Read more in the latest issue of International Women’s News, which has Beijing+ 20 in focus

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Elimination of discrimination against women (A/HRC/29/L7/Rev.1)

Every year the Human Rights Council spends a day discussing the elimination of discrimination against women, informed by the latest report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice.

This Working Group is a sequel to Beijing’s Platform for Action. In Beijing, Governments decided to abolish discriminatory laws. The five and ten year reviews made this decision even firmer.  On the occasion of the tenth year review, the Commission on the Status of Women wondered if it would not be appropriate to establish a special rapporteur to report on discriminatory laws and their consequences. The Secretary-General had produced two reports, in 2006 and 2007 on the issue; in 2009 the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner to present a report on discrimination in law and practice, and in 2010 the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution with the mandate of the Working Group.

It is the second special procedure of the Human Rights Council dedicated to addressing women’s human rights, complementing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its causes and consequences,which was established in 1994 immediately following the World Conference on Human Rights.  In Vienna in 1993 it had been decided to integrate women’s human rights into the overall human rights system.

The first report of the Working Group was about its history and plans for the future. Its second report in 2013 was dedicated to discrimination in law and practice in public and political life. In 2014 the subject was eliminating discrimination in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis, and this year eliminating discrimination in cultural and family life with a focus on the family as a cultural space.(A/HRC/29/40)

This 2015 report is a radical accusation against patriarchy. It says that Article 5 (eliminate prejudice) of CEDAW is of vital importance. Human Rights Council resolutions – 16/3 on promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind and 26/11 on the protection of the family – threaten to undermine international achievements in the field of human rights in the name of cultural and religious diversity.

It relies heavily on the definition of gender in General Recommendation 28 of the CEDAW Committee.

12. The construction of gender is deeply embedded in culture. In its general recommendation No. 28, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women indicates that “the term ‘gender’ refers to socially constructed identities, attributes and roles for women and men and society’s social and cultural meaning for these biological differences resulting in hierarchical relationships between women and men and in the distribution of power and rights favouring men and disadvantaging women. This social positioning of women and men is affected by political, economic, cultural, social, religious, ideological and environmental factors and can be changed by culture, society and community.”[1]

Gender is a discriminatory factor in all societies. Culture however can be changed.

The recommendations the Working Group makes are all furthering equality, especially within the family.

The resolution (A/HRC/29?L.7?Rev.1) the Human Rights Council adopted is a weak ‘infusion’ of the working group’s analysis.

However it

3. Calls upon States to ensure women’s equal enjoyment of all human rights by, inter alia:

(a)           Adopting and strengthening national legal frameworks promoting and guaranteeing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with their international obligations and commitments;

(b)           Promoting the equal and full access, participation and contribution of women and girls in all aspects of life, including in cultural and family life;

(c)           Rejecting any discriminatory practice and gender stereotype;

(d)           Adopting or strengthening measures to combat multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, in particular against those belonging to vulnerable groups;

4. Also calls upon States to promote a culture free from all forms of discrimination against women and girls and to address its root causes by, inter alia:

(a)           Developing national mechanisms, measures and policies, as appropriate;

(b)           Adopting awareness-raising campaigns, educational and informational programmes;

(c)           Promoting the mobilization and engagement of civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including that of men and boys;

(d)           Providing gender-equality training for State civil servants, including those working on the judiciary;

(e)           Adopting a coherent set of gender-responsive social and economic policies;

(f)            Addressing poverty and social exclusion in order to overcome the structural barriers and inequality that they face;

5. Urges States to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;
6. Calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and to guarantee women’s equality in law and in practice in family life, in accordance with their respective international obligations and commitments by, inter alia:

(a)           Recognizing the equality of all family members before the law;

(b)           Opposing all forms of marriage that constitute a violation of women’s and girls’ rights, well-being and dignity;

(c)           Ensuring that men and women have the same right freely to choose a spouse, to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent and the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;

(d)           Ensuring the same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property;

(e)           Ensuring the same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and the adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all the cases, the interest of the children shall be paramount.

Further the resolution calls for combating violence, an end to impunity, and access to justice for all women regardless of their status.

I started out noticing that there was so much language about the family in this resolution. Then I understood that this was because the Working Group’s report focused on it. Then I read the report and was impressed with the thorough analysis and description of legal systems regarding personal law.

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On 8 August 1945 The League came into being and its first President was Mrs Julia Rapke MP.    A major focus throughout its history has been to encourage young women to learn about and become involved in political issues, to meet politicians and to understand parliamentary processes.   Alliance members who attended the 2012 International Meeting in Melbourne will remember the session on  Human Rights and Seniors’ Rights enthusiastically presented by students from two high schools.

Today the theme was My Vote My Voice 2015 and we were all seated in the ornate Legislative Council Chamber of the Victorian Parliament.    The opening address was given by Safa Al Marhoun, Youth Commissioner, Victorian Multicultural Commission, and the tone for the debate was set by two articulate and passionate senior students.    Five schools were ably represented by young women speaking on a variety of issues with a strong overriding theme of gender equality.    Panel responses followed.

The day was also tied to Beijing+20 and three special guests who had attended Beijing 1995 spoke briefly – Anne Walker, former Executive Director of the International Women’s Tribune Centre in New York, spoke of the opposition to the Beijing Platform for Action;  Dr Helen Hill, Education Adviser, East Timor, saw sustainable agriculture as a basic human right, and Yueying Wang  recalled her awakening to women’s rights.

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Read the whole presentation
Report from the event

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To uphold international human rights principles and standards;

Ratify and fully implement state obligations, including extraterritorial obligation under all international human rights treaties, including the Optional Protocols; Withdraw all reservations, enact enabling legislation and strengthen accountability mechanisms that institutionalise and support implementation.

Read the whole statement

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There has been tremendous progress toward gender equality and the realization of the human rights of women and girls. However, many of the gains that women and girls have made are under threat and women and girls worldwide face extraordinary and unprecedented challenges, including economic inequality, climate change and ocean acidification, and rising, violent fundamentalisms. At a time when urgent action is needed to fully realize gender equality, the human rights and empowerment of women and girls, we need renewed commitment, a heightened level of ambition, real resources, and accountability.  This Political Declaration, instead, represents a bland reaffirmation of existing commitments that fails to match the level of ambition in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and in fact threatens a major step backward.

As women’s organizations and feminist organizations, we demand a Political Declaration that:

• Expresses unequivocal commitments toward fully realizing gender equality, the human rights and empowerment of women and girls. The term “realize gender equality, empowerment and the human rights of women and girls” is used throughout the political declaration. The goal of ensuring the full enjoyment by women and girls of all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms is cross-cutting and emphasized throughout the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, not just in one chapter. In the Beijing Declaration alone, the goal of realizing the human rights of women and girls is affirmed in paragraphs 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 23, 31, 32. Furthermore, the Platform for Action explicitly recognizes that gender equality is a matter of human rights (para 1) and in paragraph 2 states “As an agenda for action, the Platform seeks to promote and protect the full enjoyment of all human rights and the fundamental freedoms of all women throughout their life cycle.” Governments cannot pick and choose when to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of women and should not do so in this declaration.
• Commits to accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, along with the outcomes of the 23^rd United Nations General Assembly Special Session, the Beijing+10 and Beijing+15 political declarations, the agreed conclusions and resolutions of the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as regional-level declarations on gender equality and the human rights of women and girls.
• Commits to universal ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and regional-level treaties on the human rights of women and girls and gender equality.
• Recognizes the critical and unequivocal role women’s organizations, feminist organizations and women human rights defenders have played in pushing for gender equality, the human rights and empowerment of women and girls. Without feminist organizations, there would be no Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, nor progress in its implementation. Progress has occurred not because of the benevolence of governments, but because feminist organizations and women human rights defenders have fought for it, every step of the way. The attempt of governments to marginalize the role of feminist organizations these groups is an affront to women, everywhere.
• Commits to create an enabling environment and resources to allow women’s organizations, feminist organizations and women human rights defenders to be able to do their work free from violence.
• Recognizes and commits to address the emerging challenges that are setting back our fight for equality and the realization of the human rights of all women and girls. These include increasing fundamentalisms, violent extremism, increased number of displaced persons, increasing inequalities within and between countries, and climate change and ocean acidification, among others. The evidence is clear: women and girls suffer the disproportionate impact of these challenges and without real commitment to address them, gender equality and the full realization of the human rights of women and girls is a pipe dream.
• Ensures real accountability for governments including detailed measures to reform and strengthen public institutions to address the structural causes of gender inequality; ensuring an enabling economic environment for women’s rights and gender equality beyond sector-specific financing and gender-responsive budgeting; creating national, regional and international systems that hold State and non-State actors, including multilateral institutions, to account for their role in perpetuating gender inequality and violations of the human rights of women and girls; and affirming the principle of international solidarity as the basis for international partnership between States for just, sustainable and equitable development.
• Affirms the strong linkages between Beijing, Post-2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Realizing gender equality, empowerment and the human rights of women and girls will be critical for the success of the post-2015 development agenda. The Political Declaration should state unequivocal support for the stand-alone gender equality goal and targets as defined by the Open Working Group; recognize the centrality of gender equality, empowerment and human rights of women and girls for sustainable development; Commit to fully implementing the SDG on gender equality and women’s empowerment and ensuring a gender and human rights perspective throughout the post-2015 development agenda; and commit to gender-sensitive targets and indicators and ensure that gender is integrated into the means of implementation, financing and mechanisms for review, monitoring and accountability.
• Recognizes the links between the human rights of women and girls and development. The Political Declaration must reaffirm the links between the human rights of women and girls and development, particularly as women and girls disproportionately are affected by the consequences of under-development. None of the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social or environmental – can be achieved without the full participation of women and girls and without all of their human rights being fulfilled. When 61 million children, more than half of them girls, have no access to education, when 35% of women have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence, and when 1 in 3 girls in the developing world are married by 18, there is a clear failure of development and a serious denial of human rights.

Anything less than the above would be a political failure, at a time when significantly more effort is needed to achieve the goals of fully realizing gender equality, the human rights and empowerment of all women and girls everywhere.

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2015 is a very important year for women’s human rights

2015 is a very important year for women’s human rights. The international community will celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and the outcome of the 23th Special Session of the General Assembly entitled: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21^st century. The Commission on the Status of Women of the UN will be undertaking the review of progress and obstacles concerning the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action since 1995.

This is a very significant review in a year in which governments through the UN will be adopting the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Political Declaration on day 1 instead of Agreed Conclusions at the end of session

Women’s NGOs and civil society organizations are experiencing a lot of frustration as the CSW is not going to adopt as usual Agreed Conclusions at the end of the session but instead there will be a Political Declaration adopted on the first day of the session.

The reason given is because high level people such as Presidents, Heads of State, etc. will be present on Day 1 and commitments and a reaffirmation of the BPfA will be on the agenda.   Ministers can go home and say that they adopted the Declaration.  Women’s groups and networks therefore will not have real quality space and opportunity to contribute to the discussions, to inform the Political Declaration and to bring forward all the extraordinary issues that came out of their regional reviews.  Any negotiations must be done before March 9 and on the national level.

The President of NGO/CSW, Geneva Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, sent a letter to the CSW Bureau on the timing of the Adoption of the Declaration, stating that the time is very short for communities to review, consult and send in their recommendation.   Further, this simply limits participation to those civil society and women’s networks that have access to internet or other modern forms of communication.  This therefore would result in an exclusionary and elitist process that does not take into account the fundamental inequalities that exist in relation to access to information.   IAW has submitted amendments to reinforce the language of women’s human rights in the text of the Declaration.

The timing of the Adoption of the Declaration is an expression of the backlash on women’s human rights. It also shows that civil society, and in particular women’s organizations, lack decision making power and cannot influence a process that is geared to the amelioration of their lives.

Civil society is experiencing direct and indirect efforts to limit its influence by different conservative and populist forces that are questioning the principle of equality and gender.

The world has changed dramatically since the Beijing Conference. The growing dominance of finance in the economy and in people’s lives has deepened existing inequalities between countries and within countries and between men and women. In this changing context in which patriarchy still persists and legitimises women’s inferiority and the violation of women’s human rights, women have been disproportionately negatively impacted.

Since 1995 no other World Conference has taken place because Governments are against this due to economic reasons. Some of them are not in favour of women’s human rights.  NGOS are also against because they are afraid that the Beijing text would be re-opened and at the end of the day they would find themselves with much less than what has already been achieved.

What has been adopted since 2005 are renewals of commitments of Governments to the Beijing Platform for Action. This is not enough. But 2015 is even worse. The Declaration is a rather watered down text. Although the text will be negotiated until the end of February, I’m not very optimistic about the end result. Moreover women’s organizations seem very discouraged. I am quoting what some of them are saying:

– What is alarming is to re-read the Beijing Platform for Action and note the areas we have actually gone backwards.

– When I read the draft Political declaration on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, I was alarmed to see the following in point 8: “to fully realize gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls by 2030”.  That’s 35 years after the 4th World Conference on Women. This is two generations later. An unacceptable timeline for realizing this goal.

– Those women and children who remain in crushing poverty, slavery, violence and in the horrors of war, cannot wait another year, another day, indeed a minute as their very survival is at hand and their human rights diminished by the absurdity of forwarding a deadline of 2030. Setting a goal of 2030 in and of itself is a form of oppression and adherence to gender based inequality.

NGOs want decision making power

Another important issue that has to do with the limited engagement and participation of women’s NGOS in the work of the CSW is the working methods of the CSW. NGOS do not want only dialogue and a chance to have inputs although they are grateful for chances to send written statements, oral statements and meeting with governments. They want to have decision making power as well.

Review of CSW working methods

The Commission on the Status of Women will be reviewing its working methods in its forthcoming 59th Session. The ways for enhancing the impact of its work were recently reviewed in a report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.6/2014/14).  It is expected that a Resolution on the working methods of the CSW will be adopted at the CSW 59 by the Commission. The text of the working methods will be negotiated until the end of February.

UN Women is keen that the Commission’s consideration of its working methods are informed by the views of civil society.   UN Women has invited civil society to develop key wants/needs and to respond to the document. UN Women has charged NGO CSW/NY with coordinating that document.

The Chair of NGO/CSW NY, Soon-Young Yoon, has written to the Chair of the Bureau of the CSW  seeking more participation by NGOs in the Commission’s work.    Soon Young is requesting:

– that NGOs be allowed to be observers during the negotiations on the outcome document – whether this be the Agreed Conclusion Declaration or Working Methods document – throughout the process

– that the NGO/CSW committees will take responsibility to select at least two observers from each region based on regional caucuses to attend negotiations.

IAW has elaborated a position paper on the working methods of the CSW putting emphasis on the catalytic role that NGOS could play in monitoring the Commission’s Agreed Conclusions at the national level. NGOS can play an important role in holding national and international leaders accountable for commitments made and results achieved.   Civil society should be given access to negotiations to enhance its contribution to the work of the Commission.

IAW is in favour of a resolution as the format to be adopted on the outcome of the negotiations on thematic issues. From an IAW point of view it would be better not to work by consensus because the Agreed Conclusions are necessarily watered down in the process. A resolution would be more action oriented and its format would give an incentive to implement it.

A number of other interesting ideas have been put forward by members of the North America-Europe Caucus like exemplifying experiences from other UN processes:

– The Human Rights Council has an Advisory Board of NGOs formed of independent experts, academics, grassroots representatives etc. Such a body could help us with the monitoring of the  implementation of the outcomes of CSW sessions.

– In the conference of the Parties negotiations around Climate Change in Lima and many treaty processes, NGOS are reserved two places at each plenary session to speak.

The way forward

A Task Force could be created that would work directly on the better functioning of the CSW and prepare an institution building package among others.

It is at the national level that women’s organizations and other networks should be bring forward their redlines both for the Declaration and the working methods of the CSW.

The way forward is a long one.  We should strive to bring changes in the CSW working methods that give decision making power to women’s NGOs in particular access to negotiations over the outcomes of the CSW. These changes will enable them to play a catalytic role concerning the monitoring of the accountability of governments regarding the implementation of the BPfA at the national level.

The women’s movement should try to create a global partnership committed to a global enabling  macroeconomic environment and to promoting and protecting women’s human rights through the full implementation of human rights instruments, especially CEDAW.

The women’s movement should strive for the acknowledgement of the above two priorities as essential structural components of the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

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Your Excellency, Ambassador…….

Subject: Timing for the Adoption of Political Declaration at 59^TH Session of the UNCSW

I am writing on behalf of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, following members meeting of January 13,2015, where I was directed to write to you on this matter.

We have been and remain actively involved in the Beijing Plus 20 process. In November, we convened the largest NGO Forum with almost 700 participants from the UNECE region. We appreciated the collaboration with member states, with UN Women and the ECE in this process. We also received information that the 59^th Session of the CSW will not be adopting Agreed Conclusions at the end of the meeting, but will be adopting a Political Declaration.

While respecting the above decision, we are dismayed with the decision to adopt the Political Declaration during the opening session of the 59^th Session of the CSW. We understand that the rationale for this decision is because a) senior government officials may not stay for the two weeks and b) the essence of the CSW is to focus on implementation. On both points, we expect at least once a year for the Ministers and other senior officials to accord quality time to the commission as it is a singular space for normative and standard setting. It is primary because of the focus on implementation that we expect the political declaration to carry some concrete and specific messages around implementation as its core ethos.

We recommend that such Declaration should be adopted at the end of the CSW preferably or the end of the first week for the following reasons:

1. Significance of Beijing Plus 20. This is a very significant review and in a year in which the governments through the UN will be adopting the Sustainable Development Agenda post 2015. Many women especially young women were unable to participate in the regional reviews and are investing significant resources to come New York for this review. If the Political Declaration is adopted on the first day, many people will not see the need to travel to New York for two weeks without a tangible outcome.

2. Adoption of the Political Declaration deprives the participants and delegates to CSW and meaningful contribution to the ethos of the Declaration. It narrows the space for civil society engagement and participation with the inter-governmental process itself. The rich and dynamic engagement and dialogues with member states in negotiations is the ethos which brings life and collective commitment and ownership of the outcome documents of such inter-governmental processes.

3. While we understand that the Political Declaration will be made available online for civil society input this February, we recognise that the time is very short for communities to review, consult and send in their recommendation. Again this simply limits participation to those civil society and women’s networks that have access to internet or other modern forms of communications. This therefore would result in an exclusionary and elitist process that does not take into account the fundamental inequalities that exists in relation to access to information.

4. The timing of the declaration also places a damper on the CSW 5^TH Session, as it is then not clear as to what the real outcome of the two wk gathering will be and how that will be communicated. Its not clear whether there will be the Chair’s Summary or any other form of communication. A clarification on this point is essential for us to advise our members

We respected the decision of the member states not to hold a 5^th Women’s World Conference, which we had anticipated and we still recommend; and we respect the decision not to have Agreed Conclusions. We therefore feel strong that this decision to adopt the political declaration on first day of the CSW further reduces space for civil society participation. We therefore strongly recommend a review of your decision on timing for adoption of the political declaration.

We continue to value your leadership in facilitating the CSW and the collaboration with us in civil society.

With kind regards
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda
President,
NGO Committee on the Status of Women- Geneva

Cc:

• CSW Bureau Members
• UN Women Executive Director
• UN Secretary General
• NGO CSW Members

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The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe decided to hold the Regional Review Meeting on 6 and 7 November 2014 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

The meeting focused on five thematic panels on the following key issues: long-term trends in gender equality and the empowerment of women in the ECE region, closing gender gaps through economic and social policies, women’s representation in policy making and decision-making, ending violence against women and girls, governance and gender justice, and gender equality for sustainable development.

The meeting concluded that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action are as relevant today as they were twenty years ago. Governments and all actors addressed in the Beijing documents should be encouraged to finally implement the commitments undertaken in Beijing in 1995.

Despite progress, the current pace of change is too slow. There is a need to develop and implement comprehensive, well-funded strategies to accelerate change. This requires a transformational agenda.

The post-2015 development agenda represents an opportunity to reaffirm that gender equality is a pre-condition for sustainable development. There is a need to maintain high ambitions for gender equality and human rights for women and girls in the negotiations on the post 2015 Development Agenda.

Preventing and combating violence against women and girls are essential preconditions for equitable and inclusive sustainable development.

Increasing women’s economic participation is a precondition for their empowerment and economic independence and it has a positive overall economic impact.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights remains an area where there is a critical need to carry out more effective actions.

Legal frameworks and instruments to protect women’s rights have an important role to play, including the implementation of the CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention.

The implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 is crucial to address gender-based violence in conflict situations and to involve women actively in peace processes.

In order to speed up change, it is essential that more men and boys are involved as agents for change in gender equality issues. The meeting adopted a Declaration and Recommendations.

Recommendations and Declaration

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