LIBERATION’S POLICY ON GENDER EQUALITY

In its campaign for human rights Liberation should genuinely work on gender equality and empowerment of women. We can run and support campaigns for power-sharing for women and the promotion of their role in decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas in the countries we work with. This is in line with the UN campaign for gender equality and in accordance with the principles in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The United Nations has so far taken significant steps towards gender equality and empowerment of women. The Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 states that “the advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women’s issue. They are the only way to build a sustainable, just and developed society. Empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among the peoples”.

The Platform for Action identifies the poverty among women as an area of concern. Its mission statement specifies that “The Platform for Action is an agenda for women’s empowerment” and that could be achieved by “removing all obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making”. The “persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women” has been dealt with in meetings and conferences on women by the United Nations bodies including the General Assembly.

The twenty-third special session of the General Assembly addressed the women’s empowerment and called upon the governments to implement national programmes to eradicate poverty with a focus on gender perspective and the empowerment of women. The United Nations Millennium Declaration (A/RES/55/2) also stressed the promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women as “effective ways to combat poverty”.

“Empowerment of Women Throughout the Life Cycle as a Transformative Strategy for Poverty Eradication” was the theme of The Expert Group Meeting in India in November 2001 organised by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW). The issue of the “critical global strategy for poverty eradication from a gender perspective” was raised and discussed at this meeting. “Women’s demands for political representations and improved economic and social conditions and human rights protection” were also stressed. In view of the ‘global governance’ and the ‘promotion of universal human rights’ it was stated that poor women should “have their fare share of influence over the emerging new international order”. The report on this meeting reflects general discussions and the recommendations of the meeting participants on the empowerment of women and poverty eradication. With regard to the efforts and projects for the empowerment of women it is stressed in the report that “women themselves must identify the problems to be solved, how to solve them, and act accordingly”. The report also refers to the “women’s empowerment as a strategy for poverty eradication”.

One of the thematic issues of the 46th session of the UN Commission on the Status of women (CSW) in March 2002 was “eradicating poverty, including through the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle in a globalizing world”.

In the developing countries poverty and lack of sufficient financial support for women and women’s organisations are the main obstacles to the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Liberation believes that regrettably most of the international NGOs and welfare organisations do not consider the matter seriously. They therefore do not run effective and appropriate projects for the eradication of poverty among women in those countries. These organisations do not have a tendency to confront the governments that do not comply with the UN policies and their national and international obligations towards women. Instead, they continue and expand their charity work that does not uproot
the main problems at all.

Considering the link between poverty and gender inequality and in view of the reality that gender discrimination and unequal distribution of income make women vulnerable to poverty, Liberation must direct its campaign towards the efforts on the eradication of poverty in the developing countries and work with those national and international NGOs that run practical projects in this regard. As a political organisation Liberation should closely and seriously monitor the UN’s work in this regard. It should also observe, support and criticise the work of governments in the implementation of UN policies with regard
to women’s empowerment and gender equality, and recognise the role national and international NGOs, social movements and women organisations in making gender equality a reality.

Liberation’s work can also include projects to raise awareness on the direct impact of economic and social policies and international financial structures on women.

Ultimately it is through the recognition of gender inequality, exclusion and discrimination, in areas
such as work, family, reproduction, social care, health and education, and efforts to redress this in law, government policy and social investment, that women’s emancipation can be brought about. Liberation applauds those efforts by progressive governments to bring empowerment and opportunity to women
at the grassroots of society.