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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


A Commitment to the World’s Women
An Address by Noeleen Heyzer, Director of UNIFEM
to the Fourth World Conference on Women


Madame Chairperson,
Distinguished Delegates
and Colleagues from the NGO community,

I am honoured to address this international gathering at such an historic
moment. Over forty thousand women have come from all over the world to Beijing
to participate in this landmark event. They have come carrying the hopes and
concerns of the 2.5 billion women and girls who comprise half of humanity. Since
the first world conference on women in Mexico City, considerable progress has
been made in women' s education, health, and life expectancy . Women have built
strong organizations and networks and have enhanced their leadership and
negotiating skills. They have put their issues on the national and international
agendas.

We should all be proud of the gains; however, we must realize that there is
still much that remains to be done. It is not acceptable for women to constitute
70 per cent of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor. Nor is it acceptable for
women to work two-thirds of the world's working hours, but earn only one-tenth
of the world's income and own less than one-tenth of the world's property. Many
fundamental changes must be made. Close your eyes and listen to the silence -
that is the sound that accompanies the birth of a girl child in many countries.
Contrast this with the sounds of joy and merriment at the birth of a male child.
Can the Fourth World Conference on Women change this situation?

I believe that it can. UNIFEM, founded during the first world conference on
women, is an example of how changes made at the international policy level, by
delegates such as yourselves, can change the images and daily realities of
women’s lives.

UNIFEM opens up new choices, new possibilities, and new worlds for women. Let me
show you how, through a story that has touched many of us at UNIFEM. High in the
Peruvian Andes in a small village lives Maria Cantos with her daughter, mother,
and sisters. Maria runs a small food-processing business. Her involvement in
UNIFEM's Andean food technology project has changed Maria's life and that of her
family. UNIFEM's help has allowed her to install electricity and running water.
She was able to buy a fuel-saving stove which made her business more efficient
and raised her income. She can now afford to send her daughter to school.

Through UNIFEM, she has formed alliances with other women like her. She has been
recognized by her neighbours, her government and the international community as
a leader and innovator. Today she is with us in Beijing.

This is an example of how UNIFEM has been successful in building women's
capacity for leadership, for taking control of their own lives, and for
positively influencing their families, communities and nations.

Through the UN world conferences of the last five years, women have collectively
articulated a development agenda based on their realities, needs and concerns.
This Women's Development Agenda will empower women by supporting their existing
livelihoods, widening their choices, and building their capacity to take
advantage of new economic opportunities. The Women's Development Agenda will
also promote women's political empowerment by advancing women's rights and
bringing women's perspectives into decision making at all levels. The
implementation of such an agenda, would move women from the periphery to the
centre of decisions that shape their lives, and enrich the lives of women and
men equally.

The Fourth World Conference on Women must make a quantum leap towards the
building of a new and better world. What women want from this Conference is a
new vision of development that is founded on women's realities and built on
women's rights. In order to realize this vision, women seek the commitments of
their governments and the international community to pursue the following six
points:

one, implementation of recommendations agreed upon at Rio. Vienna, Cairo, and
Copenhagen, where governments acknowledged that the equality and empowerment of
women are prerequisites for sustainable human development;

two, an agenda for development that will empower people, eradicate poverty,
create sustainable livelihoods, build stable lives in healthy communities, and
promote peace on a long-term basis;

three, an agreement by governments to eliminate the remaining gender gaps in
basic needs. l especially in education and health, over the next decade through
accelerated investment in human

development at the country levels;

four, new partnerships between governments and civil society so that common
problems can be addressed collectively and more effectively;

five, a worldwide campaign for the elimination of violence against women and the
universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to provide the legal framework for
equality; and

six, adequate resources and mechanisms to translate commitments into actions;

UNIFEM has become the collective voice and conscience of women within the UN
system. Grounded in its twenty years of operational experience, UNIFEM has
expertise in creating strategies to strengthen women's skills and voices and to
ensure that their priorities and concerns are addressed in development planning
and practice.

UNIFEM strives to keep women's issues high on the agendas of mainstream
organizations. We build partnerships with other UN agencies. We also play a
mediating role among women, governments and the UN system. It is only through
such interaction, cooperation, and communication that we can bring about
sustainable and equitable development. It is only by listening to women's voices
in all areas and at all levels of policy formulation and planning that fresh
approaches and new knowledge centred on women's experiences can be developed.
Although a small Fund, UNIFEM has made a big difference to the lives of many
women. After the celebrations of Beijing have ended. UNIFEM's work begins anew.
Our commitment to the world's women is to ensure that the recommendations from
the Platform for Action are translated into catalytic and innovative programmes
that will empower women in the developing world. Currently, UNIFEM receives less
than 1 cent to assist each woman in the developing world -- imagine what we
could do if we had a dollar.

I thank you for you attention.