Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07USUNNEWYORK228
2007-03-21 14:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED
USUN New York
Cable title:  

UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN 2007 SESSION

Tags:  SOCI KWMN UN CSW 
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FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1565
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0802
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 0026
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0743
RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 0132
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2601
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000228 

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI KWMN UN CSW
SUBJECT: UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN 2007 SESSION

REF: A. STATE 30182

B. STATE 30271

USUN NEW Y 00000228 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000228

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI KWMN UN CSW
SUBJECT: UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN 2007 SESSION

REF: A. STATE 30182

B. STATE 30271

USUN NEW Y 00000228 001.2 OF 003



1. (U) Summary: The UN Commission on the Status of Women
(CSW) held its 51st session from February 26 to March 9,

2007. Permanent Representative of El Salvador, Carmen Maria
Gallardo Hernandez, chaired the session, whose main theme was
"The Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and Violence
Against the Girl Child." The US hosted a panel discussion on
state-sanctioned rape in Sudan and Burma. Discussions and
panels considered, among other things, women's empowerment,
creating stronger laws, and engaging men and boys to address
the main theme of the session. US priorities were the
problems of forced and early marriage and prenatal
sex-selection and female infanticide. The Commission adopted
resolutions on forced marriage of the girl child, female
genital mutilation, HIV/AIDS, and Palestinian women. The
Commission also adopted Agreed Conclusions. End Summary.

Commission Adopts Four Resolutions and Agreed Conclusions
-------------- --------------


2. (U) The Commission's outcome was the adoption of Agreed
Conclusions and four resolutions on February 9. The USDel
chaired negotiations of the resolution entitled "Forced
Marriage of the Girl Child." After week-long contentious
discussions led to consensus on the text, the EU submitted an
amendment from the floor reaffirming the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW),the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC),
and The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In
reaction to the EU amendments, the USDel withdrew
co-sponsorship of the resolution (Ref A). El Salvador,
Panama, Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Mali, Angola and Congo
continued to co-sponsor the resolution, which was adopted by
consensus. A resolution co-sponsored by the USDel on
"Prenatal Sex Selection and Female Infanticide" was withdrawn
and language on these topics was incorporated in the Agreed
Conclusions, as well as into the resolution on forced
marriage.


3. (U) Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China
sponsored a resolution entitled "Situation of and Assistance
to Palestinian Women." US and Canada voted "no" on this
resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 40-2(US)-0.
Israel, Canada and the USDel made statements explaining that
the resolution had unbalanced and negative political

undertones. The EU representative contended they could
support the resolution because it was humanitarian in nature.
The Commission adopted other resolutions by consensus,
including "Ending Female Genital Mutilation," sponsored by
South Africa on behalf of the Africa Group, and "Women, the
Girl Child and HIV/AIDS" sponsored by Lesotho on behalf of
the Southern Africa Development Community.


4. (U) The Commission adopted Agreed Conclusions after
trimming a draft document, that at one time reached 30 pages,
back down to a manageable length. In the process, language
on prenatal sex selection and female infanticide, introduced
from the withdrawn US resolution, was reduced. The EU
blocked the reference to "sex-selective abortion" with
support from New Zealand and Canada. China did not block the
"abortion" reference; their concern was to block language on
the serious societal repercussions resulting from prenatal
sex-selection and female infanticide. Delegations agreed to
the phrase "prenatal sex-selection" instead of sex-selective
abortion and reduced the mentions of the social
repercussions. Several references to sexual and reproductive
health remained, as did reaffirmation of the Beijing Platform
for Action and a reference to "foreign occupation." The
USDel made an Explanation of Position on the Agreed
Conclusions per Ref B.

US Hosts Panel on Mass Rape
--------------


5. (U) On February 8, the US hosted a well attended panel on
State Sanctioned Mass Rape in Sudan and Burma. Dr. Jennifer
Leaning of the Harvard School of Public Health described how
mass rape, used as a weapon of war, differs from other rape
during conflicts in its systematic nature and its intention
to humiliate, neutralize or exterminate a specific group of
people. Omer Ismail, from Sudan who is now a fellow at
Harvard, confirmed that mass rape is being used to achieve
political aims in Sudan. Two representatives from Burmese
NGOs described the situation in Burma and how the "Myanmar"
junta continues to use acts of mass rape to systematically

USUN NEW Y 00000228 002.2 OF 003


oppress minority groups. A representative of the Government
of Sudan intervened and circulated a statement that warned,
"Those in glass houses should not throw stones." US
Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees concluded the discussion by
asserting that when countries stop allowing mass rape as a
weapon of war, the US will stop hosting panels that highlight
human rights abuses of specific countries.

Keynote Speaker Acknowledges Progress and Challenges
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6. (U) UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro
(Tanzania) delivered the keynote address to the 51st Session
of CSW on February 26. Migiro stressed that CEDAW and the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action provide important
groundwork for the progress of gender equality. To address
continuing violence against women and girls, Migiro called
for rejection of violence, implementation of legal norms,
prosecution of perpetrators, dedication of sufficient
resources and full engagement of men and boys. She concluded
by affirming the Secretary-General's commitment to replace
several current structures with one UN entity focused on
gender equality and women's empowerment.

General Discussion Commences with Empowerment of Women
-------------- --------------


7. (U) On February 28, the Commission discussed the crucial
role of women's empowerment in reducing poverty, disease and
discrimination. The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General
on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women reported that
violence against women and girls is increasing. The
Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) argued that normative standards needed institutional
support and resources to be effectively implemented and
monitored. The Director of the United Nations International
Research and Training Institute of Women (INSTRAW) noted that
women must have access to education and financial resources
and must be included in government and community
decision-making. A representative of the UN Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues made the case that more disaggregated
data is necessary to adequately understand the situation of
violence and discrimination against girls.

Commission Considers Legal Strategies to Combat Violence
-------------- --------------


8. (U) On March 1, the Commission discussed how a robust set
of laws would bolster the well-being of girls. Since
discrimination and violence against girls can take many
forms, legislative action must cover a variety of areas such
as combating trafficking, registering offenders,
rehabilitating victims and criminalizing the exchange of
exploitative images of children on the internet. The
Director of the Institute for Gender, Law and Development
pointed out recent legislative advances in Latin America that
further protect women, expand the definition of
discrimination, punish perpetrators and enhance victims'
assistance and prevention schemes. Participants called for a
unified global strategy regarding international issues like
trafficking in persons. Finally, the Executive Director of
UNIFEM described the discrepancy between need and funding by
stating that requests in 2006 totaled $119 million but only
$2.5 million was available to fund programs combating
violence against women.

Commission Calls for Engagement of Men and Boys
-------------- --


9. (U) The Commission had a general debate and panel
discussion March 2 on the issue of involving males in
fighting discrimination and violence against women and girls.
Many speakers stressed that discrimination was not innate
but learned and that ending discrimination would require
teaching boys at an early age to respect women and girls.
Gender sensitivity in school curricula has not been taken
seriously enough, but efforts to encourage responsible sexual
behavior have successfully increased the use of contraception
and voluntary testing for sexually transmitted infections.
Although partnerships with men have proven to be fruitful,
challenges remain regarding incorporation of men because male
peers, at times, can ridicule men who stand up for women's
rights.

Secretary-General Recognizes International Women's Day

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10. (U) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the
Commission on International Women's Day, March 8. While he
acknowledged that there are international standards and laws
to help eliminate violence against women, the SG urged a move
towards concrete actions. He encouraged partnerships aimed
at promoting greater access to education, closer adherence of
practice to laws, deepened understanding of violence,
incorporation of all parts of society and allocation of
adequate resources. The SG concluded by outlining tangible
steps the UN can take to combat violence against women, such
as the General Assembly devoting an annual agenda item to
women and the Security Council establishing a mechanism to
monitor such violence.

General Assembly Convenes Women's Empowerment Session
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11. (U) In the same spirit of the CSW, which is a commission
of ECOSOC, the GA held a separate event on March 6 and 7 that
included a high-level debate and panel discussions regarding
women's empowerment, including microfinance and political
participation. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the
session by stating that only by fully empowering and engaging
women is it possible to surmount current global challenges.
US Under-Secretary Paula Dobriansky stressed the important
role of women in building a prosperous and peaceful future
and highlighted tangible progress like the Africa Education
Initiative and the Middle East Partnership Initiative. US
Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Advisor to the
Secretary of State for Women's Empowerment, also participated

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in the debate.
WOLFF