The United Nations in the Twenty-first Century :

A LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE

BACKGROUND

The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) is a regional network of feminists, individual researchers, activists and women’s organisations who define feminist politics as a matter of both consciousness and action. CAFRA is committed to understanding the relationship between the oppression of women, and other forms of oppression in the society, and are working actively for change.

CAFRA therefore welcomes the consultation proposed by the United Nations to gather Civil Society views on the United Nations in the twenty-first century. We particularly welcome the panel discussions around “human rights in terms of both civil and political rights and, in particular, the economic, social and cultural rights of the region’s inhabitants, peace and security, with emphasis on the peaceful resolution of internal conflicts; environmental protection and sustainable development, and the effects of globalisation on the prospects for moving forward along a path of development with social equity”.

AN OVERVIEW OF WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN SEVERAL CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES

The Women’s Movement has a staunch ally in the United Nations. Starting from the assertion in the Charter calling for full equality of men and women, the United Nations has worked with the women’s movement to realise this goal of its founders. The Commission on the Status of Women was one of the first bodies established by the United Nations to assist in achieving this goal. Over the past 20 years, World Conferences on Women held in Mexico, Copenhagen and Nairobi, have contributed to the progressive strengthening of the legal, economic, social and political dimensions of the role of women. In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the landmark Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.

MOST FREQUENT CRIMES

Women’s Human Rights Violations occur most frequently in the areas of:

• Violence against women in all its forms
• Health and maternal provisions
• Exclusion from decision-making structures
• Access to work and labors conditions
  
  
  

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Caribbean women and girls, regardless of age, ethnicity and class, are afraid to walk the streets at night, and increasingly in the daylight hours also. The increase in the number of reported cases of rape, domestic violence and other forms of physical and sexual abuse underline the apprehension women and girls feel. Caribbean data comes from small studies and is patchy, but we know that 20% to 60% of women experience physical and psychological abuse. It is estimated, however, that only 10% of all domestic violence cases are even reported.

CONSTRAINTS

While the region’s governments have assented to major international conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), implementation has lagged behind ratification. Consistent and persistent efforts of non-governmental organisations and government departments responsible for women’s affairs have succeeded in increasing public awareness of women’s rights.

However, the social unrest in the region, the continued degradation of the environment and the effects of globalisation, have eroded the gains made, and increased the challenges for the twenty-first century.

The United Nations has expressed a desire for full collaboration with NGOs and has created mechanisms to allow access to NGOs. These mechanisms have proved inadequate, in terms of geographical balance or representation, resources for participation, and access to documentation.

Yet, the United Nations documents reiterate the critical role of NGOs in implementing the recommendations of governments. As governments implement their national level plans, it seems that little thought is given to the commitments in the Plans of Action. This is why there has been slow progress recorded on the five-year review of conferences completed to date.

In addition, certain International Agreements are signed without consideration of the impact on implementation of other Agreements. Therefore structural adjustment policies, globalisation and Free Trade Agreements have hurt small developing States in the South, and eroded the gains for women, as they lacked gender sensitivity.

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

As stated earlier, the United Nations has been an ally to the Women’s Movement, in terms of the legal and institutional framework, through the various International years, Conventions and World Conferences. However, implementation – Moving Beyond Words – has been slow.

The United Nations through its systems can facilitate NGOs by:

(a) Reviewing the procedures for accreditation to allow greater and more meaningful access to NGOs, including women’s NGOs, so that women’s needs could be articulated to those in a position to effect policy changes.

(b) Ensuring the necessary resources for NGOs to allow them to play their full role as Partners in the development process.

(c) Ensuring that governments have the necessary information on past agreements they have made, before entering into new agreements that may conflict with already stated objectives, and result in marginalisation of societies.

(d) Ensuring the necessary training in negotiating skills at government and NGO level.

(e) Carrying out the necessary research and dissemination of information, so that country realities are understood by all members of the United Nations. Developed countries should recognise that the days of conquest are past, and their former colonies are building independent nations. The countries should not be regarded as insignificant, resulting in the rape of our environment, passage of hazardous substances and waste through our waters, and policies that under-develop people.

(f) Examining the practice of globalisation as carried out by developed countries, so that populations in the South are not destroyed, as communities become marginalized.

The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) is prepared to work in partnership with the United Nations System to achieve social justice and transformation. We join with other organisations of the International Women’s Movement in lobbying for meaningful participation.