WUNRN
Statement
by the Delegation of the Holy See
at the
50th session of the Commission on the Status of Women,
Economic
and Social Council
On Item 3:
Follow-up
to the
twenty-third
special session of the General Assembly entitled
“Women
2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”
Madam Chair,
On the occasion of the 50th session of the
Commission on the Status of Women, my delegation takes the floor to acknowledge
the progress made in favour of women during these important debates and
deliberations, as well as the setbacks in certain spheres.
Looking back for a moment, the Commission may be
pleased with the growing profile that women’s issues have on the world
political stage. This was eloquently illustrated in the recent World Summit
Outcome Document, in which leaders expressed their conviction that “progress
for women is progress for all”. Among other things, the World Summit rightly
underlined the interdependence of development, peace and security and human
rights. Further, it emphasized that, for them to have a positive impact
upon poorer and more vulnerable women in particular, they have still to be
drawn together through wise political action, to the benefit of all the world’s
peoples.
We should not lose sight of the purpose of
this Commission, which is to prepare recommendations and reports to the ECOSOC
on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and
educational fields, with a view to achieving equal rights of men and women and
promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. The UN
Charter rightly pledges to promote universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms and to employ international machinery for
the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.
Therefore, attempts to replace present
inequalities must be done in a timely and bold manner as well as with great
care. Ideally, policies should be designed that restore balance and fairness to
social and political structures in such a way that their very success persuades
all people to work towards the true advancement of women. All those who want to
favour the progress of women must pursue it by the moral strength of their
arguments. They will never do so, if they insist on linking women’s freedom,
dignity and equality to unsound policies that have handicapped women’s true
progress in recent times.
Regarding the themes of development and peace, under
discussion in this review, evident challenges to women and girls remain,
especially in countries afflicted by armed conflict, poverty or both.
In this context, my delegation notes that the recently
completed Year of Microcredit drew attention to the notable success of
microfinance, something which has had a particularly positive impact due in
great part to women entrepreneurs in developing countries. This is a
phenomenon which has had the support of local Catholic Churches for many years,
through parallel schemes and informal small loans to poor people whose needs
were not met by the financial institutions. It is most encouraging to see
poor women’s patience, honesty and hard work rewarded in this way in many
places, and it is to be encouraged by attention to the reform of structures
that will in turn assist the spread and continued success of new initiatives in
this field.
There is little doubt that by 2050 we will have
witnessed the greying of the world’s population in a way hitherto unknown in
recorded human history. Women still commonly live longer than men, but
elderly women are sometimes shamefully overlooked by policy makers and agencies
that are created to look after women’s concerns. It would be well
therefore to reconsider policies directed at elderly women, who have oftentimes
cared for others in their adulthood, and who in justice should receive proper
support in their turn.
Turning to migrants, in general, they represent 2.9
per cent of world population, some 185-192 million people, nearly half of whom
are female. It often happens that women
migrants become the principal source of income for their family. The most
common employment opportunities for women, other than domestic work, consist in
helping the elderly, caring for the sick and working in the hotel sector.
These, too, are areas where just treatment must be assured for migrant women
out of respect for their femininity in recognition of their equal rights.
On a related matter, trafficking in human beings has a
particularly negative impact on women. In some cases there are women and
girls who are exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently
in the sex industry. The culture which
encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality
is as pervasive as it is unhealthy for society and must be addressed by more
than fine words.
Perhaps we should add here that, in armed
conflicts, women and girls are also victims of systematic rape for political
purposes. Those who permit, encourage or command such acts merit just
punishment along with the immediate perpetrators of such crimes, while the protection of women must be honoured
in accordance with Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as its
Additional Protocols I and II.
The Holy See again condemns vigorously the
sexual violence that frequently has women and girls for its object and
encourages the passing of laws that will effectively defend them from such
violence. Nor can we fail, in the name of the respect due to the human person,
to condemn the widespread culture which encourages the systematic exploitation
of sexuality and corrupts even very young girls into letting their bodies be
used for profit in a world-wide $ 3 billion industry.
The women’s movement has been described as “the great
process of women's liberation”. This journey has been a difficult and
complicated one and, at times, not without its share of mistakes. But it has
been substantially a positive one, even if it is still unfinished, as all
people of good will strive to have women acknowledged, respected, and
appreciated in their own special dignity.
Thank you, Madam Chair.