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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


Statement by Dr Nafis Sadik
Executive Director United Nations Population Fund.

at the Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, China 5th September 1995


Madam President, Honorable Delegates

May I first join other speakers in offering our thanks to our most 
generous hosts, the Government of the People's Republic of China, for 
their excellent hospitality and arrangements for this most important 
Conference. 

This Conference will be the culmination of a long process of change for 
women. Twenty years ago, at the first World Conference for Women, my 
predecessor pointed out that equality for women was a development goal 
in itself. He also pointed to its close connection with population and 
development goals. Last year at the International Conference on 
Population and Development, this vision was emphatically endorsed by the 
whole community of nations. The ICPD will be remembered as the first 
international conference not devoted to women's issues and interests 
where they nevertheless were the main focus of attention. 

This Conference therefore starts from the understanding that empowerment 
and autonomy for women is both a highly important end in itself, and a 
necessary step to help stabilize world population growth, to protect the 
environment and to eradicate poverty. I hope and trust that this 
Conference will also recognize that action towards securing women's 
reproductive health and rights is the starting point for empowerment and 
autonomy. 

We must be clear about this. It is not acceptable for anyone who claims 
to support the process in which we are involved to pay lip-service to 
the importance of women's varied roles in the family and society, if 
they go on to ignore or downplay reproductive health and reproductive 
rights. Respect for women and support for their advancement must be 
expressed in real terms: the first mark of respect for women is support 
for their reproductive rights. Women must be empowered to perform this 
role as they see fit. No-one has the right to impose reproductive 
decisions on them. It is 20 years since it was enunciated that all 
couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number and spacing of their children, and to have the 
information and the means to do so. Our generation has the power to make 
the right a reality. 

The experience of many years has shown that successful action must 
engage not only the woman herself, but the community and society in 
which she lives. Her health and personal development are crucially 
dependent on the quality of the services she is offered, and the choices 
available. But they also depend on how she is valued and supported from 
earliest childhood, on the attitudes of her parents, her teachers, her 
doctors, her religious counselors. 

Successful action for reproductive health opposes violence to women in 
all its forms. The ICPD was the first international conference squarely 
to oppose female genital mutilation, as a violation of basic human, 
rights and a major risk to women's health. Any form of coercion is 
completely unacceptable, on practical as well as ethical grounds. 
Coercion is a violation of human rights. Although it is every country's 
sovereign right to determine its own policy, that right does not extend 
to coercive practices. The assumptions behind coercion--that women are 
inferior, incapable of independent decision-making, not to be trusted--
are also those which undermine sustainable development. 

Reproductive rights involve more than the right to reproduce. They 
involve support for women in activities other than reproduction: in fact 
liberating women from a system of values which insists that reproduction 
is their only function. In the past the status of women has been 
determined by their capacity to reproduce--and even that limited role is 
considered of secondary importance. That is the trap from which women 
must be freed. 

Freedom to choose improves women's health, education and economic 
opportunities. It also helps to secure and stabilize the family. It is a 
key to sustainable social and economic development. 

The concept of reproductive rights did not spring from one group or one 
country. It is neither neo-colonialist nor unethical. It is a universal 
concept, which reflects the experience of thousands of women and men in 
countries all over the world. Reproductive rights are human rights. ..

Moving to Action

The consensus on reproductive health and reproductive rights was reached 
after a long and very public process of discussion, consultation and 
negotiation, reflecting many years of experience. It includes the 
contributions of all faiths, all political points of view and all 
approaches to development. It has a coherent philosophy and a strong 
ethical basis. It is a firm foundation for action. 

The task before us now is to move the consensus from paper into 
practice. We know very well what must be done. We have the necessary 
skills and technical resources at our disposal. We must become effective 
advocates for women and women's rights: we must be advocates for 
equality, not in a confrontational sense, but in the belief that 
partnership is the best path to progress. Men and women are not the 
same, but they can be equal. We must enlarge and nourish the alliance 
among government, non-governmental organizations, international 
organizations and the private sector. We must pay special attention to 
women's groups, especially those which are just coming into existence, 
and ensure that they have support in their work. 

We must look for universal support. All the issues with which we are 
concerned have been thoroughly discussed, and consensus has been won. 
There can be no reason for further debate except on the best means of 
implementation. Implementation will be based on the recommendations of 
this conference and those which preceded it. We must therefore ensure 
that the FWCW Platform of Action is in harmony with these agreements. We 
can go forward: but we must resolutely resist any attempts to go back. 
We must be courageous in speaking out on the issues that concern us: we 
must not bend under the weight of spurious arguments invoking culture or 
traditional values. No value worth the name 

provide a framework for human well-being. If they are used against us, 
we will reject them, and move on. We will not allow ourselves to be 
silenced. 

This Conference will be a further step in women's progress towards 
empowerment and autonomy. The Platform of this Conference will be a call 
for firm, resolute and specific action on behalf of women. Let us build 
upon it. The last twenty years have been years of discussion and 
reconciliation. Our rights as women are now freely acknowledged. Let us 
dedicate ourselves now and for the future to the task of transforming 
rights into realities.