FLASHBACK
International Women's Day -- an Occasion of Global Spirituality
Dear Friends,
Today is International Women's Day, a global special observance created by the
United Nations..
Let us pause and reflect on the great strides that some women have made around
the world, but also on the long way that we all must go to balance our social
and self-government processes at every level so that women can take their
vitally necessary place of respect and dignity in the world.
Let us remember that the United States has still not ratified the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and let
us press forward with renewed hope that with a Democratic majority in the House
and Senate and hopefully a new Democratic President in 2008, this vital piece of
global legislation can finally obtain US support.
Let us also mark this day with rejoicing that the UN General Assembly's
president is, for the first time this year, a Muslim woman, Sheikha Haya Al
Khalifa, which will go far to re-establish respect for the UN in Arab and Muslim
eyes.
The programs of the United Nations have been of enormous help to women, but
they are not adequately funded, and 1.7 billion people, predominantly women and
children, still live in poverty around the world.
Below is a short speech on the occasion of International Women's Day by the
Canadian ambassador the United Nations.
Yours,
John Dale
CANADA'S U.N. AMB. JOHN McNEE ON
GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
(MaximsNews.com, U.N.)
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com, UN/ - 07 March 2007 -- The following
statement by Ambassador John McNee, Canada's Permanent Representative to the
61st Session of the U.N. General Assembly, was presented at the informal
thematic debate on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in New York on 06
March 2007.
"Today’s informal thematic debate is being held in the context of the 30th
anniversary of International Women’s Day, and the important deliberations of the
51st session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.
Women have not yet achieved the equality envisaged by the United Nations and
its Member States 30 years ago. Women and girls continue to struggle. Of the 1.3
billion people living in poverty around the world, 70 per cent are women and
two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls. Violence against
women and girls also continues unabated as one of the most pervasive and
unrecognized human rights violations.
For these reasons, the international community committed itself in 2000 to the
Millennium Development Goal of promoting gender equality and empowerment of
women. Since 2000, there has been increasing consensus that every single goal is
related directly to women’s rights and that in societies where women are equal
to men there is a much greater chance of achieving all the Millennium
Development Goals. Canada, with the international community, recognizes that the
Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women are the global frameworks to achieving this
goal.
Canada supports initiatives throughout the world aimed at improving girls’
education, ending violence against women and supporting the implementation of
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
We ensure that concerns related to the equality of women and men, girls and boys
are explicitly and systematically integrated in all our overseas development
programming. Canada has created a framework for assessing performance on this
goal and looks forward to continuing to share experiences and information on
achieving results for equality of women and men, girls and boys.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, “Ending Impunity for
Violence” sits firmly within the core values of Canada’s new government and
reminds us of the persistent and unacceptable nature of violence against women
and girls, and of the work that remains to be done in achieving equality of
women and men, girls and boys and the empowerment of women.
Canada takes seriously its commitments to ending all forms of violence against
women and has taken significant steps to address questions of impunity for such
crimes in our national and international work. The recent In-depth Study on
Violence against Women by the United Nations Secretary-General emphasizes the
need for political will and commitment at the highest levels to make
strengthening prevention of and ending impunity for violence against women a
priority.
Canada has a strong legislative framework for protecting women and girls from
violence, including domestic violence. Additionally, the Government of Canada
addresses the problem of domestic violence against women and girls through the
Family Violence Initiative. This initiative takes action on violence through
prevention, protection and treatment programmes. The government also shares the
concerns of all Canadians on the issue of violence against aboriginal women and
has taken concrete measures to address the root causes of violence against
aboriginal women and girls in their homes and in the wider community. This
issue has been given added and more focussed attention through increased
funding to
family shelters in First Nations communities and through the Sisters in Spirit
initiative which is attempting to find concrete solutions to the problem of
violence against aboriginal women in Canada.
Internationally, Canada continues to be actively engaged on the issue of
violence against women. From 1994-2005 Canada led an annual resolution on the
elimination of violence against women at the former UN Commission on Human
Rights urging states to take concrete measures to prevent and eliminate all
forms of violence against women and girls. Canada will continue efforts to
address violence against women in the newly formed UN Human Rights Council.
Canada is presently finalizing its Action Plan for the Implementation of UN
Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
This comprehensive, all-of-government Action Plan addresses the four key areas
covered by Security Council Resolution 1325, including the need for full and
equal participation of women in peace processes and peace-building activities.
Canada’s Action Plan also emphasizes Canada’s commitment to reducing and ending
impunity for all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual
exploitation and abuse. Canada will continue its efforts in this area to ensure
that women’s and girls’ rights are respected and protected.
Today’s informal thematic debate is an occasion for us to review how far we
have come in the struggle for equality of women and men, girls and boys and
women’s empowerment and an opportunity to look ahead for further meaningful
change." ~~~~~
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi
--------------------------------- Fri Mar 9, 2007 8:59 am
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