From DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.orgMon Sep 4 09:22:23 1995
Date: Sat, 02 Sep 1995 10:16:00 +0100
From: Debra Guzman <DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org>
Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org
To: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org
Subject: WCW: The Pledge...
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A PLEDGE TO GENDER JUSTICE
A Call for Commitment to the Agenda for Equality at the
Fourth World Conference on Women and Beyond
To achieve full citizenship and human rights for women
and sustainable development in the world, governments
and the United Nations must not only adopt the Platform
for Action, an Agenda for Equality, but commit to
implement and enforce their agreements.
The Fourth World Conference on Women comes at a time
when women's leadership is urgently needed in the face
of challenges to our collective survival. Over the past
decade, women have demonstrated that gender is central
to all contemporary and cross-cutting debates on global
issues, such as development, human rights, democracy,
population, peace and the environment. They have shown
that the empowerment and equal participation of women
in decision making are necessary to the advancement of
solutions to the world's crises.
At Nairobi women outlined a comprehensive plan of
Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of
Women. At Rio women were recognized as managers of
natural resources and the moving force for sustainable
development. At Vienna women's rights were
acknowledged as universal, inalienable and indivisible
human rights. At Cairo women's health, empowerment and
reproductive rights were placed at the center of
population-related development policies. At Copenhagen
political, economic, and social empowerment of women
were recognized as key to eradicating poverty,
unemployment and social disintegration. But too many
promises remain unfulfilled.
The success of the Agenda for Equality, adopted in
Beijing, rests, therefore, not on words, but on
resources, implementation, integration, enforcement and
accountability. Today women call for:
* strong institutions and adequate resources for the
enforcement of the agreements made;
* firm commitments to the integration of women and of
gender concerns into all international, regional, and
national bodies and policy making processes; and
* effective mechanisms of accountability to the world's
women in whose name these promises have been made.
It is time to make good the commitments and to turn
principles into practice.
We demand that governments pledge to:
MEET WITH WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS before the end of 1995
to determine national plans, mechanisms and resources
needed to implement the Agenda for Equality, and to
ensure political and legal freedom for women to
organize.
COMMIT 50% OF ALL RESOURCES to women, especially to
eradicate poverty, illiteracy, violence and to ensure
women's rights to education, health care and bodily
integrity.
INTEGRATE GENDER perspectives into all policy-making
and assure gender balance in all governmental bodies,
including elected and appointed positions.
SHARE EQUALLY decision making positions, reaching by
2000, gender balance in all governmental bodies,
elective and appointive positions, including in the
United Nations.
REDUCE MILITARY SPENDING by 5% immediately, and
incrementally thereafter, transferring these funds to
social programs, especially those that work to decrease
poverty and violence in society and empower women to
become full citizens and to exercise their human
rights.
INCLUDE WOMEN in peace making and provide gender
sensitive training to all military and police forces.
RATIFY AND REMOVE RESERVATIONS TO THE WOMEN'S
CONVENTION and bring substandard national laws into
line with its provisions.
We demand that the UN pledges to:
HONOR ITS CHARTER'S COMMITMENT to equal rights for
women and men and work to integrate gender perspectives
into all programs and to achieve gender balance in
professional posts.
STRENGTHEN INSTITUTIONS SPECIFICALLY MANDATED TO
EMPOWER WOMEN and expand the scope and resources of the
CSW, DAW, UNIFEM and INSTRAW.
Adopt an optional protocol to CEDAW. Create a post of
Under Secretary General to oversee UN implementation of
the Agenda for Equality.
MONITOR UN PROGRESS in achieving gender equality in
programs and structures and report annually to the
General Assembly on the status of women in the UN and
in member states.
DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY from international financial
institutions and transnational corporations for the
impact of their policies on women and require
compliance with ILO and human rights standards.
In return, organizations of civil society pledge to:
MAKE CERTAIN that our respective governments and the
United Nations honor these commitments and act promptly
to transform promises into reality.
INFORM AND MOBILIZE women from the community to the
national, regional, and international levels about
their basic rights and these governmental agreements.
HOLD governments and the United Nations accountable
through periodic reviews of their actions and
submission of progress reports to appropriate bodies.
The Agenda for Equality must become a reality for every
woman for the new millennium.
This pledge was initiated by a number of women's
organizations as part of the 180 Days to Beijing Campaign.
The Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights is urging
groups to endorse and utilize it locally.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
CENTER FOR WOMEN'S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
27 Clifton Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
USA
ph (908)932-8782 / fax (908)932-1180 / email<cwgl@igc.apc.org>