Turning words into action
p. 56 · Read in the full issue
It has been over two years since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women was con vened. And emphasis is now on monitoring actions to implement commitments made at that global gathering of over 30,000 in 1995.
In Beijing, China, was where it “all happened’ (so to speak) after over 150 of the world’s governments pledged to honour com mitments made in a Global Plan of Action (GPA) designed to address concerns and advance the status of women international ly- The key word following the conference was action’, particu larly at national level, to implement commitments and honour promises made before the international community in China.
But how far has the Pacific come since Beijing? And what is being done to ensure countries are keeping their side of the bar gain in terms of turning words into actions and promises into real ity at national level?
The Pacific Women’s Resource Bureau (PWRB) at the Pacific Community (formerly known as the South Pacific Commission) has, through a sub-regional consultation in December 1997, devised an implementation strategy for monitoring commitments made by the Pacific Island governments following their endorse ment of the Pacific Platform for Action (PPA).
The PPA was endorsed at the Sixth Triennial Conference of Women and Ministerial meeting in New Caledonia in 1994. The 22 island governments and administrations of the Pacific Island region served by the Community have formally recognised the importance of incorporating women into national and regional development activities.
The PPA lists 13 critical areas of concern to Pacific Island women and is the mandate of regional governments to ensure the advancement of women. Bearing this in mind, national focus points for women need to refocus on the PPA as having unprece dented commitments of governments and administrations in the
region.
The draft implementation strategy devised in December 1997, is in the format of a log frame which will serve as a regional tool to monitor actions on commitments on a six monthly basis. It will illustrate how to turn the vision of PPA into reality. It will become a framework for action.
This draft strategy will be presented to the PWRB’s 22 gov ernment women’s focal points for evaluation and comment in the
first half of this year.
The PWRB will also take a lead role in the development of
national advocacy strategies through sub-regional caucuses.
Since the Beijing conference, there has been a lack of demon strable evidence that much has been achieved in implementation of commitments made at that conference.
It is generally agreed that while the PPA was unprecedented in its significance on the road to Beijing, the return from China has been quiet and uneventful.
Through this implementation strategy, the PWRB as the regional lead coordinating agenecy for the advancement of Pacific women, is aiming to assist countries with actions targeted on national areas of focus. These actions will be determined, agreed to and owned by countries.
This mechanism will become the basis for coordinating, man aging and monitoring progress on implementation of the PPA and will further define and streamline the Community's technical assistance programme at national level.
The PPA is the authoritative document of objectives and strate gies for the advancement of women in the Pacific, until the Year 2000. The document contains the voice of Pacific women, their identity, issues, their vision of the future and their role in shaping it.
It is the baseline document, designed to ensure the full equali ty of Pacific women and their participation in development. From a monitoring viewpoint, indicators can be drawn from the PPA to assess the impact of programmes relating to the critical areas of concern. The PPA aims to accelerate the full and equal participa tion of women and men in all areas including economic and polit ical decision-making, protection of human rights and addressed critical areas of concern to ensure Pacific women and men can work together to ensure sustainable development.
The PPA is now three years old. An extensive evaluation of the PPA in December 1996 regrouped the document’s 13 critical areas of concern into five strategy areas to enable clearer identification, monitoring and implementation of programmes to achieve these goals and account for emerging needs.
These strategic areas of focus include; Physical quality of life; empowerment in economic, social, legal and political areas; enhancement and protection of women’s and indigenous people’s rights; contribution of women to the realisation of just and peace ful societies in the Pacific and institutional arrangements and mechanisms.
This regrouping was endorsed by the Seventh Triennial Conference of Women in Noumea in June 1997. The conference also mandated the bureau to re-evaluate the PPA and devise a mechanism to ensure effective monitoring of commitments made at Beijing, including those outlined in the 1994 Noumea Declaration.
The draft implementation strategy devised in December 1997 is the mechanism with which to ensure Pacific commitments to advance the status of women come alive. It is designed to assist governments to continue to turn commitments into actions and promises into reality towards the Year 2000 and beyond. ■
Debbie Singh