PERMANENT MISSION OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN

TO THE UNITED NATIONS

WOMEN 2000:

GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT

AND PEACE FOR THE TWENTY‑FIRST CENTURY

23 R° SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

STATEMENT

BY

H.E. MS. ANDREA WILLI,

MINISTER FOR FAMILY AFFAIRS

AND EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

NEW YORK, 5 JUNE 2000

Madam Chairperson

Liechtenstein's membership in the United Nations and our involvement in the Organization's work on issues of equality between men and women have in the past played a catalytic role for the advancement of women's rights in Liechtenstein. This trend has continued very strongly after the Fourth World Conference. It is a great pleasure for me to take this opportunity to present to this important gathering a brief outline of these efforts over the past five years. In the beginning of 1997, the Liechtenstein Government submitted a report to parliament, in which it concluded that the necessary legislation for the full equality between men and women was in place. As in other countries, however, it was also noted that there was a continued gap between de jure and de facto equality. In order to promote and accelerate the equality between men and women, the Government therefore adopted simultaneously a set of measures aimed at promoting and accelerating full equality in practice. These measures were also designed in the light of the contents of the Beijing Platform for Action and thus for its implementation on the national level in Liechtenstein.

While Liechtenstein subscribes to the principle of the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, both at the national and international levels, it was necessary to identify certain priority areas in which action was particularly needed, such as women at the workplace. The measures adopted by the Government included the adoption of the Equality Act in 1998, which ensures the full equality of women and men in the workplace and measures to combat violence against women and the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, including a campaign against violence in 1997 and proposed legislation on the right to protection against domestic violence.

A set of measures was adopted to enable women to pursue family and professional lives in parallel, and several campaigns were conducted to raise the awareness among the population of issues related to matters of equality. In the area of international cooperation and development, we have placed particular emphasis on projects aimed at assisting women who live in poverty.

Madam Chairperson

We believe that education and awareness‑raising are clearly of the highest importance for the achievement of the goal of full de facto equality. Governments can and must take a leading role in designing the relevant policies, but full equality on a daily basis can ultimately only be achieved through the active involvement of women and men themselves. It is thus very fortunate that the work on the advancement of women in Liechtenstein has always been characterized through a fruitful dialogue and close interaction between the governmental side and civil society, in particular non‑governmental organizations. In 1999, the first women's congress in Liechtenstein gathered women from all over the country and resulted in the adoption of a catalogue of proposed further measures for the advancement of women, and the "equal opportunity award 2000" provided an incentive for the active promotion of equality issues by companies, organizations and individuals.

Madam Chairperson

National implementation of the achievements of Beijing remains our priority goal, and all our efforts in this respect are complementary to the required action on the international level. The Beijing conference was of significant importance for our domestic efforts in this area, and we have continued our efforts in the framework of international organizations, in particular the United Nations. As others, we are disappointed that two important goals in the area of the advancement of women have not been achieved, the 50/50 representation of women and men in the UN secretariat and the universal ratification of CEDAW. This, however, must not lead to frustration, much rather to stepping up our efforts to achieve these two very important goals as soon as possible. On the positive side, we have noted with particular satisfaction the adoption of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW last December. This protocol can prove to be of highest importance for the advancement of women's rights, and we are making every effort to follow‑up on our signature with an early ratification of the protocol.

Other developments in the area of international law, which were of significance to the advancement of women's rights were the adoption of the statute of an International Criminal Court and the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is of utmost importance that, five years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, we all reaffirm the results of Beijing and commit ourselves to enhance our efforts for their full implementation. Beijing was a milestone on the road to the full equality of women and men. Five years later, much has been achieved ‑ a lot remains to be done.

I thank you.