EU Presidency Statement - Advancement of Women

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union with regard to agenda items 110 and 111. The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia and the Associated Countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey align themselves to this statement.

The EU would like to thank the Secretary-General for his Report A/58/323 on the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration.

Before entering into the issue, I would like to express the congratulations of the EU to Ms. Shirin Ebadi, the eminent Iranian lawyer and human rights defender, on being awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The EU trusts that Ms. Ebadi will be fully supported by the Iranian Government in the pursuit of her mission .

Mr. Chairman,

the EU is fully committed to the goals emanating from the Beijing Conference and the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly, recognising in particular that equality, sustainable development and peace can only be attained if both women and men are able to play a full and equal part in all areas of life.

In this respect, the EU fully supports the gender mainstreaming strategy, which it considers as a guiding principle in the formulation and implementation of EU policies and in the national policies of its member States. In this respect, the EU stresses that strong national machineries are indispensable for achieving and securing advancement of women. It also appreciates the progress made in UN with regard to the inclusion of gender mainstreaming into all policies and programmes and would encourage Governments to support the applications by women for senior posts and decision-making positions in the UN system.

In the meantime the EU is pleased to note that this year the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights addressed the Forty-Seventh Commission on the Status of Women, stressing the importance of a real cooperation and consensus on gender equality and women's human rights, and that several other subsidiary bodies have done likewise in their respective areas.

Despite the efforts made, the European Union notes that a lot of work still remains before gender equality is a part of the day-to-day political and administrative work. The gender perspective must be an integral part of all activities and decision-making. By doing so we can more easily identify where specific measures are most needed. Therefore, gender issues should be fully taken into account in implementing the Millennium Declaration as well as all resolutions and decisions on these issues. In this respect, the European Union welcomes the fact that the ECOSOC has decided to devote one of its coordination segments in 2004 to a review and appraisal of the system-wide implementation of its Agreed Conclusions 1997/2 on gender mainstreaming. In addition, high priority should be placed on monitoring the implementation of existing gender policies to ensure that best practices are identified and replicated.

Mr. Chairman,

in accordance with the CEDAW convention, measures should be taken to eliminate discrimination against women in political and public life. The EU agrees with this principle: gender equality in the decision-making processes is a prerequisite for democracy. In this context, the Conference on "Women in the decision-making process" organized by the Presidency of the European Union on last 12 September in Siracusa, focused on the need to achieve a more balanced presence of women and men in both political and economic decision-making processes since under-representation of women constitutes a major limitation of modern democracies. In that occasion, it was pointed out how, despite the important steps taken by EU member States towards the realization of these goals, much remains to be achieved.

Gender equality is also one of the elements that form the basis for a truly sustainable development. As the Millennium Declaration states, promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women are effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease. Moreover, the European Union shares the view that gender is a cross-cutting issue and should be taken into account in the formulation and implementation of development policies.

It is also relevant to note the positive relationship between women's and girls' education and their meaningful participation in all development processes. For this reason, States must live up to the objectives set forth in the Millennium Declaration by ensuring equal access to education.

Inequality and poverty prevent women and girls from enjonying their rights to benefit from the highest possible level of both physical and mental health. Efforts must be intensified to ensure universal access to essential health-care services including sexual and reproductive health. HIV/AIDS which increasingly affects women and girls, gives us a particular reason to improve these services. In the fight against HIV/AIDS, we need to combine prevention, care and treatment. In this respect the recent agreement improving the possibilities to import drugs essential to public health is very much welcomed.

All the UN conferences recognize the need to promote the full and effective participation of women in contributing to full enjoyment of human rights by both women and men. Attention must be drawn to the different conditions, interests, capacities and needs of women and men, girls and boys. Women must be recognised as full citizens, with the same civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as men and with the right to freely decide over their bodies, reproduction and sexuality.

Recent discussions at the intergovernmental level, including the high-level segment of the substantive session of ECOSOC, have led to a greater focus on the situation of rural women. The EU shares the view that rural women should be involved in the formulation of all policies where their priorities should be fully addressed.

Mr. Chairman,

women's participation is also a key element in emergencies, humanitarian activities, peace-keeping, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. Sustainable peace and lasting security cannot be achieved without women's empowerment. The EU believes that the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325/2000 on Women, Peace and Security can only be achieved by increased recognition of the crucial role of women in the above-mentioned processes.

Indeed, in today's conflicts, women and girls are more and more often directly targeted, and rape and sexual violence continue to be used as weapons of war. Clearly, this differential impact on women and girls calls for more effective responses from the international community. Much more needs to be done to make those involved in conflicts aware of relevant international laws and to punish those who violate them. In this respect, the EU calls upon all States to ratify and implement the ICC Statute and actively cooperate with the Court.

Any form of violence against women and girls is unacceptable to the EU, whether it is domestic violence, trafficking, crimes committed in the name of honour, sexual or economic exploitation, harmful traditional and customary practices, or any other form of gender based violence. They constitute a major obstacle for the full enjoyment of human rights by women and girls all around the world. Therefore, the EU calls on Governments to intensify efforts to prevent, punish and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls through legislative and policy measures, including the protection of victims. The EU is also strongly committed to the adoption of all international measures and instruments, including the Palermo Protocol, aimed at supporting the fight against trafficking of human beings, in particular women and girls. The EU calls upon States to do likewise. In this context, the EU would like to draw attention to the omnibus resolution on violence against women presented by the Netherlands which we fully support and consider an important step in dealing with all forms of violence against women and girls.

Mr. Chairman,

the human rights of women and girls belong inalienably, integrally and indivisibly to universal human rights. No Government is exempted from guaranteeing by all means that women can enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In this connection, it is important to underline once again the primary role of the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol. The EU observes with concern the growing number of reservations to the Convention. The member States of the European Union are committed to constantly review their own reservations with a view to their withdrawal. The EU calls upon all States to do likewise. The EU also calls on those States, which have not yet done so, to ratify or accede to it and to consider ratifying its Optional Protocol. Furthermore, it calls on Governments to take firm action to ensure that the Convention is actually implemented in practice at the national level.

The European Union also appreciates the efforts by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and urges States to accept the amendment to Article 20, paragraph 1, which would allow the Committee to enjoy a greater flexibility.

As far as the Commission on the Status of Women is concerned, the European Union welcomes the progress made by it and calls for further efforts to continue to enhance the Commission's working methods in order to strengthen its catalytic role. Nevertheless, the European Union is most disappointed that the 47th Session of the CSW did not succeed in adopting the draft Agreed Conclusions on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The EU trusts that member States will do their utmost to overcome differences and work with a view to making the outcome of the Third Committee's session on the advancement of women fruitful. In this regard, the EU, once again, would like to highlight the important role played by the high level round table on institutional capacity building, held for the first time at this year's session of the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as the commendable work and efforts perfomed by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.

Mr. Chairman,

more in general, the EU encourages the efforts of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies to monitor more effectively the human rights of women and reaffirms their responsibility to integrate a gender perspective into their work.

All States must recognize that the creation of an enabling environment is necessary to ensure the advancement of women and to realize the full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and of the Outcome of the Twenty-Third Special Session.

Thank you.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - Women, Peace and Security (29/10/2003)