Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-17-Speech-3-315"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000517.15.3-315"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ‘Half the sky is borne on the shoulders of women’, a successful man once said. But the heavens are not enough. Women account for more than half the earth’s population and yet remain unheard and under-represented within most political, economic and social spheres. That is unacceptable.
In the course of the centuries, women have demanded their rights as full citizens. They have ranged from, in the northern hemisphere, female campaigners for the right to vote to, in the southern hemisphere, groups opposing genital mutilation. In the course of the Beijing Conference in 1995, a common action plan was decided upon for these different groups of women. This was a milestone in the recognition of women’s rights as being integral to human rights in general. Just about all the governments of the world endorsed the Beijing Conference’s action plan.
The Beijing Declaration distinguishes twelve critical areas and defines views and long-term objectives which should be adopted by governments, the United Nations, national movements and private industry in order to improve the conditions under which women live. Five years later, discrimination against women is still widespread, and violence against women is still a global phenomenon. A glass ceiling bars women from advancement in the professions, administration and politics. Women constitute the overwhelming majority of the one billion people who are illiterate and who live in the most extreme poverty, and decisions affecting women are still made by men.
It is high time that, in the course of the Beijing + 5 Conference in June, concrete decisions are taken which will actually result in the objectives of the Beijing Action Platform being realised. The report we are voting on tomorrow emphasises that progress within all twelve areas is necessary if women are fully to be able to obtain their share of human rights. A threefold strategy is needed if the Conference is not just to be another exercise in rhetoric.
First of all, the world’s governments must adopt a concrete action plan and again undertake to fulfil the Beijing objectives. Secondly, they must pledge financial resources with a view to implementing the decisions and, thirdly, supervisory tools must be created for the purpose of monitoring implementation. These three tools have so far been missing in implementing the Beijing Action Platform. The fact that the world’s governments refuse to acknowledge that, from the cradle to the grave, girls and women are exploited and persecuted has, throughout the ages, been the most flagrant and far-reaching violation of human rights. This is something which the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities wants to change. Women should not just bear half the sky on their shoulders, but also have the right to take responsibility for decisions affecting our entire earth. Is that not so, Commissioner?"@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples