WUNRN
Joint Statement to Promote a Global Development Strategy Based
on Human Rights - Submitted to the United Nations 58th Session of the
Commission on the Status of Women
The Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers
University and women’s and human rights organizations dedicated to gender
equity and women’s empowerment, welcome the 58th session
of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and States consideration of the
priority theme on: “the challenges and achievements in the implementation of
the Millennium Development Goals for Women and Girls” and the review theme:
“access and participation of women and girls to education, transportation,
science and technology, including equal access to full employment and decent
work and the global development agenda.”
For many years we have worked to develop and facilitate women’s
leadership for women’s human rights and social justice worldwide, calling
attention to the critical importance of working toward the full realization of
women’s rights -‐ economic, social and cultural, and political and
civil. Collectively and individually, we have worked to call on governments and
all other development actors to utilize international human rights to provide a
clear and universally recognized framework in the design, implementation, and
monitoring of economic policies and programs.
Development is a gendered process that affects women and men
differently. A human rights framework offers a method to access the development
strategies relevant for women and girls that are specifically addressed by the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): primary education, gender equality and
women’s empowerment, maternal health, and decent work.
The world has dramatically changed since the MDGs were created.
The global financial crisis of 2008 has wreaked havoc on livelihoods. The
promotion of austerity policies to deal with the consequent increases in
government budget deficits has led to the erosion of economic and social rights
for both developing and developed countries alike. Although large reductions in
extreme poverty have occurred since the MDGs were enacted, food vulnerability
can be seen in both developed and developing countries. For example in 2008,
24% of people in developing countries were still extremely poor, living on less
than $1.25 a day. As a result of the crisis, in some developed countries, low
income families are increasingly dependent on food banks and other food
assistance strategies each month in order to survive. The failure of key
governments to implement adequate regulation of financial markets and
institutions during the three decades leading up to the crisis is a failure to
meet the human rights obligation of the state to protect rights from the
actions of third parties that might threaten those rights.
Inequality within and between countries has increased, and women
continue to face highly unequal outcomes across the globe. Unemployment and
underemployment have increased and put further downward pressure on working
conditions and benefits, and shrinking wages and rising costs of living have
pushed the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment called for in
the MDGs further into the distance. In fact, more women in the workplace has
not necessarily meant better working conditions and pay, but more exploitation
and vulnerability. Women make up a large percentage of workers forced to
migrate within their own countries or to other countries in search of a livable
wage while at the same time opening themselves up to possibilities of violence
and discrimination. Higher and more volatile food prices created by unchecked
speculation in international commodity markets undermine women’s living
standards and incomes as producers of primary products increasing the risk of
hunger and women’s abilities to care for their families.
The MDG framers could not foresee these realities. The crisis
demonstrates that the action or lack of action, by one country can affect the
realization of rights elsewhere. The critical importance of a global
partnership for development articulated in Goal 8 takes on new significance in
the light of current global economic realities. The pivotal role that the
macroeconomic environment plays in realizing social goals and objectives is
clearer than ever before and must be taken into account and incorporated as
part of a coherent development strategy in the future.
The realization of human rights for all people in all countries
is impossible without an enabling global economic environment committed to the
realization of economic and social rights.
International human rights covenants and conventions, and the
Declarations and Programs of Action on Human Rights, Population and
Development, Social Development, Equality Development and Peace provide
principles for setting benchmarks for assessing the extent to which people are
deprived of their rights, and benchmarks for assessing the extent to which
policy has been conducted in ways to realize rights.
We call on Member States to implement their agreed conclusions,
respect international human rights law and agreements, and commit to the
principles and goals within them.
Specifically, we strongly urge Member States to:
Take a Human Rights Approach
Enhance
recognition of State obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights,
and to commit to
the principles of: progressive realization, maximum available
resources, non-‐retrogression, minimum
essential levels/minimum core obligations, and non-‐discrimination
and equality.
Create
clear regulations to ensure economic interests and conditions do not undermine
respect for
human rights and sustainable development.
On gender equality – linking
goals to women’s complex realities
Address
both the public and private sphere of women’s lives, including use of
‘temporary special measures’ to address a history of disadvantage – measure
opportunity of outcomes not just opportunity, with a particular attention to
women’s unpaid work.
Measures
to promote women’s empowerment in the labor market must look to enforcement of
labor rights, the quality of employment and the volatility of earnings.
Expand
assessment of realization of women’s reproductive rights and freedom from
violence because of their linkage to maternal mortality and women’s health.
Develop
tools to address the new forms of racism, nationalism, sexism and xenophobia
arising in all countries and leading to new forms of retrenchments as a result
of economic crisis and that threaten achievement of social and economic rights.
Expand
assessment tools for gender equality and empowerment to take into account the
intersection of gender with other forms of disadvantage, such as race, class,
ethnicity, and sexuality.
On macro level policies –
envisioning a common global enabling environment where macroeconomic policy
contributes to mobilizing resources for economic and social rights fulfillment.
Fulfill
the obligation to protect by the effective regulation of financial institutions
and markets to prevent economic crises.
Evaluate
macroeconomic policy with regard to the principle of nondiscrimination and
equality to eliminate gender bias.
Integrate
unpaid care work and social reproduction into the formulation and evaluation of
macroeconomic policies.
Avoid
macroeconomic policies that exacerbate inequalities along the lines of socio-‐economic
status, race, caste, and ethnicity.
On national level monitoring
and accountability for developing and developed countries – utilizing
established human rights covenants and conventions criteria in evaluation
Secure
robust evaluations and comparisons with other countries taking into account diverse
economic structures.
Consider
the incorporation of the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations
in the area of economic, social and cultural rights which outline State
obligations relating to acts and omissions (administrative, legislative,
adjudicatory and other measures) that have effects on the enjoyment of human
rights outside that State’s territory.
Assessment
of development policies to look beyond individual strategies (poverty
alleviation, health and wellbeing) to macroeconomic frameworks that
together influence the success of individual programs: (1) government
expenditure; (2) government revenue; (3) development assistance (both social
development assistance and private resource flows); (4) debt and deficit
financing; and (5) monetary policy and financial regulation.
Encourage
the development of different strategies for different national and local
realities in order to address global imbalances and inequalities in access and
opportunity.
Evaluate
trade agreements – multilateral, bilateral, and regional – with regard to their
impacts on economic and social rights.
Multinational
corporations, credit rating agencies, and international banks as important
actors in the global economic environment must be held accountable for the
realization of human rights.
We call on the CSW to facilitate leadership to support States in
fulfilling their human rights obligations. We remain committed to working with
the United Nations in building a world where the human rights of all are fully
realized.
Statement adapted from:Balakrishnan,
Radhika, Diane Elson and James Heintz. (eds). 2013. The Integration of Gender and Human Rights
into the Post-‐2015 Development Framework, Center
for Women’s Global Leadership.
Balakrishnan, Radhika and Diane Elson. 2012. The Post-‐2015 Development Framework and the Realization of Women’s Rights
and Social Justice.
Center for Women’s Global Leadership.
Endorsed By:
African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
Ain o Salish Kendra -‐ Law and Mediation Centre
Alliances for Africa
Armenian International Women's Association
Asian-‐Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women
(ARROW)
Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
Association of War-‐Affected Women
Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha
Canadian Federation of University Women
CARE International
Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action
Colectiva Mujer y Salud
Collectif Sénégalais des Africaines pour la Promotion de
l’Éducation Relative à l’Environnement
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Engender
Equality Now
Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, A.C.
European Women’s Lobby
Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya
Flora Tristan Peruvian Women Center
Foodfirst Information and Action Network (FIAN)
Forum for Women and Development -‐ FOKUS
Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer
Global Fund for Women
Global Justice Center
International Alliance of Women
International Council for Adult Education
International Federation of Women in Legal Careers
International Federation of Women Lawyers
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
International Women's Anthropology Conference
International Women's Health Coalition
ISIS: Women’s International Cross-‐Cultural Exchange
MADRE
Niger Delta Women’s Movement for Peace and Development
Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Public Services International
Soroptimist International
Stree Mukti Sanghatana
Tandem Project
Temple of Understanding
The Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center
United Methodist Church -‐ General Board of Global
Ministries
US Human Rights Network
Women and Modern World Centre
Women for Human Rights, Single Women Group
Women for Women's Human Rights -‐ New Ways
Women In Law and Development in Africa
Women’s Consortium of Nigeria
Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Working Women Association
World Young Women’s Christian Association
Zonta International
Last updated: October 25, 2013