Minister Grabar-Kitarović and Swiss Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey hosted working dinner of women foreign ministers and other UN members’ high-ranking officials and dignitaries, with adoption of Statement on Women’s Political Participation

Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, at the margins of the 1st session of the UN Human Rights Council, hosted 19 June 2006 in Geneva a working dinner of women foreign ministers and other UN members’ high-ranking officials and dignitaries

The dinner saw the unanimous adoption of the Statement on Women’s Political Participation, proposed by the Republic of Croatia.

The Statement was adopted by the Foreign Minister of Barbados, Dame Billie Miller, Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Japan, Akiko Yamanaka, Lichtenstein, Rita Kieber Beck, Switzerland, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Deputy Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Maria Belela Herrera Sanguinetti, Deputy Justice Minister of Mozambique, Esperanza Machavela, and Rwanda, Edda Mukabagwiza, High UN Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, Deputy High UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mehr Khan Williams, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Mathai.

The Statement was supported by the Foreign Minister of Austria, Ursula Plassnik, Hungary, Kinga Göncz, Israel, Tzipi Livni, the Republic of South Africa, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Great Britain, Margaret Beckett, Macedonia, Ilinka Mitreva, Poland, Anna Fotyga, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fenandez de la Vega, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The Statement on Women’s Political Participation calls on the UN members’ governments to dispose of the stereotypes and obstacles in achieving true gender equality in political and public life, and establish measures for facilitating the de facto women’s equality in accordance with the General Recommendation No. 25 of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The members’ governments are also called on to prevent and eliminate gender-based discrimination and any forms of violence against women.

The Statement maintains that women are currently underrepresented in political institutions and the public life in general, and that although progress has been made in their share in decision-making processes, there are still economic, social, and cultural obstacles that limit women’s active participation. It also states that women have equal rights according to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but that there is a discrepancy between women’s de iure and de facto equality.

The dinner also discussed the Declaration on Women Foreign Ministers’ Rights, which points out the need to focus on women’s rights within the UN human rights system and the UN reform process, but the Declaration’s text is currently still under preparation.