SOM ends with Jakarta Declaration

SOM ends with Jakarta Declaration

JAKARTA (JP): The Asian Pacific senior official meeting (SOM)
on the role of women in development ended here Saturday with the
approval of a draft plan of action for the region and declaration
for the advancement of women.

A prelude to the Second Asian Pacific Ministerial Conference
on Women in Development, which is to be opened by President
Soeharto here this morning, the meeting glossed over sharp
differences among the delegates representing 54 countries during
the drawing up of the two documents.

The drafts of the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action,
which are to become regional blueprints to guide governmental
efforts for the development of women over the next decade, will
be deliberated in the two-day ministerial conference.

The five-day senior official meeting, attended by some 500
people, was a lesson in compromise, some participants said.

Meanwhile, conference sources told The Jakarta Post that
country delegates who took part in the closed sessions of the
drafting committee, chaired by Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan of the
Philippines, were involved in heated debates over several
sensitive issues.

Sjamsiah Achmad, chief of the Indonesian delegation who
chaired the SOM, cited the problems of prostitution and
casualties of armed conflicts as being among the issues with
political and security overtones which provoked strong debate.

Differences over religious and traditional values put forward
by participants also added the controversy, she said.

The delegates from France, for instance, reportedly quibbled
over co-education system with Iranians who pressed for the
inclusion of a recommendation on separate schools for girls.

Migrant workers

A male delegate from Japan voiced his objection to a
discussion of systematic rape, within an article on the
protection of women's rights in the Plan. He thought that this
article alluded to his country, specifically concerning "comfort
women" who were forced into sex slavery rings run by Japanese
soldiers in many Asian countries during the World War II.

The delegate reportedly said that it was no longer relevant to
look into the past. His statement caused furious objections from
the South Korean, Filipino, Bangladesh, Pakistani, and Malaysian
delegates.

The problem of migrant, women workers also invoked lively
debate, especially between the more-developed "receiving"
countries such as Malaysia and the poorer "sending" countries
such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

It was mentioned, however, that the delegates were "...not
here to settle political disputes or security affairs, so
eventually delegates just had to agree to disagree," Sjamsiah
said.

On the sideline of the meeting, activists of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) who were invited as observers, and dozens of
local and foreign women's groups, lobbied delegates and tried to
get their opinions included in the documents.

Freedom of sexual orientation, and the call for redefinition
of cultural and religious norms on women's role in society were
among the issues they pursued.

Some of their proposals were incorporated into the final
draft, although in a manner not quite up to their expectations.

"No matter how the outcome of the meeting is, it can't satisfy
everybody," commented Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a prominent
Indonesian lawyer and NGO leader.

"The formulations of the plan and declaration are too
generalized in nature," she said. "We wanted a more detailed
plan, but we understood it would be difficult."

Sjamsiah, whose effective leadership during the event was
commended by many delegates, played down the NGOs'
dissatisfaction.

"This is a governmental, as well as UN-sponsored, conference,"
she said. "We need to advance from mere condemnation and fault-
finding, and establish workable concepts."

Conference sources said 31 ministers and other high-ranking
officials will attend the ministerial conference, which is
sponsored by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP).

UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has sent Gertrude
Mongela, his special envoy, to address the conference.

The results of the ministerial conference will be submitted as
the Asia Pacific recommendation to the World Conference on Women
in Beijing, in September 1995. (swe/anr)