ATC130222: Report of the Portfolio Committee of Women, Children and People with Disabilities on the report of the 56th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status Of Women (UNCSW), dated 20 February 2013
NCOP Women, Children and People with Disabilities
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES ON THE REPORT OF THE 56
TH
SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN (UNCSW), DATED 2O FEBRUARY 2013
The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities
having considered the Report on the 56
th
Session of the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), reports as follows:
1.
INTRODUCTION
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a
functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It is
the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender
equality and advancement of women. Representatives of Member States gather annually
at the United Nations Headquarters in
The fifty-sixth session (56
th
CSW
Session) of the CSW was held from the 27
th
February to the 9
th
March 2012. Discussions during the 56
th
CSW Session were centred on
the priority theme of the session, namely, The empowerment of rural women and
their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current
challenges. In addition to the priority theme, the 56
th
CSW Session
had a review theme, Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women
emanating from the agreed conclusions from the fifty-second session. Other key
themes under discussion included Engaging young women and men, girls and boys,
to advance gender equality and the Elimination and prevention of all forms of
violence against women and girls. The latter theme constituted the basis for
discussion of the priority theme for the 57
th
CSW session in 2013.
A
Report
on the 56
th
Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status
of Women
was produced and agreed to by the Parliamentary delegation that
attended the CSW Session namely; Ms DR Ramodibe, Ms PB Mabe and Ms B Dlulane.
Hereafter the report was sent to Mrs F Hajaig. She, in her capacity as the House
Chairperson responsible for the Parliamentary Group on International Relations,
subsequently referred the report to the
Portfolio Committee on
Women, Children and People with Disabilities for consideration and reporting.
To this end, the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with
Disabilities discussed and
adopted
the report
on 12 September 2012.
In summary, this report identifies the key
issues that emerged from discussions held during the 56
th
CSW
Session in relation to the aforementioned themes. Moreover, the
Inter-Parliamentary Union had also invited Parliamentarians attending CSW to
side-events the outcomes of which are also discussed in this report. The report
concludes with an overview of the Resolutions adopted and the implications of
these Resolutions for the Parliament of South Africa (Parliament).
2.
THEMATIC AREAS
The thematic
areas outlined below were identified based on key issues that emerged at the
56
th
CSW Session
. What
follows is a description of each based on the discussions held within the
sessions and the implications of the concerned thematic area for Parliament.
2.1 Empowerment of rural women and their role in
poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges
It was widely acknowledged that rural women and girls continue to suffer
from discrimination at various levels. The key challenges in this regard are
poverty, gender-based
violence (GBV), gender stereotypes, trafficking, effects of climate change, lack
of decision making impact on gender equality and the impact of the global
financial crisis particularly on women and girls who are disabled. Other
challenges in this regard include escalating food prices, lack of access to
basic services and restricted access to markets all impact negatively on rural
women and their ability to access the formal economy. The global financial
crisis has had a negative impact on the livelihoods of rural women and girls
particularly those with disabilities who are regarded as the poorest of the
poor within impoverished communities.
Rural women are
extremely diverse however they face multiple forms of discrimination (e.g.
trafficking, HIV/AIDS, migration, disability) and therefore policies need to
address these anomalies. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the needs of
rural women are unique depending on their situation and therefore they should
not be categorised solely into one group or generalised as this takes away from
the unique challenges they face. In keeping with discussions around specific
groups of rural women currently experiencing a duplicity of challenges, the
plight of Arab women (e.g. Palestinian, Syrian) in countries engulfed by armed
conflict was also brought to the attention by several speakers. Discussions
also revealed that there was an overall
lack
information on data and status of rural women, or data that is incomplete or
out-dated, therefore reflect invisibility of womens needs and challenges
making it even harder to illustrate the diverse challenges in a quantitative
manner.
Based on the
various high level discussions and as well as plenary events, several
recommendations were made as to how to advance the empowerment of rural women
and girls.
Food security
for rural women and girls was noted as a key driver for ending hunger and
poverty. Moreover it was reiterated that rural women are major contributors to
food production and thus should be taken into consideration and consulted when
dealing with matters related to food security. This required creating an enabling
environment in order to facilitate sustainable development.
Improving the
educational system and levels of education by ensuring effective participation
and access for rural women and young girls was identified as being key to
breaking the poverty cycle and facilitating empowerment.
Access to sexual
and reproductive health care and basic health care services are essential for
addressing maternal mortality and in so doing achieving Millennium Development Goal
which concerns the improvement of maternal health (MDG 5). Similarly, preventing
forced marriage and teenage pregnancies all impact on MDG 5 and alleviate
poverty. Thus sexual and reproductive health rights (including family planning)
must be addressed as this impacts on the health and wellbeing of women and
girls in rural areas who have limited and at times no access to basic health
care services.
The importance
of decision making at various levels and managing projects that include rural
women were recognised as vital for the empowerment of rural women to be
facilitated. This coincided with the call for an increased representation of
women in public offices and in turn required local projects and strategies to be
prioritised in order to mobilise resources. In addition, exchange of
information regarding access to resources, technology and the like as well as
the establishment of networks were determined to be beneficial to rural women.
The discussants
reiterated that rural women and girls can only be empowered by advancing their
economic and social status. This can be achieved through various means such as
access to credit, resources and land; improved access to markets for women in
agriculture; greater investment in in agriculture; ensuring access to machinery
and equipment; improved leadership and institutional capacity building hereto;
a need for more specific projects and programmes in rural areas; developing
Information and Communication Technology (ICT); establishing co-operatives; and
investment by Governments in rural womens organisations to ensure prosperity
in rural areas. It was also stated that rural womens organisations also have a
valuable role in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All
of the aforementioned are essential for the development of rural women and
advancing their means of production.
Of particular
importance, it was also stated that an urgent need exists to obtain empirical
data to inform policy and advocacy in light of the multiple forms of discrimination
faced by rural women and of the fact that they cannot be categorised as a
homogenous group and accordingly policies are needed to address these anomalies.
Discussants also pointed out, with regard to the existing and new legislation,
that there was a need to consult rural woman on matters that affect their lives
for example laws pertaining to land acquisition and inheritance.
2.2
Financing for
gender equality and the empowerment of women
Despite
commitments such as Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women which outline specific obligations for Member
States to meet in eliminating discrimination against women in rural areas, Governments
and many other stakeholders have been slow in responding effectively to the
needs and priorities of rural women.
Further in terms
of this theme, discussants established that an enabling policy environment for
rural womens economic empowerment needs to be created as a matter of urgency,
by placing their concerns in the mainstream economic agenda, in particular in
the areas of agriculture, finance and national planning. Addressing the needs
and concerns of rural women in all policies at all levels requires a dual-track
strategy which includes a stronger focus on gender mainstreaming across the
board, and targeted measures that respond to the diversity of rural women, in
all parts of the world. It also requires a holistic approach that addresses all
dimensions of empowerment, including economic, political and social
empowerment.
Urban migration,
financial and economic crises, volatile food prices, climate change, coastal
erosion, landslides and hurricanes pose particular challenges for people living
in rural areas. To this end comprehensive rural development policies that are
integrated with sectoral policies are needed to address the aforementioned challenges
in a coherent manner which is essential for ensuring the sustainable
development of rural areas. It was also stated that gender equality and womens
empowerment was a prerequisite for achieving all of the MDGs. In so doing rural
women had a vital role to play at different levels of agricultural production,
rural development and food and nutrition security. However it was broadly acknowledged
that rural women continue to have limited access to economic opportunities,
resources, assets, public services, social protection, infrastructure, transport,
employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
All speakers
acknowledged that there was a need for gender responsive budgeting to advance
the empowerment of rural women. Specific input received on women farmers by
speakers and delegates revealed that these farmers had limited access to
markets, agricultural extension services and the most basic agricultural
inputs, such as seeds and tools. What was also highlighted was that rural women
rely heavily on microfinance because of lack of access to land which is due to
a myriad of reasons such as womens inability to land tenure due to patriarchal
laws and cultural practices, discriminatory inheritance laws, customary laws,
and traditional norms and practices that either hinder or deny women from
acquiring land. Therefore gender inequality in access to land persists and ensuring
womens right to land is vital for rural womens economic empowerment. It further
emerged that micro-credit has its limitations and as such there is a need for a
broader range of strategies for securing finances for rural women (such as
savings) as well as non-financial support (such as business planning). Thus it
was imperative to understand the financial needs of women living in rural
areas.
Overall there is
a broader need to strengthen rural financial services as rural people have
greater difficulty accessing financial and banking institutions which are
mostly situated in cities. As such people living in rural areas requiring
financial assistance would need to commute to where banks and financial
institutions are located. For women, needing to access such financial services
the challenges are further exacerbated by the multiplicity of roles which
impact on their time to be able to travel to these financial institutions.
However, even when trying to access finance, rural women are further
disadvantaged by the fact that may not necessarily have collateral as proof to
ensure that they would be good creditors. Moreover, rural women, however, need
access not only to microcredit, but also to savings and other financial
services such as internet banking. It was thus reaffirmed that support should
be provided to building systems and institutions that can deliver the range of
financial services required by rural women. Insurance for securing womens
land, equipment, machinery and produce was another issue that was raised as it
was often overlooked or given insufficient attention to the detriment of rural
women who rely heavily on micro-finance and have difficulty accessing credit. As
such loss on account of theft or natural disaster would have a detrimental
effect on produce yielded and in turn negatively impact on household income.
It was however
made clear that having access to credit is not sufficient for rural womens
economic empowerment and that both formal and non-formal education are
necessary foundations for rural women to overcome social barriers, utilise
information and communications technologies, interact with the formal banking
system, enhance their business skills and increase their productivity, claim
their rights, and access resources. Thus rural women need training in financial
literacy to be able to use credit in the most effective way, improve their
self-esteem, learn how markets operate and become familiar with price-setting
and product distribution. Special emphasis should also be placed on imparting
knowledge about the benefits of savings for future investment.
Closely linked
is the availability of ICT infrastructure in rural areas. Access to the
internet, electronic mail and facsimiles are but some of the essential mediums
through which financial institutions have come to communicate with their
clients. Therefore people living in rural areas who lack the skills to utilise
modern day ICT and/or are unable to access such mediums because of lack or
limited availability are further disadvantaged in this regard in a number of
respects. Firstly there is a limited exposure to information on where and how
to access financial aid on the internet for persons living in rural areas with
no access to ICT. Secondly, for those who received financial aid are limited to
communication through the post and or telephone or actual site visits all of
which are expensive and are time consuming. Moreover, it is widely acknowledged
that literacy rates for rural women and girls are even lower thus placing them
at a further disadvantage. Best practice examples were shared that demonstrated
how many countries have put in place programmes to further develop womens and girls
capacities, knowledge and skills related to financial management and savings as
well as the use and management of new technologies, in particular information and
communications technologies and renewable energy technologies. Creative interventions,
such as distance learning programmes, have demonstrated the importance of
taking into account the various constraints rural women face in accessing
education proved to be very helpful for women in rural areas. This was
illustrated by the boarding centres in the Middle East and
Discussions
revealed a number of issues that would need to be addressed in terms of
financing for gender equality. It was clearly stated that womens economic
empowerment cannot be looked at in isolation of their rights. Besides improving
access to financial aid, there was a pressing need to obtain empirical data to
inform policy and advocacy. Strategies must be developed to protect women in
rural areas. Closely linked to this is the need to address the gender gap in
training, education, technology. This could be achieved by opening up avenues
for coalitions include NGOs to raise issues via various platforms and provide
input into policy. In order for this to happen, women in rural areas must have
the opportunities to provide input into programmes that affect their lives
including legislation to right to protect land. Education is fundamental for
women and girls in rural areas. Skills development and mentoring is business
planning and financial management was key. But so too were goals related to promoting
health and nutrition of rural women that are impacted in by the HIV AIDS
pandemic. Working to change patriarchal attitudes was imperative.
A key gap
identified was that even though there indicators for tracking gender equality
funding and gender-responsive financing; these did not necessarily measure
gender equality results or the impacts and outcomes of programmes and projects.
Therefore the requisite tools that can effectively measure the quality and
impact of development assistance, including evaluations, audits and reviews,
were lacking. Furthermore it was also stated that frameworks and standards
established to monitor performance rarely integrated gender-sensitive
indicators. It was also argued that the reporting, monitoring and tracking
systems adopted by bilateral and multilateral donors and by United Nations
entities remained largely isolated from national systems, thereby increasing
the burden on reporting by recipients.
Whilst there
have been advances in the inclusion of gender equality advocates in financing
decisions, more still needs to be done to meet the recommendations from the
agreed conclusions regarding the participation of women in decision-making related
to financing. Herewith some of the r
ecommendations
that emerged during discussion to accelerate implementation:
·
Critically examine current macroeconomic frameworks
and policies and adopt policies that expand fiscal space to ensure adequate
financing for gender equality;
·
Explore innovative approaches to financing for
gender equality such as taxation on financial transactions or public-private
partnerships that are balanced and centred on gender equality goals;
·
Increase investment in gender equality and broaden
the scope of support to gender equality beyond social sectors to include the
economic and productive sectors;
·
Work to harmonize the existing tracking systems of
international organisations and multilateral and bilateral donors to reduce the
burden of monitoring and reporting on recipient Governments and civil society
organisations;
·
Strengthen and ensure the analysis and use of data
generated through tracking and monitoring systems, and improve their accessibility
so as to inform and influence decisions at strategic and policy levels and
shape programmes and projects at a practical level;
·
Ensure that aid management instruments and
processes and joint aid coordination mechanisms adequately reflect and address gender
equality priorities;
·
Strengthen the support from the United Nations
system and multilateral and other actors for national efforts to implement
gender-responsive budgeting approaches, especially in the context of public
sector reform;
·
Set measurable targets for financing for gender
equality as a share of official development assistance;
·
Invest in the development and use of tools to
assess the impact and results achieved in gender equality through support
provided by United Nations programmes and multilateral support;
·
Ensure funding for UN-Women to enable it to fulfil
its mandate effectively;
·
Accelerate efforts towards the adoption of a United
Nations system-wide marker for tracking budget allocations and expenditures to
promote gender equality;
·
Strengthen and expand support for womens
organisations, especially by a commitment to sustainable funding;
·
Put in place special provisions to ensure that
small grass-roots organisations and organisations that work with marginalized
groups of women have access to resources, such as small-grants windows, quotas
or re-granting mechanisms.
·
Women should be on mainstream agenda of global
economies.
·
Supporting the establishment of cooperative groups
·
All rights should be looked at in a holistic manner
therefore mainstreaming gender equality into all programmes of Government and
national agendas
·
Womens economic empowerment cannot dissociated
from education. For instance Iran has boarding centres for training for rural
women to stay for long period (15-20 days) better than commuting.
·
Social barriers hindering womens economic
empowerment.
·
Formal and informal education for rural women to
access e.g. literacy skills, business skills, rural ICD services should be
addressed as a matter of urgency
·
Need for comprehensive rural development policies
co-ordinating policies to ensure coherence between other sectoral policies.
2.3
Engaging young
women and men, girls and boys, to advance gender equality
The empowerment
of women and girls was a cross-cutting theme which emerged in relation to most
issues discussed at the
56
th
CSW Session
. It was agreed that womens empowerment must be addressed in
a holistic manner.
A multi-pronged approach is required to address
the needs of rural women. There was also a call for increased representation of
women in public offices
access to womens rights to basic services and
legal rights; political representation and decision making. A common goal for
ensuring womens empowerment was the introduction of quota systems (for example
25% representation requirement in terms of decision-making bodies and
leadership). Notwithstanding, the importance of addressing gender parity, it
was also stressed that the gender responsive policies should be implemented. Delegates
further noted a key means of empowering women was to ensure that women are
included in oversight and accountability matters.
The South Africa
representative of Government also shared best practice examples of how far the
country had come in advancing gender equality through legislative and policy
development. In the President of South Africas 2012 State of the Nation
Address a commitment was also made to create 4.5 million jobs and the assurance
was that there would be focussed efforts targeting women in this regard.
It was imperative to develop evidence based research relating to the participation
of rural women to gain insight into what would facilitate empowerment processes
and programmes.
Women entrepreneurs in rural areas should be supported. This can be
achieved by linking women to accessible credit; microfinance institutions; to
private sector finance; developing womens financial skills, information and
business service development. Central to all of this is integrating gender
sensitivity into financing models. Infrastructural development and local
marketing should also be promoted alongside building on womens capacity to be
able to access these markets. Developing transport systems to promote local
employment and marketing in rural areas is also crucial. Best practice examples
were cited by various countries such as Italy that produced guidelines
on gender equality regarding rural development. By contrast there were
also many countries (perhaps you should give examples of these countries) that
were challenged with how best to mainstream gender in rural development
particularly in policies.
Dedicated
strategies were required to address gender equality. At a regional level,
structures have been created to deal with gender equality for example the
African Union (AU) had developed a gender management system as part of
structure to determine policies on gender in the AU. Besides internal
structural and systemic developments, the importance of regional integration
was seen as a key driver to promote economic growth. The European Union (EU)
has a treaty and charter reinforces gender equality attainment.
The discussion
concluded with the re-emphasising the importance of the MDGs in relation to the
theme for the 56
th
session and reinforcing the commitments of the
Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women. Generally the reform in institutions is
essential in term of laws, policies and programmes but it was acknowledged that
a change in household management to free up womens time to utilise
opportunities was also required. Patriarchal attitudes, cultural and or
religious norms and values may pose a restriction on the movement of women and
girls thereby preventing their access to opportunities for self-development and
empowerment.
A call was also
made for constitutional reform for ensuring rights of women to ensure political
and social participation of women more so in new emerging democracies. It was
also stated that meaningful participation in decision making along with an enabling
policy environment can advance rural women. Hence opening up avenues for
coalitions that include womens non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to raise
issues via various platforms is essential and provides opportunities to give
input into policy as part of a collective.
2.4
Gender-Based Violence
GBV continues to
be a key challenge facing many women and young girls worldwide. Several issues
in relation to gender-based violence were discussed and are highlighted below. Violence
against women has been prioritised at a global, regional and national level. To
this end, many States have strengthened and adopted comprehensive legal, policy
and institutional frameworks to end violence against women and girls. So too
have support services become increasingly available to victims of domestic
violence. Notwithstanding, the progress made in terms of legislative frameworks
that have been developed and services created for victims of domestic violence,
women and girls continue to be subjected to the worst forms of atrocities as
evident in sexual violence perpetrated during wars. The experience of Rwandan
civil war was testament to gender based violence used as an act of war, for
example, women raped by men who had AIDS. A severe outcome of this is the next
generation of orphans post genocide and the burden of care imposed on
caregivers and the state. Impunity for perpetrators, inadequate services for
victims violence, attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate negative stereotypes
and violence against women and girls along with lack of resources for
implementing measures to protect women and girls continue to pose as barriers
that hinder the protection of women and girls.
It was also
noted that violence plays a crucial role in increasing women and girls
vulnerability to contracting HIV/AIDS and violence against women and girls
represent two of the greatest dangers to their health and well-being. Hence
more emphasis needs to be placed on developing and implementing integrated
approaches to dealing with these intersections. Key to this was the importance
of applying gender-sensitive approaches to the dual pandemics. It was
highlighted that domestic trafficking was not always about moving across borders
but occurred within a city or a region. Delegates stated that mechanisms must
be in place to address security barriers to addressing trafficking because of
the criminal element namely organised crime syndicates. Moreover, the
psychosocial needs of persons who are trafficked must be tendered to. As such
there exits a need for protocols to be developed that focus on shelters for
trafficked persons. Further, emphasis was placed on enhancing prevention
modalities, that is, programmes that focus more on the promotion of womens rights
and the prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. Thus
programmes should not only concentrate on working with survivors of rights
violations once the incident had already occurred. Instead programmes should
also focus on the empowerment of women and girls as well as men and boys. To
this end, Members of Parliament have a role to play in this regard and as such
must live by example by being aware of how are they are treating and rearing
the boy and girl child.
The discussion
on sexual and reproductive health rights was located within the context of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. A clear intersection also exists between HIV/AIDS, sexual reproductive
health and GBV. Delegates noted that myths in relation to sexual reproductive
health and the HIV/AIDS pandemics still need to be dealt with. Despite the
negative outcomes of dealing with this issue, it was indicated that it is
important to deal with positive aspects of sexual and reproductive health
rights and there was a need to educate women and men in this regard. This in
turn necessitates the recognition of value and religious beliefs. Parents and
caregivers were noted as having to play a vital role in educating children
about sexuality. The role of the media and information communication technology
was also discussed as an important avenue for relaying sex education. However
such mechanisms are also open to abuse for example the distribution of images
of child abuse. The dangers of interactive chat rooms were also discussed in
light of childrens increases access to information technology. These
interactive cyber chat rooms can be abused for purposes that violate the rights
of children. Thus children should be taught about the dangers in this regard.
In terms of
ending violence against women, it was highlighted that the root causes of
violence should be addressed. A lack of access to opportunities within the
context of poverty, were factors that had to be addressed as part of a
comprehensive strategy for dealing with gender based violence. Termination of
pregnancies must be linked to access to funds as the availability of such a
service should not disadvantage poor women from accessing such services. Thus
the implementation of laws that legalise the termination of pregnancy will
safeguard against accessing services for unsafe abortions. However, the
inter-relation of sexual reproductive health rights in relation to cultural and
religious rights of particular states was also acknowledged.
3.
INTER-PARLIAMENTARY
UNION
During the
56
th
CSW Session
the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), focussed on the theme
Empowering rural women: what role for
parliaments?
Discussions under this theme focussed on strategies to
empower rural women.
3.1 Women in Politics
The IPU hosted
the event with UN Women in order to provide a forum for debate between
parliamentarians from all over the world, and to contribute to the
deliberations of the 56th CSW Session. The session focussed on the challenges
as well as the mechanisms for ensuring that rural women are fully part of the
political process and that their voices are heard and taken into account by
parliaments. The discussions highlighted actions parliaments can take and took
to overcome barriers and advance the status of rural women that were shared by
several parliamentarians during the plenary discussions. It was widely agreed
that Parliaments must incorporate gender issues in their work and the support
by UN Women is essential. Parliaments were said to have a vital role to in the
emancipation of rural women. To this end, the role of women is multifaceted and
must be linked to a holistic approach to facilitate the empowerment of rural
women. Based on the experiences of parliamentarians, it was noted that there
were several barriers to womens emancipation in rural areas as these women
were more harshly affected by poverty and literacy and further had limited
access to health care, justice and basic services. In addition, the development
of infrastructure for women in rural areas was also noted as important. The
challenges faced by rural girls such as teenage pregnancies, forced marriages,
lack of access to education were also highlighted as requiring astute oversight
by parliamentarians.
In terms of the
role that parliaments can play to advance gender equality, these included
amongst others legislative developments through a gender lense; ensuring the mainstreaming
of gender within budgets; and strengthening political participation of women
through quotas to address gender parity. Practically speaking, in terms of the
role that female parliamentarians can play in relation to empowering rural
women, it was stated that parliamentarians must ensure that rural women have access
to infrastructure, finance, build capacity to promote leadership of rural women.
In cases where legislation does not promote gender equality, it was noted that
there was a need to review and amend these policies and legislation
accordingly. Closely linked to this was the importance of awareness programmes
to highlight the rights of women. All these measures require stringent
oversight by parliamentarians which can be attained by holding services
providers accountable democracy in action. Delegates were also urged to
implement the CSW Resolutions and at a country level.
A member of the
South African delegation had shared the experiences of the South African
Parliament in advancing female representation in Parliament. To this end, it
was stated that South Africa is committed to the equality and empowerment of
women in all spheres of private and public life and expresses its commitment in
this regard in the Constitution which actively makes provision for equality for
all and provides a framework for the pursuing of equality and human rights. By
facilitating womens equal involvement in all decision-making processes in the
country, the South Africa Constitution also extends and ensures womens
political equality, thus creating an enabling environment for the achievement
of gender equality.
The South African Government
has also passed numerous pieces of legislation to promote gender equality,
protect the rights of women and enhance the gender agenda. A report on the
representation of women in the 2009 South African elections indicates that
South Africa has moved up from 17th to 3rd position in the world rankings of
women in Parliament. This is the largest increase since the 1994 elections.
Post the 2009 elections, women constituted only 40% of Ministers and 39% of
Deputy Ministers. The increase in the number of women parliamentarians
highlights the positive firstly impact that womens improved political access has
had and secondly the value of adopting quotas for women by some political
parties have had.
3.2 ICT
It was
acknowledged that ICT have become essential in supporting the work of
legislative bodies throughout the world. Moreover, ICT assists legislatures in
their most important responsibilities namely in terms of legislative
development; in conducting oversight of the executive as it carries out its
mandates; and by communicating with the citizens. Therefore access to reliable,
timely information is essential to the proper functioning of democratic
legislatures. Discussions revealed that parliamentarians need information because
they not only monitor issues but they also develop policy solutions, predict
consequences, and influence government decision making. In their role of
overseeing the executive, parliamentarians need information in order to monitor
the success of on-going programs and to identify areas of weakness. Thus in
order to achieve this, it is imperative the Parliament capitalize on the
benefits of ICT to function effectively, to interact with the public, and to
collaborate with other parliaments around the world. It was also argued that ICTs
are cost saving mechanisms and enable parliaments to apply technology through
virtual mobility. Moreover, best practice examples were shared about how women
utilise ICT to effectively engage with their constituents be it through social
network media such as Facebook and Twitter to blogs and emails. The
aforementioned social networks were also utilised to disseminate information
and keep civil society abreast of developments within Parliament. A key challenge
noted by parliamentarians was the time it takes to manage the responses and
respond accordingly all of which require sufficient financial and human
resources.
A member of the
South African delegation also shared with delegates best practice from the South
African Parliament which included the following:
Electronic voting for Members;
Electronic mediums within Committee rooms;
All Members have laptops and have access to broad
band technologies (internet access, individual email accounts);
All members have access to pre-programmed documents
related to the daily proceedings of Parliament;
Parliament also has voice recognition
software/digital recordings to record proceedings in Parliament;
All provinces have Parliamentary Democracy Offices (PDO)
with the aim of providing information to citizens from Parliament. PDOs are
also connected using video-conferencing facilities;
South African Parliaments Content Management
System was developed to manage information and preserve institutional memory.
Moreover, it enables users to monitor the progress of tasks involving
documentation and setting deadlines with reminder facilities.
In terms of acquisition and utilisation of evidence
based research, each Parliamentary Committee is supported by specialist
researchers. In so doing Members of Parliament are able to meet their mandate
in becoming accessible and responsive public representatives.
In terms of public participation, Parliament has a
website that provides up to date information regarding committee meetings,
programmes, legislation underway and public hearings.
3.3 Gender-sensitive Parliaments
All delegates
were in agreement that a gender-sensitive Parliament is one that responds to
the needs and interests of both men and women in its structures, operations,
methods and work. A key objective of the IPU strategy for 2007-12 is to advance
gender equality by fostering gender-sensitive change in parliament. The IPU has
produced the first ever global analysis on gender mainstreaming in parliament
and gender-sensitive parliaments. It has mapped the current situation and
identified good practices. In so doing, the IPU has committed to develop and
several initiatives to achieve and these include the following:
·
Work to develop standards and issue guidelines on
gender-sensitive policies and procedures.
·
Provide capacity-building support to parliamentary
bodies that deal with gender equality and womens issues.
·
Assist members of parliament and parliamentary
staff to build their capacities in gender mainstreaming and will facilitate the
exchange of good practices.
A member of the
South Africa delegation shared a South African perspective in terms of what the
South African Parliament has implemented to instil a gender-sensitive
parliament. Firstly, delegates were informed about the existing structures in
South African Parliament that specifically deal with women and gender specific
matters. The three key structures within the South African Parliament leading
gender mainstreaming is the Portfolio and Select Committee on Women Children
and People with Disabilities and the Multi-Party Womens Caucus. A brief
description was provided as to mandate and function of each entity.
The Portfolio
Committee on Women, Youth, Children and Persons with Disabilities is a new
parliamentary committee established in the 4th democratic Parliament of South
Africa. The Committee replaces the Joint Monitoring Committee on the
Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women and the Joint Monitoring
Committee on Children, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. The Portfolio
Committee which is located in the National Assembly also has an equivalent
Select Committee in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
The main
functions of these committees in relation to women include:
·
Holding accountable the Executive structures that
are responsible for improving the lives of Women
·
Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of and
overseeing legislation impacting on women
·
Influencing, mobilising, monitoring and overseeing
that appropriate budgets are allocated for the implementation of legislation,
policies and programmes targeted at women
·
Ensuring that women are considered and prioritised
in all legislation, policies and programmes.
·
Ensuring that the needs of women are mainstreamed
into the core functions of Government Departments, organs of state, public
entities and civil society at large.
·
Ensuring compliance with international and regional
treaties that has a bearing on Women
·
Creating opportunities for public participation
with civil society on key matters pertaining to women.
The Multiparty
Womens Caucus (MPWC) was officially launched on 18 March 2008, with the
objective of creating a platform for highlighting womens perspectives within
the context of Parliaments activities; influencing and focusing discussions on
issues affecting women; acting as an advisory and consultative body
representing the interests and concerns of women Members of Parliament, and
engaging in empowerment issues with women in political structures outside
Parliament and internationally. The MPWC acts as an advisory, influencing and
consultative body through its representation of the interests and concerns of
women MPs.
The South
African experience demonstrated that the aforementioned structures have gender
mainstreaming within their mandates as a key imperative. Moreover, gender
issues are considered in the development and review of legislation, when
conducting oversight and monitoring the implementation relevant international
and regional treaties. In addition, other mechanisms used include debates in
the House, member statements etc. The aforementioned structures have actively
pursued capacitating members on gender mainstreaming by having workshops with
experts in the field on specific subject matters , for instance, gender
responsive budgeting.
4.
RESOLUTIONS
It is important to note that no agreed conclusions were adopted on the
Commission's priority theme, that is, The empowerment of rural women and their
role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.
[1]
As part of the
56
th
CSW Session
, the
Plenary adopted 6 resolutions that would be actioned through the United Nations
General Assembly and which would be reported on at the 57th CSW Session.
It should be noted that unlike at the
previous session, the South African delegation had not initiated any
resolutions and did not play any significant role in the development of the
resolutions.
4.1
Ending Female Genital Mutilation
The CSW recommended to the Economic
and Social Council the approval of the following draft decision for adoption by
the General Assembly: Ending female genital mutilation:
The General Assembly, recalling its
resolutions 56/128 of 19 December 2001, 58/156 of 22 December 2003 and 60/141
of 16 December 2005, Commission on the Status of Women resolutions 51/2 of 9
March 2007, 52/2 of 7 March 2008 and 54/7 of 12 March 2010, as well as agreed
conclusions of the Commission, and all other relevant resolutions, and taking
note of the report of the Secretary-General1 on ending female genital
mutilation and the recommendations contained therein, decides to consider the
issue of ending female genital mutilation at its sixty-seventh session under
the agenda item entitled Advancement of women.
4.2 Indigenous women: key actors in
poverty and hunger eradication
This resolution expressed deep concern
about
the increasing feminization of poverty, emphasising that the empowerment of
women, including indigenous women, is a critical factor in the eradication of
poverty and that the implementation of special measures aimed at empowering
women can help to achieve this objective. It also recognised that poverty of
women, including that of indigenous women, is directly related, to the absence
of economic opportunities and of autonomy, lack of access to economic
resources, lack of access to education and support services, and minimal
participation in the decision-making process. Further concern was also
expressed about the extreme disadvantages that indigenous peoples, in particular
indigenous women, have typically faced across a range of social and economic
indicators and the impediments to their full enjoyment of their rights. In
addition, the adverse impacts of climate change on women and girls, including indigenous
women, can be exacerbated by gender inequality, discrimination and poverty.
Moreover, it was stated that indigenous women often suffer from multiple forms
of discrimination and poverty which increase their vulnerability to all forms
of violence. Thus e
mphasizing
that
indigenous women should exercise their rights free from discrimination of any
kind.
Member States were urged to
undertake several initiatives such as:
·
Particular
measures to promote and strengthen policies and programmes for indigenous women
with their full participation and respect for their cultural diversity.
·
States
were also urged to support the economic activities of indigenous women, in
consultation with them and taking into account their traditional knowledge, so
as to improve their situation and development, in particular by enhancing their
equal access to productive resources and agricultural inputs, such as land,
seeds, financial services, technology, transportation and information.
·
Emphasis
was placed on ensuring the realisation of the right of indigenous women and
girls to education, and promote a multicultural approach to education that is
responsive to the needs, aspirations and cultures of indigenous women,
including by developing appropriate education programmes, curricula and
teaching aids, to the extent possible in the languages of indigenous peoples,
by promoting their access to information and communications technologies and by
providing for the participation of indigenous women in these processes, and
take measures to ensure that indigenous women and girls have the right to equal
access to all levels and forms of education without discrimination;
·
Provide
support, investment and technical assistance for the training of indigenous
women, and support womens organisations and cooperatives, which contribute to
promoting mutual support and leadership;
·
Formulate
and implement, in consultation and collaboration with indigenous women and
their organisations, policies and programmes designed to promote
capacity-building processes and strengthen their leadership, and take measures
to ensure full and effective participation of indigenous women in
decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, and eliminate
barriers for their participation in political, economic, social and cultural
life;
·
Concrete
measures to provide and enhance equal access and enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health for indigenous women, including sexual and reproductive
health, and access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation, and safe
cooking and heating;
·
Respect,
preserve and promote, where appropriate, the traditional knowledge of
indigenous women with respect to medicine, including the conservation of their
vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals;
·
Comply
with and effectively implement all their human rights obligations so as to
ensure the full realization and equal enjoyment of the rights of indigenous
women;
·
Take
concrete measures to provide equal access to justice for indigenous women at
all levels, and ensure that indigenous women have equal rights to own land and
other property;
·
Take
actions at the national, local and community levels to prevent and eliminate
all forms of violence against indigenous women;
·
Collect
and disseminate disaggregated data on indigenous women, including those living
in rural areas, in order to monitor and improve the impact of development
policies and programmes for their well-being;
·
Support
the participation of indigenous women in the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development, also called Rio+20, and in the High-level Meeting of
the General Assembly that is to be called the World Conference on Indigenous
Peoples, to be held in 2014;
In addition, Member States,
intergovernmental organisations, the private sector and civil society were also
encouraged to take appropriate measures to promote the rights of indigenous
peoples, and respect their cultures, lands, territories and resources and their
contribution to sustainable development. UN-Women and, as appropriate, relevant
funds, programmes and specialised agencies of the United Nations system,
international financial institutions, the private sector, non-governmental organisations
and other civil society actors were also encouraged to take measures to
develop, finance, implement and support policies and programmes aimed at
promoting the empowerment of indigenous women and their enjoyment of all human
rights.
4.3
Women,
the Girl and HIV and AIDS
This
resolution requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the CSW at its 58th
Session on the situation of women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS, with an
emphasis on accelerated actions taken in regard to women, the girl child and
HIV and AIDS, in accordance with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development, the HIV and AIDS Political Declarations and commitments, using
information provided by Member States, and the United Nations system.
4.4
Release
of Women and Children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned,
in armed conflicts
This resolution from the onset expressed its
concern
of the continuation of armed conflicts in many regions throughout the world and
the human suffering and humanitarian emergencies they cause. To this end women
and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed
conflicts, whether international or non-international, are victims of serious
violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and
human rights law and continue to have a negative impact on efforts to put an
end to those conflicts and cause suffering to the families of those women and
children, and stressing, in this regard, the need to address the issue from a
humanitarian perspective, among others. The resolution emphasises that all
forms of violence in areas of armed conflict committed against the civilian
population as such, including taking women and children hostage, seriously
contravene international humanitarian law, in particular as set out in the
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. The resolution is also emphatic and is
cognisant of the fact that States that are parties to an armed conflict have a responsibility
not to take hostage and subsequently imprison women and children in armed
conflict and to ensure accountability as regards implementation of relevant mechanisms,
policies and laws in order to protect them, bearing in mind that all parties to
the conflict must refrain from hostage-taking. Concern was also expressed that,
despite the efforts of the international community, acts of hostage-taking in
different forms and manifestations, inter alia, those committed by terrorists
and armed groups, continue to take place and have even increased in many regions
of the world,
This resolution stated the following
it:
·
Reaffirms
that
hostage-taking, wherever and by whomever committed, is an illegal act aimed at
the destruction of human rights and is, under any circumstances, unjustifiable;
·
Condemns
all
violent acts committed against the civilian population as such, in violation of
international humanitarian law in situations of armed conflict, and calls for
an effective response to such acts, in particular the immediate release of
women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed
conflicts, including by strengthening international cooperation in this field;
·
Condemns
the
consequences of hostage-taking, in particular torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment, murder, rape, slavery and trafficking in
women and children;
·
Urges
States that
are parties to an armed conflict to take all necessary measures, in a timely
manner, to determine the identity, fate and whereabouts of women and children
taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts,
and, to the greatest possible extent, to provide their family members, through
appropriate channels, with all relevant information they have on their fate and
whereabouts;
·
Invites
, in this
regard, States to adopt a comprehensive approach, including all appropriate
legal and practical measures and coordination mechanisms;
·
Recognizes
the
need for the collection, protection and management of information on women and
children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed
conflicts, according to international and national legal norms and standards,
and urges States to cooperate with each other and with other appropriate actors
working in this area, inter alia, by providing all relevant and appropriate
information;
·
Strongly urges
all
parties to armed conflicts to respect fully the norms of international
humanitarian law and to take all necessary measures for the protection of the
civilian population as such, including measures to prevent and combat acts of hostage-taking;
·
Urges
all parties
to armed conflicts to provide safe, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance
for those women and children, in accordance with international humanitarian
law;
·
Also urges
all
parties to an armed conflict to cooperate fully with the International Committee
of the Red Cross in establishing the fate and whereabouts of women and children
taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned;
·
Stresses
both
the need to put an end to impunity and the responsibility of all States to
prosecute or bring to justice in accordance with international law those
responsible for war crimes, including hostage-taking;
·
Also stresses
the
need for addressing the issue of release of women and children taken hostage,
including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts, also as a part of
peace processes, with reference to all justice and rule of law mechanisms, on
the basis of transparency, accountability and public involvement and
participation;
·
Emphasises
the
importance of objective, responsible and impartial information, including
improved analysis and dissemination of sex- and age disaggregated data, on
hostages, verifiable by relevant international organisations, in facilitating
their release, and calls for assistance to those organisations in this regard;
·
Requests
the
Secretary-General to ensure, in the context of the present resolution, the
widest possible dissemination of relevant material, in particular material
relating to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), within existing resources;
·
Also requests
the
Secretary-General and all relevant international organisations to use their
capabilities and undertake efforts to facilitate the immediate release of
civilian women and children who have been taken hostage, including those
subsequently imprisoned;
·
Invites
the special
rapporteurs, within their respective mandates, as well as the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict,
to continue to address the issue of women and children taken hostage, including
those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts and its consequences;
·
Requests
the
Secretary-General to submit to the Commission on the Status of Women at its
fifty-eighth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution,
including relevant practical recommendations, taking into account the
information provided by States and relevant international organisations;
·
Decides
to consider
the question at its 58th Session.
4.5
Situation
of and assistance to Palestinian women
This Resolution expressed outward
concern
about the
increased difficulties being faced by Palestinian women and girls living under
Israeli occupation, including the continuation of home demolitions, evictions
of Palestinians, the revocation of residency rights and arbitrary detention and
imprisonment, as well as high rates of poverty and unemployment, food insecurity,
inadequate water supply, incidents of domestic violence, and declining health,
education and living standards, including the rising incidence of trauma and
decline in their psychological well-being, and also expressed grave concern
about the dire humanitarian crisis and insecurity and instability on the ground
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular in the Gaza Strip. The
dire economic and social conditions of Palestinian women and girls in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the systematic
violation of their human rights resulting from the severe impact of ongoing
illegal Israeli practices, including displacement and the confiscation of land,
particularly in connection with the construction and expansion of settlements
and the Wall, which continue to constitute a major obstacle to peace on the
basis of the two-State solution, and the continued imposition of closures and
restrictions on the movement of persons and goods, which have detrimentally
affected their right to health care, including access for pregnant women to
health services for antenatal care and safe delivery, education, employment,
development and freedom of
movement.
Specific emphasis was placed on the critical socio-economic and humanitarian situation
in the Gaza Strip, including that resulting from the Israeli military
operations and the imposition of a blockade consisting of the prolonged closure
of border crossings and severe restrictions on the movement of persons and goods,
as well as the continued impeding of the reconstruction process by Israel, the occupying
Power, which has detrimentally affected every aspect of the lives of the civilian
population, especially women and children, in the Gaza Strip.
This Resolution, reaffirms that
the
Israeli occupation remains the major obstacle for Palestinian women with regard
to their advancement, self-reliance and integration in the development of their
society, and stresses the importance of efforts to increase their role in
decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution and to ensure
their equal participation and involvement in all efforts for the achievement,
maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Specific recommendations
included the following:
·
The international community was
called upon, in this regard, to continue to provide urgently needed assistance,
especially emergency assistance, and services in an effort to alleviate the
dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families
and to help in the reconstruction of relevant Palestinian institutions, with
the integration of a gender perspective into all of its international
assistance programmes, and commends the implementation of the Palestinian
Authoritys plan of August 2009 for constructing the institutions of an
independent Palestinian State within a twenty-four-month period and the
significant achievements made, as confirmed by international institutions,
including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United
Nations;
·
Demands
that Israel,
the occupying Power, comply fully with the provisions and principles of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Regulations annexed to the Hague
Convention IV of 1907,9 the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,10 and all other relevant
rules, principles and instruments of international law, including the
International Covenants on Human Rights, in order to protect the rights of
Palestinian women and their families;
·
The international community
was also urged to continue to give special
attention to the promotion and protection of the human rights of Palestinian
women and girls and to intensify its measures to improve the difficult
conditions being faced by Palestinian women and their families living under
Israeli occupation;
·
Israel was called upon to facilitate
the return of all refugees and displaced Palestinian women and children to
their homes and properties, in compliance with the relevant United Nations
resolutions;
·
There was an urgent need for
sustained and active international involvement, including by the Quartet, to
support both parties in resuming, advancing and accelerating the peace process
negotiations for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace
settlement, on the basis of United Nations resolutions, the Quartet road map to
a permanent two-State solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and the
Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States at
its fourteenth session;
·
The CSW was requested to continue to
monitor and take action with regard to the implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,2 in particular
paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform
for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly
entitled Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the
twenty-first century;
·
The Secretary-General was requested to
continue reviewing the situation, to assist Palestinian women by all available
means, including those laid out in the report of the Secretary-General on the
situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, and to submit to the CSW at
its 57th Session a report, including information provided by the Economic and
Social Commission for Western Asia,
on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.
4.6
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
in Natural Disasters
Natural disasters affect human lives
and living conditions thereafter, and often have a more direct and adverse
impact on women, as well as vulnerable people within groups such as children,
older persons and persons with disabilities. Moreover, natural disasters often
have different impacts on men and women in regards to the associated risks and
vulnerabilities, due to gender inequality, gender stereotypes and
discrimination against women, including the lack of equal access to adequate
information, economic opportunities, and poverty and social exclusion, safety and
different family responsibilities.
The following specific
recommendations were made:
Governments
were urged and, where appropriate, United Nations entities, civil society,
including non-governmental organisations, and private sector, and other
stakeholders to:
·
Review national policies, strategies
and plans and take action to integrate a gender perspective in policies,
planning and funding for disaster risk reduction, response and recovery, considering
the different impacts that natural disasters have on women and men,
·
Ensure the equal opportunities for
participation of women in decision-making including with regard to the
allocation of resources at all levels regarding disaster risk reduction, response
and recovery,
·
Strengthen the capacities of
relevant authorities and institutions at all levels to apply a gender-sensitive
approach to disaster risk reduction (prevention, mitigation and preparedness),
response and recovery, while raising their awareness, and promote cooperation
among them,
·
Ensure
the full enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights in every phase of
disaster risk reduction (prevention, mitigation and preparedness), response and
recovery,
·
Make
the utmost efforts to secure equal access to disaster relief assistance between
women and men and provide disaster response and support for recovery that is
fully responsive to the needs, views and enjoyment of all human rights of women
with special attention paid to the needs of pregnant and lactating women,
families with infants, single-headed households and widows, such as in the
context of the provision of food and supplies, water and sanitation, the set-up
and management of shelter, safety and security, and the provision of physical,
psychological, and emergency health care, including for sexual and reproductive
health, and counseling services, while encouraging the involvement of female
professionals and gender-balance among field workers,
·
Ensure
that in post-disaster environments, special attention is given to sexual and
gender-based violence and to the prevention of various forms of exploitation,
including the risk of trafficking and the particular vulnerability of girls,
unaccompanied children and orphans,
·
Ensure,
in post-disaster environments, the protection of and care and support to the
victims of violence and, as appropriate, the provision of legal and other relevant
services for victims of violence to aid in the, inter alia, investigation and
the prosecution of sexual and gender based violence, taking into account
womens needs in order to avoid the re-victimization of women,
·
Design,
implement, and evaluate gender-sensitive economic relief and recovery projects,
including vocational and technical skills training measures in order to help ensure
equal economic opportunities between men and women, paying attention to eliminating
obstacles to womens rapid integration or reintegration into the formal employment
sector, owning to their role in the social and economic process, and taking into
account the rural and urban migration that natural disasters may provoke,
·
Promote
income-generating activities and employment opportunities for women affected by
natural disasters, particularly rural women, including through supporting the
community-based businesses, the establishment of necessary social services, and
access to market, credit and other financial services,
·
Ensure
women and mens equal access to natural-hazard early warning systems and
promote disaster risk reduction planning, taking into account of the specific
needs, and views and all human rights of women and men, and raise public
awareness,
·
Ensure
women and girls equal access to and use of information, training, and formal
and non-formal education on disaster risk reduction, in order for women and
girls to fully use these resources,
·
Systematically
collect demographic and socio-economic data and information disaggregated by
sex, age and disability and continue to develop gender indicators and analyze
gender differences, including through gender-sensitive needs assessment and
planning processes, and integrate this information into disaster risk reduction
and management policies and programs,
·
Document
and assess disaster responses from a gender perspective, and widely
disseminate, both nationally, regionally and internationally, information on
good practices, lessons learned and tools, including technologies in support of
disaster risk reduction, in order to promote and ensure their integration into
disaster risk reduction planning,
·
Recognise
and further promote the role of civil society, including community-based
organisations, womens organisations and volunteers, in disaster management and
in promoting the building of an inclusive, disaster-resilient society that
ensures womens full participation,
·
Emphasis
was also placed in the establishment of partnerships with key stakeholders,
including Governments, United Nations entities and other relevant actors such as
civil society, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector
in order to strengthen gender perspective in all aspects of disaster risk
reduction, response and recovery,
·
Governments,
local authorities, the United Nations system, regional organisations, and
invites donors and other assisting countries were encouraged
to address the vulnerabilities and capacities
of women and girls through gender-responsive
·
programming
and the allocation of resources in their disaster risk reduction, response and
recovery efforts in coordination with the Governments of affected countries,
·
A
request was also made to all relevant United Nations entities, according to
their mandate, to ensure that a gender perspective continues to be mainstreamed
into all aspects of disaster risk reduction, response and recovery,
·
In
addition the United Nations system, member states and other stakeholders
were requested to continue to promote the
inclusion of a gender perspective in its activities on disaster risk reduction,
including at the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015,
·
Finally
a request was made to the Secretary-General to report to the Commission on the
Status of Women at its fifty-eighth session on the implementation of the
present resolution, including suggestions on how to further address the issue
on gender equality and the empowerment of women in natural disasters within the
existing UN framework.
4.7 Eliminating maternal mortality and morbidity through the empowerment
of women
This Resolution noted with concern that
more than 350,000 women and adolescent girls still die every year from largely
preventable complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. The Resolution
further noted that adolescent girls face a higher risk of complications and
death and that the average annual percentage decline in the global maternal
mortality ratio still falls short of the figure of 5.5 per cent required to
achieve the first target of Millennium Development Goal 5.
·
Member
States were urged, in cooperation with the international community and civil
society, to improve systems to register pregnancies, births and deaths and to
support improved public health infrastructure for the collection, analysis and dissemination
of data on the burden of maternal morbidity and mortality and its causes at the
national and sub-national level, including through the use of mobile technologies,
where appropriate;
·
A
request was made to
the
Secretary-General to continue to expand the knowledge base, including the
United Nations website, on the progress made towards the achievement of the
Goals;
·
A
request was also made to the Secretary-General to provide a report to the CSW
at its 58th Session, in consultation with Member States, international organisations
and all other relevant stakeholders, taking into account relevant United
Nations resolutions, on actions to strengthen linkages among programmes,
initiatives and activities throughout the United Nations system for gender
equality, the empowerment of women and girls, protection of all of their human
rights and the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity.
5.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following
recommendations have been identified based on observations and outcomes of the
sessions by the South African Parliamentary delegation.
5.1
Implementing Resolutions
Numerous
Resolutions that emerged at the 56
th
Session have relevance to South
Africa. A framework needs to be developed and tracking mechanism to ensure that
Resolutions are indeed implemented at a country level and that Parliament is
kept abreast of developments in this regard. Moreover, improved co-ordination
in Parliament is required to ensure effective follow-up of Resolutions.
5.2
Gender-sensitive audit
The IPU
discussions and publications on the gender-sensitive audit are a particularly
useful tool which the South African Parliament can apply. A gender-sensitive
audit of Parliaments current term will provide insight into what the
achievements are as well as identify challenges and gaps all of which that can
directly contribute to a review of initiatives and inform the 5th Parliamentary
term.
5.3
UNCSW 57
th
session Gender Based Violence
a submission by South African Parliament.
The theme for the 57
th
Session is focussed on gender based
violence to which the South African Parliament has an invaluable contribution
to make. To this end it is proposed that the request is put forward to host a
side event at the 57
th
Session which focuses on South Africas best
practice examples.
6.
CONCLUSION
The UNCSW 56
th
Session had robust discussion on several matters that impact on the empowerment
of rural women and girls as well as a focus on gender based violence in
preparation for the 57
th
Session. The impact of the Resolutions can
only be effective if implemented at a country level to which Member States are
responsible and Parliaments have a valuable role to play. The Department for
Women, Children and People with Disabilities have a crucial role to play in
reporting back to Parliament on the 56
th
session and provide a
strategy as to how the Resolutions are to be implemented. To this end,
stringent oversight is required.
Report to be
considered.
Documents
No related documents