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Women on the move - newsletter 4

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· 2 years ago

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/ # 4 June 1994

SUMMARY

The Marrakesh Declaration from the Mediterranean and European Women's Summit
Women Want commitment not lip service
All women were born girls / Facts
Paper cuts from China Organizing Committee
Briefs - Youth Corner
Lack of information on women in small islands
Disabled women preparing for Beijing / UN publications plan for World's Women Trends and Statistics
Calendar

Women on the Move
June 1994/ No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women . Division for the Advancement of Women

The Marrakesh Declaration from the Mediterranean and European Women's Summit

A Summit of Mediterranean and European Women: Women for Peace, took place in Marrakesh, Morocco, under the the auspices of the European Commission, at the invitation of the Moroccan Government, from 27 to 29 May 1994.

More than 250 female MPs, influential personalities of civil society, and women leaders, businesswomen, journalists and students from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East met in the Kingdom of Morocco to affirm the role of women in the construction of peace in the Mediterranean.

The event was inaugurated by HRH Princess Lalla Meryem, who made an allocution, at the opening session, on behalf of King Hassan II of Morocco.

The Marrakesh Women's Summit, encouraged by the hope emanating from the peace process initiated between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, which it hopes to see extended to the entire region, stressed that "dialogue, confidence-building and the fostering of mutual understanding are the solution to conflicts and their prevention".

The participants considered that the stability of the Mediterranean region is a "key factor" in the achievement of global peace and that it must be an objective for each of the peoples of bordering States.

They also declared their solidarity with all the victims, especially women of racism and all forms of extremism and violence.

The Marrakesh Declaration, adopted on 29 May, also demands that the United Nations take "urgent and necessary measures to assure the implementation of and compliance with those resolutions devoted to the equal right of all the peoples of the region to peace, prosperity and development".

It also requires from the international community a guarantee that, in case of an embargo, the life and health of the civilian population in general, and of women and children in particular, be preserved.

The participants decided finally to develop the relationship between women of the Mediterranean and of Europe to increase their access to positions of responsibility at all levels and to create networks (WAM, Women's Action Mediterranean) in order to achieve peace in the Mediterranean and to emphasize common values while respecting differences.
Contact: 63, avenue d'Auderghem, 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium.
Tel. 32-2-230.62.32 or 230.38.46/Fax. 32-2-230.33.58

Women want commitment not lip service

It is time for women to stop knocking on the door as if they were merely invitees on this planet, said the Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Gertrude Mongella.

During the first meeting of the Advisory Group, on 5 May in Geneva, she insisted on the practical steps which can be taken to remove those obstacles which still impede the full participation of women in society.

"The reality is that women still, in many instances, remain without an equitable share of the economic, political and social resources that should be theirs by right. It is time to stop knocking on the door and begging favours as if we were merely invitees on this planet", she urged.

Underdevelopment and economic disintegration, said Mongella, have resulted in structural adjustment programmes which have meant that more money is used to pay debt than is invested in a country.

One direct effect on women is the increase of the prices of basic products, resulting in an increase of malnutrition in some countries. Other global consequences are cut backs in access to education, health and availability of natural resources so vital to women's lives.

Other examples of the gap between the role women are effectively playing on the planet and the reduced power they have in terms of decision-making were given by the eminent persons composing the UN Secretary's-General Advisory Group for the next women's conference.

One example is the case of poor women in rural areas, who are particularly dependent upon productivity of the land and are, at the same time, the major fuel and energy users.

Deforestation has forced women to spend more time travelling to collect scarce fuel, as well as water supplies.

In some regions, rapid economic growth was made possible during the recent decades through the exploitation of a cheap and plentiful labour source, predominantly women and children. In other regions, such as Eastern Europe, women are currently bearing a disproportionate burden of unemployment.

The 1993 United Nations World Economic Survey pointed out that most Eastern European economies will suffer a further sharp fall in output, with zero growth overall again expected in 1994.

According to the World's Survey forecasts, there will be no relief for incomes, which have plunged sharply since 1989.

Therefore, social stress will remain acute and represents a potent treat to the process of economic transition, added the Survey, which also stressed that policies involving only the distribution of food and not including health care, sanitation, education and other components of a broader approach are not likely to have a lasting impact on hunger, which is intimately related to poverty.

During their discussions the members of the Advisory Group recommended addressing the question of poverty, and underlined that women, particularly rural women, continue to be the most affected by it.

They also said that the United Nations should be a model in recognizing the contribution and worth of women, including their role in peace-making and conflict resolution. They added that investment in women yields high returns.

The UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, stressed, in his opening remarks, that a turning-point has been reached in the cause of women worldwide. Recognition of women's centrality to all dimensions of development grows, but resources decline and priorities become more difficult to determine".

Mongella appealed for 'explicit' and 'informed initiatives' to advance women's interest for the benefit of everyone in the society. She concluded that what is now required more than ever before is COMMITMENT, "not mere lip service without follow-up".

She forcefully called upon the members of the Advisory Group to ensure that the Fourth World Conference on Women is a milestone in achieving a more equitable world in the twenty-first century.

"If this is to be achieved it is imperative that Governments commit to very practical actions that can ensure women their rightful place in society", she said.

June 1994 / No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women. Division for the Advancement of Women

The China Organizing Committee has produced a series of paper cuts inspired by the theme of the Beijing Conference: Action for Equality, Development and Peace. Here are some offered to the readers of Women on the Move.

All women of this world were born girls!

Inequality, ignorance and poverty form the equation that hinders the harmonious development of many girls. If we resolve this equation, then it will be much easier to find solutions to the discrimination that women are facing.

Why? Simply because all women in this world were born girls, said Gertrude Mongella, the Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

In a statement to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Board in New York on 3 May, she stressed that inequalities in education, nutrition, health, status and personal safety begin at this stage.

"Discrimination does not start at age 18, when most societies grant majority to the girl and consider her an adult woman", she emphasized.

UNICEF recently issued a publication titled Girls and Women: a UNICEF development priority, under the direction of Misrak Elias and Sreelakshmi Gururaja, of the Women's Development Policy Unit, UNICEF Programme Division.

Through four chapters on "Health and the status of women"; "Food, income and household maintenance", "Education for girls and women"; and "UNICEF and the future of girls and women", the 32- page publication opens with these considerations, made by James Grant, the Executive Director of UNICEF:

"In the developing world today, many more boys become literate than girls. In some countries, twice as many boys as girls are brought to health centres for treatment. Employment rights, social security rights, legal rights, property rights, and even civil and political liberties are all likely to depend on the one, cruel chromosome distinguishing human male from human female."

June 1994 No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women . Division for the Advancement of Women

Facts:

The 1990s have been proclaimed by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as a decade for the girl child
The estimated loss in female lives represented by physical neglect of girl children is between 60 and 100 million worldwide.
Before 19 years of age, 60 to 70 per cent of girls are married in many African and Asian countries.
In 1990, 130 million children had no access to primary school; 81 million of them were girls.

Briefs

**"Europe for women-Women for Europe" is the title of the Greek Presidential Conference on equal opportunities between men and women, which was organized in Thessaliniki, Greece, from 16 to 18 May.

Some of the themes discussed were the role of the European Parliament for the promotion of women in decision-making centres, the presence of women in economy and employment in the European Union, problems and perspectives, women and structural changes, women and mass media.

** An International Conference of Jewish Women Leaders in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women will be held in Jerusalem on 9 to 12 November 1994, under the auspices of the Council of Women's Organizations in Israel (CWOI).
Contact: Mina Westman, Emunah, 26 Ben Maimon Av. P.O. Box 7788, Jerusalem 92261, Israel.
Tel. 02- 631.303 /Fax. 02- 662.811

June 1994 / No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women .
Division for the Advancement of Women

Disabled women preparing for Beijing

Nearly half of the 500 million disabled people in the world today are women. Stereotypes and even negative attitudes toward disability are still common. Consequently, women with disabilities face the discrimination that comes both with being a woman and with being disabled.

This assertion was made by Mar°a Cristina Sar†-Serrano, of the organization Disabled Peoples' International at the March 1994 session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.

Access to education and training for girls and women with disabilities is crucial, said Sar†-Serrano, while listing the actions that should be taken into consideration in the Platform for Action to be adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, in September 1995 in Beijing, China.

"The reality is that women and girls with disabilities are considered less valuable than other women, and more costly to educate, and are therefore given fewer opportunities for education and training", commented Sar†-Serrano.

She stressed that the same situation occurs with regard with health care, especially in terms of primary health care in developing countries. The representative of Disabled Peoples' International asked for special efforts to cover these health needs both at home and in clinics and hospitals.

Sar†-Serrano said that these two basic actions provide "the basis for women with disabilities to play a full and equal role in the economy, in the family, in politics and in the community, and guarantee their self-determination on the same basis as other women".

She finally demanded that the Fourth World Conference on Women provide "the necessary facilities for full participation by women with disabilities".

June 1994 / No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women .
Division for the Advancement of Women

Lack of information on women in small islands!

Dame Nita Barrow, who played an important role at the previous women's conference in Nairobi as Convenor of the NGO Forum, recently welcomed, this time as Governor-General of of Barbados, the participants to the first ever Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Islands Developing States.

Almost 50 islands and territories, mostly from the Pacific, Indian oceans and the Caribbean, took part in this event, convoked by the United Nations in Bridgetown, Barbados, from 25 April to 6 May 1994.

Dame Nita Barrow led an eminent persons group (EPG) which met prior to the Conference; it was very critical of the industrialized countries for their lack of political will and urged them to begin a process of partnership with the small islands.

Vulnerability, fragility and remoteness are the common problems faced by these islands, mostly lying in the tropical regions and living from tourism and monoculture in crops such as copra, sugar and bananas.

Presided over by Barbados Prime Minister Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, the Conference elected a woman, Penelope Wensley, from Australia, as chairperson of the Main Commission of the Conference.

Within the United Nations system, there is consensus that in order to achieve sustainable development, effective mobilization and integration of women is essential. This can be achieved through "gender analysis", which aims to examine how gender relations, defined as the relative positions in society of women and men, affect their ability to participate in development.

However, the documentation available during the global Conference on Small Islands did not show this approach. The women's groups attending in Bridgetown were surprised to not find specific litterature related to women and development in the islands.

Does that reveal the non existence of such studies and data? If so, efforts should be made, as follow up of the Conference, to remedy the situation by encouraging and financing data collection and research on women in every small island.

June 1994 / No.4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women . Division
for the Advancement of Women

Youth corner

The Asia-Pacific Youth Consultation is being organized by the Secretariat of the Fourth World World Conference on Women from 4 to 8 June at UNICEF Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

It aims to identify the main issues of concern to young people in the region and to initiate a regional programme to strengthen youth networks to raise awareness among young people for the Beijing Conference.

Through the Youth Corner, we would like to create a space for discussion for young people of both sexes.

Please send us information about your activities and your ideas about the Fourth World Conference on Women.

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Did you know?

Five women were named by President Nelson Mandela to the new South African Cabinet after last April's first multiracial elections: Minister of Health; Minister of Public Enterprises; Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology; Deputy Minister for Welfare; and Deputy Minister for Agriculture.

June 1994 / No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women .
Division for the Advancement of Women

United Nations Publications

Prepublication Planning for Worldwide Distribution of the Second Edition of the best selling book (see two pages in the manuscript/printed copy).

June 1994 / No. 4 . Secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women .
Division for the Advancement of Women