STATEMENT

BY

THE HON. HAMILTON LASHLEY, M.P.

MINISTER OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

TO

THE TWENTY-THIRD SPECIAL SESSION

OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

"WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY,

DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FOR

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

June 6, 2000

NEW YORK

Mr/or Madam President

In the five short years since Beijing, we have been witnesses to and active participants in a New World order in which multilateral and global centered relations and interests predominate and reshape the fortunes and destinies of our nations.

In this new power-based, technology driven, international trading system, globalization and liberalization have become the most fundamental challenges confronting all nations. Their effects on the smallest, most vulnerable and least able to adapt, such as the Small Island Developing States are far-reaching. Barbados and other developing nations confront a myriad of challenges, which threaten to confine our citizens, in particular our women and children to remaining a vulnerable group.

This Special Session provides us with the opportunity to assess the progress made in achieving greater gender equality, consolidate gains: and to identify and focus our efforts on areas which continue to be of greatest concern. Barbados, as a Small Island Developing State, has been equally affected by these global changes: and consequently, has remained committed to the goals of Beijing, which identify strategies to improve the condition of women globally.

We have focussed on five areas for priority action:

I .Institutional mechanism (main streaming of gender in all areas of

development)

ii. Women in poverty

iii. Violence against women

iv. Women in decision making; and

v. Women and Health, especially reproductive and sexual health

The Ministry of Social Transformation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, NGOs and civil

society now carry out the work in these areas. Mindful of the pivotal role which women play in the social and economic development of society, the Ministry of Social Transformation combines women's affairs with social services, child care, community development, national assistance, care of the elderly, urban development, the national disability unit and the Poverty Bureau. This new Ministry seeks as well, to rationalize the existing social service agencies and to implement the priority strategies listed in the Beijing Platform for Action.

A positive initiative of this new Ministry has been the introduction of gender mainstreaming. To this end, the national machinery for women is being strengthened. A number of focal points have been established across ministries and departments to facilitate the gender management system.

Globally, violence against women has been identified as a priority area for action. Throughout the 1990s this issue has galvanised government and nongovernmental action in the Caribbean. (This heightened activity in the area of violence against women surfaced in 1992 when the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) formally defined gender-based violence as a manifestation of gender-based discrimination.)

The recognition that violence against women is a phenomenon, which is devastating to the development of a stable society, has led to the establishment of mechanisms to tackle the problem in Barbados. Legislation against domestic violence has been enacted and a shelter for battered women has been provided by Government and is managed by leaders in civil society. Legal aid is provided to victims and the family services department of the Ministry provides counseling for families. There has also been public education, in relation to domestic violence and the legal provisions, which exist to manage and prevent it. Training programmes have been established for police officers and personnel in the crisis centers, and a joint civilian/ police victim support program has been instituted.

It has been globally established that the bulk of poverty in developing countries is among women, possibly seventy percent. In Barbados and the Caribbean, these women are often single heads of households and therefore the principal if not sole breadwinners for families. Any conscious effort to eliminate poverty must therefore be an attempt to alleviate the economic and social condition of women. Consequently, in Barbados the alleviation of poverty has been identified as a priority area for action in advancing the status of women. While the chronic poor are not confined to women and include other vulnerable groups, there are issues related to gender which are structurally linked to poverty. The Government of Barbados has established a poverty eradication fund and has embarked on a series of measures to boost entrepreneurial activities that increase self-employment and create more employment among the unemployed youth and women.

Barbados has also established a Social Investment Fund (SIF) which currently provides loans for poor disadvantaged persons with a view to developing small business entrepreneurship. The Barbados Government has undertaken this programme in cooperation with the UNDP.

It has been established that good health is one of the ingredients inherent in the *attainment of sustainable development. Given the fundamental role which women play in development, women's health status must be a factor for any society's growth. Barbados holds as its philosophy that the right to health care is a fundamental human right. Therefore, it maintains a health care system of high quality with free health care for all. Government also makes provisions for

maternal health care, a free drug service for the elderly and chronically ill and a family planning service.

With respect to sexually transmitted diseases, world wide it has been noted that increasingly the HIV-AIDS disease is one which affects poor women. WHO statistics show that the Caribbean region has the second highest adult prevalence, globally. An alarming 33 per cent of HIV positive adults are women. Barbados has participated in regional programmes, assisted by UN agencies such as UNIFEM, in community-based research on the socio-economic factors that make women vulnerable to AIDS, as well as in advisory programmes aimed at AIDS education and prevention.

Recognizing that HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases pose significant problems for women and girls, and place an added burden on women as health care providers for the family, Government has moved to introduce a gender perspective in the delivery of health services. '

In tackling the problem of HIV/AIDS, Barbados has instituted the formation of a National Aids Committee. It is a concrete expression of the national will to confront the complex problems associated with the HIV pandemic. Through the Committee, public awareness programmes have been instituted and the public sensitized and educated in AIDS prevention programmes.

With regard to women in decision making, - in Barbados, there are no restrictions on women's participation in public and political life. Our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade is a woman. The Minister of Education and the Central Bank Governor are also women. Even with these significant and symbolic achievements, women in political office constitute a small majority, since women still tend not to stand for elective office. Barbados hopes to alleviate this condition through education and training. Indeed through a gradual process our women are rising to prominent leadership roles in all sectors.

Barbados supports the view that men must involve themselves in all areas of society and must take joint responsibility with women for the promotion of gender equality to promote social integration. To this end, Government is promoting a number of programmes to foster gender awareness and sensitivity.

In the midst of a hostile global environment for small island developing states, Barbados has struggled to meet the challenges of globalization and has maintained its development goals even in the most trying economic times. One of the negative consequences of globalization and structural adjustment programmes has been the feminization of poverty. Barbados therefore joins with those who call for the reform of the International Financial Institutions and we continue to insist on the increase and further improvement of financial and technical assistance that targets human and social development in Small States

and in developing nations. Measures like these will help to achieve some success for our poverty eradication programmes - aimed at women, children and men.

The United Nations' several conferences on social and economic development which took place half a decade ago have not produced all the results we longed for and to which we committed ourselves at Copenhagen and Beijing. Let us hope, Mr. President, that this Review of Beijing will prick the consciences of the whole world to achieve the betterment of humankind.

Thank you, Mr/ or Madam President. Let no obstacle be greater than the cause.