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Statement by Before New York, 5 March 2003
On behalf of my delegation let me express our appreciation to you and your colleagues on the Bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women for your dedication and hard work over the past year. We continue to pledge our full support in this coming and final year of your chairmanship. Let me also express my delegation’s appreciation to Madam Angela King for her insightful introductory remarks on the Secretary-General’s report, as well as to Ms. Carolyn Hannan, the Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women for her statement. At the same time, I would like to associate my delegation with the statement of the distinguished representative of the Kingdom of Morocco on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. As is well known, Mr. Chairperson, gender inequality represents a long and stubborn frontier of injustices that continues to disfigure the face of humanity to the present day. No country is exempt from its reach. That is why my delegation sees gender main-streaming as indispensable. We see it as crucial for the promotion of development and for the advancement of women. It was the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action that put the issue squarely on the international agenda. We must ensure that the implementation of the Platform of Action as well as the outcome document of Beijing + 5 in 2000 are vigorously pursued. For this purpose we are greatly encouraged by the Secretary-General’s report, which documents the progress already achieved in this task by the entities within the United Nations. We welcome this progress which has taken place among all of these bodies in their efforts to mainstream gender perspectives across a broad range of policies and strategies. We also appreciate the success achieved in their efforts in programme formulation and in their capacity building and training activities as well as in the areas of coordination and information sharing. Their key actions in this context, including the creation of gender focal points, accountability mechanisms, the scheduling of gender orientation discussions and policy advocacy of a pro-gender and pro-poor nature, are to be commended. In similar vein at the national level, Mr. Chairperson, it is our view that gender mainstreaming should be pursued by promoting coordination and cooperation between the various parts of the national machinery. Yet, despite the progress registered by the United Nations entities, the battle for equality of men and women continues to be an uphill one. We must therefore, as noted in the report, seek to close the remaining gaps between policy frameworks and implementation. Mr. Chairperson, My delegation attaches great importance to the two priority themes being focused upon at this session of the Commission, namely: participation in and access of women to the media and information and communication technology (ICT) as well as women’s human rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. There can be no doubt that the digital divide is a cause of deep concern to all the developing countries. It is also true that, if it is not redressed through international cooperation and the provision of financial assistance and the transfer of technology, access to ICT will worsen, development will be undermined and the digital divide will further broaden resulting in the continued marginalization of women. To meet this challenge, it is imperative that we build an enabling environment at the national, regional and international levels. In doing so, we welcome the findings and conclusions of the expert group as outlined in the Secretary-General’s report. Our discussions on these themes should also help contribute towards the forthcoming World Summit on the Information Society to take place in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunisia in 2005 respectively. I would like to add in this context that, while we can agree with the recommendations of the Secretary-General, we would also like to emphasize that the United Nations system at the country and regional levels should strive to, not only urge governments to be more proactive towards the empowerment of women in ICT as strategic human and business resources but to also encourage state and private enterprises to do likewise. For our part in Indonesia we are
committed to implementing the Beijing Platform of Action and the
outcome of Beijing + 5, thereby ensuring that gender equality is
fully addressed in the areas of mass media and ICT in our country.
At the very center of Indonesia’s commitment to foster such
equality is the work and activities of the Ministry of Women Empowerment,
Indonesia focal point for promoting gender equality. The ministry
has set its path to coordinate capacity building for mass media
and the development of ICT in Indonesia so that they will be supportive
of and sensitive to gender equality. One powerful means fostered to address this problem in a tangible way is that of increase access of women to high level decision-making positions. For instance, the Indonesian Parliament has recently agreed to introduce a new law for the National General Election which introduces a quota system of 30% women in the legislative bodies at the national, provincial and district levels. In this way, affirmative action has been undertaken in Indonesia which reflects the provisions of a number of international conventions. Another approach we have followed is to establish local, national and international women’s media networks as well as to improve global information dissemination. In 2001 the Indonesian Government had issued Presidential Decree No. 6/2001 concerning the Developing and Empowerment of Telematics in Indonesia, thereby covering an Action Program formulated in cooperation with the government, the private sector and the telematics society. As a result the proportion of women who now occupy management positions in media companies has increased. Again, we have sought to address the negative images of women portrayed in the media. Thus, the Ministry of Women Empowerment in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Information, the Ministry of Religion, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the National Police Department and together with NGO support, is proposing legislation to control pornography. Turning to the second theme of this session, the Beijing Platform for Action has stressed the need to promote and protect the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women throughout their life cycles. This need was further reiterated at the five year review of the Beijing Platform which called for the creation of an enabling environment to protect and promote all the human rights of women as part and parcel of the efforts to achieve gender equality, development and peace. However, we are seriously challenged in our pursuit of this admirable goal by a major constraint in our path, that is, the tragedy of persistent violence against women. Given that women’s human rights and violence against women and girls are inextricably linked, it is imperative therefore that we vigorously address this travesty of justice. A particularly virulent form of violence against women and a dominant concern of our time, is that of trafficking in women and girls. Not only is it the fastest growing form of transnational organized crime, it is also one of the most corrosive forms of human rights violations that still blights our modern world. Part of the problem is that it is still stubornely entrenched, institutionalized and thus extremely difficult to stamp out. In this regard, my delegation would like to reiterate its support for the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the GA to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. The outcome calls on the international community to launch an international “zero tolerance” campaign against such behaviour and practices. In this context, Indonesia has taken a number of concrete steps. On November 24, 1999, the Indonesian Government and the Indonesian Civil Society signed a joint declaration containing a number of commitments for the elimination of violence against women. Likewise, in February 2000, in order to implement its “zero tolerance” policy for eliminating violence against women, Indonesia became a signatory to the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Then, to specifically prevent and minimize the trafficking of women and children as well as to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of the children, two Presidential Decrees were issued in the 2002, which established the National Action Plan of the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation Against Children as well as the National Action Plan of the Elimination of Trafficking of Women and Children, respectively. To adequately redress such cases of violence against women and children, a memorandum of understanding was signed by a number of relevant Ministries and they jointly set up such programmes as a police women’s desk in police stations at district and provincial levels as well as hospital-based and One Stop Crisis Centers in a number of hospitals in Jakarta. In conclusion, let me just say that I hope that our discussions prove to be productive, and that the Commission on the Status of Women will continue to vigorously promote and implement the Beijing Platform of Action and the outcome document of the Beijing + 5 review for the betterment and advancement of women and girls throughout the world. Thank you.
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