|
Statement by
On behalf of my delegation, I wish, first of all, to express my appreciation for and welcome the report of the Secretary General, as contained in document E/2004/59 on the Review and appraisal of the system-wide implementation of the Economic and Social Council’s agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the UN system. The comprehensive nature of the report provides us not only with a clear picture of the progress made since 1997 but also highlights and analyses continuing gaps and challenges to gender mainstreaming that the Council may wish to focus on in its consideration of the matter. While my delegation applauds the significant progress made by UN entities and intergovernmental bodies in mainstreaming gender perspectives into all policies and programmes since 1997, we trust that there should be increased efforts in addressing the gap between policy and practice that remains a major constraint in fully implementing the agreed conclusions. Secondly, although so far the efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into existing training programmes have signifantly raised awareness of responsibilities and accountability in general, my delegation fervently recommends that further efforts need to be made to influence training programmes in areas such as poverty reduction, macroeconomics and sustainable development, in order to develop greater awareness of the linkages between gender perspectives and those areas. In this regard, all of us should exhibit our common responsibility by rendering our commitment, support and accountability at the highest level to speed up the progress of implementation and to ensure that UN entities and intergovernmental bodies address the remaining challenges at the institutional level. Madam President, My delegation is of the view that progress in closing the gap in mainstreaming gender perspectives into all policies and programmes will undoubtedly determine the level of achievement of the goals and targets of the Millennium Development Goals. Although Goal 3 specifically addresses the issue of gender equality and women empowerment, my delegation strongly believes that this goal must become an anchor of other goals, meaning that women’s perspectives must be incorporated into all of the other goals including that of halving the number of people living on less than $1 a day. The World Bank itself also acknowledged “because the MDGs are mutually reinforcing, progress towards one goal affects progress towards others. Success in many of the goals will have a positive impact on gender equality, just as progress towards gender equality will help other goals.” Since the review session of the MGDs is only a year ahead, elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education seems to be the most urgent target to be accomplished. My delegation, therefore urges that special attention should be given to this target and that every effort by UN entities and intergovernmental bodies to address the gaps and challenges as identified in the Secretary-General’s report should focus on fostering the realization of this target. To conclude, Madam President, it is our fervent hope that the better performance by UN entities and intergovernmental bodies in mainstreaming the gender perspective into all their policies and programmes will enable member States to multiply their efforts and facilitate the creation of a better picture of gender equality in primary and secondary education in time for next year’s review session. Thank you.
|
