Women on the move - newsletter 1
March 1994 / No. 1
This newsletter has been made available in electronic format by the United Nations. Reproduction and dissemination of the newsletter - in electronic and/or printed format - is encouraged, provided acknowledgement is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available.
WOMEN ON THE MOVE
March 1994/No. 1
Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women
Division for the Advancement of Women
FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN
Message from the Secretary-General, Gertrude Mongella
I am glad to greet you all through the first issue of Women on the Move.
Women on the Move will be a monthly publication from the secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women. It will provide a channel of communication and link the secretariat of the Conference and all people involved and interested in the Conference preparations.
The Fourth World Conference on Women (4th WCW) is yet another opportunity offered by the United Nations to the international community to focus on social, economic, political and cultural forces that determine the relations between women and men, and to see how, in this period of global change, women and men can work together to build a world of peace where equality becomes a reality.
In the process of the preparations for Beijing, the image of women as strong players and managers of change is crucial in order for us to take actions which will make sure that obstacles hindering women from decision-making and effective participation in development activities are removed.
The Fourth World Conference on Women is also an opportunity for women all over the world to use the diversity of their backgrounds as a strength to eliminate the low status of women in society.
It is also an opportunity for women of all ages to work in partnership with men to bring about these changes.
I invite you all, through Women on the Move, to be with us as we move towards Beijing.
Editorial
In September 1995, we will hold the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, at the invitation of the Chinese Government.
We will identify obstacles to implementing decisions taken in Nairobi ten years earlier, at the end of the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985), and propose new courses of action based on the experience we have gained since the end of the Decade.
Preparations for the global event are taking place at national, regional and international levels. National reports are being prepared by Member States, and regional plans for action are being consolidated.
The Commission on the Status of Women which has been the locus for United Nations activities to support women's struggle for equality, was one of the earliest intergovernmental committees set up by the United Nations. The Commission was established in 1946 to monitor the implementation of women's rights around the world. Later its focus shifted to the role of women in social and economic development and, as a result of the Decade for Women, to women's empowerment, equipping women with the tools to overcome centuries of discrimination.
The Conference in Beijing will afford an opportunity to examine the growing international concern about violence against women, both in the family and as a result of misuse of authority and armed conflict. Women's rights and the impact of structural adjustment will also be topics for discussion, as will strategies to get more women into decision-making positions and to improve women's access to better health care and appropriate education. The Conference is expected to adopt a Platform for Action featuring those priority areas around which global consensus can be reached to promote the advancement of women.
Youth Focus
Gertrude Mongella, Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women, feels that the "old generation" has lived in a world of inequality. "If we can, we should quickly facilitate the new generation to live in a peaceful world", she said. The Platform for Action that is to be the final document of the Beijing Conference will remain a concept if "we don't involve the youth themselves, listen and pay attention to their voices", added Mongella, who launched early in February a Youth Programme targeting both young women and young men to be an integral part of the preparatory process leading to the Conference itself and the parallel NGO Forum.
The Division for the Advancement of Women, with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), brought to Princeton University, from 1 to 6 February 1994, twenty young people representing a number of international and regional youth organizations and institutions and drawn from both North and South.
They discussed Conference issues such as education, employment opportunities, peace, gender stereotyping, violence against young women, sexuality, reproductive health and AIDS, and the role of media in shaping values.
They also examined strategies for consciousness-raising about the Conference among young people and how to network and make linkages at regional levels to organize a direct involvement in regional preparatory conferences and the NGO Forum.
The objective is to begin a process that is open to all; to bring in as many young people as possible through educational institutions, youth organizations, groups working with street children and those in rural areas; to inform as many as possible about the Fourth World Conference on Women; and to ensure that their voice is heard.
Need more information? Call (212) 963-4757
Letter to Ms. Mongella from Miranda Worthen, 14 years old.
United Nations Committee
on the Status of Women
The United Nations
UN Plaza, New York
Dear Madam Chair:
My name is Miranda Worthen. I am 14 years old. My mother I were talking the other night and realized that neither of us has ever felt safe in the world as women. We were wondering whether there is a place anywhere in the world where women are safe from violence both in their own homes and in public? We realized we couldn't imagine living in the world without fear. If you know of any place, we would appreciate your betting back to us.
I have been interested in women's rights ever since I found out I was born on International Women's Day. I would like to go to this place because I would like to have the experience myself, and also so I could understand and do here what they do there.
Sincerely,
Miranda Worthen
Massachusetts, USA
14 November 1993
ADOPTION OF THE DECLARATION ON THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The UN General Assembly adopted unanimously, in December 1993, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The first of the six articles composing the Declaration stresses that the phrase "'Violence again Women' means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life".
A draft Declaration was endorsed in 1993 by the UN Commission on the Status of Women and approved by the Economic and Social Council for adoption by the General Assembly. Then, many efforts were made by women's organizations to put the issue of violence against women on the agenda of the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, Austria, 14-25 June 1993).
The final Declaration and Programme of Action of the Vienna Conference pointed out the importance of the elimination of violence against women in both public and private life, as well as the necessity to end all forms of sexual harassment, exploitation and trafficking in women.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women also asked States to condemn this kind of violence and to "not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination".
It also says that States should "recognize the important role of the woman's movement and non-governmental organizations world-wide in raising awareness and alleviating the problem of violence against women", and encourages forcefully the organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system to incorporate the issue of violence against women into ongoing programmes, promote the formulation of guidelines and manuals relating to it and cooperate with NGOs in addressing violence against women.
According to the Declaration, violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to:
- (a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
- (b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
- (c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs." (art. 2).
The lovely dove logo will go to Beijing, too!
Following consultations concerning the opportunity to create a new logo for the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Secretary-General of the Conference, Ms. Gertrude Mongella, has decided to maintain the official emblem of the United Nations Decade for Women (1975-1986) as logo for the Beijing Conference, "to confirm the continuity and link between the Conferences".
Designed in 1974 by Valerie Pettis of Henry Dreyfuss Associates, the logo represents a dove with the biological symbol for woman and the equals sign, and it has been widely used all over the world since then, for the International Year of Women (1975) and to promote and publicize the Decade's objectives.
It is hoped that UN agencies, the regional commissions of the UN, the national machineries and the NGO community will be promoting the non-commercial and commercial use of this emblem, generously offered to the United Nations by its creator, who also gave advice on how to use and reproduce it.
More information can be obtained at the secretariat of the Conference.
Tel: (212) 963-8385; Fax: (212) 963-3463
Commission on the Status of Women, Intersessional Working Group on the Platform for Action
First Steps for the Platform for Action
More than 79 delegations, representatives of UN institutions and several non-governmental organizations attended, from 10 to 14 January in New York, the Intersessional Working Group of the Commission on the Status of Women on the Platform for Action. During this five-day meeting, the delegates discussed extensively a conference room paper prepared by the secretariat on the structure of the Platform for Action. The Working Group proposed the following structure for the draft Platform for Action:
- I. Statement of mission;
- II. Global framework for action;
- III. Diagnosis of areas of critical concern;
- IV. Strategic objectives derived from the areas of critical concern and action to be taken (responsibility for implementation; introduction containing the themes equality, development and peace; strategic objectives deriving from the areas of concern; action to attain each strategic objective;
- V. Financial arrangements;
- VI. Institutional arrangements for implementing and monitoring the Platform for Action.
The completed version of the paper will be submitted to CSW at its 38th session (New York, 7-18 March 1994).
The NGOs have also prepared a 15-page "NGO Women's Caucus Document", with a series of suggestions for the structure of the Platform for Action, as a contribution to the ongoing process for the conception of what will be the final document of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women
CEDAW stresses the need to make its work more visible
The 23 experts of the Committee on the Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) examined the initial and/or periodic reports of 13 States Parties at their 13th annual session, held at UN Headquarters in New York from 17 January 1993 to 4 February 1994.
The Committee, which is the monitoring body of the UN's 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also discussed the implementation of article 21 of that Convention, and made proposals about ways and means to improve its own mechanisms of work. During its meetings, the Committee examined the possibility of making its work more visible and having effective input and help with its experience in forthcoming UN events such as the Population and Development Conference, the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women.
The States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination against Women also met at UN Headquarters in a one-day session, on 7 February 1994, and elected 12 new members of the Committee, to replace those whose mandates will expire in April.
Did You Know?
Equal Opportunity! Equal Access!
New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant universal suffrage, in 1893. Last year marked the first centenary of women's right to vote.
DAW transferred from Vienna to New York
Since the transfer, last summer, of the Division of the Advancement of Women (DAW) from Vienna to New York, there are 30 staff members working on the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women and composing its secretariat. They come from UN agencies, from media or as individual consultants, in the global effort to diversify approaches and expertise in order to make this event a success.
Within the UN organigram, the secretariat of DAW is under the Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, headed by Mr. Nitin Desai.
CALENDAR
Prior to the Conference a number of meetings are taking place at the national, regional and international levels, organized by NGOs as well as by the United Nations. Following is a preliminary calendar, which also includes other major United Nations conferences:
1994
10-14 January, New York Commission on the Status of Women, Intersessional meeting on draft Platform for Action
17 January - 4 February Committee on the Elimination New York of Discrimination against Women
3-4 March, New York 18th Inter-Agency Meeting on Women
3-4 March, New York NGO consultations on the 4th WCW: "Changing Forums in a Changing World"
3-18 March, New York NGO consultations and meetings
7-18 March, New York Commission on the Status of Women, 38th session
14-16 April, Toledo, Spain Preparatory Meeting for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Regional Conference
7-14 June, Jakarta, Indonesia Asian and Pacific Regional Preparatory Conference
1-6 August, Turku, Finland Nordic Forum
4-8 September, Amman, Jordan Regional Expert Group Meeting on Women and Development
5-13 September, Cairo, Egypt International Conference on Population and Development
19-23 September, Mar del Plata, Regional NGO Forum for Latin Argentina America and the Caribbean
26-30 September, Mar del Plata, Argentina Latin American and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Conference
17-21 October, Vienna, Austria European Regional Preparatory Conference
6-10 November, Amman, Jordan Western Asian Regional Preparatory Conference
16-23 November, Dakar, Senegal African Regional Preparatory Conference
22-26 November, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic INSTRAW International Conference on Women, Environment & Health
1995
16 January-3 February, New York Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 14th session
March UNESCO Seminar on Women and the Media
6-12 March, Copenhagen, Denmark World Summit for Social Development
9-10 March, New York 19th Inter-Agency Meeting on Women
9-24 March, New York NGO consultations and meetings
13-24 March, New York Commission on the Status of Women, 39th session
30 August-8 September, Beijing, China NGO Forum
4-15 September, Beijing, China Fourth World Conference on Women
Note to the readers about this newsletter
Dear Readers,
This is the first issue of Women on the Move, a monthly newsletter distributed by the secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women to inform you about its work and the preparatory activities for that event. We would like to hear your comments and receive your suggestions. We would also like to use Women on the Move as a platform for dialogue and cooperation with UN agencies, NGOs, grass-roots regional organizations, national machineries and individuals.
United Nations
Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women
Division for the Advancement of Women
DC2-1234
Two United Nations Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10017, USA
Tel: (212) 963-8385
Fax: (212) 963-3463
