  
for the protection and promotion of women's Human Rights and of the  
right of women and men to equality. However, a perusal of the various  
international Human Rights treaties - both universal and regional -  
reveal that these texts tend to be gender neutral, "unisex" texts which  
"gloss over" the existence of women. In fact, on closer inspection, such  
texts are frequently not tailored at all for women and this may explain  
why they have - on average - worked less well for women than for men.  
The international legal community has a duty to consider how mainstream  
Human Rights enforcement mechanisms can be enhanced and made more  
workable for women. 

The adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of  
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, was a significant step  
forward in the international standard-setting of women's Human Rights.  
However, the large number of reservations lodged by States in respect of  
this Convention seriously hampers its effectiveness, and, in some  
instances, empties the Convention of any meaningful substance. This  
Conference will - I hope - call for the withdrawal of such reservations,  
and at the same time, support the proposal for an Optional Protocol,  
empowering the Convention's supervisory body to examine individual or  
collective complaints. Within the Council of Europe, the Committee of  
Ministers has, for its part, initiated work with a view to the possible  
inclusion of the fundamental right of women and men to equality in the  
European Convention on Human Rights. This would imply that respect of  
this right would be submitted to international judicial procedures, and  
a legitimate basis would be provided for positive action to correct  
subsisting inequalities. The successful completion of this work would  
thus constitute a major breakthrough in the international protection of  
women's Human Rights. Another step forward in the right direction was  
made in June this year, when the Committee of Ministers adopted a  
Protocol to the European Social Charter providing for a system of  
collective complaints which may be lodged with the Charter's supervisory  
body. This Protocol may also enhance considerably the protection of  
women's rights. 

The full scale inclusion of women's rights within the mainstream of  
Human Rights not only entails international standard-setting, which can  
serve as an agent of change at the national level and provide avenues of  
redress for women. It also requires measures at the national level,  
including the explicit recognition of the right of women and men to  
equality in constitutions and/or legislation as well as the  
establishment or enhancement of national equality machinery. The legal  
culture, which is still predominantly masculine, must be changed in a  
manner which recognises and responds to violations of women's Human  
Rights and promotes equality. Women must be informed about their rights  
and instructed on how to avail themselves of them. 

Equality - a requirement for democracy 

Enabling women to enjoy fully their Human Rights on an equal footing  
with men is not only a matter of justice and equity, it is also a  
necessity if we are to create a better World. As early as 1988, the  
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe emphasised that equality  
between women and men is a sine qua non of democracy and an imperative  
of social justice. 
 
Nowadays, it is utterly untenable to argue that problems can be solved  
and countries governed in a satisfactory manner, notwithstanding the  
fact that women are under-represented in or are excluded from the  
processes through which societies function and are governed. 
 
At the global level, the percentage of women in national parliaments  
amounts to only 10%, their representation in governments being around  
6%. The decision-making processes -notably within the political  
institutions - continue to be male dominated, including in Western  
democracies. 
 
Within the Council of Europe, it is considered that one of the  
prerequisites of democracy must be the participation, on an equal  
footing, of women and men in all walks of life. The participation of the  
citizens is a guarantee for the survival and enhancement of the  
democratic system, and the effective participation of women in public  
life is thus a prerequisite for a genuine and mature democracy.  
Moreover, the exclusion of women from the democratic processes is - from  
a purely pragmatic perspective - a tremendous waste of talents and  
experiences. 
 
Women must become full actors in our societies, both as contributors and  
beneficiaries, with the same rights and responsibilities as men.  
Specific measures may be called for to remedy the democratic deficit,  
including the setting of parity thresholds and target figures in the  
various organs of the State as well as in political parties, and new  
modus operandi - which reconcile public and family life - should be  
established for political and public institutions. Training of, support  
for and advice to women must accompany these measures and political and  
civic education should be generalised. The action of women's NGOs is  
also essential in encouraging women to become engaged in politics and in  
community activities, to develop leadership skills and to exercise fully  
their citizenship rights. 

Looking at equality in a new way - strategies forward  

A new approach to equality is being worked out within the Council of  
Europe, from which I hope this Conference will draw inspiration. 
 
We must seize this opportunity to look at equality in a positive vein,  
that is: not in terms of the power struggle between men and women, but  
in terms of what each sex can contribute to the functioning of society  
and what society as a whole can gain from it. The aim should be to  
strive for a new social contract in which women can fully assert  
themselves, based upon solidarity between women and men, upon  
partnership and parity of the two components of humankind, equal in  
dignity and worth. 
 
It implies the redefinition of the traditional roles of women and men,  
overcoming obstacles to women's self-determination and reconciling  
family and professional life for both sexes, at individual level and in  
the organisation and structures of political and public life. 

This approach also implies new methods to promote equality. Statistics,  
research, information on discrimination against women are, of course,  
important. But, for the future, our main aim should be to incorporate  
gender equality as a natural component in all areas of policy and at all  
levels, (local, regional, national, supra-national, international). This  
means that the knowledge, experience, needs, interests and opinions of  
both women and men must form the basis for devising policies in all  
areas of society. This holds true for social affairs, culture and  
education, as well as in areas habitually labelled as "gender neutral",  
such as industrial, economic, financial, environmental, defence and  
foreign policy. This gender equality perspective must go hand in hand  
with measures to promote equality, such as equality machinery and  
legislation. 
 
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we must acknowledge that equality  
between women and men is a matter for society as a whole: it concerns  
all walks of life. It concerns both women and men, and both need to work  
together to make equality successful. 

We need to find ways and means of helping men understand what they, too,  
will gain from a genuine partnership and sharing of responsibilities in  
public, professional and private life, and foremost, what they - and  
society - will loose without it. 
 
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

I shall conclude, firstly, by thanking the authorities of the People's  
Republic of China for having hosted this Conference and having provided  
the tremendous infrastructure without which such a Conference could not  
take place. As a participant in this unique event, I would like to  
express my appreciation for their remarkable efforts to ensure the  
smooth running of this Conference. My thanks are also addressed to the  
Secretariat of the United Nations for their untiring efforts to ensure  
the success of this event. 

Allow me to express the firm hope that the debates of this Conference  
and of the parallel NGO Forum in Huairou will be widely disseminated -  
through the media, NGOs and other channels - to the population of China  
and the World at large, and that they will serve as a catalyst for a  
more just, peaceful and developed World in the Century to come. 

I thank you for your attention. 

For more information about the Council of Europe's work on equality  
between women and men, contact: Council of Europe Directorate of Human  
Rights, Section Equality between women and men  
F - C7075 STRASBOURG CEDEX Fax (+33) 88 4127 93