>Africa: Beijing Conference Follow-up
>Date distributed (ymd): 000607
>Document reposted by APIC
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Region: Continent-Wide
>Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
>   +gender/women+
>Summary Contents:
>This posting contains several reports - from the Flamme on-line
>newsletter and from the Economic Commission on Africa
>communications team - on this weeks's UN Beijing +5 Conference,
>the follow-up on the Fourth World Conference on Women and
>implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
>
>For additional reports consult the following web sites:
>http://flamme.org
>
>http://www.un.org/depts/eca
>
>http://www2.womensnet.org.za/beijing5/news1/news1.cfm
>
>+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>5 June : Introducing the Flamme Newspaper
>
>Flame/Flamme is a partnership between APC-Africa-Women and FEMNET
>(who initiated the network); the Nairobi-based African Women and
>Child Feature Service; IPS and the Johannesburg-based Gender Links.
>Formed during the preparations for the Africa Regional Conference
>on Women, Flame/Flamme aims to promote debate and discussion on
>gender equality in Africa. This publication is available, in
>English and French, on the Internet at http://flamme.org.
>
>FLAME/FLAMME TEAM Co-ordinator: Rosemary Okello-Orlale (Africa
>Women and Child Feature Service) Managing Editor: Colleen Lowe
>Morna (Gender Links) English Editor: Lucy Abala (Nation Media
>Group) French Editor: Nana Rosine Ngangoue (Inter Press Services)
>Opinion Editor: Muthoni Wanyeki (Kenya) Correspondents: Ferial
>Haffejee (South Africa), Mercy Wambui (Ethiopia), Hope Kabuchu
>(Uganda), Wanjiku Gitau (Uganda), Tafadzwa Mumba (Zimbabwe), Pat
>Made (Zimbabwe), Bernadette Moffat (South Africa), Tuma Abdallah
>(Tanzania) Electronic Information Dissemination: Jennifer Radloff
>Editorial Assistant: Zohra Khan Layout: Rebecca Holmes and Ruth
>Omukhango You can contact the Flame/Flamme team at: 6th Floor
>Church Centre (opposite United Nations headquarters) 777 United
>Nations Plaza Tel: (212) 646 227 1344 Fax: (212) 535 227 0873 This
>paper is produced with the support of the Ford Foundation.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>NGOs IN THE CONFERENCE, BUT OUT OF THE LOOP, BATTLE TO MAINTAIN
>GROUND
>
>By MERCY WAMBUI
>
>June 6, 2000
>
>NGOs may have been allowed in the General Assembly Plenary but they
>have once again been excluded from the real action.
>
>After a frustrating time yesterday trying to follow up contentious
>issues, especially around reproductive health, poverty, debt and
>globalisation, the NGOs resorted to what they know best-pitching
>tent along the corridors and trying to lobby their member
>countries.
>
>NGOs found themselves in the plenary where general debate takes
>place while the real negotiations take place in two working groups
>deliberating on reproductive health issues and poverty, debt and
>globalisation. Despite effectively being out in the cold the NGOs
>are determined that, come Thursday when the working document will
>be ready for the plenary, they will have lobbied enough to
>influence recommendations in the contentious areas.
>
>The one area on which everyone agrees is that commitments made in
>the Beijing Platform for Action five years ago have not been fully
>implemented. Beyond this general agreement, additional wording,
>either inserted to strengthen arguments or to weaken implications,
>trickles in on almost every area that touches on achievements and
>obstacles in the implementation of the critical areas of the
>Platform for Action.
>
>As witnessed in previous UN negotiations in the post-Rio era, the
>art of reaching consensus, particularly on delicate issues,
>provides opportunities for uncompromising governments to evoke the
>sovereign rights of each state to take on defensive positions.
>Reading between the lines of the 72-page document and the veiled
>G-77 reluctance to emerge with strong positions is a clear
>reluctance to make any real move forward. The document proposes to
>serve the interests of women  "in consistency with national laws
>and development priorities with full respect for the various
>religions and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of its
>people".
>
>Take violence against women. The EU proposes a number of additional
>implementation measures, such as the introduction of effective
>legislation, protection orders and so on, while the G-77 only
>proposes to review and revise "where appropriate" existing
>legislation on violence against women.
>
>While national laws remain wanting and development priorities
>continue to marginalise women's concerns, hiding behind state
>sovereignty is the code word for business as usual. Simply put, our
>governments do not want to be pinned down to specifics, and do not
>want to be held too accountable.
>
>Still on violence against women, text referring to "thorny" issues
>such as reproductive and sexual rights remain in brackets. The
>section on women and health contains a proposal for the inclusion
>of "sexual and reproductive rights as adopted in the ICPD report as
>well the need for increased attention to sexually transmitted
>infections and HIV/AIDS) infection among women and girls". This
>issue, identified in the ICPD report as requiring further action,
>is now being disputed.
>
>Still contentious are all references to sexually transmitted
>infections, including HIV/AIDS, reference to a "rights based"
>approach to health and health care for women, the right to enjoy
>high standards of sexual and reproductive health, issues on safe
>and responsible sex practices in negotiating sex, behaviour and
>relations, healthcare education  and the lack of access to sexual
>and reproductive health information,  education and services.
>
>Says a delegate from Togo: "I think delegates forget that words
>such as "forced marriages, female genital mutilation, marital rape
>and incest which are disputed in the document, are at the very
>centre of people's lives." The NGOs report that most of the areas
>that are raising hot debate are at the very core of women's
>survival, especially in Africa.
>
>Examples of other issues under contention behind closed doors are:
>
>* Women and Poverty: A proposal by the G-77 to include the negative
>consequences of globalisation and structural adjustment programmes,
>high costs of external debt servicing and declining terms of
>international trade that have impacted heavily on women is being
>debated behind closed doors;
>
>* Education and training of women: Lack of political will,
>commitment and the inappropriate application of structural
>adjustment policies that have severely affected the education
>sector is disputed.
>
>* Women and Health:  Inclusion of "sexual and reproductive rights
>as adopted in the ICPD report as well the need for increased
>attention to sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS)
>infection among women and girls" as an area requiring further
>action is disputed.
>
>All reference to sexually transmitted infections including
>HIV/AIDS, reference to a "rights based" approach to health and
>health care for women, the right to enjoy high standards of sexual
>and reproductive health, issues on safe and responsible sex
>practices in negotiating sexual activities, behaviour and relations
>healthcare education and the lack of access to sexual and
>reproductive health information, education and services remains
>contentious.
>
>* Women and armed conflict: The importance of a gender-sensitive
>application of international human rights and humanitarian law,
>reduction of availability and use of anti-personnel land mines.
>Pending discussion are issues relating to economic sanctions,
>development of high tech armaments decline in international
>assistance to countries in developing countries hosting large
>refugee populations and the provision of needs of internally
>displaced women and children. Under-representation of women in
>peace-keeping and lack of gender awareness in peace-building,
>post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction is pending
>discussion.
>
>* Women and the economy: Paternity leave and parental leave for
>sick children, equal access or rights to ownership of and control
>over land and other forms of property and to inheritance in
>relation to national legislation is disputed.
>
>The status of this document at this very late stage is surprising
>to those who went through the same debate in the ICPD and World
>Social Summit for Development process. But where issues of culture
>and religion are concerned, debate over wording is necessary as it
>sends an important  message-issues of women's equality are not
>welcome.
>
>A major concern is the lack of specific recommendations touching on
>resource allocation to accelerate the implementation process.
>Unless delegates are pinned down to specific approaches and
>solutions, laws will continue to remain unchanged and policies
>remain undeveloped to advance the cause of women.
>
>***************************************************************
>
>ECA Press Release No 05/2000
>
>AFRICA FIELDS STRONG PRESENCE AT BEIJING + 5
>
>UNHQ, New York, 05 June 2000 (ECA) -- Five years after the Fourth
>World Conference on Women in Beijing, some 10,000 representatives
>of governments, the United Nations system, intergovernmental and
>non-governmental organizations are attending a five-day meeting
>that started today to assess implementation of the 1995 Beijing
>Platform for Action for the Advancement of Women.
>
>The Special Session on "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development
>and Peace for the 21st Century", being held from 5 - 9 June 2000 at
>UN Headquarters in New York, is being convened by the United
>Nations General Assembly, to review progress made in the
>implementation of each of the 12 critical areas of concern in the
>Beijing Platform of Action.
>
>The African presence is strong, and includes Tanzanian as chair of
>the session.  Other speakers on this first day of the Session on
>progress made in their respective countries in implementing the
>Platform for Action included Namibia, Gabon, Tanzania, Tunisia,
>Angola and Ghana.
>
>In her statement, Nana Agyeman Rawlings Chairperson of the Ghanaian
>delegation and First Lady of Ghana, insisted that although the
>majority of rural, grassroots women in Africa and elsewhere were
>not even aware that the Session was taking place, their needs and
>concerns should be the main focus of the meeting.
>
>The Special Session will review and share best practices, positive
>gains, lessons learned, and modalities for overcoming obstacles and
>constraints. It will consider further actions and initiatives for
>achieving gender equality in all walks and levels of life in the
>new millennium.
>
>Parallel to the special session, special forums, seminars, and
>panels have been organized -- including one on micro credit that
>featured Hilary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States.
>Ms. Clinton strongly supported the idea of small loans and grants
>as a proven, humane method capable of bringing about major changes
>in the lives of women worldwide and uplifting families and
>communities.
>
>Addressing the parallel opening of the NGO gathering on the
>occasion of the Beijing + Special Session, UN Secretary-General,
>Kofi Annan said that the meeting was among the most important that
>would take place in this Millennium year. "Its outcome will not
>only be crucial to the rights and lives of women everywhere, it
>will also be crucial to the achievement of the goals I have asked
>the world's leaders to support at the Millennium Summit on behalf
>of all the world's peoples".
>
>Mr. Annan said that although progress has been made in implementing
>the Beijing Platform, there was still a long way to go. "Just as
>the Platform for Action could not have been drafted without you, it
>cannot be implemented without you," he stressed. "We need your
>energy, expertise and extraordinary spirit to move it forward, to
>demonstrate that empowering women not only means better lives for
>women, it means better lives for everyone on the planet - men and
>women alike."
>
>The Platform is a consensus document emanating from all regions of
>the world. It details concerns in the 12 summary areas as well as
>delineated modalities -- including establishment of national
>machinery for advocating policy, coordinating and monitoring
>action, and institutionalizing the concept and practice of gender
>equality and gender mainstreaming in all plans, programmes and
>projects, at all levels.
>
>As many Member States have pointed out, the Platform has functioned
>as a road map for action to raise the status and participation of
>women. Speakers in plenary are addressing gains have been made in
>implementing the Platform, challenges and obstacles continue to
>impede an improved quality of life for women and girls, and the
>need for social, political and financial recommitment to
>accelerated action for full implementation of the Platform.
>
>The 12 critical areas of concern include: women and poverty,
>education and training for women, women and health, violence
>against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy,
>women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for
>the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the
>media, women and the environment and the girl-child.
>
>(END)
>
>Daily updates by the ECA Communication Team, related links on the
>Special Session on Beijing + 5 and the contents of a new CD-ROM
>launched by the African Centre for Women are available on the ECA
>Website at: http://www.un.org/depts/eca
>
>For more information about ECA's participation in the Special
>Session, please contact: Lorna Davidson, Sophia Denekew or Mercy
>Wambui C/o Regional Commissions New York Office 31st Floor UN
>Secretariat New York Tel: +1-212-963-6905 Fax: +1-212-963-1500
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>******************************************************************
>
>CONTENTIOUS ISSUES FLARE IN FINAL COUNTDOWN
>
>Rosemary Okello and Ferial Haffajee
>
>June 6, 2000
>
>With the attendant United Nations pomp and ceremony,
>secretary-general Kofi  Annan yesterday opened the Beijing+5
>conference before an audience of over  7 000 women from every
>corner of the world. But beneath the calm conference  exterior, a
>cauldron is bubbling as key issues of contention emerge.
>
>African women, organized under the aegis of the G77 group of
>countries, are  pushing for a tougher line on the impact of
>globalisation. Demanding debt  relief, the African lobby wants the
>conference to consider the structural  aspects of female poverty.
>
>This lobby also wants considerably beefed-up commitments for women
>and  decision-making. Some delegates argue that it's time to push
>for equal  representation of male and female politicians at all
>levels of governance.  "Without decision-making power, you can't
>accomplish anything," believes  Sarah Longwe, the chairperson of
>FEMNET.  The conference is likely to hear  calls for a 50:50 gender
>representation  a step up from the 30:70 ratio for  political
>representation that is the accepted benchmark.
>
>Because the new world is also characterized by supranational
>authorities  like the United Nations, the Bretton Woods
>Institutions and the World Trade  Organisation, African lobbyists
>want the conference to plan ways to make  these institutions more
>accountable and representative. "We believe there  should be gender
>parity in peace-keeping and peace-making missions," says  Kenyan
>delegate Nish Muthoni-Matenjwa.
>
>African women are also on the defensive against attempts to
>rollback  progress against basic patriarchal practices. "I think
>delegates forget  that forced marriages, female genital mutilation,
>marital rape and incest  which are disputed in the document are at
>the very fibre of peoples lives  in Africa," said a delegate from
>Togo.
>
>The conference is also divided on how it should set itself goals.
>African  NGO's say that concrete outcomes in the form of quotas are
>essential and  must not be trumped by nebulous goals. But groupings
>like the European  Union favour more loose commitments and pledges.
>
>Conference chairperson Christine Kapalata admitted yesterday that
>she is  presiding over a fractious house. "Many paragraphs [on the
>conference  outcome declaration] remain outstanding," she told
>delegates. "But with  genuine political will and understanding, I
>am confident consensus will be  reached."
>
>It's going to be a long road between now and Friday when the
>conference  declaration must be passed. Part of the reason for
>tough negotiations is  that while it's been only five years since
>Beijing, the world has changed  fundamentally. Globalisation has
>trailed what Annan calls a "complex,  inter-connected world" in its
>wake. It's a more unequal world in which the  benefits have, as
>yet, yielded themselves only in the developed world.
>
>HIV/Aids has reached pandemic proportions in Africa and women are
>at the  coalface of the disease  yet the conference will again face
>an onslaught on  women's reproductive rights. There is an attempt
>to water down draft  commitments to sexual and reproductive rights
>because religious  conservatism is a growing force in Africa, Asia,
>South as well as Latin  America. This same force is attempting to
>take back ground covered on the  right to sexual orientation.
>
>Francoise Girard, senior programme officer at the International
>Health  Agency says some UN member countries are backtracking on
>consensus reached  on reproductive rights in the previous UN
>conferences. " We are tired of  countries reaching consensus on
>reproductive rights issues. This time round  we want concrete
>measures taken to ensure that women enjoy their  reproductive
>rights."
>
>According to Girard, reproductive health issues have been bracketed
>throughout the working document.  She is particularly angry that a
>paragraph guaranteeing the youth access to information on
>reproductive  rights has been bracketed, despite the fact that
>HIV/Aids is ravaging the  youth.
>
>Few countries agree with the rollbacks, but there is a danger that
>the end  of this meeting will achieve few concrete measures because
>delegates will  be defending a minimalist position. Moreover, NGO's
>lobbying for  reproductive rights are excluded from the working
>groups where key  negotiations take place.
>
>Yesterday morning, members of the Coalition for Health and Rights
>made up  of 66 women's organizations, were spotted in their purples
>scarves in the  corridors outside Conference Room 6 furiously
>lobbying member countries.
>
>Referring to the position taken by the Holy See and Nicaragua,
>which have  led the attack on reproductive rights, Girard vowed:
>"Expect that women  will get together and prevail upon them. We
>cannot wait any longer."
>
>************************************************************
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