ENB:14:22
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FRIDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 1995
FIJI: Graham Leung said that immediate priorities for Fiji include: the development of economic projects for women; addressing the issue of violence against women; a review of legislation that discriminates against women; increasing the participation of women in decision-making; and the mainstreaming of gender concerns into sectoral policies. He called for greater coordination between UN bodies dealing with women's issues.
SLOVENIA: Eva Tomic said that the role of the Division for the Advancement of Women will have to be reassessed and strengthened. The CSW should be the central intergovernmental body for follow-up and monitoring of the Beijing Platform and ECOSOC should coordinate follow-up to all the recent UN conferences in the socio-economic fields.
SUDAN: Shahira H.A. Wahbi said that Sudanese women enjoy the equal right to work, receive equal wages for equal work and have full political rights. The Sudan also provides paid leave following childbirth and allows women to have a separate financial identity. UNIFEM and INSTRAW have important roles to play and should be consolidated to carry out their mandates. Implementation of the Platform for Action should take into account the cultural and religious differences of the various countries.
LIBYA: Jamal Hamida said that the advancement of women cannot be achieved in isolation of the advancement of communities. He called attention to the negative impact of economic sanctions on women and children. Economic sanctions lead to great suffering, since they result in a lack of medicine, food and other essential items.
NEW ZEALAND: Denise Almao welcomed the Secretary-General's intention to create a stronger, better coordinated UN programme for the advancement of women. New Zealand supports the proposed review of the mandate of the CSW and the functions of the Division for the Advancement of Women. One important area of focus for New Zealand is the protection and enhancement of the position of indigenous women.
URUGUAY: Imelda Smolcic noted several areas where Uruguay is working for the advancement of women, including poverty alleviation, education, universal access to health services, respect for fundamental human rights, and increased participation in all levels of the workforce and government.
TANZANIA: Radhia Msuya said that Tanzania has problems with three key proposals of the Secretary-General: the proposed inter-agency task force; the proposed appointment of a senior adviser in the Office of the Secretary-General; and the proposed high-level advisory board of 15-20 eminent persons. Tanzania does not want these proposals to lead to a cumbersome bureaucracy.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Ivan V. Khryskov said a special coordinating body has been created in his country to implement the Platform for Action. Russian women try to balance their professional and family commitments, but the road to a market economy has created new obstacles. In addition, crimes against women have recently increased. Countries with economies in transition need assistance from the international community to overcome their temporary economic problems.
LATVIA: Ingrida Karina said that integrating women into all aspects of social, economic and political life demonstrates the universal recognition that women's rights are an inalienable and indivisible part of human rights. Latvia's National Preparatory Committee for Beijing is now drafting recommendations for a national gender equality policy for submission to the Cabinet. Close cooperation is continuing among Nordic and Baltic countries on gender equality issues.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Ahmad Muhammad Sheweireb said that his country is disappointed with the deterioration of the situation in many countries, particularly the developing countries, as a result of conflict. Women and children are usually the primary victims in areas of conflict. Sustainable development is only possible with the full and effective participation of women.
PHILIPPINES: Ruth D. Samonte-Limjuco, on behalf of the G-77 and China, said the most important factor in the full implementation of the Platform for Action is the mobilization of new and additional resources. She requested the Secretary-General to submit, no later than March 1996, a report with a detailed plan on the human and financial resources required for the implementation of the Platform. She called for the separate but coordinated strengthening of UNIFEM and INSTRAW.
GUINEA: Amb. Camara Mahawa Bangoura called for adequate human and financial resources for the Commission on the Status of Women and expressed Guinea's support for a new high-level post to advise the Secretary-General on women. She called for abandonment of the proposal to merge INSTRAW and UNIFEM. Mobilization of adequate resources is a precondition for effective implementation of the Beijing Platform.
NORWAY: Marianne Loe said there is a need for a coordinated, integrated and system-wide approach to the follow-up and implementation of the outcomes of major UN conferences in the economic, social and related fields. She supported the proposed merger of UNIFEM and INSTRAW.
NIGER: Hassane Maiga Harouna said the Beijing Conference demonstrated that there are still existing inequalities between men and women. He hoped adequate resources would be allocated to United Nations bodies that directly deal with the advancement of women. In Niger, many programmes have already been created to aid women, such as literacy programmes for rural women.
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: David Freedman said that the ILO is developing a policy for follow-up action based on three major principles: realizing the goals of addressing inequalities and inadequacies related to employment policies, training and occupational safety; linking the follow-up to the Beijing Conference with the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit in the field of employment; and providing the technical expertise to facilitate implementation at the national level.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Douglas Casson Coutts said that the WFP would focus on ensuring that refugees and displaced women and girls have direct access to food and services provided. WFP will also improve women's access to longer term assets and increase women's equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making.
Angela King, Deputy to the Assistant Secretary-General of the Office of Human Resources Management, said pressure should be maintained to meet the targets set for improving the situation of women in the UN Secretariat and such pressure should be extended to other secretariats. The percentage of women in posts, subject to geographical distribution, has increased from 34.1% in June to 34.4% in October. The percentage of women in posts at the D-1 level and above has increased from 17.1% to 17.6% as of 30 October. Governments need to give their candidatures to women.
In her closing statement, Conference Secretary-General Gertrude Mongella said that the Platform for Action of the Conference belongs to the governments of the Member States and it is up to them to make sure that it is implemented. The United Nations should give further thought to the Platform for Action, so that the implementation starts off on the right foot.