Item 12: Improving the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective
Tami Longaberger, Public Delegate, US Delegation to the Commission on Human Rights, 60th Session, April 2004

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I welcome the opportunity to speak at this session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
It is an honor to be here to represent the United States …a country that has learned to appreciate the enormous contributions women can make to society.

President Bush believes this and acts on that conviction both in his personnel and policy decisions. I am proud that President Bush is our first President to have entrusted women with the great responsibility of being his National Security Advisor as well as his Senior Domestic Policy Advisor in the White House. Both Dr. Rice and Margaret Spellings are performing with honor and effectively.

Similarly, President Bush has appointed other women to leadership roles throughout his administration.

Why has he done this? Because he believes in his heart and his mind that the best qualified person should be given the job.

Women around the world have the right to be involved in civil society.

Women around the world want to have even greater leadership roles.

Our world would gain so much if all women were given the opportunity to fully contribute to society.

It is the United States that stands ready to help wherever we can.

Among the area in which the United States has sought to advance the status of Women and Girls. These are preventing trafficking in persons, addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis, and strengthening women's political and economic empowerment, particularly in post-conflict societies.

Trafficking

Trafficking affects hundreds of thousands of people each year, most of them women and children. Women and men, girls and boys are deprived of their human rights and suffer unspeakable physical and emotional harm. Women in post-conflict societies are particularly vulnerable to this crime, which is nothing less than modern-day slavery. Faced with a lack of opportunities at home, people are lured by false promises of well-paying jobs abroad. Many are then coerced into lives of prostitution, domestic servitude, or other types of forced labor.

The United States is committed to ending this scourge. In his speech last fall before the UN General Assembly, President Bush, in a landmark initiative, committed an additional $50 million to accelerate efforts worldwide to rescue and rehabilitate women and children who have been trafficked. In addition to this initiative, U.S. anti-trafficking efforts also include providing financial support for shelters and other assistance for victims; training for law enforcement officers; developing public awareness campaigns; and strengthening international cooperation.

Domestically, the President's Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons brings Cabinet-level attention to the problem to ensure coordination of U.S. anti-human trafficking efforts.

The world is coming together to fight human trafficking because it is a multidimensional threat to us all. Not only is it an assault on human rights, it is a growing public health risk and fuels the growth of organized crime. We commend the Philippines for its leadership on this issue at the UN with its biannual resolution against human trafficking.

HIV/AIDS

On HIV/AIDS, women now account for more than half of new HIV/AIDS infections, which means higher rates of mother-child transmission, and greater numbers of children who will find themselves motherless in the future. This is unacceptable.

The United States continues to demonstrate unprecedented global leadership and commitment in funding the global HIVAIDS emergency. The United States, through a new five-year, $15 billion comprehensive program known as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is committed to a multi-faceted approach to combating the disease; continuing bilateral programs; and supporting multilateral approaches like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The President's Emergency Plan includes an additional $1 billion to the Global Fund, bringing the total U.S. pledge to nearly $2 billion from the inception of the Fund through 2008. The United States remains the largest donor to the Fund.

The President's Emergency Plan incorporates the President's Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative, announced in June 2002, to treat 1 million more women and reduce mother to child transmission by 40% within five years in the focus countries. Through the President's Emergency Plan, the United States will not only target mother to child transmission, but expand the care and treatment to mothers and their families to protect the family unit and prevent the creation of orphans.

Political Empowerment and a Crucial Role in Democratic Transitions

The United States recognizes the importance of empowering women politically. During the fall 2003 UN General Assembly, we were pleased to introduce a resolution on "Women and Political Participation." Women throughout the world, particularly those in developing countries and emerging democracies, have repeatedly emphasized the need for education and training on political participation. This resolution is an attempt to address those needs.

The resolution reaffirms basic principles on women's participation and empowerment, including women's right to vote in all elections, run for and hold public office, associate freely, debate policies openly, and petition their government. But more importantly, the resolution suggests practical measures that governments and civil society actors can take to achieve these goals. These include:

· Promoting equal access to education, information technology, and economic and business opportunities, to empower women.

· Eliminating laws, regulations, and practices that discriminate against women and hinder their participation in the political process.

· Encouraging political parties to seek qualified women candidates and provide training in conducting campaigns, public speaking, fundraising, and parliamentary procedures.

· Supporting initiatives -- including public-private partnerships and exchange programs -- to expand women's political, management, and leadership skills, and encourage them to vote and serve as elected and appointed officials.

· Encouraging the media to provide fair and balanced coverage of male and female candidates, and ensure coverage of issues that have a particular impact on women.

There was enthusiastic support for the resolution among member states, even from those who are not traditionally U.S. allies. It gained a record number of co-sponsors, 110 in all. A number of member states have translated it for use in their own countries, using it as a blueprint for programmatic changes to increase women's participation.

The United States already has programs in place around the world to support the goals outlined in the resolution. We are funding programs that train women in Latin America, Africa, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and South Asia to run for office and to lead non-governmental organizations. We are partnering with NGOs and institutions like the National Endowment for Democracy in private sector programs that target rising women leaders in the political, social, health, and economic spheres.

The United States invests substantially in bringing women into the political equation in post-conflict areas. Since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the United States has initiated more than 175 projects to support education of girls and women, increase their access to health care, help build civil society and create economic opportunities, and increase their political participation. The United States has allocated $2.5 million for construction of Women's Resource Centers in fourteen Afghan provinces, and it is building three other provincial centers to focus on education and health needs, jobs skills, and women's political training.

Through the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, established by Presidents Bush and Karzai, the United States provides an additional $1 million for exchange programs, job training, and other programs to be conducted at the women's centers in cities and rural areas.

Increasing Afghan women's access to health care is a key priority for the United States. The United States has financed a range of health care programs in Afghanistan totaling more than $58 million since 2001. In addition, more than $50 million has been budgeted for health programs over the next two years. To directly address the high maternal mortality rate, the United States and Coalition partners are training rural Afghan women in midwifery.

In less than two years, Afghan women have achieved notable milestones. Afghan women were involved in the writing of their constitution and the Loya Jirga or Council, with women making up 20% of the delegates. The just-ratified constitution in Afghanistan recognizes fundamental freedoms, including equal rights and duties for men and women before the law. There are now two women ministers - the Minister of Women's Affairs and the Minister of Health, and a woman heads the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. Afghan women will have the right to vote and run for office in the summer elections.

Women's rights and opportunities figure prominently in U.S. support for Iraq's transition to democracy. We are pleased that Iraq's Governing Council repealed a draft decree that would have imposed discriminatory religious laws on women, and adopted a new basic law providing equal rights for all. In addition to other aspects of reconstruction that will help women, Congress set aside $27 million for special programs targeted at women. On March 8 of this year, International Women's Day, Secretary Powell announced two important initiatives for Iraqi women: the Women's Democracy Initiative and the U.S.-Iraq Women's Network.

The $10 million Women's Democracy Initiative will provide training in leadership skills and organizing political activities and other civil actions. Under the initiative, Iraqi women will participate in workshops on constitutional law, the independent media, human rights, and how to build non-governmental organizations to create a civil society.

The U.S.- Iraq Women's Network, modeled after the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, will bring together prominent American and Iraqi non-governmental representatives and business leaders. They will form public-private partnerships to improve the lot of Iraqi women and empower them to participate in the political and economic life of their country.

President Bush and Administration officials have repeatedly declared their commitment to helping women throughout the world. The President recently said, "We're determined to help women find independence and dignity … The rights of women and all human beings can be assured only within the framework of freedom and democracy. If people aren't free, it is likely that women will be suppressed."

Mr. Chairman, the United States is committed to enabling women throughout the world to fully enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms. I have outlined some of the ways in which the United States is working towards that goal. We invite all member states to join us in these efforts.