What does Beijing mean to you?
For most, it’s the capital of China. But for those working on women’s rights and gender equality issues, the word marks a watershed historical moment.
In 1995, 189 governments signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women.
The document identified 12 critical areas of concern in achieving gender equality, ranging from lack of access to education, to health issues to women’s representation in the media.
This month in New York, leaders and activists from all over the world marked the 10th anniversary of the Beijing declaration (the event is dubbed ‘Beijing+10.’)
When the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women met for its 49th session, much of the meeting was devoted to a review and appraisal of the declaration’s implementation. Canada sent a delegation led by the minister responsible for Status of Women Canada, Liza Frulla. The UN aimed to take stock on just how well countries are doing keeping their promises to women.
A few weeks ago, I joined a group of Canadian governmental and non-governmental representatives as they discussed priorities for Beijing+10. They’d been at it almost an hour — it was all policy and scheduling minutiae until a participant piped up: “What does this all mean for the woman on the street? What does Beijing mean in her life?”
Good question. And one that took all seated around the long Foreign Affairs conference table by surprise.
This year will mark 30 years of United Nations efforts for gender equality. Four world conferences, major declarations, outcome documents, review processes (not to mention the countless regional meetings) — and still the public don’t have a clue about the efforts on their behalf.
Interestingly, Beijing+10 arrived in the midst of an international debate over the need for such a review. There was concern that the gains achieved under the platforms adopted at earlier conferences could be lost.
And at the same time questions were raised about the efficacy of such world conferences in securing the economic, political and social rights of women. So much talk — but are we getting anywhere?
All too often, we hear ”international women’s rights” and think African village woman, Indian woman carrying polluted water, Chinese woman with her babies. No matter how educated we are or how involved with the issues, we can’t seem to escape the stereotypes and mental images. It’s easy to point out the issues for women in the Third World, but we must not forget our own situation.
While Canada ranks third on the United Nations Human Development Index, the average woman on the street is still confronted by a mountain of challenges.
In this issue’s Focus section we’re conducting our own review and appraisal. We’re using Beijing+10 to focus the lens on Canada. As it turns out, the view isn’t so pretty. Women, in both the private and public spheres, still have a long way to go to attain the ideals laid out in Beijing.
Around the time the Beijing declaration was being drafted, the Canadian government was dead set on eliminating the deficit. A 2005 report commissioned by the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action found that services most important to women and their families, such as affordable housing and child care, were cut deeply in the 1995 federal budget.
Canadian women, as a group, are poorer now than in 1994, the report concludes.
In an era when “feminist” is a bad word, the challenges women in this country face are as varied as the women themselves.
Aboriginal women are poorer than the majority, and face the additional challenge of an increased risk of HIV/AIDS. Immigrant women struggle with learning a new language and adjusting to cultural differences.
But it’s not all bad news. Thanks to new technologies, women are finding new ways to get help with violent relationships.
And although our participation in politics and the upper rungs of the business ladder isn’t quite where it should be, the few who do make it there are carving a path for future generations.
Now that our political leaders are back from New York, it’s time to exert real pressure.
Parliamentarians made up a big portion of the delegates. Put their talk to good use! Our leaders need to go back to that woman on the street — find out what Beijing should mean to her. When Beijing+20 rolls around, we want to have some good news to report.