2000 - Advocacy Guide to Women's World Demands

APPENDIX

THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION

General Assembly
185 MEMBER STATES, 1 STATE = 1 VOTE
The General Assembly meets once a year from mid-September to mid-December. Its decisions are non-binding on member States.

Security Council
5 PERMANENT MEMBER STATES: UNITED STATES, FRANCE, ENGLAND, CHINA, RUSSIA
10 MEMBERS ELECTED FOR A TWO-YEAR TERM
This Council makes decisions on peace-keeping.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
54 MEMBERS ELECTED FOR THREE-YEAR TERMS
ECOSOC coordinates economic and social activities and makes or initiates studies on health, educational, economic, and social matters.
It set up commissions and committees.

Commissions and committees report to ECOSOC. Their role consists in carrying out studies and issuing reports so that the Economic and Social Council may make recommendations to the UN General Assembly.

• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
• Commission on the Status of Women
• Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Rapporteurs

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights established the mechanism of "special rapporteurs". The rapporteurs listed below deal with the issues brought forth by the World March of Women.

Poverty: two rapporteurs have tabled their reports recently, one on human rights and extreme poverty (1996), and another on economic, social and cultural rights and on the redistribution of income (1997).

Violence: two rapporteurs were mandated to undertake a series of reports on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)

The statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by the Rome Convention in July 1998. The Court's statute will enter into force when sixty (60) States have ratified this convention. One hundred and twenty (120) countries sent delegates to Rome Convention. The United States, Libya, Iraq, Israel and China have refused to sign the convention, whereas the other countries have committed to the ratification process.

The Court's jurisdiction is limited to crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of genocide, regardless of the place or time that the crimes were committed. The ICC operates independently of all political powers, and its power to investigate is not subordinated to any mechanism of agreement or consent by the various States. However, it can only prosecute individuals over whom the State has agreed that the Court has authority or who have committed crimes in a signatory State.

It can be seized by a signatory state, the Security Council of the United Nations or the prosecutor in charge of gathering testimonies and information.

It will only intervene when national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute their own citizens. For a transitional period, the States may choose not to recognize the Court's authority for a period of seven years.

The causes of the resistance to the ICC run deep; some nation-states do not want an external power to have the possibility to intervene over their jurisdiction. Some say that such a Court may hinder diplomatic interventions and delay cease-fires. However, contrary to the notion of countries who do not want to be involved, the impunity of war criminals helps feed vengeance and in fact postpones conflict resolution, as demonstrated by the two most recent international tribunals: the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (as of February 1993) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (as of 1994).

Indeed, this Court will allow us to take great steps forward in the struggle against impunity and will pressure States to adopt more transparent external affairs policies in accordance with the rule of law and many international treaties concerning human rights. It will facilitate the defense of the rights of victims in order that they may know the truth, and that they may have recourse to a justice system that is independent of all political power.

In this perspective, this Court will help acknowledge the violations of the fundamental rights of women so that the rapes and sexual assaults may be judged by a court capable of truly executing its investigative power, while respecting the rights of witnesses.

THE THREE PILLARS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1948)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the first source of a universal definition of human rights. It proclaims equal rights and dignity for men and women, as well as the right to dignity, life, liberty and security of person, prohibition of torture, and so on. However, in actual usage, its articles are never invoked to defend women's rights. There is no trace, for example, of women's struggle for the right to life (see article 3).

Rights must produce effects. The rights expressed in the Declaration are detailed or explained in other instruments such as:

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Adopted in 1966, effective in 1976, ratified by 140 countries.
It prohibits:

• discrimination,
• cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,
• forced marriages, etc.

It is accompanied by an optional protocol intended for individuals only.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Adopted in 1966, effective in 1976, ratified by 137 countries.
It affirms:

• general rights to work, a sufficient standard of living, social security, health and education;
• the freedom of association.

The adoption of an optional protocol is currently under study.

INSTRUMENTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

International instruments represent a means to exert pressure on States for the recognition of women's rights. In order to have legal status, an international instrument must have been adopted by a majority vote (50 + 1) of the UN General Assembly. It must also have been ratified by a number of states as determined in the convention, and have an effective date after ratification.

Declarations

A declaration affirms and recognizes principles and rights. It does not have an executive nature. Declarations are not treaties; they are not ratified.

Covenants and Conventions

Covenants and conventions have an executive nature; they are treaties. By ratifying these conventions, a State commits to adopting laws and measures to implement the rights that are stated in the convention. A committee is the monitoring body and is mandated to gather reports from States as to the application. Generally, a protocol accompanies the covenant or the convention.

Protocols

A protocol lets a State, a group or a person file a complaint. Protocols constitute a means to exercise pressure at an international level to oblige States to implement the rights that are stated in these covenants and conventions. The content of the protocols may vary according to the groups that are targeted by the complaint process. Each State must individually sign the protocol. Therefore, the term optional protocol is used.

Reserves

Reserves are procedures through which a State may opt out of a commitment contained within a treaty that it has ratified.

Two important conventions for the World March of Women

Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

This convention was adopted in 1979 and came into force in 1981, with the ratification of 160 States.

Currently, there is a movement to obtain ratification by 100% of States in the year 2000. This is the primary international instrument whose objective is the equality of women. The Convention's main points are:

• the right to a sufficient standard of living
• women's right to participate fully in development
• access to justice
• the right to work
• women's right to property
• access to credit
• the recognition of women's unpaid work
• the elimination of the prostitution of and traffic in women

A draft optional protocol is currently under study and has been adopted by the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

This convention was adopted in 1989, and came into force in 1990, with the ratification of 190 States. It promotes:

• the right to a standard of living that is sufficient to ensure the development of the child;
• the elimination of violence;
• the elimination of the sexual and economic exploitation of children (no specific reference to girls).

Two draft optional protocols are being studied: one is focussed on the sale of children and child prostitution and pornography; the other targets the participation of children in armed conflicts.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICES

The indices make it possible to measure certain quality of life parameters. The Human Development Report (1995) introduces the gender-related development index which uses the same variables as for the human development index, while taking into account the social inequalities between women and men. It includes an index for the representation of women in positions of power.

INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS

International meetings are strategic moments where commitments are made. The following list, in inverse chronological order, shows the meetings whose primary themes related to the demands of the World March. The list includes NGO conferences that were held in parallel to these meetings.

1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing

Twelve critical areas were identified, some of which pertain to the demands of the World March.

Critical Areas of the Beijing Platform for Action:

• Women and Poverty
• Education and Training of Women
• Women and Health
• Violence against Women
• Women and Armed Conflict
• Women and the Economy
• Women in Power and Decision-making
• Institutional Mechanism for the Advancement of Women
• Human Rights of Women
• Women and the Media
• Women and the Environment
• The Girl-child

The signatory States committed to presenting national action programs to the UN. As of August 1997, only 54 programs had been tabled. In June 2000, the UN General Assembly will take stock of the progress of the Beijing Platform for Action since 1995.

In 1995, the NGO Forum on Women drew attendance from 30,000 women around the world. In June 2000, the women's NGOs intend to submit their own reports in parallel with governments.

1995 World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen

The main themes were social security, redistribution of resources, collective organizations and solidarity. The States committed to greatly reducing general poverty and to eradicate absolute poverty (extreme) as quickly as possible. At the very least, people must be able to meet their fundamental needs, such as food, shelter, primary education, basic health care, safe water, sanitation, work and personal freedom. Following this Summit, the UN General Assembly declared the "First Decade for the Eradication of Poverty" which began in 1997.

A parallel NGO Forum was also held and proposed the cancellation the debt, the respect of the rich countries' decision to invest 0.7% of their GNP for public development aid, and the creation of an international fund for social development.

The Alternative Declaration of NGOs presented to the World Summit for Social Development emphasized the necessity to consider the structural causes of poverty: market forces, market liberalization, social and environmental disintegration. Women demanded that civil society participate fully in the objectives of social development.

1994 International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo

This conference was the follow-up to the first UN Conference on Population held in Bucharest in 1974. The theme was equity and equality between the sexes, access to reproductive health services and to family planning. This conference recognized that the rights of women in reproductive matters are fundamental rights for couples and individuals. It reaffirmed women's rights to prenatal and postnatal health services and to rapid information services in the area of sexual and reproductive health. The elimination of social, cultural, political and economic discrimination against women was defined as a prerequisite to the elimination of poverty.

1993 World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna

This conference stated that women's rights are human rights and thus are inseparable from other human rights (economic, social, cultural, civil, and political). States committed to ratifying certain key conventions for ensuring the enjoyment of rights, particularly women's rights. The conference recalled that the analysis of the relationships between the sexes must be integrated at all levels. Violence against women must be eliminated, as it is incompatible with human dignity and the recognition of human rights. This conference examined in depth the role of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights.

A parallel North-South Women's Conference on violence against women was held.

1992 Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro

This summit attempted to reconcile economic activities and the protection of the planet with a view toward ensuring sustainable development for all. Agenda 21 and an environmental plan of action for the year 2000 were adopted.

A Global NGO Forum was held, calling for the full participation of women and for commitments to undertake efforts for a more transparent, democratic and accountable world economy.

1985 World Conference on Women, Nairobi

This World conference was called to examine and to evaluate the results of the UN Decade for Women.

It emphasized the necessity for women to participate as equal partners with men in all domains and that they have access to education and to vocational training.

States adopted the "Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women for the Period up to the Year 2000".

An NGO Forum was held, and is known as the cradle of world feminism.

1980 World Conference of the UN Decade for Women, Copenhagen

This conference emphasized education, employment and women's participation in the development process. An NGO Forum was also held.

1975 International Women's Year Conference, Mexico City

The period from 1975 to 1985 was declared the United Nations Decade for Women: equality, development and peace. These three themes evolved throughout the international meetings that took place during these ten years.

The Conference focussed on political, social, economic and cultural obstacles to the promotion of women.

BRETTON WOODS ACCORDS

In July 1944, in Bretton Woods, a small village in New Hampshire in the United States, accords were signed between representatives of 50 countries to attempt to institute an international monetary and financial system. The countries that lost the Second World War (Germany, Italy and Japan) were not part of this group. These accords set up the current economic system by creating the international financial institutions described in the following paragraphs.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

182 MEMBER STATES
Voting power is a function of the contribution, or investment, paid to the Fund. The richer the country, the more money is paid to the Fund and therefore the greater the country's power.
Voting takes place mostly to set the Fund's policies and to approve credit.
Mission: to ensure the stability of the international monetary system and to promote international trade.

World Bank (WB)

182 MEMBER STATES.
Only members of the IMF may be members of the World Bank. Voting rights are proportional to the contribution paid.
Mission: to promote economic development and the reconstruction of emerging countries (Africa, Asia and Latin America) or countries destroyed by war (in Europe).

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

Mission: to regularize commercial tariff policies among Member States through a progressive implementation of international free trade. The GATT has been replaced since January 1995 by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Mission: to guide the next steps toward the liberalization of world trade and to supervise international conflict resolution.

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

27 MEMBER STATES
Created: 1960, in the context of the Cold War.
Mission: to organize cooperation in the economic and social sectors and to recommend macro-economic policies (e.g. MAI). The OECD is where links can be made between economic, commercial, monetary, technological, nuclear and environmental issues.

Bank of International Settlements (BIS)

29 MEMBER STATES
This is a central bank for the central banks of rich member countries.
The executive committee, or "Committee in Basle", sets monetary policies of these countries.