WUNRN
Via Isis International
Joint Statement of
Women’s Rights Civil Society Movements at the Asia-Pacific Civil Society
Consultation for the 20-Year Review of the Implementation of the Beijing
Platform for Action and for the 58th Session of the Commission on
the Status of Women
Women’s rights civil
society movements from the Asia Pacific region gathered at the United Nations
Conference Centre, Bangkok on 10-11 February 2014, call upon our region’s women
ministries and officials responsible for Gender Equality, to take this
opportunity of the Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for
Action (BPFA) and the 58th Session of the Commission of the Status
of Women, to advance commitments related to gender equality and women’s and
girls’ rights, development and empowerment within a vision of a regional
community that enjoy development, economic, social, gender and environmental justice.
We remind ourselves that the BPFA drew its mandate and inspiration from earlier
global agreements, such as, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, International Conference on Population and Development, and
Vienna Conference on Human Rights.
Twenty years ago, the
world’s leaders committed to collectively uphold the rights, and empowerment of
women and girls at the Fourth World Conference on Women that produced an
unprecedented document known as the Beijing Platform for Action. Five years
later, the Millennium Declaration was adopted which reinforced the principles
of human dignity, equality, and equity at the global level and reconfirmed,
among others, the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well
as, the respect for the equal rights of all without distinction as to race,
sex, language or religion.
·
We will spare no effort to promote democracy
and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally
recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to
development. We resolve therefore: to respect fully and uphold the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights; to strive for the full protection and promotion in
all our countries of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for
all; to strengthen the capacity of all our countries to implement the
principles and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including
minority rights; to combat all forms of violence against women and to implement
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
to take measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of
migrants, migrant workers and their families, to eliminate the increasing acts
of racism and xenophobia in many societies and to promote greater harmony and
tolerance in all societies…”3
In imagining a future of
fully inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development, the Millenium
Declaration foreshadowed the potential for globalisation to be a force that
threatens our collective progress by creating new levels of inequality: leaving
the environmental, social, and economic costs to be borne by the many and the
profits to largely accrue to a lucky few.
·
We believe that the central challenge we
face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the
world’s people. For while globalization offers great opportunities, at present
its benefits are very unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed.
We recognize that developing countries and countries with economies in
transition face special difficulties in responding to this central challenge.
Thus, only through broad and sustained efforts to create a shared future, based
upon our common humanity in all its diversity, can globalization be made fully
inclusive and equitable. These efforts must include policies and measures, at
the global level, which correspond to the needs of developing countries and
economies in transition and are formulated and implemented with their effective
participation.
·
Poverty eradication … “depends on good
governance at the international level and on transparency in the financial,
monetary and trading systems. We are committed to an open, equitable,
rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and
financial system.”
The MDGs themselves did not
reflect the ambition or commitment reflected in the Millenium Declaration,
particularly for women. In fact, they had the perverse effect of diverting
focus from existing, more ambitious and rights based commitments
Regrettably, we now see
that the apprehension expressed in the declaration has been realised.
Globalisation has led to wealth, power and resources accruing to a minority of
the world´s richest and most powerful people and corporations. Our world is now
a plutocracy. Recent statistics revealed that the wealthiest 85 people in the
world are now wealthier than half the world’s population - 3.5 billion people.
This model of wealth accumulation is directly responsible for the crises of
inequality and of environment we now confront.
It demands of us that we
reflect on how we got from that visionary moment in the year 2000 to where we
are today.
As corporate-led and
finance-driven globalization deepened in the ensuing years, we find ourselves
facing simultaneous environmental, financial, social, and cultural-ethical
crises of unprecedented proportions. Predatory and speculative financial
transactions almost brought many of our countries to bankruptcy during the Asian
financial crisis. Given such uncertain times, the BPFA must be reaffirmed and
programs made more effective so as to contribute to a Post2015 Development
Agenda that is transformative, just and rights-based.
We endorse the Bangkok
Declaration produced by 100 civil society organisations from the Asia Pacific
region which called for a new model of development characterised as
‘Development Justice’. Development Justice
At this ESCAP meeting, we
call on our governments to deliver an outcome document that will reflect
rights, development, empowerment and future aspirations of women and girls, as
follows:
Key Messages:
1. This must be the era of
ACCOUNTABILITY. Strong normative standards and commitments exist but these
commitments are rarely implemented and discarded at the altar of economic
growth and political power.
2. A new development framework must be
TRANSFORMATIVE. It must address the structural caucuses of inequality and
marginalisation. It must address the convergence of the pernicious effects of
globalisation, militarism and conflict and fundamentalisms that particularly
target women’s bodies and livelihoods.
3. The framework must include a strong
stand-alone GENDER GOAL that address root causes of rights violations. And
gender must be integrated throughout the framework.
4. The post2015 agenda must include an
INEQUALITIES GOAL that aims to reduce inequalities of wealth, power, resources
and opportunities between states, between rich and poor within states and
between men and women. This goal must ignite macro-economic reform at the
global and national level.
5. A new development agenda must
address the CLIMATE CRISIS and the cause of the climate crisis – a refusal to
limit production and consumption, particularly in the developed world.
6. The new development agenda must be
underpinned by the principles of HUMAN RIGHTS and the RIO PRINCIPLES.
7. New global PARTNERSHIPS must result
in strengthened partnerships amongst citizenry – that is citizens and those
they charge with delivering sustainable development – their governments.
Women represent 70% of
people living in poverty in the Asia Pacific. Nearly two-thirds of women work
in ‘vulnerable employment’ that lacks basic security, benefits, and working
conditions. Moreover, Asia has the highest gender pay gap in the world.
In this conjuncture,
addressing gender inequality requires us to examine and anticipate comparative
impacts of macroeconomic policy and regulation on poor women and men. The contours
of our political economy of development; the scope and composition of public
expenditure; the features of public revenue collection; the impact of sector
policies on employment; the profile of social policies, all these take place in
a gendered terrain, where women remain by and large economically subordinated
to men and therefore are affected differently by economic globalization.
As duty-bearers, states
must be accountable and transparent to its rights-holding citizens. They must
utilize maximum available resources not to bail out banks and companies, but to
realize the economic, social and cultural rights of people, and in the context
of the BPFA+20 Review, of women and girls especially.
Recommendations:
·
Social
protection institutions should be improved and expanded, especially as in many
countries where informal work represents a large share of total employment. A
rights-based commitment to universal social income policies might represent an
innovative framework to advance universal social protection that incorporates
both income and essential services and public goods.
Set-backs for the rights
and development of women and girls has been affected by the persistence of
violent conflicts. The war on terror and intra-state conflicts, including
sectarian and ethnic-based conflicts undermine women’s rights and the
achievement of development goals. No conflict or post-conflict country has
achieved a single MDG.
Conflict is not
gender-blind; it differently on girls, boys, women and men. Women’s care role
does not stop because of conflict; it only becomes extremely difficult even
life threatening.
In order to address the
different levels of vulnerability and inequalities, we strongly recommend
governments to take a rights-based approach to address poverty and structural
inequalities that create specific needs and constraints for ordinary women and
girls in conflicts and post-conflict situations, such as:
Disasters and climate
change are closely related. As has been stated in the Asia Pacific Report 2010
–“people in Asia-Pacific are four times more likely to be affected by natural
disasters than those living in Africa, and 25 times more likely than those
living in Europe or North America. While the region generated only one quarter
of the world’s GDP, it accounted for a staggering 85% of deaths and 38% of
global economic losses during 1980-2009.
We now look forward to
gender equality being clearly and strongly represented as a core
transformative necessity for the realization of sustainable
development, where women are not just viewed as victims or end-users, but
as strong, innovative contributors to the sustainability of the environment.
We reiterate our call for a gender equality goal, with specific targets
and indicators across all SDGs. We also point out that the most robust
human rights and social justice framework is necessary as drivers of any
sustainable development, and environmental rights as central, never as an
externality. Without all this, we cannot have healthy ecosystems which will
have tremendous impact on women’s care burdens.
Also recalling specific
focus on SIDs, LDCs, Africa and other special State circumstances;
strongest work on sustainable consumption and production, and on oceans
and seas, must be made.Coherency also necessitates alignment with the SIDs
track; across UNFCCC negotiations. These SDG processes will lead a path in
clarifying and highlighting the scale and urgency of climate change
conditions, and while not duplicating, can certainly set trends toward
ambitious and legally binding climate change mitigation commitments,
essential for health and sustainability of oceans, air and land.
Thirdly on urgency and
scale of response, we call on governments, NGOs and scientific experts
and advocates for specific attention to the so-called 'deadly trio' of
cumulative impacts of global oceanic warming, sea level rise, and
increased levels of de-oxygenation caused by coastal nutrient run-off,
combining to destroy the protective shield the ocean provides against the
worst effects of accelerating climate change and environmental
degradation. The SDGs must measure and monitor both clearly visible and
slow-onset issues -whether it involves king tides affecting drinking water
salinity in small island states with attendant effects on SRHR, leading to
drought and food insecurity; levels of nuclear radiation and mercury in
seafood; bleaching and die-off of coral reefs; rising extinction rates of
marine flora and fauna; increase in marine invasive species, loss
of mangroves, sand dunes and coastal forests, and much more.
To recognise and address
all this, there must be a biosphere approach to addressing oceans
and sustainable development, clearly recognising the interdependence and
interlinkage of marine, atmospheric and terrestrial ecosystems. What
happens on air, land and sea is inherently connected, and influencing the
planetary systems driving weather, water and food systems, biodiversity,
and ultimately determining the extent of sustainable development. For many
of us from small island states, the existential threat to our islands
means this is about right to life, and right to development, as much as
any other rights.
Finally, we must take
caution with the re-emergence of views on a direct and simplistic connection
between climate change and population growth, we must at the same time ensure
that universal access of women and girls to a full range of sexual and
reproductive rights, services and health must be preserved.
Climate issues and
responses must
·
Ensure
the post2015 agenda honours and reflects the agreed Rio principles and in
particular the principles of Common But Differentiated Responsibility and that
of Polluter Pays.
·
Includes
an ambitious goal to foster a sustainable planet that operates within safe
planetary boundaries and reduces carbon emissions.
·
Ensure
the active participation of women and girls in decision-making processes
related to disaster risk prevention and preparedness, as well as
post-disaster’s assessments (etc.).
·
Recognize
the role of women in environmental regeneration and sustainability through
their indigenous knowledge, skills on environmental management and on
biodiversity conservation.
·
Ensure
that women and men have equal access to information (e.g. about disasters,
assistance), to capacity building and technologies to reduce their
vulnerability to disasters.
·
Ensure
that women and girls have access to adequate and comprehensive assistance
including sexual and reproductive health and rights services during conflicts
and disasters.
In September 2013, the Asia
Pacific Region showed leadership when adopting the Asian and Pacific
Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development. We showed commitment to
resolve, respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all women and girls
including their sexual and reproductive rights, without which the ability to
exercise other rights is significantly constrained. Member States recognized
that SRR embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national
laws, international human rights documents and other consensus documents, and
rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, timing of their children and
to have the information and means to do so, the right to attend the highest
standard of SRH, the right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of
discrimination, coercion, and violence. As well as the right to decide freely
and responsibly on matters related to our sexuality, including SRH, free of
coercion, discrimination and violence. They expressed grave concern at acts of
violence and discrimination committed against individuals on the grounds of
their sexual orientation and gender identity, and promised to work to reduce
vulnerability and eliminate discrimination based on sex, gender, age, race,
caste, class, migrant status, disability, HIV status and sexual orientation and
gender identity, or other status;
The new development
framework on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights issues and responses must be
further expanded to:
Some reference paragraphs
found in the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and
Development are instructive and relevant to our discussions. These include:
·
145.
Respect the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents and young
people and give full attention to meeting their sexual and reproductive health,
information and education needs, with their full participation and engagement,
and respect for their privacy and confidentiality, while acknowledging the
roles and responsibilities of their parents, as well as of their teachers and
peer educators in supporting them to do so and that in this context, countries
should, where appropriate, remove legal, regulatory and social barriers to
youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services;
·
146.
Design, ensure sufficient resources and implement comprehensive sexuality
education programmes that are consistent with evolving capacities and are age
appropriate, and provide accurate information on human sexuality, gender
equality, human rights, relationships, and sexual and reproductive health,
while recognizing the role and responsibilities of parents;
·
124.
Integrate responses to gender-based violence in all sexual and reproductive
health services and programmes, as part of a broader, multisectoral,
coordinated response, including within maternal, newborn and child, adolescent
and youth health, family planning and HIV-related services, and ensure that all
victims and survivors of violence have immediate access to critical services,
including emergency contraception and safe abortion;
·
132.
Review, and where appropriate, repeal laws that punish women and girls who have
undergone illegal abortions, where applicable, as well as end their
imprisonment for such acts, bearing in mind that in no circumstances should
abortion be considered as a family planning method;
Lastly, gender equality can
never be fully achieved without an inter-sectional approach to reproductive and
sexual rights which include the right to sexual orientation and gender
identity. Sexual and reproductive rights are indivisible, inalienable,
inter-related human rights which are fundamental to achieving gender equality
and human development.
A commitment to a
stand-alone gender goal should reflect genuine commitment to transforming power
inequalities. It should not simply aim to guarantee women the equal right to
live in poverty, nor the equal right to exploit other humans. We do not set our
sites on women being half of the 85 world’s plutocrats. Instead we urge states
to see the whole framework as integrated and critical to delivering on promises
for the full realisation of human rights. We must aim to dissolve deep-seated
Violence against women
remains widespread, systematic, and culturally entrenched in the region. Women
experience violence on a continuum that spans daily acts of harassment to
murder, femicide, and the disappearance of women. The Pacific Islands are
reported to have the highest rate of peace-time violence in the world, with 69%
of women experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence.
Eliminating violence
against women must be a target of the post2015 agenda. While governments have
clear obligations to act with due diligence to eliminate violence already, we
need to see clear targets and indicators. Indicators should include policy
indicators (i.e. existence of national fully funded action plans), of
experience (the number of women experiencing violence), of response (number of
women securing justice responses) and of perception (number of women who feel
safe in their homes and their communities).
Ensure that all victims and
survivors of all forms of gender-based violence, rape and incest, including
indigenous people and people of various ethnicities and traditional
communities, have immediate access to critical services, including: 24-hour
hotlines; psychosocial and mental health support; treatment of injuries;
post-rape care, including emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylaxis
for HIV prevention and access to safe abortion services; police protection;
safe housing and shelter; documentation of cases, forensic services and legal
aid; referrals; and longer-term support (6th APPC, para143).
Finally, Asia Pacific region
remains below global averages in women’s democratic leadership and voice with
the Pacific region the lowest in the world.
Ensuring decision making of
women in the home, in the community, in development planning and
implementation, in national democratic spaces, at regional level and at
international levels is critical. The new agenda should aim for parity of women
in all decision making processes.
Several states from the
Asia Pacific region have expressed strong support for a transformative
development agenda that aims to fully realise women’s human rights and address
the deep and growing inequalities of wealth, power, resources and inequalities
between and within countries. Civil society is ready and willing to work with
governments to realise the collective, ambitious vision of equitable and
sustainable development.
In particular we see the
need to work with governments to more clearly specify the Accountability
mechanisms and the Means of Implementation that will make this
consensus more than rhetoric.
Accountability mechanisms
at the international, regional, national and local levels need to be
strengthened and enforceable. We endorse the call from UNCTAD and expressed in
the Millenium declaration for new, democratic open, equitable,
rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and
financial systems that have the realization of development rights at
their core.
Partnerships between civil
society and decision makers at all levels will allow for greater
accountability, civic participation, monitoring and evaluation. A recognition
that partnerships between the state and constituents is the primary partnership
needs to be central to the agenda.
Multi-stakeholder decision
making bodies at the local, national, regional and international level should
include reserved space for women’s civil society representation to strengthen
accountability and participatory democracy for women.
Member states and UN
Agencies have recognised the importance of civil society and public engagement
and voice on the post2015 agenda. The MDGs lacked any national level debate
and, as a consequence, local ownership is often lacking. We encourage states to
1. Foster national debate and dialogue
around the new development agenda – in media, parliament and community
consultative processes
2. Include civil society in delegations
to CSW and other intergovernmental spaces
3. Share national statements with civil
society prior to CSW and post2015 processes
4. Register panels at CSW in
collaboration with civil society
5. Work with civil society to review
implementation of Beijing +20
6. Sex disaggregated data must be
instutitionalized at all levels and data gathering must be predictable, regular
and consistent.
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