VOICES RISING

YEAR III - VOL 3. Nº127

March 04, 2005

CONTENT
1.- BEIJING + 10

……………………………………………………

1.- BEIJING + 10

Commission on the Status of Women

March 3

REPORT Nº 5

by Fanny Gomez and Alejandra Scampini

REPEM-DAWN

Translated by Marcela Hernandez, GEO/ICAE and Beatriz Simonetti REPEM

EXTRA!!  EXTRA!!: THE US IS WITHDRAWING THE AMENDMENT!!!!!!!

SORRY, SORRY!   NO, THEY ARE NOT WITHDRAWING IT.

This is how we woke up on March 3^rd, reading New York Times’ big headlines saying “US would withdraw its anti-abortion demand in the UN Equality Forum”.

But it was not only the New York Times, but the Associated Press also announced that the US was giving evidence that they would withdraw their changes about abortion. And even Reuters, on March 2^nd, announced that the US would remove their lines about anti-abortion in the UN Conference.

At first sight, and having barely slept 5 hours, these news sounded as music to our ears. But upon reading carefully each heading, the words “would withdraw”, “US is giving evidence that they would withdraw”, and “maybe US withdraws” were very suspicious and, in this way, our ephemeral hope quickly disappeared. It was just 9 a.m., the NGO caucus started, and these press releases and their several interpretations, caught our attention.

Already in Viena Cafe, at around 10 a.m., each regional group and groups of negotiation, that draft several resolutions and language alternatives, were meeting. Outside a timid sun was shining and we would not see it until the next day.

NGOs were confused in view of such contradictory information.... As we mentioned yesterday, in the plenary, the US delegate, thanked the countries that support their amendment (they say there are 12, and 4 of them are from Central America). Around 1:00 p.m. a statement started to circulate but nobody knows when it was signed or by whom, and it said in very big and bold letters:   US promotes..... with the massive support of grassroots groups from around the world, more than 500 thousand e-mails.... from more than 50 nations.....in support of the US proposal. In a grotesque expression, we believe, of total despair, this small paper included, in smaller letters, the names of 50 countries. But, be careful, it said that the support came from the “citizens” from those countries, NOT FROM GOVERNMENTS.

This small paper was handed out by some little bearded monks with big rosaries and small wooden crucifixes hanging from their necks, or by some perfectly dressed-up posh women and necktied men.

We are not deceived, these are survival strategies of a country that is alone, with its proposal of language. Anyway, organized women, as usual, concerned about content and political discourses and their impact on our contexts, reacted firmly with strong declarations and alternative language.

We, women’s and feminist organizations, that meet everyday at Viena Café and their surroundings, arrived to the conclusion that what we infer from the report given by the EU about the amount of dollars invested in family planning programs throughout the world, constitutes an extortion to southern countries, and, this makes us state, in a quick effort, with political content:

NO TO US EXTORTION, YES TO CONSENSUS REAFFIRMATION 

The women’s and feminist movement in Latin America and the Caribbean, considers that the attempt of the US government to weaken the ratification and full implementation of the BPFA, is  unacceptable, incorporating amendments that pretend to focus the negotiation on the issue of abortion and trying to prevent women from having the right to acquire new rights.

Women’s rights around the world cannot be subject to the pride of a country that uses its accumulated wealth based on an unjust and unequal global order, as a way of imposing and extorting national states and the UN system, distorting the purpose of the creation of the UN. At this meeting, the US government goes on with its policy of undermining and disrespecting the international order of human rights.

The women’s and feminist movements from the Caribbean demandt:

That the US should respect the sovereignty of our states and do not use the resources assigned to international cooperation as a way of exerting pressure and extorting our countries.

That the governments from Latin America and the Caribbean act according to the regional agreements of the Lima and Mexico Consensus, where the declaration and Beijing Platform for Action are reaffirmed.

That the UN member states, fully reaffirm the declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action, and the result of its +5 Revision.

That the multilateral governments and institutions commit themselves to assign the necessary resources to promote the full implementation of the BPFA.

That the UN member states reaffirm their full commitment with Women’s Human Rights.

As we have learned throughout so many years (not so many for some, due to intergenerational reasons), lobby and advocacy strategies and tools must be varied and must address several sectors, at different levels. It is terrible to think that the efforts and attention of more than 140 countries and 6000 registered people has been caught by one country.

This unilateralism is arrogance and lack of respect. This is handled by fundamentalist and conservative positions that are so harmful, particularly for women around the world.

We are not placing the right to abortion over all women’s rights, we advocate for the integrality of the platform and to defend and advance women’s human rights. US local policies do not have to be presented here. The purpose of the CSW is to ratify and advance in the BPFA which is a global agreement that refers to all women’s rights.

OPEN LETTER TO THE BUREAU OF THE 49TH. SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

March 3rd, 2005

We, women that form part of networks and NGOs from Latin America and the Caribbean, have agreed to formally express, before the Bureau of the 49^th. Session of the CSW that is meeting in New York, our deep concern for the pressure that the US government is exerting on this session, trying to incorporate amendments or block a statement from governments through a final declaration that reaffirms BPFA. 

The US position, constitutes a clear aggression and backward movement regarding the attained achievements and all women’s rights that the international community acknowledges and promotes.

Said position expresses the will to hinder advances and destabilize a consensus attained by all governments in Beijing 1995, Beijing +5 and further ratified and enlarged in the regional processes of Lima, Santiago and Mexico and by other agreements reached in the revision process, 10 years after the agreements of  the Beijing Conference.

We regret that the present declaration expresses a limited and reductionist vision of the attained achievements and seems to resign itself to slightly mention future challenges, without mentioning the limitations and obstacles that women have to overcome, even if we had the commitment of all the governments around the world. This is why we urge the Bureau of the CSW, in the exercise of its duties, to intercede so that negotiations for those amendments are not opened.     

We trust that for tomorrow, Friday 4, a declaration will have been reached by consensus and ratified by all the participating countries and that the ministers’ return to their countries, does not constitute a hindrance.  

We demand that the established mechanisms are respected and that the voices of the international community, of women, of civil society, are heard and taken into account.

Our voices received the support of members of Parliament, who in an expression of concern in view of the US declarations, run through corridors, galleries, in and out negotiation rooms, looking for signatures from the colleagues of different countries. This clearly shows the militant work of feminist friends that are part of official delegations.

The declaration said in a strong and clear tone: THE WHOLE PLATFORM, NOT EVEN ONE STEP BACK

We, members of parliament, gathered in the city of New York, within the framework of the 49th. Session of the Commission on the Legal and Social Status of Women, reaffirm and reinforce our full commitment with the whole content and spirit of the BPFA, particularly regarding sexual and reproductive rights, which cannot be relegated because they are key part of the human rights.

As acknowledged in different conferences and international instruments, for the full human, political and social development, the promotion of gender equity, the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, equal opportunities and treatment in laws and public policies, the promotion of women in decision-making levels is essential; as well as the access and improvement of labour market and conditions and the right to live without violence and exploitation, trafficking of human beings and sexual trafficking.

As we expressed in Ottawa and Strasburg commitments, the undersigned commit to promote the necessary mechanisms and budget to intensify the implementation of the BPFA.

In these brief reports, we have tried and we hope we have managed to show that women’s and feminist NGOs have worked closely with official delegations from their countries in order to attain the full ratification of the BPFA. This is evidenced by the following letter addressed to the honorable Head of the Mexican Delegation, Ms. Patricia Espinosa Torres.

Mexican civil organizations attending the 49th. Session of the CSW celebrate the open support that the official delegation has provided to the consensus of Mexico, a declaration adopted in the 9^th. Regional Conference on Women from Latin America and the Caribbean from ECLAC (Mexico, 2004); therefore, we are sure that in its participation in the plenary, it will largely ratify the BPFA, thus fulfilling with the commitments assumed by the government with the Mexican women.

Likewise, we hope to have a sheer denial to the amendment of the declaration draft promoted by the US, which means a backward movement in international achievements regarding gender equity and women’s human rights.

It is important for all of us, that Mexico supports the spirit expressed by most Latin American countries regarding the implementation of the BPFA, so as to move forward and improve the living standards and the exercise of citizenship of the women from the region.

AND WHERE ARE INDIGENOUS WOMEN?

Everywhere. More than 100 indigenous friends from 21 countries around the world have arrived to the city of New York and have joined us to work in caucus, sessions, workshops, etc. It is easy to distinguish them in their beautiful gowns, raising their hand in each space and raising their voices in all discussions.  

Previous to the CSW, the International Forum of Indigenous Women was held on February 26^th. and 27^th. When we asked them, in an informal chat, about their special interest to come these two weeks to the CSW, the indigenous friend, Emilia Panacu, from Guatemala told me, in a very convincing and political tone, that: “Our purpose is to reinforce our capacities and advocacy work in our own names, in the name of our people and women’s human rights globally”. Monica Aleman from Nicaragua was by her side and believed that I was a reporter, so she gently approached and not only gave me a booklet from their organization MADRE, but told me that they were also happy of being able to be this time in the UN in a bigger group and that they would work so that, their demands for rights are, once and for all, taken seriously as well as the role of indigenous women in these spaces. In a clear interlinkage effort (though she did not say so), she said that their issues could not be further postponed for a future forum about indigenous people, instead, their issues belonged to the discussions held in all forums.

__________________________________________

LETTER TO CAROLYN HANNAN

Mavic Cabrera Balleza
mavic@iwtc.org
Womens Media Pool
poolb10@dgroups.org

04 March 2005

Carolyn Hannan

Director

Division for the Advancement of Women

United Nations

New York, USA

Dear Ms. Hannan,

We would like to bring to your attention our concern about the non-inclusion of women and media in the online discussions organized by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women in preparation for the 49^th CSW session and the 10-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action. We feel that this does not reflect the significance that the UN DAW and the CSW have given these issues especially in the 47^th session of the CSW where Women and Media and ICTs was one of the thematic issues.

The Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing held in1995, is widely recognized as the first watershed for media and ICT policy advocacy. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action called for an “Increase in participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new technologies of communication.” It also called for the promotion of “a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media.”

In the past 10 years, issues of communications and media have become a critical cross cutting development issue and a vital tool for instrument to the advancement and empowerment of women.  The provisions on women and media in Section J have provided the impetus that women and gender advocates have used in many national, regional, and international processes to strengthen and expand advocacy for women’s empowerment through media and communications.

Moreover, it is also media and ICTs that we use as primary tools to inform people across the world about the Beijing Platform for Action with a view to achieving the strategic objectives in all of the other critical areas of concern.

At the 47^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2003, a set of agreed conclusions were adopted on the participation and access of women to media, to information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women¹. The agreed conclusions addressed women’s equal access to ICT-based economies activities and employment. They put forward recommendations in areas of policy development and regulatory aspects, access, education, work and employment, partnerships, participation and cooperation, research, data collection and good practices, and resources. These conclusions considered ICT as a tool for the promotion of gender equality.

The absence of women and media issues as reflected in the Section J in the current review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action at this session of the CSW especially in the lead up to the upcoming MDGs+5 and the WSIS Stage 2 is of further concern. This is crucial especially when the five-year review of the implementation of the BPFA, recognized that ICTs created new opportunities for women and contributed to knowledge-sharing, network and electronic commerce activities. Member states concurred that “there was a need to make women's access to the means of dissemination a priority public interest” and acknowledged that poverty, lack of access and opportunities and language barriers prevented women from using ICTs and the internet.

In same year, the Millennium Declaration reconfirmed the urgency of ensuring the benefits of new technologies, especially of ICTs stating that “all Member States were committed to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable, as well as ensuring that the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies were available to all”*

Most recently, the World Summit on the Information Society in December 2003, 175 governments endorsed the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Action Plan that reflect a commitment to gender equality.

We believe that it is critical to keep women, media, and ICT issues on the agenda of the Beijing + 10 review to avoid the undermining of the achievements and the continuing efforts of women’s media and ICT activists, advocates and practitioners to contribute to the dialogue during the 49^th CSW session.

We would like to call on your good office to underscore the role of media and ICTs in all of the parallel sessions that you are organizing and in all the official interventions that you will be making in during the 49^th CSW session.

Should you find any opportunity for a member of the “women, media and ICT caucus” to speak in any of your sessions, we will be more than happy to send our representatives and participate in the discussions.

Lastly, we would be most willing to discuss these issues with you should you find a need to meet face-to-face.

Thank you very much.

AMARC (World Association of Community Broadcasters) -Women’s International Network 

Association for Progressive Communications -  Women’s Networking Support Programme 

Asia Pacific Women’s Watch 

Feminist International Radio Endeavor 

FEMLINK Pacific

Gender Education Research and Technologies

GenderLinks South Africa

International Association of Women in Radio and Television 

International Women’s Tribune Centre 

Isis WICCE

NRO Frauenforum

UK Gender Statistics Users Group

Women’s Environment and Development Organization 

Women’s E-News

___________________________________________

NEWS COVERAGE OF BEIJING+10

From: nicole@wedo.org  

New York Times; March 3, 2005
HEADLINE: United States Drops Anti-Abortion Demand at U.N. Equality Forum
BYLINE: Warren Hoge

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 - The United States on Wednesday dropped its contentious demand for a change in a centerpiece document of a United Nations conference on equality that had plunged the three-day-old gathering of 6,000 women and government ministers into conflict.
The meeting this week of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women was held to review progress since its world conference on equality 10 years ago in Beijing. The document was a one-page statement that delegates had prepared to reaffirm the closing declaration of the 1995 meeting. But the United States proposed an amendment with wording saying it would agree to the principles in the declaration only after "reaffirming that they do not create any new international human rights, and that they do not include the right to abortion."
Adrienne Germain, the president of the International Women's Health Coalition, who was also a member of the United States delegation in Beijing, called the American action a "mischievous distraction" from the real business of the conference.
She asserted that the Beijing statement was a nonbinding declaration, not a treaty, and that no part of it could be construed as creating new human rights or the right to abortion. "What the U.S. amendment does is to make a statement about what Beijing does not say," she said.
On Wednesday, Taina Bien-Aimi, executive director of Equality Now, said it was "unconscionable that the United States would hijack this very important meeting to talk about this extremely narrow issue that, basically to use the term 'fundamental right to abortion' is nowhere in the text of the platform for action."
Only two countries, Egypt and Qatar, backed the American amendment, and many others, including all 25 nations of the European Union, declared that they would not accept it.
Faced with widespread opposition, Ambassador Ellen R. Sauerbrey, the leader of the United States delegation, told the delegates on Wednesday that it was now clear that the original Beijing documents "do not create rights or legally binding obligations on states under international law, including the right to abortion."
She said, "We are pleased that so many other governments have indicated their agreement with this position, and we anticipate that we can now focus clearly on addressing the many urgent needs of women around the world." A senior American diplomat, who insisted that his name not be published, said the United States felt that it had accomplished its original objective in raising the issue and that no amendment would be needed. The vote on the statement is set for Friday.
In 1995, the Beijing negotiators sought to avoid dissension over abortion by agreeing to treat it as a public health issue. The platform said it should be safe where it was legal, and criminal action should not be taken against women who had abortions. The Clinton administration, which backed abortion rights, signaled its support by sending Hillary Rodham Clinton to the conference.
The American delegates this year are Ms. Sauerbrey, a former Republican candidate for Maryland governor; Susan B. Hirschmann, a former chief of staff to Representative Tom DeLay of Texas; Patricia P. Brister, a former chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party; and Janet Parshall, host of a faith-based radio talk show.
Ms. Sauerbrey said the United States would issue a resolution seeking a crackdown on prostitution as a way to curb the trafficking of women and sex tourism, and one empowering women by changing inheritance laws and giving women access to credit and ownership powers.

<< New York Times -- 3/3/05 >>
To view this article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/03/international/03nations.html
[NOTE: To respond to this article, email the editor at: letters@nytimes.com.]
=========================================
Associated Press; March 2, 2005
HEADLINE: U.S. Hints It Will Drop Abortion Changes
BYLINE: Edith M. Lederer

UNITED NATIONS - The United States hinted strongly Wednesday that it will drop controversial amendments regarding abortion from the final declaration of a high-level U.N. meeting to advance the fight for women's equality.
The U.S. government has come under intense pressure to retract its demand that the declaration make clear that it does not create a "right to abortion." U.S. officials have argued that a landmark platform adopted at an earlier U.N. women's conference in Beijing gives that impression.
But U.S. Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, head of the U.S. delegation, signaled Wednesday that Washington might be giving up what on its lonely fight to amend the declaration. Only the Holy See, Qatar, and perhaps one or two other countries supported Washington.
In her speech to the meeting's plenary session, Sauerbrey said the United States had concerns about "efforts to mischaracterize" the 1995 Beijing platform and create new international rights, including the right to abortion.
The United States recognizes the principle "that abortion policies are a matter of national sovereignty, and we are pleased that so many other countries have indicated their agreement with this position," she said. Hinting that because of this support there was no need for amendments,
Sauerbrey then said, "We anticipate that we can now focus clearly on addressing the many urgent needs of women around the world." Saurebrey's speech in the General Assembly hall was interrupted by sporadic applause several times but her final statement that it was now time to
address other issues holding back the achievement of equality for women was greeted with strong applause by delegates from over 130 countries.
Earlier Wednesday, Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of the international human rights organization Equality Now, reflected the view of many governments and non-governmental organizations in her criticism of the U.S. focus on abortion.
"We believe it unconscionable that the United States would hijack this very important meeting to talk about a very narrow issue," the fundamental right to abortion, which doesn't appear anywhere in the Beijing platform, she said.
Marieluise Beck, the German government's commissioner for migration and refugees who also deals with women's issues, said after listening to Sauerbrey's speech that she was hopeful but not certain that the United States will drop the amendments.
The Beijing platform makes clear that abortion has to be handled according to national laws - as Sauerbrey said - "so actually everything should be OK," she said.
Asked if the United States would drop the amendment, Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said "discussions continue."
"We've been hearing from other governments that they agree with us on our concerns about the original intent of Beijing in the outcome document and their domestic laws reflect that," Grenell said.
At the 1994 U.N. population conference in Cairo, delegates approved a platform recognizing that abortion is a fact that governments must deal with as a public health issue. At Beijing the following year, they went further, approving a platform that asks governments to review laws that punish women for having abortions. But attempts for stronger language on access to abortions failed at Beijing.
The Vatican and a handful of Islamic and Catholic countries opposed any reference to abortion at those conferences, while the West and hundreds of women's rights activists supported them - including the U.S. government under former President Bill Clinton.

<< Associated Press -- 3/2/05 >>
To view this article, go to:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/11034912.htm
===================================================
 

………………………………………

The International Gender and Education Office (GEO) of ICAE creates

VOICES RISING

Email: voicesrising@icae.org.uy

Web: www.icae.org.uy

Tel/fax: 00 5982 401 00 06

Address: Acevedo Diaz 1600 / 1002.
11200 Montevideo, Uruguay