Five years after The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, a Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly is being held in New York this week to review the progress made toward implementing the Beijing Platform for Action, and to recommend new actions and initiatives.
The U.N. issues daily official press releases on both the Special Session and other matters. A complete listing of all press releases is available at the United Nations News Centre. The Special Session is also being webcast live. (Requires updated RealPlayer program.) The press releases listed below are specifically about the Special Session. These releases offer a general view of the focus of each session, and provide brief summaries of the statements of each speaker during that day's official activities. The sections quoted below are merely a few of the statements I found most interesting. The complete statement of each speaker (as distributed for the meeting - changes may have been made in the text when delivered) is also available from the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women.
U.N. Press Releases
Morning Session
General Assembly opens Women 2000 Special Session
As the General Assembly began its five-day special session, entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century" this morning, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the session should put the world on notice “that the future of this planet depends on women”.
In his opening statement, Secretary General Annan noted some of the areas of progress, such as the criminalization of violence against women in many countries, worldwide "mobilization" against practices such as honor killings and human trafficking, and improvements in health services and family.
But, much remains to be done: In economic terms, the gender divide is still widening. Most countries have yet to legislate in favour of women's rights to own land and other property. And even though most countries have legislated against it, violence against women is still increasing -- both in the home and in new types of armed conflict which target civilian populations, with women and children as the first casualties. Of 110 million children who are not in school, two thirds are girls. And more girls than boys drop out of school early.
The Secretary General ended his remarks on a positive note:
Five years ago, you went to Beijing with a simple statement: “We are not guests on this planet. We belong here.” Five years on, I would venture that we all know that this is an understatement. I hope this Session will put the world on notice that not only do women belong to this planet, but that the future of this planet depends on women.
Also speaking at this morning’s opening session were the Vice-Presidents of Gambia and Gabon; the Prime Minister of Namibia; State Councillor of China; Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan; and Ministers from South Africa, Chile, Portugal (speaking on behalf of the European Union), United Republic of Tanzania, Ukraine and Tunisia. The Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women acting as the Preparatory Committee for the special session, Christine Kapalata (United Republic of Tanzania), introduced the report of that body.
Afternoon Session
Persistence of Violence Against Women a Matter of Shame and Concern
That violence against women persisted and took new forms should be a matter of both shame and concern for all civilized societies, the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly was told this afternoon. The Minister for Human Resources Development, Science and Technology and Ocean Development of India, Murli Manohar Joshi, noted that democratic and pluralistic countries had had to face proxy wars and externally sponsored terrorism of which women and children were the first targets and favoured victims
Paik Kyung-Nam, Chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Women’s Affairs, Republic of Korea, suggested that to address the issue of violence against women, including that associated with armed conflict, the special session should generate momentum for more women peacekeepers, special envoys and decision- makers to be involved in the entire peace process.Many speakers also pointed out that domestic violence remained a global problem. It was a violation of women's rights and the worst expression of male dominance, the Minister for Gender Equality of Sweden, Margareta Winberg, said. It must be condemned and punished wherever it occurred. It was unacceptable, she stressed, that the life of a woman should be viewed as worth less than that of a man’s. She stressed the need to provide adequate support for the survivors of violence, to prosecute the perpetrators and to combat the scourge itself. Methods must be developed to treat the perpetrators, including preventive work and breaking the culture of silence prevailing among men.
Ministers of Bangladesh, Australia, Guatemala, Thailand, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Israel, Lithuania, Romania and the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of Japan, El Salvador, France, Greece, Spain and Ghana also addressed the Assembly.
Complete Statements For Monday
Media Coverage
Vatican, 4 Nations Obstruct Women's Rights
Reuters/ABC News
The Vatican, Algeria, Libya, Iran and Pakistan are trying to roll back goals set in 1995 to improve the lives of women, said Pierre Sane of Amnesty International. "Normally this review (of goals hammered out in Beijing) is looking at what has been achieved, what are the challenges and how we move forward," Sane said outside a forum on women's human rights at Columbia University. "But they are taking this opportunity to reopen debate about language, about concepts that were agreed in Beijing, so they are almost trying to renegotiate the Beijing platform and declaration."
World Conference On Women, Five Years Later
About.com World News
First Lady Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala will participate in the New York meeting. The session is likely to re-affirm the broad notion accepted in Beijing that "women's rights are human rights." But, as in Beijing, talks will falter when it comes to lifestyle and sexuality issues. The Vatican and a number of Islamic nations want to hold a conservative line on abortion, birth control, and other items.
Annan Calls for End to Violence Against Women
Reuters/About.com
Opening the weeklong special session, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Monday for immediate action to stop violence against women, promote education for girls and close the ``economic divide'' between men and women. While official and unofficial activities go on, behind closed doors, government delegations will hammer out a final document about how to follow up the Beijing program. Key divisive issues were the lack of resources flowing to impoverished nations from the rich industrial north, as well as objections on sexual rights, sex education and alternative lifestyles, among others.
Highlights: Monday, June 5