Deliberation may end in consensus: Mongella

By Santi WE Soekanto

BEIJING (JP): The United Nations is optimistic that its Fourth World Conference on Women, now at the half-way stage, will conclude "successfully" and that discord among participants over sexual and reproductive rights will be resolved.

The conference's secretary-general, Gertrude Mongella, told a press conference yesterday that "most" of the brackets in the text of the draft Platform for Action have been removed. The brackets signify disagreement among conference delegates over the wording of the document.

"You may be surprised that we're almost close to the end," she said of the negotiations taking place in the working groups and contact groups responsible for finalizing both the draft Platform and the Beijing Declaration.

"I'm optimistic this conference will end with success," she added.

Mongella did not, however, specify the number of brackets still remaining in the draft, nor whether the reservations of delegations will be accommodated in the final version of the Platform should they persist to the end.

She admitted the possibility that the conference would end with the document still containing reservations. "There's always room to air reservation," she said.

The ongoing negotiations have reportedly been marked by polarized positions, in particular over the issues of sexual rights and reproduction, but officials have consistently declined to identify the dissenters.

Responding to one reporter's request that she name the "Islamic groups trying to hamper the negotiations" and another's question as to whether the Holy See was continuing to campaign over certain issues, Mongella said there should not be any "witch-hunting."

"The best way to negotiate is not by identifying the 'witch', but by trying to concentrate on the issues," she said, adding that all participants are entitled to air their views.

"Religion is one problem, politics is another, attitude is yet another," she said. "What's important is that eventually we come up with a consensus."

The main policy-making draft contained, at the time the conference began, 438 sentences in brackets, to be either deleted or included. According to conference spokeswoman Therese Gastaut, by Sunday half of the brackets had gone.

Official delegations to the conference, as well as activists from some 3,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have been busy campaigning for their own causes and views. One of the most controversial issues has been human reproduction, including the questions of abortion and the taking of punitive measures against those conducting illegal abortions.

Proponents of a right to abortion have repeatedly pointed out that restrictions may drive women to undergo the procedure illegally and, possibly, unsafely.

Mother Teresa, "the mother of millions" in Calcutta, sent the congress her message regarding abortion. Read by Mercedes Arzu Wilson, an official delegate of Guatemala, Mother Teresa said that "abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace in the world today."

She added that those who campaign to convince people that "women and men are the same are all in favor of abortion."

"Anything that destroys God's gift of motherhood destroys His most precious gift to women -- the ability to love as a woman," she continued.

Indonesia's position in the ongoing deliberations on the issue of sexual rights has been similar to that of the Islamic countries which prefer not to use the expression "sexual rights" in the document. Indonesian Ambassador to China Juwana told the press here on Sunday evening that, so far, the European Union was still campaigning for the inclusion of the words "right," "sexuality" and "individuality," and was facing opposition from the Islamic, Asian and the Caribbean countries.

Indonesia has not shifted in its position regarding the issues of parental rights, the structure of the family, abortion and the commitment of resources for programs for the advancement of women. Indonesia condones abortion only as a life-saving procedure and not as a birth-control method.

Yesterday was dedicated Youth Day by the conference. In a series of panel discussions, a dozen young leaders from various countries gave their views on the role of youth in developing an equal partnership between men and women.

"We cannot hope for a better world if young women and young men are not equal partners in the whole of society," said Francine Fournier, UNESCO's assistant director general for social and human sciences, opening the discussions.

The day also saw a demonstration by a group of Iranian women in exile, condemning the "oppressive Islamic regime" in their home country and its "shameful policies on women" which, they said, deny Iranian women their human rights.