EU Presidency Statement - Commission on the Status of Women

Madame Chair,

I have the honour to address the Commission on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, the Candidate countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Madame Chair,

As this is the first time Ireland has taken the floor during this session of the Commission, please allow me to congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau on your election and to assure you that the European Union looks forward to participating actively and constructively during the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Madame Chair,

The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action recognise not only that peace is inextricably linked with the advancement of women but also that armed and other types of conflict still persist in many parts of the world. The EU considers that the inclusion of women in the structures which deal with the prevention and resolution of conflicts is a prerequisite for the equitable resolution of these issues. Indeed, women have proven to be innovators in building bridges between parties divided by conflict and should have full input in promoting and preserving peace, as well as in the reconciliation and reconstruction process in the aftermath of wars. The European Union welcomes initiatives in recent years by the United Nations to address these issues - in particular, Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security adopted by the Security Council in 2000. This Resolution reiterates the importance of bringing women, and a gender perspective, to the centre of all decisions regarding UN peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping and acknowledges that rehabilitation and reconstruction require the full participation of women. The EU commends the Report by the Secretary General on women, peace and security arising from this Resolution and its system wide implementation action plan to the Security Council. The EU believes that the full implementation of Resolution 1325 requires an increased recognition of the crucial role of women in all areas cited in the report.

The EU also welcomes the UNIFEM report on Women, War and Peace which emphasises the leading role of women in peace building and the need to support women in this role. The European Union fully endorses the recommendations in the report which are particularly relevant to the role of women in peace building and provide a basis for all the actors in conflict resolution and peace building to work for the achievement of our common goal of a world free of conflict.

Under the European Initiative on Democracy and Human Rights, projects are funded which aim to enhance the capacity of women's organisations to support national reconciliation in Angola, to provide help and counselling for women war victims in Bosnia, and to support the participation of women in the peace process in Sri Lanka. In the Middle East, despite the stalled peace process, the EU has funded women's civil society groups on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, who work towards peace. In Afghanistan, funds from the Rapid Reaction Mechanism were used to support a gender advisor to ensure that gender issues are mainstreamed into development programmes.

The Petersberg Tasks set out a humanitarian and rescue agenda, covering peacekeeping tasks and tasks to be undertaken by combat forces in crisis management. These tasks were incorporated in the Amsterdam Treaty, demonstrating the European Union's commitment to encouraging the active protection of human rights through peacekeeping and conflict prevention.

The EU also attaches great importance to the work of the Council of Europe on gender equality. The resolution on the roles of women and men in conflict prevention, peace building, and post-conflict democratic processes - a gender perspective, adopted at the 5th Ministerial Conference, at Skopje, in January 2003, is a valuable instrument for promoting gender equality in conflict resolution and peacekeeping. We look forward to the side events the Council of Europe has organised during this session and to its deliberations on the two themes.

Women and men often experience conflict in different ways. During periods of conflict the role of women, both young and old, often becomes one of sole household provider, sole parent, carer for the injured, older people, children and other relatives. Women may also have roles of forced or voluntary combatants, or providers of various services for fighting forces. These roles should be fully recognised. In this context, we would like to draw attention to the Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, which the EU adopted in 2003, which also underline the specific vulnerability of girls. These guidelines will be mainstreamed throughout all relevant EU policies and actions.

Furthermore, women and girls are particularly at risk of serious violations of human rights or breaches of international humanitarian law in times of conflict, in particular genocide, ethnic cleansing and rape, including systematic rape of women and girls. In this context the EU strongly supports the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court under which persecution of women and girls, systematic rape and other acts of sexual violence may constitute crimes against humanity. The EU urges all States that have not done so, to ratify or accede to the Rome Statute, and actively co-operate with the Court, which has a vital role to ensure justice for all and to fight impunity.

Women in areas of conflict are easy prey for trafficking and sexual exploitation, which is a matter of growing concern. The fight against trafficking in human beings requires a multi-faceted approach encompassing legislation, capacity-building for improved police and judicial co-operation, victim support as well as holistic approaches for the reintegration of victims. In this respect, it is important to underline the need for specific approaches which combat organised crime in order to minimize its effects on the victims of trafficking. The Convention on Transnational Organised Crime and its Protocol on the Prevention, Suppression and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, is a powerful international instrument in the fight against trafficking. The European Union urges Governments who have not already done so to consider ratifying the Convention and its Protocols. The European Union also urges Governments to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and to consider ratifying its optional protocol, and to comply with Article 6 of the Convention regarding the suppression of all forms of trafficking.

One of the principles underpinning successful national reconciliation is inclusiveness. Experience has shown that national reconciliation will not take root if some groups or sections of the population are excluded from the process of post-conflict reconstruction and democratisation. In this regard, greater attention must continue to be paid to the role of women in decision making and participation in the reconstruction process. The EU considers human rights education for women and girls as an essential tool for reaching this goal. In this context we commend the efforts undertaken by UNIFEM.

Madame Chair,

The European Union emphasises that the full enjoyment of all human rights by women is crucial to the achievement of gender equality and sustainable development and peace. However, the goal of gender equality cannot be achieved by focussing our strategies and practical work on women only Therefore, the European Union emphasises the importance of also addressing and changing discriminatory male behaviour and attitudes and underlines the crucial role of men and boys as partners in promoting gender equality. The achievement of gender equality is now clearly seen as the responsibility of society as a whole, which needs to fully engage men as well as women.

Clearly, there are many aspects to the role of men in promoting gender equality in society which range over culture, socialisation processes, the media, educational and gender policies. The European Union's commitment to implement the principle of equal treatment for women and men as regards access to employment, education, and working conditions is reflected in long-standing EU policy but the challenge posed by the gender imbalance in decision making structures still remains. Linked to this challenge are negative male attitudes to women and girls, and understanding of masculinity which are still often characterised by gender stereotyping that in extreme forms can manifest itself in sexual harassment of women and violence against women and children. The European Union is intensifying its efforts to eliminate violence against women and protect women victims though initiatives such as the DAPHNE II programme and has introduced legislation to address sexual harassment in the workplace. The European Union is currently working to develop indicators on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.

The European Union believes that there must be a fundamental shift in society's perception of the roles of both women and men. Traditionally it has been women who have pursued gender equality issues with men taking a minimal or at best a secondary role. However, real gender equality requires the involvement and active participation of both men and women and an awareness of the benefits to be gained by both sexes and by society as a whole.

Already there are encouraging signs in recent years that such a shift is taking place. For example, the European Union is encouraging work/life balance policies in the workplace, which take account of the position of women and men. Whereas family friendly policies have been seen as impacting to a greater extent on women, the shift to work/life balance has alerted men to the problems that arise from an imbalance in the relationship between work and home life.

The education system, as well as the mass media, have a major on-going role to play in challenging gender stereotypes and in exploring alternative concepts of masculinity and femininity. In addition to programmes in the school curricula aimed at gender sensitising, there is also a need for governments and civil society to continue with information and awareness raising campaigns to address these issues throughout society.

The European Union urges Governments to challenge and eliminate negative cultural or societal practices which stereotype and diminish women in society and encourage attitudes of superiority among men and boys. In many societies men are conditioned, socialised and even coerced into assuming roles and engaging in behaviour destructive to society in general, to themselves, and to women and girls in particular. The European Union welcomes the opportunity afforded by this session of the Commission to examine stereotyping of both women and men and to explore ways in which to challenge current concepts of masculinity.

We must not lose sight of the fact that, in all societies, even in those free from armed conflict, male violence against women is all too common. The European Union believes that all forms of violence against women, such as rape, including marital rape, sexual assault, trafficking, domestic violence and harmful traditional and customary practices which threaten the health and even the lives of women and girls, and crimes committed in the name of honour, must be eliminated. Distorted concepts of masculinity can never be invoked as justification for violating the enjoyment of human rights by women and girls. Many judicial systems, in particular relating to family law, discriminate against women. Real justice should promote respect for equal rights between men and women. Certain legal practices that prescribe cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment of women should be banned. The European Union welcomes the growing determination to challenge traditional power imbalances between men and women as an essential component in the fight against violence against women. In particular, the EU welcomes the decision of the 58th session of the General Assembly to request the Secretary General to conduct an in-depth study on all forms and manifestations of violence against women.

In the area of health and sexuality asymmetric power relations between men and women are still all too prevalent. The spread of HIV/AIDs has been significantly linked to the position of men in gender relations. Promoting positive and responsible involvement of men and boys in sexual and reproductive health with a view to securing the sexual and reproductive rights and health of women is one of the crucial elements in building gender equality. The EU urges Governments to support educational policies and programmes aimed at ensuring responsible sexual behaviour.

The EU is gravely concerned about the disproportionate burden which poverty places on women, due often to the gender division of labour and family responsibilities, including unequal distribution of income and property. In its development co-operation the European Union continues to support the gender mainstreaming of all assistance with a view to equal engagement of women and men in planning, implementation and evaluation of development projects and programmes. In all development efforts it must be ensured that women participate equally in, and benefit from, development projects and programmes, with a view to supporting equal opportunities for women and men in terms of rights, access to and control over resources, and political voice to take part in and benefit from the development processes in their countries.

The Union actively supports and contributes to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, including in particular the development goals formulated therein, which explicitly state that the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women is a prerequisite for the significant reduction of poverty. With this objective in mind, the Union supports initiatives to more systematically integrate gender equality into the MDG processes - analysis, reporting, monitoring and advocacy.

Before concluding, the European Union wishes to express its appreciation for the involvement of all actors in our work for this session. In this regard we wish to pay tribute to the essential work carried out by civil society and non-governmental organisations, which have done so much over the years to promote the rights and well being of women. The EU would also like to thank the Secretariat for their contributions to the promotion of the advancement of women both within the UN system and in the wider international arena. Finally, the EU also commends the CEDAW committee for its fruitful work and welcomes efforts to reform its working methods in order to reduce the backlog in the examination of country reports.

Madame Chair,

We have achieved much in the nine years since Beijing but we still have a long way to go to create a truly inclusive world where women and men are equal. The EU looks forward to fully engaging in the deliberations of the Commission and its two priority themes, with a view to progressing the goal of gender equality. Under your wise leadership, I have no doubt that we will rise to this great challenge.

| Arriba |

• EP - Equal Opportunities - Women's Rights (10/3/2004)
• Commissioner Wallström's Speech at International Women's Day Event (8/3/2004)