African Woman and Child Feature Service

Unlike previous conferences on the Commission on the Status of Women, this year’s official opening of 54th session which also marked the review calendar of the Beijing Platform for Action was seen by majority of women who thronged the conference hall as an anti-climax.

Despite the call from commitment to action by the Deputy Secretary General, Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, the conference lacked the pomp and colour that normally marks such occasion.

The absence of the UN Secretary General set the low mood despite the eloquent speech by his deputy, who in her speech affirmed the UN’s commitment to the goals of the Beijing Platform of Action (BPfA).

But the message was loud and clear, that 15 years later, governments have not kept the promise they agreed upon during the Beijing conference and that gender equality is far from being achieved despite the progress registered in some of the critical areas of the BPfA.

Addressing a galaxy of women who converged on New York from all over the world, the Deputy Secretary informed the delegates that the Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, has designated gender equality and women’s empowerment as priority areas where there are distinct strategic opportunities for progress.

Amid mixed feelings of broken promises and little gains in the implementation of the BPfA among the delegates, Migiro told the delegates that there have been gains in various areas including education and development of national laws, policy and programmes.

She said that only 25 countries out of the 189 that signed the BPfA had reached the 30 percent parity or more in relation to women in parliaments in 2009.

However, she reiterated though that there has been limited progress in reproductive health and that maternal mortality still remains high.

Acknowledging the work of the women non-government organisations, Migiro said: “Much of this progress can be attributed to the efforts of women’s groups and networks at the global, regional and national level.”

She added: “The women’s groups have shown tremendous creativity and determination in demanding commitments and holding governments accountable to delivering on them.”

Reviewing the progress made 15 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Migiro reiterated the fact that more people now understand that gender equality as well as empowerment of women and girls is not just a goal in itself, but a key to sustainable development, economic growth and peace and security.

The delegates were informed that since in 1968 during the 23rd special session of the General Assembly which called for the removal of laws that discriminate against women by 2000, to date such laws still exists.

“In most countries, gaps remain between legislation, and implementation,” Migiro said. She added: “Negative attitudes and stereotyping of women also still exists across the globe.”

However, she informed the delegates that the many good practices that have emerged from different countries can be used as lessons learnt especially in the areas of education, decision-making, maternal health and ending the violence against women.

She called upon them to use the 54th session of the CSW and the review of the Beijing Platform for Action as a stepping stone for the Millennium Development Goals.

“The Secretary General and I are strongly committed to ensuring that the United Nations provides every possible support to governments and civil society organisations to enable them achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. They are integral to all the MDGs,” she said.

The head of delegation from China informed the delegates that China is home to one-fifth of the world population of women and despite many milestones, China still has a long way to go towards achieving gender equality and women’s participation.

Representing the G-77 and China, the delegates said time has come for world leaders to address emerging issues like economic crisis, climate change and impact of earthquakes as these have further impacted negatively on gender equality.

He said his country is calling upon the UN to make hasty progress in making the proposed Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) a reality.

However, for many women attending the review meeting, unless there is political goodwill in accelerating implementation of BPfA, there will only be lip service on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment.