..
FYI
UN body adopts women's rights declaration
Religious and liberal nations agree, after two-week debate, on document urging
end to violence against women and girls.
Last Modified: 16 Mar 2013 03:17
Libya was the only country to disassociated itself from the text of the final
document [EPA]
A United Nations policy-making body has agreed upon a declaration urging an end
to violence against women and girls despite concerns from conservative Muslim
countries and the Vatican about references to women's sexual and reproductive
rights.
Conservative Muslim and Roman Catholic countries and more liberal nations on
Friday night reached a consensus on a compromise document to loud applause at
the end of a contentious two-week meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of
Women.
Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan, along with Honduras
and the Vatican, expressed reservations about the declaration, but did not
block adoption of the 18-page text.
While the declaration of the commission, created in 1946 for the advancement of
women, is non-binding, diplomats and rights activists say it carries enough
global weight to pressure countries to improve the lives of women and girls.
"People worldwide expected action, and we didn't fail them. Yes, we did it,"
Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile and head of UN Women, which
supports the commission, told delegates on Friday after two weeks on
negotiations on the text.
Egypt warns
Earlier in the talks Iran, Russia, the Vatican and others had threatened to
derail the declaration with concerns about
references such as access to emergency contraception, abortion and treatment of
sexually transmitted diseases, activists said.
A proposed amendment by Egypt, that would have allowed states to avoid
implementing the declaration if they clashed
with national laws, religious or cultural values, failed.
Some diplomats said it would have undermined the whole document.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood had warned on Thursday that the declaration could
destroy society.
But on Friday, Egypt's delegation said it would not stand in the way of the
declaration for the sake of women's empowerment.
Source:
Agencies
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