(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
20 years after the World Conference on Women in Beijing: The UN Women's Commission (CSW) has played an important role since it was established in 1946. 45 governments are now in the commission. Finland joins the Nordic countries, and the Nordic countries cooperate closely. In contrast to the male-dominated general assembly of the UN, CSW has always included substantially all women. They have been government representatives, but they have also been closely associated with independent women's organizations, and the organizations have had the right to speak and propose in the commission. This has made CSW a driving force which has led the UN to actively engage in equality. CSW has made proposals, and the world's governments in the UN General Assembly have joined and followed up.
The resistance has been noticeable. It was not until 1975 that the UN accepted an international women's year, following a proposal from CSW. The first women's world conference was held in Mexico that year. It got record support. The world's governments agreed to fight discrimination against women, and 1976-85 was made a woman's decade. In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted, and World Conferences on Women in Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi 1985 and Beijing 1995 were organized. cooperation with the women's organizations. At the women's conferences, the decisions gradually became more comprehensive and profound, and the international women's movement grew in strength. In Beijing, 189 governments joined a very ambitious platform of action with strategic goals and measures in 12 critical areas.
Little progress. CSW meets every spring, and this year the meeting was special – it's been 20 years since the women's conference in Beijing. Now, status was to be settled, and the road ahead should be made out.
Before the meeting, governments and civil society around the world were mobilized. 167 countries provided reports on gender equality efforts, and more than 160 global, national and regional Beijing + 20 meetings were held with government and women's representatives – to assess what was done and what was not done, and to promote proposals. about increased efforts and new measures. The most important meetings took place in Geneva for Europe, in Addis Ababa for Africa, in Bangkok for Asia and the Pacific, in Santiago for Latin America and the Caribbean and Cairo for Western Asia. In addition, more than 270 NGOs submitted statements to CSW.
There are clear features in the picture, although conditions vary from country to country. Overall, women's position has improved since Beijing, but progress is slower and slower than expected. The gap between women and men has been greatly reduced in health and education – but women are only 60 per cent in terms of finances, and not more than 21 per cent in terms of political power. Women cannot participate in peace talks, and one in three women is beaten or raped during their lives. The challenges are becoming more pressing in the face of rising violence and militarization, climate change, neoliberal economic dominance and financial crises, as well as the rise of fundamentalist groups and movements.
Reactions. In light of the tremendous preparatory work, CSW members agreed that at their New York meeting this spring, they would be content to make a brief and concise political statement on the first day of the meeting. Then the majority of the two weeks the meeting could last could be used for broad exchanges of views on important topics. In the statement, CSW maintained the commitment to fulfill the vision of the Beijing Platform and achieve equality between women and men by 2030. resources, clearer responsibilities for the execution of obligations and better data collection, monitoring and evaluation.
Research shows that, first and foremost, strong feminist grassroots organizations make a difference when it comes to women's rights.
Both the procedure and the content of the CSW statement aroused strong reactions. Thousands of women came to New York to join the discussions – and then they were kept out. In addition, the adopted declaration is weak and general. In no way does it go far enough in the direction of the changes needed to fulfill the promises of Beijing and to link human rights, equality and power to girls and women. In addition, there is no mention of key issues such as women's influence in conflict situations, violence against women, women's and girls' sexual and reproductive health and rights, increasing fundamentalism and economic inequality, and climate change.
The CSW meeting weakened the implementation of the Beijing Platform, the role of women's organizations and cooperation between governments and women's organizations. And at the end of the meeting, a separate resolution was adopted on the working methods of the Commission in the future, which restricted the participation of civil society. This is all the more questionable, as research shows that it is primarily strong feminist grassroots organizations that make a difference when it comes to women's rights. After the CSW meeting, more than 1000 women's rights advocates and organizations signed a protest against the UN and the Member States for their lack of political will and commitment to women's human rights.
Weakness. Following the Beijing Conference in 1995, no new world conferences on women have been held. In 2012, the UN Secretary-General proposed that a conference be held in 2015 to mark Beijing + 20. Turkey and Qatar offered to stand as a host country, but the governments made no decision. And no decision has yet been made, since CSW has also not demanded such a conference. However, there is talk that India might conceivably be a host country.
Women's activists have called for a fifth World Conference on Women to keep political engagement and media focus up – in contrast to today's casualness and silence. It is necessary to increase the pressure on the male elites who rule the world and strengthen the global women's movement to reach the Beijing goals. There is also a need to address issues that have become more intrusive since Beijing, including armed conflict and violence, economy and poverty, migration and human trafficking, climate and the environment.
Opponents of a new women's conference claim they do not want to rethink the Beijing action plan. The plan is very comprehensive, with the main theme "power for women". It is based on decisions from previous conferences and decades of efforts to promote equality. The plan provides a basis for continued efforts, and revising the text at a new world conference could lead to weakening due to fundamentalist currents and economic problems, it is said.
It's not easy, but a new world conference doesn't have to be like the previous ones. Instead of revising the action plan, one can focus on the implementation of the plan: experiences and results, innovation and progress, and strategies against obstacles and resistance. The arrangement can also be changed so that the dialogue between governments and civil society becomes more direct and deeper than before. A lot has happened on the media front since 1995.
Must contribute. Although there was no women's conference in 2015, the activity associated with CSW59 suggests that the women's movement has stepped up over the past year as a result of attacks on women's rights by fundamentalists in the Middle East and Africa, and the hostility and harassment of women on the Internet. Women's organizations and activists held more than 650 meetings of various kinds with the requirement "50:50 in 2030" during the two weeks in New York. This was a great inspiration to those who participated, and contributed to the design of strategies and measures. But if development is to move towards more equality and justice, then men and the authorities must step up and contribute actively.
Skard is a member of the International Women's Alliance (IAW) and former journalist Orientering. Now a regular columnist in Ny Tid.
