Conference on women concluded with reservations

JAKARTA (JP): Ministers attending the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Women formally adopted the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women, yesterday, though not wholeheartedly.

In the view of some delegates, the documents contained many shortcomings which have still to be addressed by individual countries.

Many of the 31 ministers and a number of high-ranking officials from the region said they felt caught in a bind; their options were either to adopt the documents with reservations, or run the risk of losing the benefits already achieved by them.

The two-day ministerial conference was marked by the delegates' efforts to include political considerations into the discussion on women's issues.

Conference sources said some delegates felt that the plan, drawn up under the three main issues of "equality, sustainable development, and peace", reflects an intention to sweep political realities regarding women's affairs under the carpet.

The plan will become the regional blueprint to guide government efforts for the development of women for the next decade. Some delegates, however, felt the plan fails to include a holistic approach for establishing strategies for the enhancement of women's roles and improvement of their well-being.

Taufa Vakatale, Minister of Education and Women of Fiji, said her delegation noted "with anxiety" that the plan "has skimmed over the pertinent issues of militarism, colonialism and `nuclearism'" in the Pacific region.

"We believe that our economic and social empowerment is intricately linked with political and legal empowerment," she said. "For some of the countries in the Pacific, any serious discussion of economic and social empowerment will first have to focus on political realities."

"We (the Pacific countries) are host to the largest number of colonial, metropolitan powers in the world," she said.

Ten out of the 24 island countries of the Pacific are still colonies. They are American Samoa, Guam, Tahiti-Polynesia, Kanaky (New Caledonia), Palau, Pitcairn Island, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, West Papua and Rapanui (Easter Island).

"If sustainable development is indeed the goal of this global initiative, we must recognize the universal rights of all peoples to self-determination and independence," she said.

Self-determination

She added that the struggle for self-determination in the colonies has been violent and often make women the victims of various forms of violence, including rape.

She called on the conference to give due consideration to the region's historical, environmental, political and economic conditions.

The physical environment of Pacific islands are extremely fragile, she said, and therefore vulnerable to pollution from toxic substances, hazardous wastes and chemical and nuclear wastes.

A strong remonstration also came from Pakistan.

State Minister and Social Advisor, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, said the plan should provide more specific solutions to the political victimization of women, especially in rural areas.

She said the plan fails to mention the existing political and societal structures, such as feudalism, tribalism and colonialism, despite the fact that colonialism is part of the country and region's history.

"We, not just in women conferences, need to challenge patriarchal, societal structures which oppress women," she said, as quoted by Nigat Said Khan.

Nigat Said Khan is an activist belonging to the Women's Action Forum in Pakistan.

Minutes before the plan and the Jakarta Declaration were to be adopted, dozens of members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who came to the conference as observers, managed to grab the participants' declining attention.

Thanpuying Sumalee Chartikavanij, leader of the Asian and Pacific NGO Working Group, reminded the conference that the concept of "peace" must include human security defined beyond the confines of the military and political sphere.

"The victimization of women through growing religious fundamentalism, militarization, and armed and non-armed conflict must be condemned," she said. (swe/anr)

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