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Activists blast 'bland' UN declaration as step backwards for women's rights
Source: The Guardian
Activists blast 'bland' UN declaration as step backwards for women's rights
Liz Ford
Monday 9 March 2015 07.00 GMT
Women’s rights activists have expressed alarm at the proposed wording of a UN declaration that they say could portend a major step backwards for women’s rights.
The text of the declaration, due to be published on 9 March at the start of the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), has been branded bland and unambitious.
This year’s CSW will mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark fourth women’s world conference in Beijing in 1995. The conference’s platform for action, signed by 189 governments, identified 12 critical areas to empower women, such as greater involvement in decision-making and in conflict resolution, improving the rights of girls and ending violence. At the time, the agreement was seen as far-reaching and a blueprint for achieving women’s empowerment.
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It is understood that Russia, the Holy See (which has a seat on the UN as a non-member permanent observer state), Indonesia, Nicaragua and the Africa group of countries have tried to limit references in the text to human rights and to remove mention of the role feminist groups play in advancing gender equality. These states argue that human rights was just one chapter of the Beijing platform for action, rather than an overarching theme. Caribbean countries are also understood to have failed to step up to support women’s rights.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Liz Ford
Monday 9 March 2015 07.00 GMT
Women’s rights activists have expressed alarm at the proposed wording of a UN declaration that they say could portend a major step backwards for women’s rights.
The text of the declaration, due to be published on 9 March at the start of the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), has been branded bland and unambitious.
This year’s CSW will mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark fourth women’s world conference in Beijing in 1995. The conference’s platform for action, signed by 189 governments, identified 12 critical areas to empower women, such as greater involvement in decision-making and in conflict resolution, improving the rights of girls and ending violence. At the time, the agreement was seen as far-reaching and a blueprint for achieving women’s empowerment.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
It is understood that Russia, the Holy See (which has a seat on the UN as a non-member permanent observer state), Indonesia, Nicaragua and the Africa group of countries have tried to limit references in the text to human rights and to remove mention of the role feminist groups play in advancing gender equality. These states argue that human rights was just one chapter of the Beijing platform for action, rather than an overarching theme. Caribbean countries are also understood to have failed to step up to support women’s rights.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/mar/09/un-declaration-step-backwards-for-womens-rights-csw
