CSW – Forty-Second Session – Press release

Commission on the Status of Women
Forty-second Session
5th Meeting (AM)

    NEEDS OF GIRL CHILD FOCUS ON PANEL DISCUSSIONS
     AT COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN

  The Commission on  the Status of  Women this  morning heard the plea  of a
13-year-old girl for greater access to  education, during a panel discussion
on the theme of the girl child.
 
  Taking  the floor  following  the  presentation by  the  panellists,  Haja
Kebbeh,  from  the  Gambia,  lamented  the  lack  of  education  of  so many
children. Citing  the example of the  female Vice-President  of her country,
she said  her appointment was the result of her education.  All girls wanted
the same opportunity.  She appealed to  adults to assist young girls.  Youth
and adults should join hands for the development of the world.
  
  The panel discussion was the second being held  during the current session
on  four of  the critical  areas of  concern included  in the  Platform  for
Action  of the 1995 Fourth World  Conference on Women  held in Beijing.  The
three other themes of  the panel discussions are   women and armed conflict,
violence against  women, and  women and human  rights.  The  outcome of  the
discussions  will  form  part  of  recommendations  to  be  adopted  by  the

Commission.

  One  of the  four panellists,  Sadig  Rasheed,  Director of  the Programme
Division of  the United Nations Children's  Fund (UNICEF),  said States were
equipped,  through   international  human  rights   instruments,  with   the
framework for  making human-centred decisions in  the setting of  priorities
and  allocating resources  to  protect  girls.   At  the same  time, it  was
important for girls to be listened to, and be involved in, issues  affecting
them.  The  United Nations had  tremendous opportunities now to  place women
and girls at the centre of the development process.

  The need to focus on the  girl child in rural areas was stressed by Paloma
Bonfil  Sanchez,  Executive Secretary  of  the  Interdisciplinary  Group  on
Women, Work  and Poverty (GIMTRAP),  Mexico.  It was  important to highlight
the poverty in those areas  of the world  and to address the eradication  of
poverty,  especially of isolated communities.  The issue of multiculturalism
also had to be  taken into account.   One could not empower  the girl  child
without  taking  account  of  the  reality  of  the  diversity  of  cultural
circumstances in which women and girls lived.
  
  Another panellist,  Margaret Vogt, Senior  Associate, International  Peace
Academy,  said girls,  as well as boys,  were forced to participate in wars.

Because of the traumatic experience of  girls in such situations,  including
prostitution  and rape,  homelessness  and rejection,  they  needed  special
attention and care  to ensure their reintegration  into society.  While some
initiatives had been taken  to deal with the problems of boy soldiers,  girl
soldiers also needed specialized programmes.

  Lina Bellosillo-Laigo, Secretary  of the Department  of Social Welfare and
Development of the  Philippines, outlined  various measures  to improve  the

condition  of  the  girl  child in her country, including crisis centres and

hot-lines  to  respond  to  victims  of  abuse; sensitizing  communities  to
problems related to child abuse; and the setting up of family courts.

  Following  the presentation  by the panellists, many participants spoke of
national efforts  to improve  the conditions  of the  girl child,  stressing
efforts  to open  up  access  to  education and  health  facilities, and  on
legislation to combat abuses.  Some representatives  drew  attention  to the

problems of girls and women in the rural areas and  urged action  to improve

their  situation.   A  non-governmental  organization   representative  drew

attention  to  the  phenomenon  of  child  domestic  workers  and  urged the

Commission to take up the issue.  Another said that for too long governments

had acted without regard to the concerns of girls.

  The Commission will  meet again at 3 p.m.  today for a panel discussion on
the theme of women and armed conflict.

  Commission Work Programme

  The Commission on  the Status  of Women met this  morning to hold a  panel
discussion on the girl child, one of the  four critical areas of concern  of
the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by the 1995  Fourth World Conference
on Women, which the Commission  is focusing on at the  current session.  The
other  three  areas  are  human  rights   of  women  (which  was   discussed
yesterday), women and armed conflict, and violence against women.

  Panel Discussion

  LINA BELLOSILLO-LAIGO, Secretary  of the Department  of Social Welfare and
Development of the Philippines, outlined the  various measures put in  place
to improve the condition of the  girl child in her country.   Crisis centres
and hot-lines had been established to respond to problems of the victims  of
abuse. Communities were being taught to  identify problems related to  child
abuse. Protection measures were  being increased.   Bilateral agreements had
been signed by the Government with  some countries for technical  assistance
for training of the  police, for instance, in handling cases involving young
people.     Victims  crisis  centres  and   family  courts   had  also  been
established. A celebration of a girl-child week was  planned, and a national
plan of action on the girl child was being prepared.

  SADIG RASHEED,  Director of the Programme  Division of  the United Nations
Children's Fund  (UNICEF), said there  could no  longer be silence  over the
"apartheid of gender", which  knew no age limit.   Progress in attaining the
goals of the World Summit for Children had been slow.  Sixty per cent of 140

million children of primary-school age not in school were girls.  Two-thirds

of  the 100  million  school  drop-outs  were  girls.   Early  marriage  and
pregnancies took  the  lives of  nearly  146,000  teenage girls  each  year.
Another 2  million girls were subjected  to female  genital mutilation every
year.

  In  most countries,  national plans of  action had been  prepared and were
being implemented  to follow  up on  global commitments,  but only a  few of
those  plans focused on children,  he said.   With human rights instruments,
States were  equipped with an essential  framework for making  human-centred
decisions in  the  setting of  priorities  and  allocation of  resources  to
protect  girls through  principles of  non-discrimination and  universality.
They could  create opportunities for girls  and women  to obtain information

and  participate in decision  making in  their communities and  beyond.  The
UNICEF  country  programmes  were  moving  in  the direction  of  countering
discriminatory attitudes  and practices  such as  female genital  mutilation
and  early marriage, and  to prohibit  sexual abuse,  violence against girls
and women, and trafficking.

  He cited  examples of  community action,  such as  the Malicounda  village
project  in Senegal,  where there  had  been  dialogue involving  women with
their husbands, the imam and others  on female genital mutilation  resulting
in the  collective resolve of the  village to stop the  practice.  He  noted
that  over the  years,  the Inter-African  Committee on  Harmful Traditional
Practices Affecting  the  Health of  Women  and  Children had  been  working
across national boundaries and had built  national capacities.  Through  its
national  committees, it  had emerged  as  a  powerful resource  network for
advocacy and action in ending female genital mutilation in Africa.

   He said the  NGO Working Group on Girls  of the NGO  Committee for UNICEF
had  expanded  to  become  an  international   network  of  more  than   300
organizations in 85 countries, and through  its outreach programme the Group
had prepared  a report on implementation of the Beijing  Platform for Action
with respect to girls and the  role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
in furthering that.   Girls should be  listened to, and involved in,  issues
affecting them, he stressed, adding that  girls participating in the session
should be involved in the drawing  up of recommendations which might emanate
from it.

  PALOMA  BONFIL  SANCHEZ,  Executive  Secretary of  the  Inter-disciplinary
Group on Women, Work  and Poverty (GIMTRAP),  Mexico, said her focus was  on
the girl child  in rural areas because of  the need to highlight the process
of pauperization in those areas  of the world.  The issue of poverty was  of
paramount  importance.   To  change the  situation of  the  girl  child, the
process of her impoverishment and that of the teenager had to be  addressed.
The  focus  must be  on  eradicating  the  poverty,  especially of  isolated
communities.  Another  important  factor   that  had  to   be  analysed  was
multiculturalism.   One  could not  empower  the  girl child  without taking
account  of the reality of the diversity of  cultural circumstances in which
women and girls lived.

  Governments' plans and  programmes would fail if they did not take account
of the  problem of  inferiority of  the girl  child, she  said.   Inequality
inherent in the  family must also be highlighted,  since the family was  the
first context in  which violence and unfair treatment  in the life of a girl
child might be encountered.   The impact of the family  as a system  in such
instances should  be analysed.   While strong  links between the  family and
the  community  were  important,  there  was   need  to  unleash  a   girl's
individuality as  a means of empowering  girl children and  teenagers.  Such
an approach  would not be easy because of the intimate nature of the family.
As part of the  process of improving  the situation  of the poor rural  girl
child  in Latin America,  the value of girls'  contribution to domestic work
had  to be  recognized as  important.   Indicators had  to be  developed  to
measure their contribution.

  On  the  issue of  multiculturalism,  she  said  many  ethnic groups  were
endangered —  "if not by  genocide, by ethnocide".   The  problems of those
groups should  be highlighted, and the  more vulnerable  within those groups
should be empowered.   Indigenous and rural girls  should be able to  pursue
education, and in their transition to  adolescence they should be  empowered
to  have control over their bodies and their  reproductive rights.  Bringing
such thinking and action  into a rural area required unique approaches  that
would minimize the negative impacts on  the traditional structures in  which
they lived.

  The  girl  child  had  little  or  no  control   over  her  body  and  the
reproductive  aspects of her life,  she said.  Girls  and adolescents should
be empowered to take  decisions that affected their fate.  Even though  they
might be  sensitized through workshops,  there were  no follow-up mechanisms

to deal with their situation.  Such mechanisms should be put in place.

  MARGARET VOGT, Senior Associate, International Peace Academy, focusing on
the  impact of  war  on  the girl  child,  said since  the proliferation  of
internal conflicts  since the end  of the cold  war had an  impact on  civil
society, particularly  on the  girl child.  While  international conventions
existed  to  govern  war between  States and even treatment  of prisoners of
war,  that was  not  the  case for  internal  conflicts.   A  phenomenon  of
internal conflicts was  the targeting of the civilian population,  including
the girl child.   The militia in the  conflicts abducted girls and boys  and
forced  them  to  participate  in  warfare   —  changing  their  lives  and
destroying the  family system.   "The  lucky girls"  in such societies  were
left alone  to take care of their  families in the absence of parents.  "The
unlucky ones"  found themselves behind  the military lines  as cooks  and as
intelligence gatherers.

   In  situations  of  internal  conflict,  many   girls  were  forced  into
prostitution, and even raped.   The trauma that the girls experienced needed
special care  and attention.   Many of  them had no  place to  go after  the
conflict was  over.   They were rejected  by their families,  and many  were
even  refused  marriages  because  of  their  experiences.    That situation
reinforced  the need for specialized programmes to  ensure the reintegration
of those girls into society.   Some initiatives had been taken to deal  with
the  problems  of boy  soldiers.    Girl  soldiers  also needed  specialized
programmes.

  An important  preventive measure  would be  the drafting  and adoption  of
conventions governing internal  conflicts and protecting civil society,  she
said.  That would ensure that militia and non-formal armies did not  violate
the rights  of civil society  or "they would  be brought to  book".  At  the
moment, there  was  a  sense  of impunity  since  there  were no  such  laws
governing the  action of militias.   It  was time for the  United Nations to
move to the  community level to  seek the  imposition of  penalties in  such
circumstances and to popularize existing human rights laws.

  The  operations  of  international  organizations,  including  the  United
Nations,  should be  nuanced to  recognize the  peculiar needs  of the  girl
child,  she  continued.   Peacekeeping  operations  should  formulate  their
operating  procedures to  take account  of the  problems of the  girl child.
The personal conduct of peacekeepers and  the international personnel on the
ground in conflict and post-conflict situations,  and the perception of them
by the  young people, also needed  to be  highlighted.  They were  seen as a
ticket  and  a  way  out  of  poverty  for  children  in  those  situations.
International   personnel  must   be  educated   to  understand   that   the
exploitation of  the girl  child  must not  be  condoned.   Their  codes  of
conduct must be enforced  to ensure that they  did not further undermine the
problems of  the girl  child.  Adequate mechanisms  must be put in  place to
police the codes  of conduct.   Specialized training  on how  to handle  the
sensitive  situation of the girl  child was also essential for personnel who

would be called on to deal with their problems.

  Comments and Observations

  Following   the   presentation  by   the   panellists,   a  representative
highlighted the poverty of  girls and boys in  southern Italy and the action
taken by  the Italian  Government to  address the  problems of children  and
adolescents, including  combating  sexual  exploitation and  trafficking  in
children.   The problems of girls  in distress,  including the disadvantaged
position  of Arab  girls  in Israel,  was raised  by  another delegate.    A
representative focused  on the promotion of  the civil  and political rights
of women and  girls as a  means of empowering  the girl child  and women  in
Uganda.   She asked  what the  advantage was of  putting the  issues of  the
girls and women into  the system of governance  and the impact  of different
systems of  governance on the situation of girls and women.

  Other issues  raised by another representative  included the  need for the

girl child to have  equal access to education; to address literacy and other
problems  experienced  by  the  girl  child  both  inside  and  outside  the
classroom; and the elimination of discrimination of girls in health services.

He asked for examples of instances in which the girl child had been involved
in  programmes  affecting them  and what lessons  could be learned from such

programmes.

  Many participants spoke of national efforts  to improve the conditions  of
the girl  child, stressing efforts  to open up  access to education,  health
facilities  and legislation to  combat abuses.   An  NGO representative said
prejudice  had  prevented girls  from  expressing  themselves for  years and
welcomed  the opportunity to do so now.  For too long, governments had acted
without regard  to the concerns  of girls.   Some representatives  also drew
attention  to the problems of girls  and women in the rural  areas and urged
action to improve their situation.

  Some participants  called for  expansion  of  data on  the girl  child  to
ensure appreciation of their needs and  public education about their rights.
An   NGO  representative   stressed   the  importance   of   education   and
socialization of  education within  the family.   She said  her country  was
preoccupied  with the circumstances  of vulnerable  girls, as  well as boys.
Equal value should  be given to their roles.   A representative spoke  about
an affirmative action programme introduced in  her country to ensure that 40
per cent of women were involved in decision-making in government.

  An NGO representative drew attention to  the phenomenon of child  domestic
workers who were  mostly girls in the  Philippines, and urged the Commission
to take up the issue.

  For  the first time  at meetings  of the Commission, a  13 year-old school
girl from the  Gambia spoke on behalf of  the girl child.   HAJA KEBBEH said
many children suffered from lack of  education, and appealed for educational
assistance  for them.    The  Vice-President of  her country,  a  woman, was
appointed to  the post because of her  education.  All  girls wanted to have
the same opportunity.   Children needed adults just  as adults needed  them.
They should join hands together for the development of the world.

  Response by Panellists

  Mr.  RASHEED,  Director  of  UNICEF  Programme  Division,  emphasized  the
importance  of adopting a holistic  approach to the development  of the girl
child.  The girl  child should be involved in decisions affecting their well
being  and  future.     The  UNICEF  involved  a  lot  of  partners  in  its
programmes, and at the country level it had  been listening to children  and
involving them in project design.  He noted that problems  of the girl child
could  not be fully addressed without account being  taken of problems faced
by women.

  Ms.  BONFIL  SANCHEZ,   Executive  Secretary  of  GIMTRAP,  Mexico,   said
mechanisms for positive action were  now required to enforce  the many human
rights instruments.  It  was not enough for those instruments to declare the
equality  of the  rights of  women and  men.   Governments  must incorporate
those   instruments in  domestic  laws and  enforce  them.   She  also  drew
attention to  the problems  of rural  women and  girls and  urged action  to
overcome them.
    
  Further Comments

  In further comments, one  representative said the "cry of the girl  child"
should be heard.   Mechanisms were  required to  protect the  rights of  the
child  and to monitor  their violations.   Another  representative asked for
comments  on the impact  of globalization  on rural  economies in developing
countries. Awareness  programmes were  required to inform  the public  about
harmful effects of some customary laws, said another.

  Governments and  NGOs  should be  encouraged  to  ensure that  girls  from

infancy received the same attention as  boys, a representative said,  adding
that  the youth  should be  involved  in  the evaluation  of programmes  and
projects affecting  them.   Governments should  also take  measures to  deal
with child labour and child prostitution within and outside their borders.

  Closing Statements by Panellists

  Mr. RASHEED,  Director  of the  Programme  Division  of UNICEF,  said  the
"rights approach" he had referred to was a  means of securing the fulfilment
of the rights  of children by families.   Resources had to be committed  and
priority given to attaining those rights for  children.   He called for  the

establishment of  more  NGO  networks  to  combat specific  problems such as

sexual exploitation.  The United Nations system had tremendous opportunities

now to place women and children at the centre of development.

  Ms.  BONFIL  SANCHEZ,   Executive  Secretary  of  GIMTRAP,  Mexico,   said
delegations must  think globally  and act  globally.   Initiatives taken  by
women  and  teenage girls  to draw  attention  to  their problems  should be
encouraged, and the media involved in campaigns to educate  the public about
the rights of children.

  Ms. BELLOSILLO-LAIGO,  Secretary of the Department  of Social Welfare  and
Development  of  the  Philippines,   called  for  comprehensive   programmes
focusing  on problems  of  women  and children.    She also  called for  the
involvement of the girl child in advocacy programmes.

  Ms. VOGT,  of  the International  Peace  Academy,  stressed the  need  for
effective mechanism  and effective  partnership between  the United  Nations
and NGOs to promote observance of international  human rights instruments.  
 

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