| ISO: ISL *************************************************************************** The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Secretariat. *************************************************************************** AS WRITTEN Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing China 4 -15 September 1995 Statement by H.E. Mr. Halldor Asgrimsson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Iceland Madam Chairperson, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, May I begin by expressing our thanks and appreciation to you, Madam Chairperson, and to the Government of China, for hosting this Fourth World Conference on Women, the largest UN conference ever. There is no doubt that the UN Conferences on Women have contributed enormously to the advancement of gender equality. They have greatly advanced the on-going international exchange of information and ideas about women, their status and rights, leading to legal reforms and changes in international standards. Last but not least they have accelerated changes in norms regarding women's rights. On October 24th, 1975, in the wake of the first UN Women's Conference in Mexico, Icelandic women took a day off, spotlighting in a memorable way the dimensions of women's work in our society. Work which had often been neither recognised nor valued became noticeable by its absence that day. It is the case world-wide, that much of the work of women does not appear in national and international data. This affects both the status of women and their own sense of identity, obscuring the importance of women's contribution to society and to the well-being of humanity. When we overlook, in our decision making, the hidden resources of women's work, experience and ideas, we risk taking the wrong course into our common future. Madam Chairperson, Icelandic law prohibits all discrimination on the basis of gender. Even so, certain temporary affirmative action measures, intended to improve the status of women and promote equality of the sexes, are accepted as legal. Similarly, special consideration paid to women in connection with pregnancy and maternity is not seen as discriminatory. Icelandic law also ensures women and men equal rights to property and inheritance. Furthermore, in accordance with the Icelandic Personal Names Act, a child's surname is generally his or her patronymic or matronymic, and women do not change their names when they marry. But although the legal rights of women are generally well-established in Iceland, a closer look at facts and figures on their status in society reveals that the legislation has not in fact achieved gender equality. Progress has been made in some areas but in others it still seems to be an uphill battle. Icelandic women have, for example, had the right to vote for eighty years, but have still not broken the glass ceiling, being only 25% of politically elected representatives. Moreover, despite equal-pay legislation, there is still a considerable gender-based wage differential in men s favour, a differential which has increased rather than decreased over the past decade. This is not due to a lack of education among women. Icelandic girls are now the majority of students graduating from the University of Iceland. They have taken to heart the underlying meaning of the Icelandic word for education, which is "strengthening ones ability as a human being". The Icelandic government is greatly concerned by the high proportion of illiteracy and lack of education among women in the world. Education is the key to equality even though the doors to economic and political opportunities have been opening slowly so slowly, in fact, that it sometimes seems that while women have been increasing their standard of education, the locks on the doors of opportunity have been changed. As we have seen, equal rights legislation does not guarantee equality, but it does acknowledge inequality and at the same time facilitate and accelerate changes towards equality. In order to strengthen and implement the Icelandic laws on equality, the Government presents an action plan every four years, stating what measures it intends to take to achieve greater equality between men and women. This covers most areas of administration, for example employment and wages, education, representative functions and positions of responsibility, as well as various social improvements. The current action plan, adopted by Parliament in May 1993 and expiring at the end of l 996, emphasises the need for Ministers of State and their Ministries to advance gender equality. In general, the Icelandic Government's main concerns in this field are to promote gender equality on the labour market, bridge the wage gap between the sexes, and make it easier for men and women to share family responsibilities. Finally, the Icelandic Government has decided to give priority to direct measures implementing existing legislation to improve the status of women. It has become increasingly evident that gender equality will not become a reality until the work, experience, knowledge and attitudes of both sexes are recognised as being of equal value in all areas of society; that is, when women and men enjoy equal rights and fulfil their commitments jointly, as members of society and as family members. Gender equality has, not surprisingly, been seen as a women's issue. They have set the agenda. But we must keep in mind that they do not exist in isolation. Changes in the roles of women must be accompanied by changes in the roles of men changes they must define for themselves. If we are to achieve gender equality men must be active partners, and there is an increasing need for them to alter their traditional male image. I wish to emphasise, here, that our need for change does not override our need to mutually respect differing customs, values and opinions. We must avoid forcing our values on other cultures which may well have totally different attitudes and traditions. Tolerance is the key. This, however, does not mean that we can accept compromise in the matter of human rights. Our cultures differ and we should appreciate the variety and learn from it, but we can not accept that such differences be used to systematically undermine human rights. Whatever our differences, we all have in common our dignity as human beings, the core of which is our fundamental human rights. Madam Chairperson, Human rights are neither a privilege nor a goal; they are every human beingÂs birthright. We know that these rights can be violated, as when violence is used against women in the home or in society as a whole, and we must fight such violations with all our strength. The fundamental idea must be respect for each and every individual, respect for ourselves and for our neighbours. This UN Conference, the fourth on Women, is also one in a chain of international conferences on issues of key significance to human kind. It is vital that we keep this context in mind and ensure that the international community makes progress towards gender equality here in Beijing. In the draft Platform for Action, to be finalised during the next two weeks, there are important portions of the text which are still in dispute. These include those relating to women's human rights, such as their right to control of their own body, to equal partnership in decision making, to equal access to the economy, to ownership of land and property and to inheritance. Even the right of girl-children to equal opportunities in life is in dispute. As we work to confirm the human rights of women, it is our duty to eliminate all forms of discrimination against girl-children. The international community and all the governments of the world have an obligation to ensure girl-children equal rights to life and to grant them the same opportunities as boy-children have. It is beyond doubt that equality between women and men, girls and boys, is urgently needed, indeed vital, for the well-being of all human beings. Let us keep this in mind as we finalise the Platform for Action. If we do, the conference could realise its potential by giving us a practical programme of action, a programme that the governments of the world will recognise as one they should fund and can usefully implement. Madam Chairperson, "Womankind is weaker than mankind" has become proverbial in Icelandic it comes from a novel by our Nobel-winning author Halldor Kiljan Laxness. "Womankind is weaker than mankind" has been used to express the weakness of women as compared to men. I think this is an opportune time to revise its meaning, thus: "Woman-as-a-kind is weaker than mankind. Man-as-a-kind is also weaker than mankind" but women and men together can constitute a powerful whole built on equality, development and peace. | |
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