Madame Chair, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
As members of the Asia Pacific NGO Caucus for the ESCAP High Level Meeting to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action working on the issue of political empowerment, we would like to focus our intervention on the statement contained in the Beijing Platform for Action that 'women's equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women'.
In 1995, the Platform for Action reiterated that in spite of the commitment of the UN Economic and Social Council to have 30% women in decision-making positions by that year, discriminatory attitudes and practices and unequal power relations between women and men within the family continue to limit women's potential in the arenas of political participation and decision-making.
Four years after, these concerns re-emerged at the Asia-Pacific Regional NGO Symposium held in Thailand in September 1999. Women identified discriminatory and traditional values as being principal factors in the marginalization of women from public life, and called on states to address a wide range of issues in this regard. In addition, women identified growing religious fundamentalism and the lack of access to new communication and information technologies as being factors that limit their active political participation.
We note with interest that some of the strategic objectives outlined in the Platform for Action have been reaffirmed in the papers presented by this afternoon's panelists. Among them are the need for states to explore electoral systems that would encourage and facilitate the equal participation and representation of women, and the need to challenge gender-based stereotypes within the family if women's participation in public life is to increase.
We also note that while there have been some improvements in the participation of women in politics and decision-making in the Asia Pacific region, as reflected in the Overview paper presented to this meeting, in general, women remain minorities in national legislative bodies. In addition, the Overview focuses on the co-relation between this low level of political participation and gender imbalances at the highest levels of public decision-making in all our states.
As the Asia-Pacific NGO Caucus at this meeting, we wish to take this opportunity to recall the deliberations of the Asia-Pacific Regional Symposium and reiterate our concerns regarding the following issues in the spirit of our shared commitment to the equal rights and inherence human dignity of women and men:
We are alarmed that women's decision-making role in the public sectors remains in areas that are considered to be 'traditionally' female, such as health, education and social welfare, reinforcing the gender division of labor. The exclusion of women decision-makers from sectors such as the economy and financial matters, national security, trade and commerce, and the industry reinforce gender-based stereotypes that the international community has pledged to eradicate.
The exorbitant financial costs of running for public office also serves as a major barrier to the political participation of women, and other marginalized social sectors.
There continues to be an absence of educational and awareness-raising programmes that address gender equality in political and public life, and that build consciousness among women that they can exercise considerable political power as a major political constituency.
Women who have taken up the challenge and entered political life, especially at the local government levels, have found themselves vulnerable and actually subjected to various forms of violence such as harassment, physical assault, rape and even murder. Similarly, the threat of and use of violence is being employed to intimidate women from seeking office.
In order to preserve the gains we have made so far, and to further increase the participation and representation of women in politics and decision-making we submit the following recommendations for consideration by the state and international agencies present at this meeting:
All governments should commit themselves to exert all means possible to achieve the UN's 30% target of representation of women in politics by 2005. Governments should also commit themselves to a 30% target for women in decision-making positions in the bureaucracy across all sectors, including those that have been traditionally male-dominated.
All governments should set in place a system of monitoring and evaluation of women's participation in politics and decision-making.
All governments should seriously examine their present electoral systems, in order to develop structures and systems that allow more opportunities for the participation and representation of women in politics.
All governments should enact laws that regulate electoral spending and make funds accessible to women and persons from marginalised sectors who want to participate in politics.
All governments should guarantee the protection of women in political office and institute measures that would eliminate structural constraints and ensure a safe and violence-free environment for all women who aspire to public office.
All governments and international development agencies should focus on the provision of gender-sensitive training for women candidates for public office, for members of political parties, for media personnel, and for all those public officials who are involved in promoting democratic governance in our countries. Giving women access to new information and communication technologies should also be a part of such training programmes.
All governments should conduct awareness raising campaigns including civic education programmes that stress the value of women's political participation and representation.
All governments should commit financial resources to programmes and activities that would provide the enabling conditions outlined in the above recommendations.
In conclusion, as women from the Asia-Pacific region, we congratulate all the women across the region who have entered the political and public arena in spite of all the barriers and obstacles they face, including those of you who are among us today. We hope that our governments will commit themselves to building on these achievements, not only with rhetorical commitments but with concrete actions.
