Homework from Copenhagen (1)<\/p>\n
By Mely G. Tan<\/p>\n
This is the first of a two-part article on the what, who and
\nhow to address some of the issues discussed at the Copenhagen
\nsummit.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Now that the pressure of the preparation
\nmeetings, including three Prepcom meetings in New York and the
\nvarious regional meetings, are over and the hubbub of the
\nCopenhagen Summit has died down, the "real" work has to begin:
\nhow to translate the strong language of the Declaration with the
\n10 Commitments and the 100 paragraph Program of Action into
\nactions that are operational and directly felt by the people
\nconcerned.<\/p>\n
These will be the indicators of whether all the activities
\nwhich went on for the last few years, involving great numbers of
\npeople in the member countries of the United Nations; the 139
\nheads of state, of which seven were women, and the thousands of
\nparticipants; both the members of official delegations and of
\nNGOs present at the Summit (not to mention the estimated US$8
\nmillions expended), were worth doing. No doubt it is on the
\nnational and sub-national level that these activities should
\noccur, while the international level has more to do with
\nfinancial assistance, coordination and networking.<\/p>\n
The documents in hand, dated March 10, 1995 and called the
\nDraft Declaration, includes the 10 Commitments and the Program of
\nAction, consisting of five chapters: 1) The enabling environment
\n2) Poverty eradication 3) Productive employment 4) Social
\nintegration 5) Implementation and follow-up. The closing session
\nof the Summit occurred only in the early hours of Monday March 13
\n(due to the fact that the presentation of the statements of the
\nheads of states did not finish until about 1:00 am when the
\ndocuments were ratified.<\/p>\n
As these documents are non-binding, while the language is
\nbased on consensus requiring lengthy negotiation sessions lasting
\nuntil after midnight, there are those, especially among the NGOs
\nbut also among official delegations, who were very critical and
\nskeptical of the final outcome of the Summit, gravely doubting
\nthe effectiveness of the implementation and follow-up actions.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the fact that the majority of the heads of state
\nof the UN member countries were present and adopted the document
\nis a clear indication of the recognition of the need for
\nconcerted efforts on a global scale for the eradication of
\npoverty, the creation of productive employment and the promotion
\nof social integration. It is also a recognition of the direct
\nrelationship between the persistence of poverty, high
\nunemployment and social disintegration. In turn this recognition
\ngives legitimation to all efforts attacking poverty, creating
\njobs and building solidarity, on the national, regional and
\ninternational level.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, if the Commitments and the Program of
\nAction are implemented faithfully and consistently this means a
\ntotal review of existing development policies and strategies in
\nmany of the countries that participated in the Summit. How far
\ngovernments will go in the implementation will be tested in the
\npolicies and programs generated in the months and years to come.<\/p>\n
In this regard there is a provision in Commitment 10, which
\nrefers to the role of the UN Economic and Social Council to
\nreview and assess on the basis of national reports, while the
\nGeneral Assembly is to hold a special session in the year 2000
\nfor an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the
\noutcome of the Summit.<\/p>\n
On the national level, Chapter 5 on Implementation and Follow-
\nup, especially on section A on national strategies, evaluation
\nand reviews refers to, among others, developing quantitative and
\nqualitative indicators for social development desegregated by
\ngender and the strengthening of implementation and monitoring
\nmechanisms, including arrangements for the participation of civil
\nsociety in policy making and implementation and collaboration
\nwith international organizations. Section B on the Involvement of
\nCivil Society in the same chapter, refers to supporting academic
\nand research institutions, particularly in the developing
\ncountries, in their contribution to social development programs,
\nand facilitating mechanisms for independent, detached, impartial
\nand objective monitoring of social progress.<\/p>\n
Although there are many concerns we can address in discussing
\nthese documents, I will limit myself to two areas, "the role of
\nwomen", and "the place of civil society". I have gone through the
\ndocuments and counted the number of times women are referred to
\nin the paragraphs and points in the paragraphs. In the Commitment
\n5 of the Draft Declaration, there are 14 points entirely devoted
\nto women. These refer to "achieving equality and equity between
\nwomen and men, and to recognizing and enhancing the participation
\nand leadership roles of women in political, civil, economic,
\nsocial and cultural life and in development". In all, the entire
\nDeclaration refers to women in 31 points.<\/p>\n
In the Program of Action, chapter 1) An enabling environment,
\nrefers to women in 8 points; chapter 2) Eradication of poverty,
\nrefers to women in 28 points, chapter 3) The expansion of
\nproductive employment and the reduction of unemployment refers to
\nwomen in 20 points, chapter 4) Social Integration refers to women
\nin 17 points; chapter 5) Implementation and follow-up refers to
\nwomen in 3 points.<\/p>\n
In all these references the emphasis is on gender equality and
\nequity, full involvement at all levels in decision-making and
\nimplementation process, removing all legal impediments to
\nownership of all means of production and property, rights of the
\ngirl child, gender-sensitivity education, elimination of gender
\ndiscrimination, empowerment of women, women's unremunerated
\nproductive work, feminization of poverty, single mothers, female-
\nheaded and female-maintained households, access to traditionally
\nmale-dominated occupations, elimination of violence against
\nwomen.<\/p>\n
Chapter V on Implementation and follow-up, which only refers
\nto women in three points, states in the first "bullet" of the
\nfirst point that at all levels of implementation, the crucial and
\nessential requirements are: "The promotion and protection of all
\nhuman rights and fundamental freedoms, the support for democratic
\ninstitutions and the empowerment of women".<\/p>\n
These, admittedly selective, references indicate clearly the
\nrecognition of the crucial role of women in social development. I
\nhave not been able to get information of the number of women in
\nthe official delegations. There is a provisional list of
\ndelegations, but this is not very reliable, as many changes have
\noccurred since the list was made. For example, the list of the
\nIndonesian delegation has names of people who were not present,
\nwhile there were people present whose names were not on the list.
\nOf the 34 people that I know were present, only seven were women.<\/p>\n
If we look at the list of names of senior officials and ministers
\nand representatives of the UN and international agencies and of
\nNGOs, who made a statement during the "general exchange of views"
\nin the first five days of the Summit, based on the daily Journal,
\nI counted about 236 names, of whom about 63 or close to 1\/4 were
\nwomen, while as mentioned earlier, of the 139 Heads of States
\npresent, seven were women. I think we can each of us draw our
\nconclusion about the state of empowerment for women from these
\nfigures.<\/p>\n
Window: How far governments will go in the implementation will be
\ntested in the policies and programs generated in the months and
\nyears to come.<\/p>",
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