As delivered
by
Ms. Angela E.V. King
Assistant Secretary-General
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
at the
Thirtieth session of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Madam Chairperson,
Distinguished experts, Excellencies,
Friends and Colleagues,
As
we open this session, I would especially like to welcome the new
Under-Secretary-General of DESA, Mr. José Antonio Ocampo, who is well known to
many of you from his period as Head of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean. We welcome
his interest in and support for women’s human rights and the implementation of
the CEDAW Convention which touches on all aspects of women’s lives.
It is my honour and
privilege to extend a warm welcome to all of you. I extend special greetings to the Committee’s new member, Ms.
Dorcas Ama Frema Coker-Appiah. Ms.
Coker-Appiah is completing the term of office of Judge Akua Kuenyehia, who was
one of seven women elected to the International Criminal Court.
Distinguished experts,
As you begin your 30th session, I would like to place your mandate in the larger context of the work of the United Nations, and the increasingly systematic attention given to gender equality in policy discussions in the United Nations.
The
Millennium Declaration, which was adopted three years ago by the Member States
of the United Nations, recognized that gender equality was essential to combat
poverty, hunger and disease, and for sustainable development. Emerging from the
commitments in the Millennium Declaration are the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), with key targets to be met by 2015 of which Mr. Ocampo has spoken. My Office and the Division for the Advancement
of Women continue to monitor the degree of attention given to gender
perspectives in efforts aimed at achieving these goals, in addition to goal 3,
which is on gender equality and the empowerment of women. We also contribute to the preparation of the
Secretary-General’s annual progress report on the MDGs.
We believe
that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women and the work of this Committee are instrumental also for progress in
achieving the Millennium Goals. In your
constructive dialogue with States parties, you identify key areas of
discrimination against women, for example in the fields of education, health,
and poverty eradication, and you provide clear recommendations for action by
individual States parties to eliminate such discrimination and ensure equality
between women and men.
Member States intend to have a major event to review comprehensively progress made in implementing all commitments made in the Millennium Declaration and its Goals in 2005. The Committee may well wish to start thinking about its contribution to ensure gender dimension in that review – especially, as it coincides with the implementation of the ten-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Outcome Document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly. In regard to the latter review, first by the Commission on the Status of Women, then by ECOSOC and the General Assembly, a questionnaire has been sent to Governments to compile information on major achievements and obstacles in implementation, and we hope to receive government responses by 30 April 2004. Our Division for the Advancement of Women will also use reports submitted since 1995 by States parties under the Convention as a source of information in preparing the review.
At the fifty-eighth session of the General
Assembly, the Convention and gender equality were important aspects of
attention in the statements of many delegations during the general debate on
the items. A number of States discussed
the status of their reporting obligations, and the Committee’s past or
impending consideration of their reports. States also provided updates about
national measures to strengthen implementation of the Convention. The Division
prepared several reports for discussion under these items, including a report
on the status of the Convention, and on violence against women migrant
workers. A biennial report on the
improvement of the situation of women in rural areas reviewed, for the first
time, the contribution of this Committee to improving the situation of this
particular group of women. The report
looked at key challenges identified by the Committee in the implementation of
article 14, and the Committee’s recommendations, and concluded that the
Committee’s work clearly complements that of intergovernmental processes. Given the recent significant attention to
rural development in general at the intergovernmental level, the report encouraged
Governments, international organizations and other actors to use the Convention
and the Committee’s concluding comments when formulating policies and designing
programmes in support of sustainable rural development.
The Assembly adopted a resolution on the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. It welcomes the Committee’s
efforts to enhance its effectiveness and working methods. The Assembly also welcomed the rapidly
growing number of States parties to the Optional Protocol – now 59, and noted
with appreciation that the Committee has commenced its work under the Optional
Protocol. The Assembly encouraged
States parties to disseminate the concluding comments adopted in relation to
the consideration of their reports. The
Assembly decided to consider this question biennually, in line with its
practice in considering other international human rights instruments.
The General Assembly was also deeply involved with a major new initiative to adopt a comprehensive resolution on violence against women. Whilst the original draft which covered a broad range of types of violence against women was not adopted, it gave rise to long and intense discussions on the subject. However, the Assembly did adopt, by consensus, a resolution on the elimination of domestic violence against women. This was the first time that an intergovernmental body specifically addressed this issue. The resolution calls on States parties to the Convention to include in their reports to the Committee information on legal and policy measures adopted and implemented in their efforts to prevent and eliminate domestic violence against women. A second resolution in which this Committee may be especially interested, requests the Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth study on all forms of violence against women, in close cooperation with all relevant United Nations bodies and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. The study is expected to be completed within two years. In regard to this broad issue, both the Director of DAW and I have had consultations with the new Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms. Yakin Ertürk.
In his annual report on the work of the
Organization to the fifty-eighth General Assembly, the Secretary-General
highlighted human trafficking as one of the scourges of our time and its severe
impact on women and girls. Member
States, regional groups, the United Nations system and civil society now have a
strong instrument to combat this heinous form of violence through the entry
into force of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime, on 29 September 2003, and of its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, on 25 December
2003.
Madam Chairperson, distinguished experts,
I turn now to the work of the Commission on
the Status of Women. The Commission
will review two thematic issues at its upcoming session in March 2004: “The
role of men and boys in achieving gender equality”; and “Women’s equal
participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in
post-conflict peace-building”.
The Division convened two expert group
meetings to prepare the discussions and assist the Commission. A first Expert Group Meeting, on “The role
of boys and men in achieving gender equality”, was held in Brasilia, Brazil
from 21 to 24 October 2003, in cooperation with the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Expert Group considered socialization and education
processes, as well as the role of men and boys in areas, such as the workplace
and the economy, HIV/AIDS, health and gender-based violence. The experts adopted recommendations
addressed to different actors at different levels on promoting and enhancing
the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality.
A second Expert Group Meeting, on “Peace
agreements as a means for promoting gender equality and ensuring participation
of women – A framework of model provisions", was held in Ottawa, Canada
from 10 to 13 November 2003, in collaboration with my Office and the Department
of Political Affairs. The Expert Group discussed and analysed the
gender dimensions of peace agreements, specifically the obstacles, lessons
learned and good practices in the negotiation, content and implementation of
peace agreements. Based on their discussions, the Expert Group Meeting adopted
recommendations for a comprehensive framework of model provisions to
strengthen gender perspectives, as well as women’s participation, in peace
agreements and in all subsequent societal and institutional development.
My Office is
organizing an expert group meeting on “Enhancing women’s participation in
electoral processes in post-conflict countries”, to be held in Glen Cove, New
York from 19 to 22 January 2004. The meeting is jointly supported by the
Department of Political Affairs, in close collaboration with the United Nations
Development Programme and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, as
well as several intergovernmental organizations supporting electoral processes.
The meeting will review the current status of support provided to women in all
aspects of the electoral process in post-conflict countries and develop an
agenda for action on how to strengthen support for the full participation of
women. The findings of the meeting will
also provide input to the Commission’s deliberations in March as well as to the
review of implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 at its fourth anniversary
in October 2004.
Distinguished members of the Committee,
Before closing, I would
like to mention a few other activities which took place since the Committee’s
last session. I addressed the Human Rights Committee at its seventy-eighth session,
on 15 July 2003 in Geneva. Following
my briefing on the work of the Committee, the Division and my Office, I had a
very useful and constructive exchange with the members of the Committee on a
wide range of issues. I have also had
several discussions with the Acting High Commissioner on our joint work
programme. He also participated in an
important panel show-casing Gender Mainstreaming in various areas during the
ECOSOC session last July.
The
fifth Joint Workshop of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and
Gender Equality (IANWGE), which I chair, and the OECD/DAC Network on Gender
Equality (GENDERNET) was held at OECD headquarters in Paris from 10 to11 July
2003. The workshop, which focused on “Gender and post-conflict reconstruction:
lessons learned from Afghanistan and elsewhere”, aimed to contribute to
increased effectiveness of multilateral and bilateral support to post-conflict
reconstruction through the enhanced integration of gender perspectives into
this work. The meeting discussed good practice and lessons learned from
promoting gender equality in post-conflict reconstruction, drawing on
experience from Afghanistan as a key case study and wider lessons from
elsewhere. A final communiqué was issued
by the workshop, summarizing its principle findings. You must all be pleased to have noted that the ratification of
the CEDAW Convention by Afghanistan last March greatly propelled the issue of
women’s equal rights, so much so that the controversial issue of specifying
equal rights of women and men in the new Constitution, was successfully
resolved two weeks ago.
On 4 December 2003, the first session of the newly established Committee on Women opened at
the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut,
Lebanon. My Office participated in this
session, together with 22 women ministers, chairpersons of women's national
committees and councils in the Arab region, and an additional 90 concerned
persons, which focused on the progress made in the development of Arab women.
Distinguished experts,
I wish you well in
your deliberations during the next three weeks and pledge the full support of
the Secretariat in facilitating your task in every way possible. Ms. Hannan, the Director of the Division,
and I look forward to meeting with you all again during this three-week period,
both during the session and informally, and we would be happy to discuss any
proposals you may have regarding your work.
Thank you.
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