Remarks to the High Level Panel on UN Coherence by Patricia B. Licuanan, Co-Chair-Southeast Asia Women Watch President, Miriam College

Good afternoon, distinguished members of the High-level Panel on U.N. Coherence. It is a privilege to have been invited to participate in this dialogue with civil society. I must confess that I had mixed feelings about coming to Geneva. Not just because of the short notice and the obvious rush and schedule adjustments that it would entail, but more basically because part of me was tempted to be cynical about the U.N. and the possibility of genuine reform.

In the end however, the better part of me won out and I was convinced that the U.N. continues to need and deserve my support and that we all have to do our part (no matter how small) for U.N. reform. The better part of me still believes in the important role of U.N. in building a better and more equal world.

My remarks this afternoon come from one who served as chair of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women when it was the preparatory Commission to the U.N Fourth World Conference on Women. Thus I presided over the difficult negotiations and drafting of the Beijing Platform for Action in New York and then in Beijing. In recent years, as head of Asia Pacific women NGO networks I have been deeply involved in monitoring the implementation of the Beijing Platform and in advocating for its re-affirmation at its 5th and 10th year reviews.

Women applauded the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document that re-affirmed U.N. member states’ commitment to fully and effectively implement the goals and objectives of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. At the same time there is disappointment and anger that comes from the knowledge that despite progress in some areas, the goals of gender equality are a long way from being achieved. And one rightfully asks: how will the reform process help the U.N. deliver on its promises to women? How can the U.N. be genuinely and effectively engaged in persistent and emerging issues that face women today?

In the Asia – Pacific region, discrimination against women persists. Poverty rates remain alarmingly high with women bearing the heavier burden. Poverty is compounded by natural disasters (e.g. Indian Ocean Tsunami, landslides in the Philippines, earthquake in Pakistan) and increasing war and conflict in many countries. HIV/AIDs is on the rise. Millions of women are still dying unnecessarily at childbirth. And the dark side of globalization has a woman’s face. Indeed in our region the condition and status of women are negatively affected by such factors as unbridled economic liberalization, the rise of religious fundamentalism, deteriorating peace and security and environmental disasters.

These realities dramatize the critical role of the U.N. not only in setting international development goals and human rights standards but also in enabling and helping governments meet their commitments and obligations. The multilateral nature of the U.N., its access to expertise from any country in the world and its country level presence make it a key partner to countries from the global south.

Gender mainstreaming was agreed upon and promoted at the U.N Fourth World Conference on Women as an important strategy to achieve the goals of gender equality. May I share the case of my country the Philippines which has had a long experience with gender mainstreaming in government. In the early 1990s the government of the Philippines prepared and adopted the Philippine Development Plan for Women and mandated the creation of gender focal points in all departments. Since then, the Philippines has produced successor plans for women and passed laws allocating budgets for implementation of these plans including the annual budget law that requires agencies to use at least 5% of their budget to support the implementation of the national plan for women. The National Commission on the Role of the Filipino Women (NCRFW), the national machinery for women, (which I was privileged to chair during the early mainstreaming years), has led and coordinated these breakthroughs. It is also relevant to point out that the NCRFW was able to break ground and sustain the mainstreaming of gender in national development plans and policies because of significant financial and technical support from international organizations. It must be said that the Philippine national machinery on women shares the situation of many institutional mechanisms for women in other countries of being under funded from its core budgeting resources.

The UNCSW at its 49th session in 2005 to review the implementation of the BPFA concluded that: “inadequate financial and human resources and a lack of political will and commitment hinder the activities of national machineries for the advancement of women.” National machineries were also found to be generally low in the government hierarchy. The state of the institutional mechanisms for gender equality in the U.N. mirrors the state of institutional mechanisms at the national level.

To maintain the moral ascendancy to set norms and standards on gender equality, the U.N. system must model the appropriate policies and structures. Lessons from the Beijing +5 and +10 reviews point to some key characteristics needed for such institutional mechanisms to be effective, i.e.

1. Located high enough in the structure to influence system-wide policies and to monitor implementation, exact accountability and ensure coherence and synergy of strategies/ activities for maximum results;
2. With sufficient human and financial resources to carry out its mandate;
3. With sufficient capacity – including knowledge, skills and tools – to implement its functions.

It is important to stress that gender mainstreaming is a tool for effective policy making at all levels and is NOT a substitute for targeted, women specific policies, programs and structures. Strong institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women are a requirement of gender mainstreaming.

A final word on the important task of your panel. Rationalizing the system and ensuring that adequate funds are available for core programs are desired not just by governments but also and perhaps more passionately by NGOs and women’s groups that are often under-funded and operate on shoestring budgets. So too is the desire for concrete outcomes or results. However, it is important to sustain a happy balance between these and the need for the U.N. space to continue being the venue for democratic, peaceful and rights-based possibilities. The U.N. cannot cease to be a learning organization. It cannot simply enhance present coherence and efficiency. It must boldly create alternative futures. Thank you.