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I have the honour of making this statement on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Canada , Australia and New Zealand reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which remains the international community’s framework for advancing women’s rights and achieving gender equality. Urgent work is still required to ensure that these agreements are translated into effective action. While we have made progress in establishing international norms and standards we continue to face significant challenges in our efforts to realize them.
We welcome the release of the much-anticipated Secretary-General's in-depth study on violence against women . As the Secretary-General's study indicates, there has been little progress in reducing violence against women and girls. We have recognized that gender-based violence is a global phenomenon and an intolerable abuse of human rights, impoverishing not only women but their families, communities, and societies in all member States of the United Nations. Violence against women moreover continues to critically constrain our efforts to achieve all of the International Millennium Development Goals. It reduces women’s capacity to contribute productively to the economy while simultaneously draining resources from the public sector.
The Secretary-General’s study leaves us in no doubt that sustained political will at the highest levels, and a substantial reallocation of resources, to eradicate such violence is still lacking. Violence against women is systemic in nature and rooted in structural inequality between men and women. Women’s empowerment is key to the eradication of violence against women. We call on all member States to live up to their obligations under the Beijing Platform of Action and promote the empowerment of women and increased participation of women in decision-making as well as their access to and control over resources.
The Study closely corroborates a central finding of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women: there is an urgent need for a comprehensive and systematic collection and analysis of data on the scope and extent of gender-based violence. Such data is essential to provide for more effective policies and practices to prevent and eliminate such violence. In this regard, we also welcome the recent comprehensive research and data collected by the World Health Organisation. All member States must ensure that national data capacity is developed and maintained to live up to their commitment to exercise due diligence to eradicate violence against women and girls. in preventing violence.
Canada , Australia and New Zealand commend the work of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. She has advanced our understanding of the due diligence standard as a tool for eliminating all gender-based violence and has explored the obligation of states to exercise such due diligence, highlighting the important role of governments in the elimination of violence against women and continues to provide the international community with tools to address the implementation challenge.
We also commend UNIFEM, OSAGI, the Division for the Advancement of Women and other parts of the UN system where important work has been accomplished to support gender equality and women’s rights, despite facing a multitude of well-known challenges. It has become increasingly apparent that in addressing women’s rights and gender equality, the United Nations needs a stronger, better-resourced, more coordinated approach adjusted for the needs of today. We welcome efforts, including those by civil society, to ensure that institutional reform at the UN results in a significantly improved capacity of the UN to realize our commitments to gender equality and women’s rights. Canada, Australia and New Zealand support a strong voice for women at the UN and calls for far-reaching reform to make these commitments a reality.
The sixth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security is also upon us. We seen some progress but there remains an urgent need to increase political commitment and resources for systematic implementation. Sexual and gender-based violence by state and non-state actors in conflict and post-conflict situations continues unabated and must be addressed. Canada, Australia and New Zealand reaffirm our unqualified commitment to the full and urgent implementation of Resolution 1325. This year we look forward to applying Resolution 1325 to the work of the new Peacebuilding Commission.
We warmly welcome the recent appointment of Carolyn McAskie as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. But Mr Chair, our countries had hoped that this year we would be in a position to welcome a greater number of appointments of women to senior positions in the UN system. We are dismayed to learn that over the past two years, representation of women in the Professional and higher categories remained almost static, and in some cases, even decreased. This total lack of progress, even regression, requires a serious re-thinking of current policies by the Secretary-General in order to meet the gender balance targets of the organizations of the UN system.
Mr. Chairperson, ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is fundamental to the implementation of Beijing and to the promotion and protection of the rights of women around the world. As of August 2006, 184 countries - over ninety percent of the members of the United Nations - are party to the Convention. Eighty-one countries are now signatories to the Optional Protocol. We call on all States who have not yet ratified CEDAW to do so as a matter of the highest priority. We also call on those who have ratified the Convention to ensure that obligations are being implemented.
Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.
