NGOs make 11th-hour intervention

By Santi WE Soekanto

BEIJING (JP): Activists of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made last-minute attempts yesterday to have their voice heard at the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women, due to conclude tomorrow, by drafting a rival declaration.

Denouncing the official Beijing Declaration, now being deliberated at the official conference, as "too weak" and "watered down," the activists said it should be dropped altogether.

"That draft is inadequate. It doesn't reflect our aspirations. It simply isn't good enough," said Linda Christiansen-Ruffman of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. "The NGO caucus for economic empowerment of women, for instance, believes that every statement in the draft is wrong."

She said that even official delegations, especially those from the Group of 77, are unhappy.

"They dislike the document as much as we do," she said. "What we want them to do is just drop the draft Beijing Declaration and 'clean up' the draft Platform for Action".

"We could make a much better document," she added.

Officials of the UN conference, headed by chairwoman of the Main Committee, Patricia B. Licuanan, set 1 p.m. yesterday as the deadline for the NGOs to "come up with a decent document" to be deliberated along with the official draft.

"This is good, because it means that, finally, there's some recognition from the top," Ruffman said. Previously, activists trying to hold meetings were kicked out of the conference halls.

By 3 p.m yesterday, however, the group assigned to prepare the draft of the rival declaration had not yet finished its task.

The initial draft of the NGO document said that the conference's goals of advancing women and achieving equality will not be realized unless governments address the fundamental question of social, economic and political structures which have been discriminating against women.

The draft also included recognition and support for the advancement of women, regardless of "race, color...(and) sexual orientation".

Meanwhile, conference spokesperson Therese Gastaut said members of the working groups in charge of deliberating the final version of the two official documents may not be able to meet their deadline, set for tonight, for completing negotiations.

The delegations would, instead, adopt the documents in a plenary session just before the closing ceremony.

Gastaut said that of an original 438 brackets, which signify reservations, in the draft Platform for Action, only 14 percent remained as of yesterday. The remaining issues that are still disputed, however, are the most contentious of all, namely the use of the expressions "sexual orientation", "(human/financial) resources" and "inheritance rights."

Conference sources said that 14 delegations had reservations over the wording on those issues, especially regarding sexual orientation and inheritance rights, and were not likely budge from their positions.

The European Union and the Holy See do not see eye to eye on many issues.

Rights

For example, one paragraph in the original Beijing Declaration draft refers to ensuring "the full enjoyment by women and the girl-child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including their sexual and reproductive rights, and take effective action against violations of these rights and freedoms."

The European Union is insisting on the inclusion of the words "the rights of women to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health."

The Holy See is insisting that the paragraph be rewritten so that it will read simply "ensure the full enjoyment by women and the girl-child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms."

Regarding funding for the programs, the conference is making progress after several participants took the initiative to commit resources, promising to provide funds for women's advancement projects in their countries.

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