| |
05/03/2010 |
| |
|
| |
 |
|
WFO |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women. |
| |
|
| |
In 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. In adopting its resolution, the General Assembly recognized the role of women in peace efforts and development and urged an end to discrimination and an increase of support for women’s full and equal participation. |
| |
|
| |
This year, UN marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. |
| |
|
| |
In recognition of this important anniversary, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – which is observed worldwide on 8 March – is: "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All"
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Source: unitednations ) |
| |
|
| |
_______ |
| |
|
| |
Secretary General's Message for International Women's Day 2010 |
| |
|
| |
Gender equality and women’s empowerment are fundamental to the global mission of the United Nations to achieve equal rights and dignity for all. This is a matter of basic human rights, as enshrined in our founding Charter and the Universal Declaration. It is part of the Organization’s very identity. |
| |
|
| |
But equality for women and girls is also an economic and social imperative. Until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals -- peace, security, sustainable development -- stand in jeopardy. |
| |
|
| |
Fifteen years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Governments pledged to advance equality, development and peace for all women everywhere. The landmark Beijing Declaration has had a deep and wide-ranging impact. It has guided policy making and inspired new national laws. It has sent a clear message to women and girls around the world that equality and opportunity are their inalienable rights. |
| |
|
| |
There are many examples of progress, thanks in large part to the resolute efforts of civil society organizations. Most girls now receive an education, particularly at primary level, and more women are now more likely to run businesses or participate in government. A growing number of countries have legislation that supports sexual and reproductive health and promotes gender equality. |
| |
|
| |
Nonetheless, much work remains. Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high, too few women have access to family planning, and violence against women remains a cause for global shame. In particular, sexual violence during conflict is endemic. The Security Council last year adopted two strong resolutions on this issue and I have just appointed a special representative to mobilize the international community to address these crimes. My “UNite to End Violence against Women” campaign and the recently launched Network of Men Leaders are striving to expand our global advocacy efforts. |
| |
|
| |
One key lesson of the past decade-and-a-half is the importance of addressing broader discrimination and injustice. Gender stereotyping and discrimination remain common in all cultures and communities. Early and forced marriage, so-called ‘honour killing’, sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and girls are disturbingly prevalent and, in some areas, on the rise. Whether looking through the lens of poverty, or in times of disaster, we see that women still bear the greatest burden. |
| |
|
| |
Another lesson is that the United Nations must lead by example. Emphasizing that women are central to peace and security, we are working to deploy more women military and police officers in our peacekeeping operations. We have more women in senior United Nations posts than at any time in history, and we hope soon to have a dynamic composite entity within the UN system to provide more coherent programming and a stronger voice for gender equality and women’s empowerment. I urge the General Assembly to create this new entity without delay. |
| |
|
| |
The Beijing Declaration remains as relevant today as when it was adopted. The third Millennium Development Goal – to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment – is central to all the rest. When women are denied the opportunity to better themselves and their societies, we all lose. On this International Women’s Day, let us look critically at the achievements of the past 15 years so we can build on what has worked, and correct what has not. Let us work with renewed determination for a future of equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all. |
| |
|
| |
Women in Politic |
| |
|
| |
The victory of Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica's presidential elections, and the growing participation of women in Central American parliaments, point to their progress in the region's spheres of political power. But they still have a long way to go, experts say. |
| |
|
| |
"The election of a woman president in Costa Rica is a step forward for women in the region's political arena, and a qualitative advance in terms of political democratisation," political analyst José Dávila Membreño told IPS. |
| |
|
| |
Chinchilla, of the governing National Liberation Party (PLN), became the third woman president to be democratically elected in Central America, after Presidents Mireya Moscoso in Panama (1999-2004) and Violeta Chamorro in Nicaragua (1990-1997). |
| |
|
| |
"Women have been discriminated against, with a view that they should stay at home and that they are not fit for public responsibilities. But this attitude is gradually being overcome, because women have shown that when they occupy public office, the quality of politics can improve," said the political scientist. |
| |
|
| |
In Costa Rica, the proportion of women in parliament rose from 15.8 to 36.8 percent; in Panama, from eight to 15.3 percent; and in Honduras, from 9.4 to 23.4 percent, according to a study on women's participation in positions of power and decision-making, by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW), carried out between 2006 and 2009. |
| |
|
| |
"Women's political participation in the region has improved, although there is still much to be done," Mayra Díaz, the head of the Costa Rican government's National Institute for Women (INAMU) and former president of the Council of Ministers for Women in Central America (COMMCA), told IPS. |
| |
|
| |
According to Díaz, women's entry into politics has been bolstered by reforms of national and international legislation recognising the political rights of women, and by the pressure exerted by women's movements. |
| |
|
| |
One of the most important measures taken in Costa Rica was the approval of a quota law in 1996, requiring a minimum of 40 percent of all candidates to be women in elections to the national parliament. In 2009, this was increased to 50 percent. |
| |
|
| |
"In order for these measures to be effective, they must be incorporated into the electoral laws. In Costa Rica, the law decreed equality, but it was only when this was included in the electoral legislation that a significant increase in the number of women elected to public positions was achieved," said Díaz. |
| |
|
| |
Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama are the only three Central American countries to have created a quota system to draw more women into politics. Other Latin American countries, like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, also have quota laws. |
| |
|
| |
Increasing women's participation in the political life of the countries of this region is an ongoing process that is vigorous and irreversible, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) concluded in 2009, after consulting 400 civil servants, lawmakers and other decision-makers. |
| |
|
| |
Most of those interviewed in ECLAC's consultation of Latin American leaders, about the present and future prospects for access by women to positions of political decision-making, indicated that in their countries women's access to parliamentary, government or municipal positions had expanded over the last decade. |
| |
|
| |
The average proportion of women in Latin American parliaments rose from eight percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2008, while their appointment to government ministries over the last three presidential terms increased from 13 to 27 percent in late 2006, according to ECLAC. |
| |
|
| |
Progress at the local level can be seen in Central America. For instance, in El Salvador 29 women mayors were elected for the period 2009-2012, compared to only 13 women mayors elected for 2000-2003, according to the Salvadoran Corporation of Municipalities of the Republic of El Salvador (COMURES). |
| |
|
| |
A Salvador an member of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Gloria Anaya, who belongs to the leftwing governing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), told IPS that women in this region have won greater freedom of action thanks to the liberalisation of society, which in turn is owed in large measure to the struggles waged by women. |
| |
|
| |
Anaya said that the signing of the peace accords between the government and the leftwing guerrillas in 1992, that put an end to 12 years of civil war in El Salvador, was a key development that paved for the way for a judicial and institutional framework capable of promoting family, labour, social and political rights. |
| |
|
| |
"We have made great strides, but we are not satisfied yet," she said. |
| |
|
| |
Within the Central American region, which has a total population of 42 million, Costa Rica boasts the highest participation of women in parliament, with 36.8 percent of the seats. The average proportion of women in high-level government posts for the seven countries in the region was 21.8 percent between 2005 and 2009, according to the Central American Integration System (SICA). |
| |
|
| |
In contrast, women's share of power in local government is much lower. The proportion of women mayors in the region ranges from 1.8 percent in Guatemala to 11.9 percent in the Dominican Republic, an associate member of SICA. |
| |
|
| |
Guatemalan lawmaker Anabella de León, of the rightwing Patriot Party (PP), told IPS that "machismo", racism and underlying social exclusion are some of the reasons why her country has one of the worst regional indices for women's participation. |
| |
|
| |
In fact, Guatemala lacks the conditions for a woman to become president, said de León, although several have stood as candidates, including indigenous leader Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. |
| |
|
| |
Guatemala should adopt a quota law, otherwise "the equality laid down in Article 4 of the constitution is merely romantic and utopian, because different sectors in society are treated unequally," de León said. |
| |
|
| |
The assistant head of the Central American Institute of Political Studies (INCEP), Renzo Rosal, told IPS that quota laws could contribute to equalising political participation by women and young people in the region. |
| |
|
| |
If this step is not taken, "we will probably have to wait a very long time for the institutions to mature and become aware of the importance of women's participation in a democratic society," Rosal said. |
| |
|
| |
HISTORY |
| |
|
| |
 __ |
| |
|
| |
International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. |
| |
1909: The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
1910: The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.
1911: As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women’s rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
1913-1914: International Women's Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
1917: Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for ‘Bread and Peace’ on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
|
| |
|
| |
Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women's rights and participation in the political and economic arenas. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. |
| |
|
| |
The United Nations and Gender Equality |
| |
|
| |
|
The Charter of the United Nations, signed in 1945, was the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men. Since then, the UN has helped create a historic legacy of internationally-agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide. |
| |
|
| |
Over the years, the UN and its technical agencies have promoted the participation of women as equal partners with men in achieving sustainable development, peace, security, and full respect for human rights. The empowerment of women continues to be a central feature of the UN’s efforts to address social, economic and political challenges across the globe. |
| |
|
| |
Past Observances
|
| |
|
| |
For more information: www.un.org/women/iwd |
| |
|
| |
< Back to the Main Page |
