We want a world that respects Women"s Rights by Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa United Nations 12:24pm 8th Mar, 2007   08 Mar 2007    UN marks International Women’s Day with spotlight on curbing gender-based violence.    From the violence-scarred cities of Afghanistan to the rape-wracked lands of Darfur, from the teeming Palestinian refugee camps of Gaza to the lofty halls of its Headquarters in New York, the United Nations system today marked International Women’s Day with the focus on ending impunity for violence against women and girls.    “Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message, calling on Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to work for a transformation in relations between women and men, at all levels of society.    “It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence, yet the reality is that, too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned. The United Nations must be at the forefront of those endeavours,” he added, stressing also that in almost all countries, women continue to be underrepresented in decision-making positions, while their work continues to be undervalued, underpaid or not paid at all.    Among the many special events marking the day was a panel discussion at Headquarters addressed by Mr. Ban and other senior UN officials.    In Sudan’s Darfur region, where nearly four years of fighting between the Government, allied militias and rebels seeking greater autonomy has already killed over 200,000 people and uprooted 2.5 million more amid charges of massacres and mass rape, the UN refugee agency highlighted its work in providing counselling and psycho-social support at centres for internally displaced women and refugees.    To date, some 80,000 women have benefited from the service provided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), contributing to a gradual change in the perception amongst displaced men and women about sexual violence in conflict.    “This centre is vital for us,” one beneficiary, Fatma, said at a camp in West Darfur. “Some people may think that we just need food and water to survive. But what we are doing here is also a very important kind of assistance.”    By its very nature, UNHCR’s observation of the day was spread widely across the world, from the many camps where it hosts those uprooted from their homes to its headquarters in Geneva, where High Commissioner António Guterres announced that his agency was joining nine sister UN agencies to take concerted action against sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.    “I hope these actions will make it absolutely clear that prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence is a UNHCR priority,” he said of The Stop Rape Now campaign co-launched by the agency in Nairobi, Geneva and New York.    In a UN school, a 15-year-old Palestinian refugee girl summed up the hopes for her sex. “I want to be the first Palestinian woman to become president,” Suha said at the school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).    “Today we not only commemorate but also celebrate your spirit,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Koning AbuZayd said in a message to Palestinian women. “It is your strength, your courage and your steadfastness that have kept hope alive in Palestine.”    In another troubled land, hundreds of women joined the UN mission at events held across Afghanistan. In Kabul, the capital, women streamed into the Women’s Garden to mark the day with a UN fair, a film show and a photo exhibition highlighting the daily realities of the lives of Afghanistan’s women and girls. In the southern city of Kandahar the mission screened a film on the life of Afghan women’s advocate Safia Ama Jan who was murdered last year for her tireless efforts.    Messages came in from the heads of all major UN agencies and departments. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called violence against women a scourge “of pandemic proportion… rightly termed the most common but least punished crime in the world.”    UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid noted that while progress has been made in the adoption of laws, much greater action is needed to ensure laws are enforced. “Everyone should understand that violence against women and girls is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated,” she said.    UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer stressed that all the progress made in advancing women’s rights could be destroyed by continuing violence against women, while UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan noted that intimate partner violence was the most common form of abuse, much more so than assault or rape by strangers or acquaintances.    UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Kemal Dervis noted that at least one of every three women faces some form of violence in her lifetime, regardless of culture, religion, socio-economic class or education, while UN World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu stressed how lack of adequate food often creates situations in which women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence.    The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) highlighted the persistent gap in status, job security, wages and education between women and men that contributes to the “feminization of working poverty.”    7 March 2007    Violence against women and girls was a pandemic that could be stopped, given the necessary political will and resources, said a panel of women speaking at a United Nations press conference today, on the eve of International Women’s Day.    International Women’s Day, observed 8 March, was a day when women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries or ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, reflected on a tradition representing at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. This year’s theme was “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”.    Although every girl and woman had the right to live free of violence and discrimination, said Rachel N. Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, discrimination persisted and was in violation both of the United Nations Charter and of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.    “There is not a single country which is free from violence,” she continued. “It transcends politics, religion, culture, income, age -- it covers all women.”    Such a finding had been revealed last October, in the Secretary-General’s thorough and multisectoral study, she said. According to that study, 140 million women were suffering from female genital mutilation, and discrimination itself was reinforcing violence against women.    In response to the study, the UN General Assembly had adopted a ground-breaking resolution calling on all stakeholders to act against violence against women. In turn, the United Nations system had established an inter-agency taskforce that would work on coordinating efforts within the Organisation to assist Member States.    Currently, less than half of the membership had legislation on acts of violence. Despite legislation, however, there was not adequate enforcement -- nor adequate investigation -- in many countries. As a result, there was often impunity for perpetrators of violence.    Referencing history, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM, explained that one of the events leading to the creation of International Women’s Day had been the “triangle fire” in New York City’s Union Square. The fire had taken the lives of more than 140 girls, textile workers, who were burned to death because of the factory’s locked doors.    “It was because of that rebellion, the rebellion in terms of injustice, that we have International Women’s Day,” she said.    Currently, 89 States had legislative provisions on domestic violence, 90 had provisions against sexual harassment and 93 prohibited trafficking in human beings.    While citing a few examples, Ms. Heyzer said that, in Liberia, which had only recently passed its first law against rape, the Fund was assisting efforts to assess judgements, train 900 judicial and traditional court officials and strengthen the rural women’s groups on monitoring and reporting violent incidents. In Eastern and Southern Africa, it had supported work to train judges on human rights principles.    March 2007    UN General Assembly president urges action to promote gender equality. UN News)    Convening a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on gender equality and the empowerment of women, the 192-member body’s president today emphasized that these goals are the responsibility of all people, and achieving them will benefit society as a whole.    “I convened this debate in the United Nations with the support of Member States in order to celebrate women’s achievements, but most importantly to share views on effective actions and lessons learned in overcoming the challenges to achieve true gender equality; in particular, the obstacles we need to overcome to bridge the gap between policy and practice,” General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain told participants at the informal thematic debate.    “Yet in order to achieve this we must realize that the ‘marginalization’ of work to promote gender equality and the perception that the empowerment of women remains a women’s issue are among the most urgent obstacles we face,” added Sheikha Haya.    “Gender equality is crucial to the well being of all nations. It is not only the responsibility of women; it is the responsibility of us all, women as well as men.”    Sheikha Haya, a legal expert whose long career included championing women’s rights, said the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women “are concerns that I hold close to my heart.”    The General Assembly president was an active participant in the movement to elevate the position of women in Bahrain before the Islamic sharia courts and is an advocate of a progressive interpretation of Islamic texts as they apply to women.    Addressing the Member States today, she said: “Especially since in some regions of our world, particular cultural and religious traditions continue to perpetuate inequalities. Many women continue to be marginalized, and, many women continue to be denied the full enjoyment of their basic human rights. What further disturbs me is that some women believe that they are inferior to men and in need of male protection.”    Increasing women’s ability to procure financial services is not just a boon to economic development, but is beneficial to society as a whole.    “Improving women’s access to microfinance and financial services is one important element of economic empowerment,” General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain said on the eve of International Women’s Day. “It is also a basic human right, and one that can be achieved quickly, so that women are in a better position to empower themselves.”    “When women have opportunities to increase their incomes and reduce dependency on men, the benefits for family welfare and local development are striking,” she added.    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a strong call for realizing the shared goal of gender equality in his address to the Assembly, which is slated to hear from more than 80 representatives of countries over the course of the two-day debate.    Increased engagement of women, while “a goal in itself,” is “also a condition for building healthier, better educated, more peaceful and more prosperous societies,” he said.    Despite global compacts and international legal instruments to shrink the gap between the genders, violence against women and girls, under-representation of women in decision-making positions, undervaluing of women’s work and unbalanced educational opportunities for girls still persist, he noted.    “Changing this requires all of us – women and men – to work for enduring change in values and attitudes,” Mr. Ban, who stated that he has made gender balance a key goal in selecting his senior management team, said. This entails “transforming relations between women and men, at all levels of society.”    The Secretary-General stressed that actions must be taken on several fronts immediately, including boosting male participation in the household and family care; ensuring women’s access to education, healthcare, property and land; challenging stereotypes and practices detrimental to women and girls; and incorporating women’s rights into new UN schemes, such as the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council.
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