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Organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Diamond Hotel Philippines
Roxas Blvd. , Manila
6 February 2009
10:00am to 12:00nn
The Way Forward – Accounting for Results in
Making Human Rights and MDGs Real for Women
delivered by
ATTY. LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines
A very pleasant morning to all of you! UNAIDS Country Coordinator Teresita Marie Bagasao, co-panelists for this segment, Dr. Erlinda Capanes representing Secretary Ralph Recto, and Prof. Leonor Briones, representatives of bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, co-workers in the public sector, partners from academe, women NGOs and people’s organizations, good morning!
Regional Programme Director Jean D’Cunha of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), thank you for inviting the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines to participate in today’s event. It is my pleasure to be here today to witness the Philippine launching of these three publications: the flagship report “Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009,” the monitoring and reporting tool “Making the MDGs Work for All: Gender Responsive Rights-Based Approaches to the MDGs,” and the documentation of the CEDAW Southeast Asia Programme experience on women’s human rights advocacy, “Going CEDAW: The CEDAW-SEAP Philippine Program 2005-2008. We, in the Commission on Human Rights, welcome these three documents because, read together, they are exceptionally useful tools for women’s rights advocates.
The flagship report highlights the critical question of `Who Answers to Women?’ and thereby probes into the issue of the evident failure in the area of accountability, which only serves to reinforce gender-based inequality. It also serves as a useful guide because it leaves the reader – particularly the advocates – with suggestions on where to start and how to measure progress. The CHR agrees wholeheartedly that the true “proof of accountability is in the experiences of women going about their normal lives.” In fact, as I have once had the occasion to state: ultimately, the goal of the women’s rights movement must be to achieve a state of affairs where we shall no longer speak of Women’s Rights, but only of Human Rights - when we take the gender factor out of the discussion, and simply ask if each one of us are able to live free without fear of violence, able to profit from our own hard work, are free to make choices about how we live, and so forth.
The publication “Making the MDGs Work for All,” on the other hand, is a vital companion to the first because it offers concrete tools – such as specific gender indicators – that would aid government and civil society advocates in effectively achieving our Millennium Development Goals without sacrificing or neglecting the aspirations of the women’s rights movement. Once again, the CHR cannot agree more because, after all, it would be difficult – nay, impossible – to achieve true development without achieving gender equality.
We must call on all policymakers to approach development issues with the “Double Dividend Principle” clearly in mind, which emphasizes that the promotion of gender equality does not benefit women alone, but society as a whole. We must remind them that, in its “State of the World’s Children Report,” UNICEF found concrete evidence of the double dividend because “Healthy, educated and empowered women have healthy, educated and confident daughters and sons. … Without [gender equality], it will be impossible to create a world of equity, tolerance and shared responsibility…” (UNICEF, State of the World’s Children 2007: The Double Dividend of Gender Equality). As the Gender and Development Group of the World Bank reported:
Gender inequality, which remains pervasive worldwide, tends to lower the productivity of labour and the efficiency of labour allocation in households and the economy, intensifying the unequal distribution of resources. It also contributes to the non-monetary aspects of poverty – lack of security, opportunity and empowerment – that lower the quality of life for both men and women. While women and girls bear the largest and most direct costs of these inequalities, the costs cut broadly across society, ultimately hindering development and poverty reduction.
The launching of these two documents, together with the documentation of real-life experiences on women’s human rights capacity building and advocacy in the Southeast Asian region, truly is a great way to begin the year 2009. We all want to know what the way forward would require from each of us. How do we enforce accountability in dealing with gender equality issues? How do we measure results?
The Commission on Human Rights, for its part, has the Women's Human Rights Center, which is a special unit that investigates human rights violations against women and initiates legal action or provides assistance in cases of discrimination, non-recognition of women's rights as human rights, imposition of multiple burdens, unequal access to land, violence against women, among others. We are aware of the proposal to tap the center as a gender ombuds unit under the Magna Carta of Women. If and when such proposal does crystallize and the CHR is so defined, we shall welcome the challenge to evolve and prepare in order to discharge such functions.
We, in the CHR, however, will be the first to admit that the goals of women empowerment and gender equality cannot be discharged by the separate and independent actions of duty-holders. Cooperation is essential.
With the unveiling of these documents – which are the concrete manifestations of the hard work, diligence and dedication of women’s rights advocates all over the world – I am glad that we can confidently say that we are on the right path. We are exactly where we are supposed to be: government and non-government agencies, advocates, rights-holders and duty-holders alike, all working together, exchanging ideas and experiences, pooling our resources together, and ensuring that we are all on the same page and working towards the same goal.
Once before, for instance, the CHR called the collaboration of legislators as “critical” and urged support for the Commission on Human Rights’ legislative agenda. Last January 30, 2009, we moved one step closer to achieving the realization of a part of that agenda when the Senate passed the Magna Carta for Women on its second reading.
Of course, we all agree that, with or without the Magna Carta for Women, questions still abound and a lot of work still needs to be done, especially in the enforcement or implementation aspect – which makes the issue of accountability even more critical. But we must take comfort and, most importantly, inspiration in knowing that such developments, as well as events like the present, only prove that progress is being made, and new grounds are being broken.
What we have to do is – quite simply – to keep at it, remain vigilant and persistent, and know that, if we do, progress is inevitable.
Thank you, once again for inviting me today. It has been a pleasure speaking before a group of dedicated, empowered and empowering men and women. A pleasant day to all of you!
Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals (2003).