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Advancement of Women

Has the 1995 Beijing Conference made any difference to women in the world? That is the question before the Special General Assembly Session on 5-9 June 2000. The Beijing "Platform" and the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) gave focus to the General Assembly's Third Committee review of women's advancement. By mid-January 2000, 165 States had formally ratified the Convention, making it one of the most widely accepted human rights instruments. An important achievement at this Assembly was the adoption on 6 October 1999, after heavy negotiation, of a Protocol to the Convention that lets individual women appeal directly to the international Committee on this Convention. (By January 2000, 24 States had signed the Protocol.) Hitherto the Committee examined government performance; now it will look at individual cases as well, a good way to see through official reports. The Committee held its twenty-second session in New York from 17 January to 4 February. Every adhering government must report to the Committee at least once every four years. Eight countries reported to this meeting.

We know full well that it will take time to change attitudes, practices and institutions affecting women. Said New Zealand's delegate: "The abuses of women's rights, in times of peace as well as in conflict, show no signs of declining..." Poverty and war were identified during this Assembly as big disasters for women. The delegate of Japan said feminization of poverty is universal, reflecting the little influence women have over resources. Poverty, she said, is not just tiny income; it is uncertainty, powerlessness, isolation. Rural women in developing countries are especially affected, said Uganda, being subject to chronic hunger, illness and such cultural practices as battery, rape and early marriage. Among Assembly resolutions adopted was a reiterated demand that the old practice of genital mutilation of young women be abolished. The delegate of Pakistan deplored the atrocious crime of systematic rape as a weapon of war.

This Assembly also reviewed the fourth in a series of UN Studies of the role of women in development. This is a world-wide study, making it hard to generalize about some things. One fact is apparent everywhere, however: women's pay and conditions of work are lower than men's. While globally most women are in agriculture, in many countries getting into industrialization, women are rapidly moving into "service" jobs. Where this happens, family life can be seriously disrupted. Equal sharing by married partners with social support (day care, etc.) is the answer. These are a few highlights from the report.

Responding from a Third World perspective, Guyana for G77 said that women's impoverishment was accelerated by globalization where transnational corporations sought cheap labour, often women. Women also operate the "informal" economy where income is low and insecurity high. Women are exploited, they must be protected.

I guess it is good to maintain this kind of overview, if only to impress the male establishment; but it is hard for the disparate General Assembly to use it. I think a more focused report, ventilating the most severe deprivations of women in poor countries, would better serve a political purpose at the Assembly.

Not on the Assembly Agenda, but of great importance and relevance, is the international drive to combat maternal mortality. Every year, around 600,000 women die in childbirth. They die because of very poor health, malnutrition and absence of support services. On 28 October 1999, the heads of WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA together announced the launching of a global campaign to keep mothers alive.

At the Assembly, discourse was given some direction as preparations for the Special Session were contemplated. All insisted that this must be a high-level affair, nourishing the hope that elevation means power to change things for the better. The Prep Com is at work crafting an agenda that will be politically acceptable without disguising reality.

On the UN stage, women appear a lot more than even a few years ago, although they are a long way from parity. There are now ten women ambassadors accredited to the UN in New York. In the Secretariat, Kofi Annan's deputy is Canada's own Louise Frechette; and six major funds or agencies are headed by women (WHO, World Food Programme, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR and UN Human Rights). In the Secretariat, the share of women in senior responsibilities has slowly crept up to just over one-third. At entry level, it is about 50:50 women/men, so in time the scene will brighten.