Ten years after
Ten years after
Posted 05:39am (Mla time) Mar 08, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the March 8, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
NEW YORK -- In 1995, at the opening and closing ceremonies for both the official meetings and the much larger NGO gathering of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing and Huairou, the organizers and the Chinese government went all out on the hype and hoopla. The rites were marked by exuberant performances of lion dancers, jugglers and tumblers, dancers in the hundreds, fireworks and, of course, the infectious energy of an estimated 30,000 women and a few men gathering to talk about and affirm women's rights, and our striving for equality, development and peace.
In fact, so heated was the enthusiasm of the participants at the Beijing Conference, perhaps the largest UN gathering to date, that they even instigated climate change. When organizers of the NGO conference inquired from their hosts if they should take precautions against rain, the Chinese assured them that "it never rains here at this time of year." Well, what do you know, almost from the start, unseasonal rains turned the grounds of the hastily established conference site into a muddy mess. "This just proves that God is a man," a friend muttered. But I chose to look at it another way: When women gather and realize their strength, the power they exude can change the weather.
Ten years later, at the UN headquarters in this city, there is little expectation of women warming the chilly air. Celebrating "Beijing + 10," the mood is more subdued and reflective, with the participants seemingly having come to terms with the fact that the bright and blazing, tantalizing promises held out 10 years ago weren't as realistic or easy to achieve. Much progress has been made, true, and there is more than enough reason to celebrate. But the road has been rocky and twisted, and for many women, strewn with nearly insurmountable obstacles.
* * *
THIS somber mood was reflected in the subdued "celebration." Instead of a huge stadium or the Great Hall of the People, the site of the global observance of the Beijing Conference's 10th anniversary was a small conference hall in the basement of the UN headquarters. (Even if the much roomier and more impressive General Assembly Hall was not being used at the time.) With the audience in the conference room limited to two delegates per country, the rest of the delegates and NGO observers had to squeeze themselves into an adjacent hall, watching the proceedings on a huge TV monitor. While adequate, the arrangements could not but give the women the feeling of estrangement from the celebration. And the suddenly humbled circumstances gave one the feeling that the world's women -- or at least the UN -- were almost apologizing for what they had done a decade ago.
Things weren't helped any by the insensitivity of the UN leadership. It was bad enough that the 10th anniversary of the landmark women's gathering had to be observed in subdued rites in a basement conference room. Rubbing salt on the women's sensitivities was the choice of moderator, a male undersecretary who heads the UN media office. As if there weren't any number of women around of enough stature and skill to preside over the celebration!
* * *
STILL, despite all these, the "Beijing + 10" observance gave women the chance to reflect, in a way which a grand celebration could not allow, on the gains achieved through decades of struggle, and what it took to bring the world to see women as the equals of men.
The theme of the observance seemed to be "retrospect," a look back at all the previous women's conferences, and speeches by the surviving secretaries-general of these past conferences. The Philippines was represented in this line-up of speakers by former Sen. Leticia Ramos Shahani, who was secretary-general of the Third World Women's Conference held in Nairobi in 1985.
In the two years that the Nairobi "Forward-Looking Strategies" were being formulated, said Shahani, "consensus was very elusive until the end." Indeed, until 10 p.m. of the day of adjournment, "no agreement was achieved among the political blocs, and when a formula for consensus was finally found, separate voting on many contentious paragraphs was demanded." There was, said Shahani, "clapping, dancing and loud rejoicing" when the document was finally adopted, with the body adjourning at four in the morning, "an unforgettable experience and perhaps one of the most exhausting yet exhilarating conclusions to a world conference."
The major divide at the Nairobi conference, noted Shahani, was between women from rich and poor countries. "Women from the North demanded: 'Why introduce politics ... when what women want are day care centers, jobs and social security?' The women from Africa replied: 'But firewood is politics; water is politics; food is politics.'"
The consensus achieved at the close of the Nairobi conference, she declared, proved that "women worldwide could be united, despite major differences, in a spirit of solidarity and commitment to fundamental freedoms. This solidarity must be strengthened after Beijing + 10."
* * *
THIS is why the divisive attempt of the US delegation to insert language on abortion in the political statement that will open the review and assessment of how governments have complied with the BPfA was resented and deemed so offensive by many delegations.
The work that lies before women at the end of the last decade is to assess how much progress was achieved after that historic meeting in Beijing, and then determine what else needs to be done not just to meet the challenges outlined in the Platform for Action, but also to truly change the lives of women worldwide. Ten years after Beijing, so much still remains to be done.
Posted 05:39am (Mla time) Mar 08, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the March 8, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
NEW YORK -- In 1995, at the opening and closing ceremonies for both the official meetings and the much larger NGO gathering of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing and Huairou, the organizers and the Chinese government went all out on the hype and hoopla. The rites were marked by exuberant performances of lion dancers, jugglers and tumblers, dancers in the hundreds, fireworks and, of course, the infectious energy of an estimated 30,000 women and a few men gathering to talk about and affirm women's rights, and our striving for equality, development and peace.
In fact, so heated was the enthusiasm of the participants at the Beijing Conference, perhaps the largest UN gathering to date, that they even instigated climate change. When organizers of the NGO conference inquired from their hosts if they should take precautions against rain, the Chinese assured them that "it never rains here at this time of year." Well, what do you know, almost from the start, unseasonal rains turned the grounds of the hastily established conference site into a muddy mess. "This just proves that God is a man," a friend muttered. But I chose to look at it another way: When women gather and realize their strength, the power they exude can change the weather.
Ten years later, at the UN headquarters in this city, there is little expectation of women warming the chilly air. Celebrating "Beijing + 10," the mood is more subdued and reflective, with the participants seemingly having come to terms with the fact that the bright and blazing, tantalizing promises held out 10 years ago weren't as realistic or easy to achieve. Much progress has been made, true, and there is more than enough reason to celebrate. But the road has been rocky and twisted, and for many women, strewn with nearly insurmountable obstacles.
* * *
THIS somber mood was reflected in the subdued "celebration." Instead of a huge stadium or the Great Hall of the People, the site of the global observance of the Beijing Conference's 10th anniversary was a small conference hall in the basement of the UN headquarters. (Even if the much roomier and more impressive General Assembly Hall was not being used at the time.) With the audience in the conference room limited to two delegates per country, the rest of the delegates and NGO observers had to squeeze themselves into an adjacent hall, watching the proceedings on a huge TV monitor. While adequate, the arrangements could not but give the women the feeling of estrangement from the celebration. And the suddenly humbled circumstances gave one the feeling that the world's women -- or at least the UN -- were almost apologizing for what they had done a decade ago.
Things weren't helped any by the insensitivity of the UN leadership. It was bad enough that the 10th anniversary of the landmark women's gathering had to be observed in subdued rites in a basement conference room. Rubbing salt on the women's sensitivities was the choice of moderator, a male undersecretary who heads the UN media office. As if there weren't any number of women around of enough stature and skill to preside over the celebration!
* * *
STILL, despite all these, the "Beijing + 10" observance gave women the chance to reflect, in a way which a grand celebration could not allow, on the gains achieved through decades of struggle, and what it took to bring the world to see women as the equals of men.
The theme of the observance seemed to be "retrospect," a look back at all the previous women's conferences, and speeches by the surviving secretaries-general of these past conferences. The Philippines was represented in this line-up of speakers by former Sen. Leticia Ramos Shahani, who was secretary-general of the Third World Women's Conference held in Nairobi in 1985.
In the two years that the Nairobi "Forward-Looking Strategies" were being formulated, said Shahani, "consensus was very elusive until the end." Indeed, until 10 p.m. of the day of adjournment, "no agreement was achieved among the political blocs, and when a formula for consensus was finally found, separate voting on many contentious paragraphs was demanded." There was, said Shahani, "clapping, dancing and loud rejoicing" when the document was finally adopted, with the body adjourning at four in the morning, "an unforgettable experience and perhaps one of the most exhausting yet exhilarating conclusions to a world conference."
The major divide at the Nairobi conference, noted Shahani, was between women from rich and poor countries. "Women from the North demanded: 'Why introduce politics ... when what women want are day care centers, jobs and social security?' The women from Africa replied: 'But firewood is politics; water is politics; food is politics.'"
The consensus achieved at the close of the Nairobi conference, she declared, proved that "women worldwide could be united, despite major differences, in a spirit of solidarity and commitment to fundamental freedoms. This solidarity must be strengthened after Beijing + 10."
* * *
THIS is why the divisive attempt of the US delegation to insert language on abortion in the political statement that will open the review and assessment of how governments have complied with the BPfA was resented and deemed so offensive by many delegations.
The work that lies before women at the end of the last decade is to assess how much progress was achieved after that historic meeting in Beijing, and then determine what else needs to be done not just to meet the challenges outlined in the Platform for Action, but also to truly change the lives of women worldwide. Ten years after Beijing, so much still remains to be done.
posted by Dante at 5:39 AM
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