Excerpts
from GOL formal response for UN question
Part
Four: Main Challenges and actions to address them
Existing
challenges and actions proposed to address them are
given below. In general, existing approaches -will
be intensified through more effective implementation
of existing policies. Partnerships between
Government and civil society to address gender
issues will be continued and further strengthened.
Some
of the priority concerns over the next few years
include the following Human
Rights
and Feminization of Poverty
-
Strengthen
the implementation and monitoring by
Governments, communities, civil society
organisations and corporate sector of gender
equality and rights based policies and
programmes with a view to eradicating
feminization of poverty as a priority,
particularly among rural women.
-
Low
attainments and wide gender gaps at the upper
primary and secondary stages of education are
areas of concern. The chailenge remains to
improve the quality and relevance of the school
system, and to integrate early childhood care
and education with the schooling system. Actions
to address the main detenninants of persistent
gender inequalities such as illiteracy,
deprivation and stereotypical socialization
patterns and adverse cultural practices will
improve educational and other outcomes.
Monitoring
of Progress on the Implementation of CEDA Wand PFA
-
Strengthen
national processes to review the progress on
full implementation of CEDA W, the PF A and the
B+5 Outcome Document. Facilitate Government and
NGO collaboration at regional and national
levels for this purpose.
-
Initiate
a process for development of appropriate
indicators at national and regional levels to
facilitate monitoring and implementation ofCEDAW
and BPFA
-
Strengthen
support services for victims of gender based
violence.
-
Strengthen
the legal system to address issues of gender
based violence.
-
Strengthen
implementation of the SAARC Convention on
Trafficking of Women and Children
-
Strengthen
measures against female foeticide, including
advocacy for attitudinal change.
Women's
work and Globalization
Most
women workers in India are engaged in agriculture,
where livelihoods are insecure and wages are low.
There also exists a significant gender gap in terms
of wages. Women's unpaid work is
"invisible" and unrecognized both socially
and in the national accounting schemes. Actions to
improve women's work and livelihood outcomes in a
context of globalization include
-
Support
processes to engender global trade agreements
and treaties
-
Support
efforts to promote policies and institutions
which give women, especially rural women,
employment, ownership and access to economic
resources, assets, capacity building and social
security. Attention to training and re-focusing
of skills.
-
Continue
to strengthen the networks of women workers in
the informal sector
-
Extend
and deepen the reach of ICT beyond the educated
middle class, including women.
-
In
addition, need to examine and address the social
impacts of globalization
Building
capacity for gender sensitive planning
-
To
take forward the processes towards gender
sensitive governance by developing and applying
tools such as gender analysis of budgets, gender
audit and engendered planning and monitoring at
the national and local levels.
Political
Participation
Women
are under-represented in governance and
decision-making positions at all levels. Women's
presence in local bodies does not guarantee women's
effective participation in decision-making.
Challenges faced by women in the electoral process
such as women being elected as proxy candidates,
intimidation of independent women candidates and
other such constraints still persist.
-
Continue
to strengthen processes including through
affirmative action to increase women's
participation in decision-making and leadership.
-
Enhance
capacity of elected women through training and
political education.
Serious
gender gaps remain in health outcomes such as
mortality and morbidity rates and life expectancy
High fertility rates and low mean age at marriage
has a debilitating impact on health of girls and
women Diseases like anaemia, stemming from
nutritional deficiency, persist. There are
increasing numbers and vulnerability of women to
HIV/AIDS and issues pertaining to mental health of
women. Actions will include:
-
Intensification
of efforts to address the gender dimensions of
HIV/AIDS using a multi-sectoral approach and
building capacity of individuals, institutions
and networks.
-
More
effective implementation of existing programmes
-
Create
mechanisms to increase women's access to media
and communication technology, and support the
training of media personnel to eliminate gender
bias in reporting
-
Support
processes to engender ICT in all initiatives of
PFA and CEDA W implementation
-
Engender
the depiction of women in media. Gender to be
included in curricula of art and dram: schools.
-
Regulatory
mechanisms for the media to be put in place and
implemented
Information
sharing and advocacy
-
Develop
expertise and share learning of best practices
on key gender concerns
-
Ensure
tree access to data collected by and through
official agencies for all users. . Providing
information for women, in particular, reaching
out to grass roots women
National
Women's Machinery
-
Strengthen
the capacity of line ministries /departments /
committees and shift their focus from project
implementation towards formulation of gender
sensitive policy, advocacy and monitoring with a
focus on the more disadvantaged omen belonging
to poor and weaker and other vulnerable sections
of society.
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