2010 CSW advances key issues for world’s women
For more than 3,500 civil society representatives and hundreds of government
delegates who traveled, often long distances, to New York for this year’s Commission
on the Status of Women (CSW), it was an occasion to mark large and small victories
over the last 15 years and to focus on the challenges that remain.
It has been 15 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were
adopted, concluding one of the most influential global meetings ever held – the
Fourth World Conference on Women. During its two-week session from 1-12 March, the
CSW focused on assessing what has been achieved since the Beijing Conference, on
sharing experiences and good practices and outlining priority actions. In addition,
nearly 100 side events were organized by UN agencies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), the private sector and governments.
The following four areas of priority importance to women were discussed by the
Commission:
Maternal mortality
The Millennium Development Goal to improve maternal health – and the affiliated
target of reducing the rate of maternal mortality by three-quarters – has been the
most elusive target of all. Lack of decisive progress in this area has been matched
by a lack of reliable statistics, and a failure to attract large-scale support. Best
estimates are that in 2005 more than half a million mothers died as a consequence of
childbirth.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized the conundrum at last June’s Global Health
Forum. He said that “people often call an issue on which all can agree a ‘motherhood
issue’ … however, motherhood itself has not yet become a motherhood issue.”
But the Secretary-General also detected a “tipping point” in international concern,
as the outcome of the 2009 World Health Assembly included a special focus on
maternal health, and global philanthropies stepped up their commitment of resources
to this goal.
With a strong CSW resolution adopted at the March session on eliminating maternal
mortality and morbidity, with the Secretary-General’s planned launch of a global
framework for action to fast-track progress on women’s and children’s health, and
with the selection of this issue as the “top priority” of the host country, Canada,
for the G8 meeting in June, there is reason to believe that the imperative to save
mothers’ and infants’ lives will gain added momentum over the remaining five years
of the drive to reach the MDGs by 2015.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on maternal mortality
“My formative professional experience was working as a Legal Aid attorney, and I
will never forget the heartbroken families who came to see me seeking redress after
their loved ones had died in childbirth.
I understand their pain even more now because I, too, have lost friends. Not in the
villages, either, but in the cities, where you might think the services are far
better.
In far too many parts of the world, when a woman goes into labour, relatives and
friends do not go so far as to say goodbye, but they are often thinking, is this the
last time they will see her? And the reverse is also true. . . .
When I was giving birth to my second child, I had the same fear. I was wondering
whether I would get out of the room alive, whether my kids would survive, and this
is just a few years ago, just about ten years ago. Isn’t it an irony that, just as
we celebrate an impending birth, we fear an imminent death. . . .”
– 15 June, 2009
Violence against women
Violence against women is a pandemic behind closed doors – it is calculated that up
to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime. It not only inflicts
personal suffering, but “undermines development, generates instability, and makes
peace in society much harder to achieve,” as noted by the Secretary-General at a
panel discussion at this month’s Commission.
Margot Wallström, his newly appointed Special Representative on sexual violence in
conflict, departs for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April. On her return,
she will report to the Security Council.
In the meantime, action on the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against
Women campaign has moved to the regional and national levels, with particular
emphasis on the first of the campaign’s five goals – the adoption and implementation
of national laws on violence against women.
Role of women in decision-making
An Inter-Parliamentary Union survey found that women comprise 18.8 per cent of
members of parliament worldwide – an all-time high, although this falls short of the
30 per cent target advocated in Beijing.
Rachel Mayanja, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, describes the representation of women in parliaments as “an
accountability issue.” She finds that countries where women are under-represented in
government tend to be “less inclusive, less egalitarian and less democratic.”
Under-representation in decision-making positions can be self-perpetuating, in that
it limits the incorporation of gender perspectives into policies. For example, the
absence of women in top positions in peace processes limits the attention given to
gender in peace agreements. Since 1992, women have constituted only 7.1 per cent of
official delegation members in negotiations, and only 2.1 per cent of signatories to
peace agreements, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Very few have been formal mediators.
“History has taught us that any peace not built by and for women is far less likely
to deliver real and lasting benefits,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
speaking at the Commission 15 years after her seminal address to the Women’s
Conference in Beijing.
New gender entity
The General Assembly adopted a resolution late last year paving the way for the
creation of a new UN body for gender equality and the advancement of women, and
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has submitted his proposals for the entity to the
General Assembly for their consideration.
The importance of moving ahead with the creation of this new entity was repeatedly
and emphatically highlighted throughout the Commission’s 15-year review session. In
his remarks at the official observance of International Women’s Day (8 March), the
Secretary-General made it clear that it was now up to Member States to act, urging
Governments to adopt a resolution creating a new entity “without delay.”
His plan would merge four separate UN units with differing mandates: the Office of
the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI); the Division
for the Advancement of Women in the Department for Economic and Social Affairs
(DAW/DESA); the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); and the United
Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW).
There has been strong support for the creation of a unified body that would
strengthen the participation of women in international affairs and give the UN a
stronger mandate on women’s issues. However, different strategic approaches have
emerged from the discussion of this issue. Some Member States stress gender
equality, ensuring full rights and legal protection. Many from the developing world
place more emphasis on “advancement,” entailing a strong pro-women development
agenda.
Through the adoption of seven resolutions at the conclusion of its 54th session, the
Commission on the Status of Women:
• Urged Governments – with the support of civil society and the private sector – to
take all steps to empower women and girls to protect themselves against HIV
infection;
•Called upon all parties to armed conflict to release women and children taken
hostage, and reaffirmed that hostage-taking is an illegal act aimed at destroying
human rights;
• Urged continued special attention to the promotion and protection of the human
rights of Palestinian women and girls;
• Called upon Member States to take all necessary measures – including enacting and
enforcing legislation – to address and eliminate harmful traditional practices,
especially female genital mutilation;
• Urged States to develop and implement specific policies and programmes to promote
economic empowerment, including through enhancing women’s access to full and
productive employment and accelerating women’s full participation in economic
decision-making;
• Urged global and national leaders to generate the political will, resources,
commitment, cooperation and technical assistance urgently required to reduce
maternal mortality and morbidity, and improve maternal and newborn health;
• Welcomed the General Assembly resolution on establishing a new UN entity for
gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Produced by the Department of Public Information Strategic Communications Division,
March 2010
Yours Sincerely,
NGO Relations, DPI
United Nations
www.un.org/dpi/ngosection