Opinion on the 'Fourth World Conference on Women'

(95/C 256/09)

On 23 February 1995, the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the third paragraph of Rule 23 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on the 'Fourth World Conference on Women'.

The Section for External Relations, Trade and Development Policy, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 21 June 1995. The Rapporteur was Mrs Costa Macedo.

At its 327th Plenary Session (meeting of 6 July 1995), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following Opinion by a majority with ten abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The third UN World Conference on Women, held in Nairobi in 1985, approved implementation of forward-looking action strategies for promoting women and recommended measures for achieving these.

1.2. It will thus fall to the Beijing Conference (4-15 September 1995) to assess progress throughout the world in human rights and the promotion of fundamental rights and freedom for women; the Conference is also to discuss the upsurge in poverty amongst women.

1.3. Given the importance of the conclusions of the Rio Conference on the environment and development, the Vienna Conference on human rights, the Cairo Conference on population and development and the World Summit in Copenhagen on social development, it is imperative that the final document of the Beijing Conference be in keeping with the decisions adopted at these other Conferences.

1.4. The General Assembly of the UN held on 13 December 1985 defined both the strategic objective of the preparatory meetings of the conference for that decade and the priority objective of its work as being the fight for equality, development and peace and the adoption of the most suitable measures for achieving these objectives in a realistic, practical fashion. The idea is that the main debate of the 1995 conference should focus on the path to follow to promote women in all countries, taking account of their cultural diversity and different economic circumstances.

1.5. The main aim of the 1995 conference is to review the world-wide situation and to assess progress in women's circumstances in the light of the objectives and strategies defined in Nairobi. This aim thus a) presupposes the political will to adopt a platform for more forceful action, stressing key questions which are seen as the main obstacles to development and advancement for the majority of women in the world and b) involves setting priorities for implementing a new programme during the 1996-2001 period.

1.6. This new 'Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women - Equality, Development and Peace' currently under discussion is therefore to be defined and adopted in Beijing in September 1995. This 'platform' defines key areas for action where basic shortcomings still exist, including those relating to the way decision-making powers are shared between men and women; respect of women's fundamental rights; real access for women to basic education and health services; equal participation in economic life, recognition of women's contribution to the economy and the sharing of family and work responsibilities between men and women; and moves to combat violence against women. This platform is also to propose new national and international mechanisms for boosting equal development and participation for women.

1.7. The Committee stresses the fact that women world-wide make up more than half of the population; they, together with their children, constitute the large majority of those living in poverty and suffer all kinds of disadvantages, in particular because of their lack of education and vocational training. This impact has far-reaching repercussions on their ability to exercise rights and duties and meet responsibilities, and consequently affects all life in society; the Beijing Conference must therefore come up with a final document which is capable of providing a new momentum in the promotion of women's rights and responsibilities throughout the world.

1.8. This therefore requires that the Conference adopt decisions on feasible objectives which are realistic enough to instigate the changes needed throughout the world, so that the Conference's final document in fact develops into an instrument which can be applied in a whole series of different cultural, social and economic environments, and leads to new commitment to equal opportunities and women's advancement; these matters should not be viewed as marginal issues which only concern women, but as political issues which concern the whole of society, constitute a key factor in development and affect democracy.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee recognizes the importance of the Fourth World Conference on Women and believes that this event can help establish effective equal opportunities, genuine improvements in women's living conditions and increased development which would allow all women to declare and claim their due.

2.2. It should nonetheless be noted that promoting equal opportunities between men and women is not simply a matter of applying laws or adopting new legislation or new measures. It is much more fundamental than that: it involves a choice of society and development model, which in turn should involve a change in attitude and behaviour and mean that segregation and discrimination can effectively be overcome.

2.3. The Committee feels that it must be stressed at this point that the strategies for promoting equal rights and opportunities and equal freedoms and progress for all women and men must involve:

- establishing specific measures for improving women's circumstances in practice, particularly as regards employment;

- setting up contact and exchange networks;

- developing training programmes and awareness and information campaigns and crucial health and education programmes to counteract the continual physical violation of women's and girls' human rights;

- financing specific positive action measures, particularly to help women in the poorest categories, but also to secure equal participation for women in decision-making.

2.4. It is therefore important to focus development dynamics in this way on those practices and models liable a) to solve the problems and overcome the common obstacles encountered by a majority of women in the world and b) to redress present inequalities, encouraging the various operators concerned to mobilize resources, so as to make it possible to identify more quickly which are the best routes to suitable, definitive solutions.

2.5. The Community and its Institutions have been a driving force in promoting equal opportunities between men and women. By adopting appropriate legislation and action programmes to promote equal opportunities between men and women since 1975, the Community has gradually defined and expanded the field of application of the equality principle already stated in Article 119 of the Treaty, but limited to equal pay for equal work.

2.6. Recognizing the positive, stimulating impact of Commission action to encourage well-integrated development by Member States, the Committee nevertheless feels that moves to expand and consolidate existing Community legislation in this area should be continued and stepped up so as to cope with the new socio-economic context and new challenges in the 21st century.

2.7. The Committee's interest in the Beijing Conference, and indeed the interest of the European Community as a whole, stems from a common concern that the principles of equality and parity in democracy be applied in promoting women's status in all Member States. In view of the European Union's key commitment to development cooperation, it can help ensure that more account is taken of women's problems throughout the world, particularly in developing countries.

2.8. Against this background, the Committee reaffirms the Union's general responsibility for promoting and protecting universal human rights, of which women's rights form an integral, inalienable and inseparable part. Indeed, even within the European Union women do not yet enjoy their rights fully in the same way as men due largely to certain cultural and social attitudes. It is therefore recommended that institutions draw up programmes and measures to boost women's powers and responsibilities, not only to improve their status but to improve society as a whole, with a view to achieving social justice and strengthening democracy.

2.9. The following concerns have been identified at the regional preparatory meetings for the Beijing Conference, including the Vienna meeting, and confirmed at the last preparatory Committee meeting in New York. The Committee feels that these are most important:

- inadequate promotion and protection of human rights for women;

- an increasing number of women in poverty;

- insufficient awareness of women's contribution to the economy in the context of sustainable development, together with inadequate promotion of their potential;

- not enough instances of de facto equality between sexes in employment and in economic and political opportunities, and inadequate measures for reconciling work and family responsibilities;

- not enough women involved in political life;

- inadequate statistical systems, data bases and methods to be able to outline policies and legislation with a full knowledge of the facts involved, and to secure equal opportunities between men and women; and

- inadequate intra- and inter-regional networks for improving women's circumstances.

2.10. Highlighting the Resolution adopted by the Social Affairs Council of Ministers on 27 March 1995 on balanced participation by men and women in political decision-making, the Committee underlines the need for all the Member States to strengthen mechanisms for boosting equality not only at national, but also at regional and local level, inter alia to respond to women's requirements for information. In addition, all European institutions need to develop mechanisms to ensure that equal opportunities criteria and objectives are mainstreamed into their specific areas of responsibility.

2.11. The Committee also feels that assistance should be stepped up for actions undertaken within the Community equality networks set up by the European Commission, which involve representatives from all Member States.

2.12. The Committee endorses the broad series of measures proposed by the Vienna platform. These include specific recommendations, the implementation of which will fall to governments, but they also refer to the predominant role to be played by the NGOs, international, regional and sub-regional bodies and operators in development cooperation.

2.13. The Committee underlines the need and the responsibility for monitoring follow-up which must be entrusted to the European Union, the European Commission and national equality mechanisms, in keeping with these bodies' respective powers. Given that the preparatory meetings have already paid special attention to mobilization of financial resources for the new strategies to be adopted, the Committee endorses the idea of establishing global objectives for mobilizing resources.

2.14. In the light of the Vienna Conference negotiations, the Committee considers 0,7% of GNP to be a fair allocation for official development aid. It recommends that this decision be implemented speedily and backed up by strict assessment and follow-up mechanisms.

2.15. From a general point of view, the Committee urges that the decisions relating to women taken at the Conference on the Environment in Rio de Janeiro, the Vienna Human Rights Conference, the Cairo Conference on Population and the Social Summit in Copenhagen be confirmed and fleshed out in the decisions taken at the Fourth World Conference on Women.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The Economic and Social Committee has taken careful note of the principles set out in Nairobi by the United Nations on examination of the application of forward-looking strategies for action; the Committee proposes that an international mechanism be established to monitor application of the international development strategy as it affects women in this specific context.

3.2. Over and above the general intentions of defining measures for dealing with the numerous obstacles to women participating more in the world of work and in society on an equal footing with men, the Committee highlights the urgent need to:

- apply effectively current measures to boost women's integration in the labour market,

- intensify the efforts to reach the goal of equal pay,

- improve their working conditions and social protection, particularly in the many atypical forms of work situations, such as part-time work, work at home and contract work, as well as work in free zones, where mainly women are employed,

- improve their opportunities for professional advancement,

- secure an equal division of family and work responsibilities between men and women,

- so as to give shape to a key dimension of the strategy for economic and social cohesion in Europe, and as a condition for sustainable development in the rest of the world.

3.2.1. Faced with all the changes expected in this last decade of the millennium, Europe for its part will need skilled labour, and here women's contribution will be a determining factor. However, in most Member States women often represent an under-used source of labour and, to a considerable extent, women still fill low-skilled jobs, often with little job security. The Committee is aware of this and notes that the gap is widening between male and female unemployment rates (7% and 12% respectively) in the European Union as a whole. Even more worrying is the increase in the number of long-term unemployed women, who today constitute 55% of all long-term unemployed and are encountering particularly serious difficulties in finding employment again.

3.2.2. In the developing countries, taking account of the indicators which show that in most of these countries women make up more than 50% of the rural population and between 50 and 70% of the agricultural workforce, the Committee feels that there is a pressing need for world-wide recognition and appreciation of the many contributions which women from rural and farming environments make to the family, community and society in general, particularly their role in environmental conservation. It should also be pointed out that in these countries women represent a significant force in agriculture; their contribution to the gross domestic product is estimated at 35 to 45% and they produce more than 50% of the developing world's foodstuffs. However, more than 500 million of them live in poverty, are often reduced to subsistence farming and do not have access to resources or markets.

3.2.3. Moreover, the Committee recommends that special attention be devoted to the problems associated with women in rural areas - particularly those involved in farming who continue to be cut off from know-how and practice in modern farming technologies.

These new technologies usually accrue to men, either because of the existing male/female relationships, or because of programmes which are mainly directed at men. They are often implemented at the expense of the prevailing land use by women.

Action must therefore be taken to remedy the generally disadvantaged conditions under which women in the poorest countries live and work, by involving them as both participants and beneficiaries in programmes and development projects aiming to improve rural living standards.

3.2.4. Moreover, the Committee points out that as a result of economic developments at international level (industrial restructuring, structural adjustment programmes), the employment situation for women in developing countries has deteriorated and women are increasingly having to turn to insecure, low-paid and vulnerable jobs.

3.2.5. Through both its aid policy and its trade policy, the EU can create conditions which will underpin the improvement of the position of women in developing countries. Through its aid policy the EU can introduce 'positive discrimination' in favour of countries which respect internationally recognized women's rights. In the trade context the EU should argue strongly in international fora for the inclusion of a social clause in international trade agreements within the WTO.

3.2.6. The Committee would also draw attention to the increasingly difficult situation of women in the countries of central and eastern Europe currently undergoing transition. It considers that the European Union has a particular responsibility towards these countries and the women who live there, especially on the basis of current and future agreements.

3.3. So that the objectives of a policy promoting equality can be fully attained, the Committee feels it is most important that three basic principles of the Community's third programme of medium-term actions (1991-1995) be put into practice:

- an integrated approach allowing combined, complementary use of the various measures;

- a partnership policy allowing all operators concerned to be mobilized;

- regular assessment of programmes and measures and establishment of assessment tools which are better suited to the Community context.

3.4. The Committee believes that equality objectives should feature strongly in all economic policies. It endorses the Commission's proposal to establish a new fourth medium-term action programme for equal opportunities, the main objective of which is to help promote women's participation on the labour market. The Committee will be able to make a useful contribution here on the basis of its expertise and representative nature.

3.5. From the main questions and concerns raised in the preparatory meetings it is clear that the European Community and its Institutions can provide key assistance in drawing up suitable responses to the following problems: women's situations in armed conflicts and their part in establishing peace (this is a highly topical question for the four platforms in the south); the need for women to be represented in the media in a less stereotyped fashion; unequal access for women to education and health; insufficient attention being paid to women's potential role in environmental matters; inadequacy of mechanisms, which encourages discrimination against women and girls; women's key role in culture, family and integration into society; equality of the sexes in an approach geared to women in economic and social development; the unequal sharing between men and women of professional and family responsibilities and recognition of women's intellectual and technical abilities.

3.6. Given Community legislation to date, which respects women's rights, the Committee readily supports the guidelines put forward by the Commission during the preparatory process in its Communication to the Council of 31 May 1995, and feels it would be of benefit to all parties concerned for the European Union to be involved, not only in the prior negotiations but also in the Beijing Conference itself.

3.7. On the basis of its various Opinions and its powers, the Committee is also willing to help improve existing legislation and to give assistance in drawing up and adopting draft directives, aimed at eliminating 'indirect discrimination' and implementing the principle of the 'equal pay for equal work'. The Committee has already issued an Opinion on application of the principle of equal opportunities between men and women working on a freelance basis, including farming (), as well as on protection of maternity benefits and on parental leave and leave on family grounds, stressing the urgent need for measures to make it easier to reconcile family and professional responsibilities ().

3.8. The Committee urges Member States of the EU which have not yet ratified the main relevant Conventions of the ILO, such as the Convention on discrimination in jobs and professions (No 111), and the Convention on workers with family responsibilities (No 156), to check whether they can still do so in the short term. It calls upon the European Union to take the lead in an international campaign to have these Conventions ratified by as many states as possible, along with Convention No 100 (equal pay).

3.9. In view of the very nature, responsibilities and objectives of the Economic and Social Committee and considering its actions and its experience, the Committee has asked to be represented in the European Community's delegation to the Beijing Conference.

4. Conclusion

Support for the Conference's objectives

4.1. The Committee acknowledges the importance of the 1995 Beijing Conference, highlighting its principle aim, which is to take stock of the last Decade launched by the Nairobi Conference in 1985, to assess world-wide progress in securing human rights and in promoting women's rights and basic freedoms, and above all to recommend to decision-makers the world over new specific measures for promoting women and equal opportunities.

Upgrading women's role in society

4.2. The Committee would draw attention to the fact that, world-wide, women constitute more than half of the population, and it has been calculated that the number of women among those living in poverty has increased by more than 50% over the last 20 years. This has been caused by a variety of factors: the current economic crises, the deterioration in development aid and terms of trade, the increase in internal and external debt, inadequate resource distribution, political and social instability and systemic recession, amongst other complications. The increase in female poverty requires operational strategies and action programmes which are focused on women's economic, cultural and social needs and their welfare, so that women's role in families and in communities can be acknowledged and shared by men. This productive and social role must be properly secured in all development aid measures and in the allocation of adequate resources. In particular women need better access to education as this is one of the chief routes to reducing infant mortality and to improving women's status.

Action plans in developing countries

4.3. The Committee feels that the aims and objectives of the Decade - equality, development and peace - have not been fully achieved. It believes that it is most urgent to encourage the distribution of multilateral and bilateral aid for developing countries in such a way that action plans are established which can be expressed in quantitative terms, monitored and adjusted and which set out precise objectives and a strict timetable. This would be aimed at dealing with the problems preventing the consolidation of women's status. The action plans will have to take account of women's cultural and religious environment. They will of course have to be backed up by institutional and financial mechanisms to enable them to be implemented.

European Union policy on social issues to provide a model

4.4. Bearing in mind the Union's determination to tackle problems and face up to the current economic and social changes in the countries of the European Union, the Committee acknowledges the contribution of the White Paper on social policy which follows on from the Green Paper; it feels that the proposals made therein, and the favourable response with which it has met, can be powerful instruments for giving a certain impetus in the areas concerned, particularly in matters relating to a combined policy for the labour market and social issues.

4.5. Consequently the Committee hopes to see the European Union promoting the same principles at international level and providing an original and effective response to the main problems facing the world and women in particular today, by proposing new models based on experience gained in Europe.

Main objectives ascribed to the European Union

4.6. The adoption and implementation of strategic objectives which allow women economic independence:

- access to schooling and vocational training;

- access to health education and training;

- access not only to the resources necessary for decent living conditions but also to the means and measures to alleviate their excessive family burdens and reconcile working time with family time.

The Committee wants the European Union to support and propose these fundamental, decisive factors at the Beijing Conference, so that all women can escape once and for all from poverty and violence, participate in the decision-making process and stand up to all forms of discrimination.

Recommendations to UN Member Countries

4.7. Mindful of the major cooperation commitments for development and active solidarity required to achieve equality, the Committee calls on the Member States of the UN:

- to encourage implementation of the recommendations needed for the changes called for;

- to guarantee women's and girls' rights and counter the continuous violations of their dignity;

- to ensure women's full access to their fundamental rights as an integral, inalienable and inseparable part of universal human rights, which underlie the entire democratic process;

- to give priority to women's education and training;

- to adopt resolutions which unambiguously set out political measures which would effectively enable women to be independent and enterprising and to be more consciously involved in taking decisions which affect the socio-economic framework in which they live.

Follow-up to the Beijing Conference

4.8. Moreover, the Committee feels that the Beijing Conference ought to secure, in all clarity and transparency, an unqualified final document guaranteed by a solidarity-based platform which should allow swift application of priority measures in all areas for securing women's dignity, equality and freedom, so that the value of women's key contribution to the economy, culture and progress can be enhanced and appreciated.

4.9. Finally, the Committee confirms the crucial need to negotiate with all the parties involved, and adopt specific measures to counter exclusion with all the parties involved, and proposes that mechanisms be adopted which ensure that all anti-poverty programmes give priority to the basic socio-economic needs of women.

4.10. The Committee continues to advocate a strategy involving NGOs, reinforcing their status and capabilities and also involving all social and cultural partners in their capacity as key protagonists in promoting women's status, so as to secure the drive for development and for the fight for freedom, justice and peace - values which are essential for human progress.

Done at Brussels, 6 July 1995.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ No C 95, 11. 4. 1988.

() OJ No C 41, 18. 2. 1991; OJ No C 40, 17. 2. 1992; OJ No C 14, 20. 1. 1992.