Statement
by
H. E. Mrs. Jadranka Kosor
Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia
49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
1 March 2005
Madam Chairperson, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset, allow me to congratulate you Madam Chairperson, your Bureau and the Secretariat of the Division for the Advancement of Women, on the preparation of this very important session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, for Reports that represent a valuable contribution to and encouragement for our future work.
Madam Chairperson,
As a candidate country, the Republic of Croatia aligned itself with the Statement of the European Union. However, I would like to make a few remarks on behalf of the Croatian Government.
The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and its Platform for Action has had a longstanding effect on the policies and practices in the field of gender equality and the position of women in societies worldwide. Ten years later, one can say that the principle of gender equality and measures proposed within the Beijing Platform for Action, further strengthened in the Beijing +5 Outcome document, exist in many national legal regulations and policies, as well as in different positive practices. We can see positive developments in fighting discrimination against women, but there are still many gaps and areas for improvement that are going to be examined during this session of the CSW through high-level round tables and panels, with the aim of strengthening the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, Beijing + 5 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Madam Chairperson,
Gender mainstreaming is a key strategy for promoting gender equality, and one of the most important outcomes of the Fourth World Conference on Women. It is important to take a gender-sensitive approach to all efforts and everyday activities conducted in order to eliminate stereotyped roles for men and women and accelerate de facto equality between men and women.
Madam Chairperson,
The Republic of Croatia has ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. At its 32nd session in January of this year, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered the Second and Third Periodic Report of the Croatian government on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. I am pleased to note that in its final concluding comments the Committee has commended the Republic of Croatia for legislative changes aimed at promoting gender equality and eliminating discrimination against women. The recommended course of action needed for the Convention´s full implementation will be pursued by the government.
Madam Chairperson,
In view of the fact that Croatia is a country with the painful experience of a recent armed conflict, the promotion and protection of human rights remains a worthy challenge for the Croatian government. Years after the war, we are still dealing with the consequences. Unfortunately, many of the victims were women - of the 7,666 persons that were exchanged and liberated from captivity during the Homeland War, 932 were women, which represents 12 per cent. In many cases they were physically, psychologically and even sexually abused while in captivity. Among the people whose fate is still not known, 20 per cent are women - 230 out of 1168 - and 67 per cent of these are women older than 60 years of age.
In the past few years, Croatia has adopted significant laws in this field, starting with amendments to the Constitution, whereby the principle of gender equality was recognized as a constitutional value. The Family Act, the Act on Protection against Domestic Violence and the Gender Equality Act were also adopted. In addition, the Labor Act and the Criminal Code were amended, with further regulations designed to improve the position of women in Croatian society. Under the Gender Equality Act, the Parliament of Croatia appointed its first ever Ombudsperson for Gender Equality and established the Governmental Office for Gender Equality. Also, Gender Equality Commissions were established on local levels throughout Croatia. Recently, the government has adopted the National Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence for the period 2005-2007, and declared the 22nd of September a National Day of Campaigning against Violence against Women.
Madam Chairperson,
The implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action is closely related to the Millennium Development Goals that have served as a new impetus for our action in this field. The Croatian government, along with representatives of civil society, drafted a National Report on the implementation of the UN Millennial Declaration. Based on the conclusions of that Report, the government singled out Croatia´s priorities in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, ranging from gender-sensitive education, the position of women in the labor market and economic empowerment, fighting violence against women, to a stronger participation in public and political life, to mention just a few.
With regard to education, one of the most important fields in which gender mainstreaming is to be implemented, the Croatian government is preparing a new Knowledge Catalogue. One of the objectives of the catalogue is the exclusion of stereotypes about gender roles in school curricula. As for equal access to education, that right is fully enjoyed - there is no discrimination against girls whatsoever.
In the labor market, a number of measures were taken to avoid and suppress the discrimination of women, the most notable of which are projects aimed at the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs. The Labor Act prohibits unequal treatment of job seekers and employees based on gender, marital status or family obligations. A number of measures aim to protect maternity and parental obligations. The Act also stipulates that women and men shall be paid equally for work of equal value. However, women remain more concentrated in low-paying sectors. We are looking forward to hearing experiences from other countries, and learning more on how to deal with this challenge in the future.
Madam Chairperson,
The strong participation of women in public and political life is very important since it determines topics on the agenda in the public life of the country. In Croatia, we have witnessed a continuous increase in women´s participation since the 1990´s; today, almost 21% members of parliament and 35% of ministers are women. The Act on Political Parties contains a temporary special measure under which parties are allocated 10 per cent more funds for each representative of an under-represented gender. Local elections are imminent, and we hope to have an increase in the participation of women on a local level as well.
More will be put forth on the Croatian experience in a panel discussion on Synergies between national level implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the CEDAW, in which a panelist from Croatia will also take part.
Madam Chairperson,
Ten years after the Beijing Conference resulting in the Beijing Platform for Action, under which national action plans were drafted and mechanisms for the advancement of women and gender equality established, we bear witness to significant improvement achieved in all areas of concern. At this session of the Commission on the Status of Women we are looking forward to hearing further information on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and on the status of women´s rights on the national level in other countries, and hope to learn more from other experiences worldwide. A complete assessment of lessons learned will initiate further progress and the achievement of de facto equality between women and men.
Thank you for your attention.
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