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"lighten and uplift
them, so that they may soar on the wings of the Divine verses"
-Baha'u'llah
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Pledges on
equality 'need to be honored'
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UNITED
NATIONS, 16 March 2005 (BWNS) --
Governments should ensure that they act upon
their commitments to advance the equality of
women and men, said the principal representative
of the Baha'i International Community to the
United Nations, Bani Dugal, in a speech to
commemorate International Women's Day.
"What
is the meaning of stated commitments if no
action results?" said Ms. Dugal, the
chairperson of the NGO Committee at the UN on
the Status of Women.
"States
can no longer be permitted to shirk from their
responsibilities on the pretext of domestic
jurisdiction or cultural relativism. There are
no grounds--moral, practical or biological--on
which denial of women's rights can be
justified," Ms. Dugal said. |
The Principal Representative of the Baha'i
International Community to the United Nations,
Bani Dugal, at the observance of International
Women's Day at the United Nations on 4 March
2005.
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"The
consequences of inaction and continuing discrimination
against fully half of the world's population are an
affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the very
principles of the United Nations," she said.
Ms. Dugal
was speaking on 4 March 2005 at the invitation of the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She
shared the dais with a roster of notables in the field
of women's rights, including Nobel Prize winners Wangari
Maathai of Kenya and Rigoberta Menchu Tum of Guatemala.
"The
full equality of men and women is not the end
goal," said Ms. Dugal. "It is a prerequisite
for the very ends the United Nations was created to
serve. That global peace and security are not possible
without women is a truth we can no longer deny. As a
global community, we have the means; we have made the
plans, let us not be afraid to try."
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Ms.
Dugal said the UN had given the worldwide women's
movement a "unique space" in a series of
conferences to address women's rights--the 1995
World Conference for Women in Beijing, for
example, was critical in helping women reach for
full equality.
"It
established clear standards and stated
unequivocally that women's rights are human rights
and that meeting these rights is central to every
nation's progress in development and
democracy," said Ms. Dugal.
It is
important, however, for those governments that
signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action to ensure those commitments are acted on,
she said.
Ms.
Dugal also stressed the importance of partnership
with men and boys, and their education, in the
advancement of women. "Until they themselves
refuse to accept laws and practices that
discriminate and demean their daughters, sisters,
wives, and mothers, nothing will change,"
said Ms. Dugal. |
Participants in the observance of International
Women's Day at the United Nations. Second from the
left is Bani Dugal, the Principal Representative
of the Baha'i International Community to the
United Nations. |
Angela
King, who organized the 23rd Special Session of the
General Assembly in 2000, known as Beijing +5 for its
review of the 1995 conference, posed a list of questions
relating to implementation of those commitments: Why are
ways to implement government commitments not fully
funded? Why are so few women at the peace table? Why are
stereotypes of women's roles so hard to change?
"When
we can answer all these questions then we will know why
implementation is so slow," said Ms. King.
"When we find what strategies to put in place then
real implementation will be underway."
Ms. King's
successor in the position of assistant secretary-general
and special adviser on gender issues and advancement of
women, Rachel Mayanja, called for "more male gender
specialists and more strategic alliances with young
women and men."
"In
the last 30 years, men have gone to the moon and back,
yet women are still at the same place they were, that is
trying to sensitize the world to the unwarranted and
unacceptable marginalization of women which deprives
them of their human rights," Ms. Mayanja said.
Report by
Veronica Shoffstall.
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| Published in
www.Bahaiworldnews.org |
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