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THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS STATEMENT AT THE SECOND SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, MAY 26TH, 1994
[Go back to the Earth Summit screen...] "Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development." This is not just the hope of women the world over, but is Principle 20 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, agreed to, and signed by world governments in June 1992. The Women's Caucus at the Second Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development has analyzed the material presented by the Commission, including national reports, and has found disturbing the manner in which the issue of women and sustainable development is being treated and/or ignored, both conceptually and in praxis. The contributions of women in Rio and beyond have been widely recognized and applauded. Women drafted their own agenda for change and contributed positively to amendments of official text. The recognition of women as a major group is seen as a positive, but not yet adequate step in the transition to sustainable development. Sustainable development cannot be attained without the leadership and full participation of women at all levels of society and decision-making. Moreover, sustainable development sought without the meaningful involvement of women cannot be equitable. A gender perspective is one of the most forward looking and socially just approaches in the analysis of sustainable development. Yet its absence is noted in the reports as a whole. As it has been said, women play a major role in the management of natural resources. It also must be emphasized that women are differentially affected by environmental degradation and this fact must be emphasized when dealing with women and sustainable development issues. It is not enough just to have women provide input, or to have input about women. Incorporating a gender analysis fundamentally changes the nature of the discussion. From this perspective, therefore, the changes promised to women by governments, UN bodies and by NGOs themselves in Agenda 21 have not yet even begun to be initiated. Our collective knowledge in this area also indicates that the issue of women and sustainable development does not take place in an economic, political and cultural vacuum. Therefore the links with these factors must be properly and fully addressed. The different and irreversible impacts that structural adjustment policies, trade liberalization and trickle down programs have on women have not been responsibly dealt with, by the nations that make up this international organization itself. The Women's Caucus feels that this is a grave error that must be corrected immediately. As a whole, consumption patterns of non-renewable and endangered resources, by a small minority, is one of the most significant contributors to long term environmental degradation. Furthermore, most environmental degradation stems not from the poorest billion on this planet, but from unworkable models of development. The difference between pre-Rio concepts of economic growth and sustainable development must be clearly and overtly emphasized. The Women's Caucus cannot emphasize enough that we are not speaking of economic growth; we are speaking of a new model of development that is not based on the exploitation of women, of natural resources and of the world's disenfranchised. We believe in a model based on economic, social and political rights as basic rights to be enjoyed by all, not just the privilege of a select few. Yet these issued are not even addressed in the reports dealing with economic and environmental variables. How many of the national reports mention the special relationship between women and sustainable development? How many of these reports, when they do mention women, do so as a addendum and not as an integral part of society. Recognizing the importance of women's participation in the CSD process, and the importance of the perspective and information that we bring to sustainability, countries, in conjunction with the CSD and NGOs, should call for and host an inter-sessional meeting to deal with the incorporation of gender issues. Recognizing that some gender-specific data currently exists, countries should use existing sources of gender disaggregated data from governmental data bases as well as from NGOs and women's groups whose specific mandate and expertise is grounded in gender issues and analysis. Furthermore, where this data does not exist, it should be collected. In accordance with Principle 10 of Agenda 21, governments should ensure that all data, is gender-based and fully referenced and that all sources are widely and immediately accessible to citizens. The effect of militarism on the environment was emphasized in the Women's Action Agenda 21, but it has not yet been recognized by governments. First, governments must admit that financial resources allocated by both developed and developing countries to the military are not available for implementation of Agenda 21. Second, wars increase already existing human needs and environmental problems: by deliberately destroying air, land and water as a tactic; by polluting the earth in the manufacture, use and indiscriminate remains of weapons; by destroying the infrastructure and thereby creating disease and poverty; and by annually creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and orphans. Military spending continues to dominate national budgets around the world, exceeding six hundred billion dollars annually. As Principle 25 of Agenda 21 states: "Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible." We call on nations to transfer a portion of their military expenditures to the implementation of Agenda 21 and to note this transfer in their national reports. We wish to point out some issues that will be in next year's agenda, in order to ensure the inclusion of gender issues in the inter-sessional period ahead. Agriculture will be one of the most important issues to be analyzed. Women have always been, and still are, the world's primary food producers. Therefore agricultural sustainability cannot be achieved without their active participation in setting and implementing policy. Agriculture is essential to both rural and urban development, and food security is a basic human right, inextricably tied to sustainable agriculture. Food security is the access by all people at all times to the food needed for a healthy life. Food security emphasizes food for domestic consumption over agricultural products for trade. In much of the world, sustainable agriculture is in the hands of women, literally and figuratively. However, the knowledge, skills and labour of women often remains invisible, undervalued, largely unpaid and not reflected in national economic statistics. Furthermore, even though women play such an important part in food production........ In their role as primary food producers, women have necessarily been custodians of biodiversity in all its forms and have maintained a relationship with nature that is based on respect and regeneration rather than ownership and degradation. As food producers and gatherers of medicinal plants and herbs, rural women, especially in developing countries, have an extensive knowledge of plant and animal life, much of which is facing extinction. Modern agricultural biotechnologies have displaced women from this central role and denied them their ability to share their unique and invaluable knowledge. Furthermore, the increasing and dangerous trend by MNCs to own biodiversity by manipulating genes through biotechnology, and then by patenting these genes, has further alienated women from their nurturing roles, as well as robbed them of their collective knowledge. In view of the fact that the CSD will be discussion the interconnected issues of agriculture, land, forests and biodiversity next year, we call on countries to acknowledge women's roles as custodians and preservers of the world's biodiversity, and include them in decision-making regarding the preservation of this life-giving resource. We would also like to address the issue of the relationship between women and trade. As our colleagues in the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) have pointed out, the notion of competitiveness revolves around the reality of cheap labour. All too often, for a country to be considered competitive within today's trading relations, cheap labour - or "Cheaper" labour - must be available as the basis of production, especially in agriculture and in the manufacturing sector. The bulk of the work force in these sectors, world-wide, is made up of women and it is here that labour is cheapest of all. This is why the largest proportion of the world's poorest is made up of women. There is also a silent collaboration between importing and exporting countries. Each depends on this cheap labour reserve to trade in commodities and now, argues for yet more liberalized trade - again, under the guise of "competitiveness." The banner of "sustainable trade" implicitly hides this fundamental relation between competitiveness and cheap labour and, therefore, masks the true role played by women in international trade. The issue of equal employment standards as a basis of sustainable development is not dealt with anywhere in Agenda 21 or in international trade agreements. In fact the word "employment" rarely shows up at all in this context. Lofty speeches about trade or fancy speeches about women in the context of sustainability have very limited meaning unless this fundamental employment question is revealed for what is really represents for women. We strongly urge that the issue of women, and their unique role in contributing to sustainable development, be placed on CSD's agenda, not just in a formal way, but as a commitment to affirmative ... women's groups have categorically stated that the implementation of Agenda 21 "should ensure that gender considerations are fully integrated into all the policies, programmes and activities" of UN bodies, The Women's Caucus feels that this agreement has not been fulfilled and calls on governments and the CSD to honor their commitment.
For more information on the Women's Caucus, contact WEDO at:
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