North-South showdown looms at Beijing meet<\/p>\n
Women 's issues have begun to draw the attention of people all
\naround the globe. Now, women from every corner of the world are
\ndiscussing their fate in Beijing, China, at the ongoing fourth
\nUnited Nations World Conference on Women. The following is a
\nspecial report from that momentous meeting in Beijing. The
\nJakarta Post specifically addresses the issue of the situation
\nfaced by women in Indonesia on Pages 4 and 5.<\/p>\n
By Santi WE Soekanto<\/p>\n
BEIJING (JP): The Fourth World Conference on Women, pressed
\nfor time to produce a blueprint for action to improve the
\nconditions of women all over the world, is turning into a
\nconflict between the developed and the developing countries.<\/p>\n
A number of activists taking part in the meeting said both the
\nEuropean Union (EU) and the United States are refusing to
\ncompromise with other participants and instead are trying to
\nsteer the deliberations into directions which benefit only them.<\/p>\n
The closed sessions of Working Groups I and II, and Contact
\nGroups I and II, which are drafting the Platform of Actions and
\nthe Beijing Declaration, are racing against time to clear away
\nremaining differences before the end of next week.<\/p>\n
The two documents will function as the international agenda
\nfor advancement of women and once adopted and ratified will bind
\nany signatory country.<\/p>\n
"It's clear to anyone who sat through all the meetings how
\ndomineering the EU is and how they try to have the final say on
\nevery issue," Rita Joseph of the Australian Family Association
\ntold The Jakarta Post yesterday. "And then, during discussions on
\nthe question of funding and allocating resources, they would
\nrefuse to make any commitments."<\/p>\n
C.G. Lindolt of the REAL Women organization in Canada agreed,
\nadding that while representatives of the G-77 and China, and even
\nof the Holy See, were willing to make concessions on contentious
\nstatements in the documents, the EU would refuse to budge.<\/p>\n
"They want to have the exact wordings of their own to be used
\nin the document," Lindolt said.<\/p>\n
The two activists said the problem of the "North" countries
\ntrying to impose their concepts on the "South" countries remains
\na major constraint to successful talks. "They talked a lot about
\nempowering women, including those in the developing countries,
\nand when asked about funding, they would tell the developing
\ncountries to re-structure, to re-prioritize," Joseph said.<\/p>\n
"The EU had said there was going to be no new additional
\nmoney," Lindolt said.<\/p>\n
Without the necessary human and financial resources, the
\nPlatform for Action and the Beijing Declaration, will be "nothing
\nbut rhetoric", Lindolt added.<\/p>\n
"Those industrialized countries only want to impose their
\nconcepts about women's empowerment, and then tell the developing
\ncountries to use the money for clean water or health projects to
\nfund any program to realize those concepts," Joseph said.<\/p>\n
Ideology<\/p>\n
"I believe that what's happening here is that those countries
\nare only trying to establish their ideology, their radical
\nfeminism ideology, as the global, official ideology," Joseph
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"This is only a manipulation of the South by the North,"
\nLindolt said.<\/p>\n
Conference officials conceded that, while the heads of
\ndelegations had almost uniformly pledged to commit themselves to
\nthe advancement of women and called the gathering "a conference
\nof commitments", it would be hard to keep track of the promises
\nmade and whether they are kept later on.<\/p>\n
Joseph, an activist working for refugees in her country, said
\nthe EU has shown similar reluctance to make commitments regarding
\nthe fate of refugees and migrant workers.<\/p>\n
"There are no words in the documents about loosening migration
\nbarriers, something which is very important for the developing
\ncountries," Joseph said.<\/p>\n
When reminded about the huge number of migrants and refugees
\nstreaming into the developed countries, posing financial, social
\nand political burdens on the hosts, Joseph said that "an ethical
\nway" would still be called for. "There's no human problem, no
\nmatter how big, that can't be dealt with in an ethical way."<\/p>\n
While official delegations to the conference were holding
\ntheir meetings, activists of various non-governmental
\norganizations, as well as individuals, were actively lobbying
\nrepresentatives. A meeting among them yesterday displayed
\nuncertainty over whether their aspirations could really be
\naccommodated by the official delegations to the conference.<\/p>\n
"Watch out for the wording used in the document," a
\nrepresentative of an NGO campaigning for the protection of
\nrefugees said. She accused the American and European delegations
\nof refusing to make adequate commitments for the issue.<\/p>\n
"When it comes to resources, those delegations are limiting
\ntheir commitments ... using the words like 'registered refugees',
\nthus limiting the obligation to give assistance," she said.<\/p>",
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