LAC Beijing+20 Regional Review Meeting November 2014

Transcription

1 LAC Beijing+20 Regional Review Meeting November 2014 Introductory Statement Ms. Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett, Officer in Charge Policy and Programme Bureau of UN Women Her Excellency, Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile Her Excellency, Alejandrina German, President of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, Her Excellency Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Honorable Ministers, Heads of Delegations and Delegates, Distinguished representatives of civil society, Colleagues from the United Nations system, Ladies and gentlemen, Buenos días a todas y todos On behalf of UN Women and our Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, my colleagues and I are delighted to join you today for the regional review of the Beijing Declaration and 1

2 Platform for Action in Latin America and the Caribbean, which we are proud to convene together with ECLAC. President Bachelet, thank you for honoring us this morning with your presence at this opening session. It is historic to be here in Santiago with you, now as President of Chile, also having been our founding Executive Director, to review the progress made since Beijing. Your presence is an inspiration to achieve an excellent outcome in this special session. Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena, thank you for hosting this important meeting. We deeply value our partnership with you and your team to make gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls a reality in Latin America and the Caribbean. I extend my appreciation to Minister Alejandrina German and the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women; and to Ministers, Government officials and representatives of civil society that join us today for your commitment and passion to assess where we stand in achieving gender equality and women s empowerment 20 years after Beijing. 2

3 While we are meeting here in Chile, similar regional reviews are taking place this month around the world in partnership with Regional Commissions in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Europe. The outcomes of all these meetings are key steps in a process that will culminate in the global review of Beijing +20 at the 59 th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, in March next year. As we know, while much has been achieved since 1995, overall progress remains unacceptably slow, particularly for the most excluded women and girls. No country has achieved equality for women and girls and significant levels of inequality between women and men persist. The review of the Beijing Platform for Action, an achievement that many of you contributed to making a reality, comes at a critical time. In 2015 we will celebrate 15 years of the UN Security Resolution 1325 and Member States will define the future sustainable development agenda an agenda that will 3

4 be universal, transformative and rights based. Ensuring a more equal world now and for future generations is the most urgent challenge of the century. And we now have an opportunity to ensure that gender equality is at the heart of the new post development agenda, through a standalone goal on gender equality and solid gender mainstreaming throughout the Sustainable Development Goals. Your support to take the gender equality and women s empowerment agenda forward in this historical context has never been more critical. The regional consultations held prior to CSW 57 and 58 in San Salvador and Mexico City, and their respective declarations, made an invaluable contribution to processes. And I have no doubt that this meeting will enable you to arrive at CSW 59 with strong, articulated shared views, and powerful messages and demands. As in previous years, we count on Latin America and the Caribbean s constructive leadership through the adoption of a forward-looking and progressive common position here in Santiago. Latin America and the Caribbean has posted impressive gains in promoting gender equality and women s empowerment. The 4

5 region has one of the highest levels of representation of women in Parliament globally. President Michelle Bachelet is one of the five prominent female Heads of State and Government in Latin America and the Caribbean. Robust legislation is in place, with laws aimed at ensuring equality between women and men, eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls and upholding their right to participate and lead in decision-making. The adoption of temporary special measures and your approach to gender parity are an example for the world. We applaud the active role of this Regional Conference and the progressive Consensus adopted in Santo Domingo, Brasilia and Quito, as well as the Montevideo Consensus adopted at the Regional Conference on Population and Development for their vision, including the advances to ensure women s physical autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights. 5

6 While we recognize the important progress made to date, we also acknowledge that this progress remains uneven among and within countries, and that gender inequality and discrimination, and violence against women persist. Latin America and the Caribbean has spearheaded the data revolution and development of statistics to measure time use and the economic value of women s unpaid work. Half of the women that do have access to paid work are concentrated in vulnerable and precarious jobs or in the informal sector, with little or no access to social protection. The unequal access to resources, such as credit and land, between women and men is one of the most dramatic expressions of inequality. Women from marginalized groups experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities. The rates of femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean are alarming, as are the levels of impunity for perpetrators of all forms of violence against women. In this context, we call on you to take urgent and sustained actions to accelerate the implementation of existing gender equality 6

7 commitments and count on this region s strong and active leadership: - To counter agendas and movements that are detrimental to women s rights; - to ensure indigenous and Afro-descendant women and girls rights; - To invigorate and support national gender equality mechanisms so they can attain higher levels of influence on public policies, budgets and institution; - And to strengthen civil society and the women s and feminist movement so it can effectively carry out its role to monitor and hold States accountable for the fulfilment of their commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women. - 7

8 It is a true privilege to share this space with representatives of the vibrant and diverse women s and feminist movement of Latin America and the Caribbean, an inspiration for all of us, men and women, who strive to make gender equality a reality. Thank you so much for joining us. Your views, your voice and your experience are an invaluable contribution that must be clearly reflected in this review of the Beijing Platform for Action. I would like to end quoting Chilean poet, diplomat and teacher Gabriela Mistral, the first Nobel laureate in Literature in Latin America and the Caribbean and also the only Spanish-speaking woman to be awarded this Prize so far. She received the Nobel Prize in 1945, the same year the UN was founded, and just a few months after the end of World War II. She said: Where there is a tree to plant, plant it. Where there is an error to correct, correct it. Where there is a challenge that others avoid, meet it. Be the one to remove the stone in the path. 8

9 We count on this region s active leadership to re-ignite a movement that is strong enough to ensure that women s and girls human rights become a reality in all countries. Thank you. Muchas gracias. 9