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Key Text Focus on Human Rights and Gender Justice

Author: B Neuhold
Date: 2005
Size: 27 pages (226 KB)

Summary

What are the interlinkages between the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? This paper by Women in Development Europe (WIDE) Austria explores the three instruments and offers a feminist analysis of the MDGs.

The CEDAW is the most important international agreement concerning women's human rights. It comprises civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and demands temporary special measures to advance women. The BPFA is a comprehensive outline of strategic steps to be taken in order to concretise and enhance CEDAW's goals. While not legally binding, it is a statement of principle and has great symbolic value. The MDGs have as their aim the fulfilment of basic needs and are not embedded in an explicit human rights perspective. The framework strategy is the integration of developing countries into the concept of a neo liberal market economy.

The MDGs do not treat gender justice and women's empowerment as crosscutting issues or see gender equality as contributing to poverty reduction. The lack of Gender Awareness in Goals I, VII and VIII is particularly problematic.

The targets and indicators of Goal I nowhere reflect that 70 per cent of the world's poor are women. The economic strategies recommended in the MDGs increase women's poverty. Their economic and social rights should be centre stage.
Goal II indicators are gender neutral and do not include girls' dropout rates. Strategies for education must start with awareness raising.
Goal III omits the safeguarding of sexual and reproductive rights, eradicating violence against women, and the diversity of women including in terms of race, class and ethnicity.
Goal IV should state that the highest rate of infant mortality is among girls. The social status of women affects both this and Goal V (maternal health), linked to protection against violence and reproductive choices.
Goal VI indicators do not reflect the fact that women are more vulnerable to HIV. Goal VII does not consider women's leading role in safeguarding biodiversity and sustainable development, or the role of international policies and corporations.
Goal VIII indicators do not refer to women or gender relations within development cooperation, despite over 30 years of research and praxis in this regard.

A gender perspective on the basis of CEDAW and the BFPA should be integrated into all the MDGs and Goal III's scope and targets widened. The prevailing neo-liberal growth-oriented concept of development should be questioned and a strong rights perspective introduced. International financial, monetary and trade policies should be reoriented and coherent with those of development cooperation. The CEDAW and BPFA should be universally ratified and implemented. The following sub-aims for girls and women should be pursued in the MDGs:

Safeguard their rights, needs and capabilities in nutrition, health (emphasising reproductive rights) and education.
Combat violence against girls and women in the public and private spheres.
Strengthen economic rights in the household, subsistence economy, formal and informal sector. Secure access to land, property, capital, credit, training, guidance, technologies, infrastructure and transport. Ensure rights to income, equal remuneration, satisfying working conditions and social security.
Ensure equal treatment in inheritance law.
Promote empowerment and political agency at all decision-making levels, from personal to government level.
Strengthen collective agency by giving support to mutual cooperation and networking structures at local, national and international level and supporting political strategising.

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Source: Neuhold, B., 2005, Focus on Human Rights and Gender Justice: Linking the Millennium Development Goals with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action’, United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), Vienna