The Beijing + 5 Follow-up appears to be turning out to be Beijin-5 with,
what appears to be exclusionary tactics on the part of the western
countries. There also appears to be a concerted effort to exclude the NGOs
from participating effectively in the Conference. Another factor which
might render the recommendation of the Conference unrealistic, exclusionary
and ineffectual is contained in the statement of Nana Agyeman Rawlings,
Chairperson of the Ghana delegation that"...the majority of rural,
grassroots women in Africa and elsewhere were not even aware that the
Session was taking place,(where) their needs and concerns should be the
main focus of their meeting."
Please find below the Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) Summary No.2
from Beijing + 5.
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter K.A. da Costa [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday 09 June 2000 5:13 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: BEIJING + 5 SUMMARY NO. 2: SEMANTICS OVER SUBSTANCE?
[APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE DISSEMINATION OF THIS SUMMARY, WHICH WAS DUE TO
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. PLEASE NOTE THE DATELINE]
ECA Summary No. 2 from Beijing + 5
SEMANTICS OVER SUBSTANCE?
UNHQ, New York, 07 June 2000 (ECA) -- 7 June summary: Beijing +5:
Presentations of country reports continue in plenary today without
opportunities for debate or questions. The place for debate is within the
working groups formed to negotiate the wording of the zero draft outcome
document prepared by the DAW team and furthered at various Prepcoms in the
past year. Progress is being made on the removal of brackets. The process
is scheduled to end Wednesday afternoon, for presentation to the Committee
of the Whole in plenary for discussion and adoption by tomorrow, Thursday.
A unified, common purpose is emerging in the Africa Group as solidarity
evolves between permanent missions, country delegates, the OAU and the ECA.
No country or subregional group is strong enough to stand up alone, for
example to the might of the European Union and to strong right-wing groups
and blocs. An African voice and presence is becoming more evident as the
political roles yield to the technical specialist role of the gender experts
at national and regional level. Clearly, the strategy has to be to find
language that is agreeable to all, within the framework of commitments
already made at Beijing and ratified by African Heads of State. The
prevailing language needs to be one of compromise that can last another five
years until another world conference opens the way for
a fresh Platform of
Action.
Among others, South Africa, Sudan and Egypt -- under the Africa Group
Chairmanship of Gabon -- are this afternoon preparing precisely such a
compromise statement, pledging to speak with one voice in support of the
entire Beijing Platform of Action and reiterating their interest in adding
to the Platform rather than detracting from it. The deliberations, as far
as the Africa Group is concerned, should remain Beijing PLUS, not Beijing
MINUS 5.
With Africans chairing the Plenary sessions and the Ad Hoc Committee, the
region has a degree of visibility, but actual substantive impact remains to
be seen and will be measured by the degree to which country delegations are
able to articulate Africa’s priority concerns and get them included in the
outcome document.
In the corridors outside the conference rooms at UNHQ and at centres of NGO
activity such as the media centre in Chur
ch Centre across the road, there is
a degree of frustration over the lack of information and the fear that the
exclusive nature of the proceedings may sideline priority concerns of Africa
such as the crippling poverty and debt burden, in favour of issues Africans
insist are not central or life threatening -- such as sexual rights.
Some delegates report that some countries of the West, including the bloc of
the European Union, may be deliberately using semantics to delay and subvert
the finalization of the document. The debates and disagreements on wording
can consume much time and energy, for example, how to express in a globally
acceptable way, the valuable economic contributions of women’s work at home.
Some NGO representatives, confined to NGO caucuses and special events, are
saying that some countries want Beijing + 5 to fail for their own nefarious
purposes. One much distributed flyer today claims in bold lett
ering:
"The West is holding up the document. If the West would stop pushing
homosexual and abortion rights on unwilling countries, the document would be
done. Don’t blame the developing countries with the courage to defend their
values and their right to self-government".
Reactions to such claims vary. Some feel that this claim is justified.
Others think that right-wing organizations are seeking to manipulate opinion
by making developing countries feel like victims. Today, for example, the
stress has been on the wording with regard to NGO participation with
government, with some favouring only national-level participation,
globalization, and the core issue of women’s rights as human rights.
Part of the problem is that the current stress on "sexual rights" and
"sexual orientation" is not a part of the Beijing Platform and individuals
seem to be attempting the impossible task of rewriting parts of
the
Platform, when the focus should be on operationalizing it and leaving new
text to the next world conference on women.
(END)
////DISCLAIMER: These summaries are intended to provide ECA constituencies
with background on the proceedings, and do not in any way constitute an
official United Nations position.////
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]
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