Ambassador Verveer at the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
In an address at the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women on March 3, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer, spoke on the progress made and obstacles that remain in the effort to realize UN Millennium Development Goals related to women’s empowerment and international development. Verveer emphasized the value that safeguarding women’s rights, improving maternal health, and supporting women’s economic advancement can have on whole communities.
“Millennium Development Goal 3, on gender equality, is the linchpin—the means to the achievement of all other MDGs.”
During its 54th session, the Commission on the Status of Women is undertaking a 15-year review of the global commitments made at the historic UN Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, in 1995. Ambassador Verveer said that much work lies ahead before those commitments are fully honored, especially regarding the challenge of violence against women, but she is urged on by the unanimous passage of a UN resolution for the creation of the first UN agency that will be exclusively committed to women’s global advancement.
Read Ambassador Verveer’s Statement here.
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By vital voices staff on March 3rd 2010 in News & Current Events, UN Millennium Development Goals
Tibettruth responded on 04 Mar 2010 at 6:59 am #
Re: Address to the CSW By Ms. Melanne Verveer
Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Global Women’s Issues
We wish to express our disappointment thatMs Verveer in her address, March 3, to the Commission on the Status of Women, chose not to mention what is a major issue of women’s human rights, namely China’s population program, which as recognized by the US State Department is highly coercive and includes forced sterilization and other forms of abuse. Given that Secretary of State had spoken out on this very issue in 1995 in Beijing, prior to the start of the UN World Forum on Women, many would have hoped that her Ambassador for Women’s Global Issues express her concern and opposition to such atrocities.
In light of the important and valuable work currently being undertaken by the CSW in its Beijing+15 review Ms Verveer’s office had been provided with a briefing paper that addresses this very subject, the troubling lack of action from the CSW, http://tweetphoto.com/13161957 and details the fact that such violations have not been moderated or resolved by the commitments of either the Beijing Declaration or the Platform for Action. Yet both instruments featured the subject, and required action and commitment from member states, including China which ratified both documents.
The Paper may be downloaded here http://tibettruth.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/briefingpaper1.pdf