In his opening speech, the Chairperson of the Executive Board, Ambassador Mohamed Sameh Amr, shared his commitment to universal values, including equality and dignity of human beings. Sustainable development can only be achieved through real gender equality, he stressed. He was also keen to point out that Gender Equality had been integrated as a stand-alone objective in the final document of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. This is goal number 5, which is entitled "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." He said that “Gender inequality is an incompatible principle for a sustainable society and therefore it must be tackled.”
Mr. Getachew Engida, UNESCO’s Deputy Director-General, representing the Director-General, recalled that not only "gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO", but “is an imperative of human rights, sustainable development, and for peace.” He testified of the need to contribute to the empowerment of women and girls, noting that approximately 780 million people cannot read or write in the world, two-thirds of whom are women. He also welcomed the adoption of a Resolution by the United Nations last week which calls for the end of child marriages, early marriages and forced marriages, saying that such acts were “unacceptable - we must redouble efforts to fight this scourge, which has devastating consequences on women and on society as a whole.”
Ms Nicole Ameline, President of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), recalled and presented the CEDAW Convention, a reference instrument on the subject of violence against women, which now has 188 States Parties.
She explained that the first part of the Convention established its institutional framework: to ensure that States implement international conventions they themselves have accepted. According to her, only the establishment of an organized legal system could allow real equality between women and men and stated that "there is no development without governance". Ms Ameline stressed that violence against women and girls should not be distinguished according to its form, but must be considered holistically. She also deplored the continuing existence of stereotypes that pervade society and in the media, which act in societies as a sort of "modern poison."
Ms Ameline then presented two other CEDAW priorities: women's access to positions of responsibility; and, the economic and social rights of women. These rights include the right to include the mastery of her descendants, and therefore the right to contraception and to education. She stressed the importance of education for girls, paraphrasing the American, Brigham Young: "By raising a boy you raise a boy, but by raising a girl you raise a nation." (‘You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation’).
The CEDAW Chairperson also highlighted the scope of personal and family status in the Convention. CEDAW developed a fifteen-page roadmap concerning this, which is addressed to all international organizations.
Lastly, Ms Ameline informed the participants of the initiative to award CEDAW with the Nobel Peace Prize. She called upon the entire audience to support this initiative, which would reaffirm the incontestability of women's rights. After these introductory remarks, the Chairperson of the Executive Board invited participants to ask questions or to express their thoughts on the topic of “Women and Sustainable Development”.
Throughout their interventions, all representatives supported CEDAW’s work and congratulated Ms Ameline for her efforts in this regard. However, they implored the President to remain vigilant, highlighting the risk of a back-tracking, and a decline of the rights of women everywhere.
The Ambassador of France thanked Ms Ameline for her commitment to the cause of women's rights, which required the support of all. He noted that UNESCO was, in the words of Leon Blum, “the conscience of the United Nations”, and was thus a natural forum for this fight which referred back to such values as equality, freedom, justice and peace that formed the basis for the 1945 Convention. He stressed that this fight was to be conducted relentlessly, and was among the first priorities of France’s diplomatic action, everywhere and in all multilateral fora. He said that France would submit a draft resolution on combatting violence against girls in schools during the next session of the Executive Council. He asked how UNESCO could help in concrete terms CEDAW’s activities in this area.
The representative of Gambia wanted to know the percentage of the number of States Party to the Convention who actually presented reports for review by the Committee. She also enquired whether CEDAW verified the truthfulness of those reports that were presented, and how this verification takes place.
The representative of Morocco deplored the continuing violence against women and asked whether CEDAW was aware of rolling back of women's rights and increasing violence against women in the Arab region, stating it was mostly due to the rise in fundamentalism. She mentioned in particular the nascent phenomenon of street harassment, which has grown significantly, noting that in some cities women are even afraid to go out alone.
The representative of the Dominican Republic underlined the symbolic choice of 26 November for this meeting, one day after the date of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, but also the 40th anniversary of the adoption of Weil Law on abortion in France. She asked about measures that could be put in place to best advance women's rights and mentioned the problem of unwanted pregnancy, affecting 18 percent of women people in her country saying that it promotes the reproduction of poverty.
The Ambassador of Oman lamented the lack of representation of women in politics, but more so the rate at which women die in middle-income countries (MICs), estimating that approximately 2/3 of girls die even before birth, and that 20% of new-born girls die in early childhood. She said that there was a need for strong policy measures to be put forward to protect girls, saying, "After all, how can you empower those who are dyeing?" She questioned why progress in this regard was slow.
In his intervention, the Ambassador of Canada highlighted his country's commitment to the values of respect and non-violence against women, which are part of the Government’s aid policy abroad. Addressing some elements of Ms Amline’s remarks, including what she said concerning - "Violence is a whole: sexual, physical, cultural and religious" - he stressed the accuracy and importance of the "internal machinery associated with governance" for the strengthening of women's rights. He also noted the objective pursued by the new "road map", set up to direct and guide countries in their efforts to promote tangible "non-violence" against women, and asked for more information about this effort.
The Ambassador of Bangladesh shared progress made in his country, which is currently headed by a woman Prime Minister, and in which the opposition leader is also a woman. He confirmed that in his country, UNESCO is a strong partner with CEDAW, particularly in the field of education for the literacy of women and girls. He also supported the candidacy of CEDAW as a Laureate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The representative of Tanzania then took the floor to inform the participants that her country is a signatory to the Convention since 2008 and that Tanzania is fully committed to the fight towards ending discrimination against women, and to their advancement. She noted progress made in this regard in her country, where 30 percent of parliamentarians and 30 percent of ministers are women. Although there is progress, she noted that it was still not enough and asked what more could be done? Discrimination, she concluded, was sometimes the result of cultural heritage, but also a direct consequence of poverty.
The representative of Nigeria asked Ms Ameline how to overcome the political, religious and cultural obstacles to the education of girls in a state where education is supposedly free and compulsory. He said: "Who are these victims of discrimination? They are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters ... "
The representative of Ecuador took the floor to show her country’s commitment to the Convention and to reaffirm its support for the work of CEDAW, for which Ecuador is a signatory for many years. She enquired about CEDAW’s implication in the preparation of the post-2015 development agenda, saying “Without development we cannot even discuss violence against women and girls, or gender equality.”
The last intervention was made by the representative of Egypt, who requested information about the efforts made by the CEDAW to enhance the role of the family, because, according to her, “discrimination and violence against women and girls exists in families; given that the family remains the main core of society, it can play a fundamental role, providing essential protection against these phenomena.”
Throughout the Question & Answer session, Ms Ameline was able to make comment and bring clarifications, which may be summarized as follows:
Relations between Treaty Bodies should be reconciled with major agencies and solidarity should be strengthened, as well as public and private development aid assistance. She mentioned as an example microcredits created for women by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She also expressed the need for Europe to strengthen its partnership with the Mediterranean. Ms Ameline also declared her support for the draft resolution to be presented by France to the coming session of the Executive Board.
The Chairperson of CEDAW stated that women's rights were not linear, and that it was the responsibility of governments, but also of women, to be vigilant. She said the resurgence of fundamentalism existed not only in Arab countries but in Europe and North America as well. She said that within CEDAW, some Muslim scholars had approached fundamentalists, and that street harassment was one of the topics dealt with by the Committee. Ms Ameline recalled the tragedy of certain events, such as stoning. So, in order to encourage the continuation of the struggle for women's rights, she quoted from the wisdom of Mrs. Claudie Haigneré: “Sometimes we are discouraged, and at those times, you have to look up to the sky, and see the stars.”
Ms Ameline also stated the importance of the reaffirmation of certain rights, including a woman’s right to her own body and to abortion. She also explained that CEDAW required States to ensure the right to abortion in cases of rape and risk to the health of the mother, but not a general right to abortion.
She noted that the issue of women's rights was a highly political one. The fight against female circumcision in Africa, as led by the President of CEDAW itself has involved lengthy discussions, in villages, with families and religious leaders. She stressed the importance and prevalence of the law, for the advancement of women's rights. According to Ms Ameline, political parties are often obstacles to such progress, due to the fact that they lag behind the time vis-à-vis their populations. She called for the strengthening of equality and women's rights, stating that: "The 20th century was the century of hope, let us make the 21st century the century of efficiency!"
Ms Ameline said that because of the importance of the discussion of today’s meeting organized by the Chairperson the Executive Board; she would mention it during the next meeting of CEDAW’s Committee, to be held in February 2015.
In conclusion, she said that the only real answer against discrimination was a collective response, calling it a “"reinforcement of positive law”. She thus encouraged action at the international Courts, with Judges, and NGOs, and referred in particular to the need for NGOs to be civil society partners in countries where women are affected by illiteracy. Ms Ameline stressed that the barbaric acts of kidnapping, rape or forced conversions should be tried before the Courts because “"there will never be redress without trial.”