TWO-PART CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY: DOUBLE-EDGED MESSAGES AT HIGH LEVELS

March 8, New York--“What do we really want to accomplish here?” asked Jessica Neuwirth, president of Equality Now, addressing the more than 2000 representatives of governments, international agencies and NGOs assembled here in New York to celebrate International Women's Day.

The question highlighted the disappointments of the first week of this 49th session of the Commission on the Status of women, which was planned review and appraisal of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA). Disappointments were voiced by NGOs as well as some from the international agency representatives on the fact that one-page political declaration reaffirming commitment to the BPFA took so long to achieve consensus. Neuwirth observed that “Reaffirming is not progress. We could have used the opportunity to move forward.”

On the morning of Friday, March 4, the announcement that the US delegation had withdrawn its reservations about the political declaration was met with much applause at the plenary hall. That morning commenced with a lighter mood as an early Women's Day celebration was held to allow some government delegations to return to their home countries for their own celebrations.

The rest of the messages given on March 4 looked back on the first world conferences for women, with statements from the women who held the posts of secretary general for these milestone conferences.

Helvi Sipila who led the first conference in Mexico spoke in a video message that in 1975 “the world was starting to realize that women were active, important citizens, playing a key role in society.”

Leticia Shahani, who chaired the world conference on women in Nairobi in 1985, reminded governments that “the implementation of the Beijing Platform must go hand in hand with the Millennium Development Goals and should not be sacrificed for them.”

Bani Dugal, Chair of the non-governmental organization Committee on the Status of Women, said that there were no grounds -- moral, practical or biological -- on which denial of women’s rights could be justified. She also acknowledged that that much of the struggle to advance women’s status was due to the efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and women’s groups. The growing strength and capacity of women’s organizations representing the full spectrum of the world’s cultures and resources had become a driving force for change.

For the second women's day celebration on Monday, March 8, stronger words on the work that needed to be done to achieve gender equality were expressed. Speakers touched on human rights, the need for gender parity in decision-making levels especially in the UN, and gender perspectives on post-conflict and post-disaster interventions.

Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific cited how the global budget for development assistance was less than ten percent of the $900 billion of global military spending. Only $3 billion actually went to gender-specific programmes. She said it was necessary for governments and the international community as a whole to reconsider their priorities, because global security depended on achieving gender equality.

Neuwirth called for more women's representation in the structure of the United Nations itself, highlighting the way gender mainstreaming is not even a reality in the UN. This disparity was visible in how the Commission on the Status of Women has not been elevated into a higher structure apart from the Economic and Social Council. Another goal that has not been achieved is the repeal of discriminatory laws in many countries that have signed on to the BPFA.

Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) focused on how much of poverty is urban poverty, and that services for the urban poor,
many of whom are women, should be the responsibility of governments.

Full texts and summaries of statements made at the plenaries are available from the 49th CSW website at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/english/press-releases.asp

The second week will be marked by further high-level meetings on gender indicators, gender perspectives on macroeconomics, gender equality through the youth, and the role of intergovernmental organisations. At the same time, various resolutions being proposed will be considered for adoption on the last day of the session.