10.12.05
Statement by Kemal Dervis Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme On the Occasion of International Human Rights Day
| | Statement by Kemal Dervis
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
On the Occasion of
International Human Rights Day
10 December 2005
The international language of human rights has become widely accepted and spoken in the fifty-seven years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was underlined in September, when global leaders at the 2005 World Summit firmly stated that human rights along with development, peace, and security are the pillars of the United Nations system. These pillars are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, and provide the foundation upon which to build our collective security and well-being.
The decision taken at the Summit to strengthen the UN Human Rights machinery by establishing a Human Rights Council, replacing the Commission on Human Rights, and by strengthening the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, are among a series of vital steps that will allow us to move ahead with the promotion and protection of human rights for all.
UNDP recognises that human rights are not only an objective but also an important development tool, with which we can support national efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to prevent discrimination or exclusion from the development process on the grounds of race, religion, or gender.
A human rights-based approach to development insists that women and men have equal access to development, equal access to health, an education, employment, and adequate housing.
Today, International Human Rights Day, also coincides with the final day of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, which gave focus to the damaging effect of gender-based violence on society as a whole. It highlighted the plight of women subjected to the systematic sexual violence that has characterized so many armed conflicts; or exposed to HIV because they do not have the power to say no to unprotected sex with their partner.
Injustices continue to take place, despite the fact that the recognition of women’s rights is strongly enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Beijing Platform for Action.
If the pervasive culture of the abuse of women’s economic, social and political rights is to change, women must have equal representation and the recourse to hold the powerful to account. To this end, UNDP strongly supports national efforts to develop women’s access to the political system, where they have long-since been under-represented.
In Afghanistan, for example, UNDP’s intensive advocacy resulted in a Presidential decree allocating two seats per province to women on the Constitutional Loya Jirga, the body responsible for writing the country’s new constitution, which today grants women and men equal rights before the law. In Honduras, UNDP advocated for the adoption of a National Policy on Equal Opportunities, which in turn led to new legislation that now reserves 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women.
There are positive signs that the culture is changing. In November, UNDP provided support and training to Liberia’s electoral commission in advance of the country’s historic presidential election – the first since the end of its 14-year civil war - which saw the first ever election of a woman as an African head of state. This is a momentous step forward for Africa, and my hope is that it will empower women and girls around the Continent to insist upon the realisation of their individual human rights.
The principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights will never be realised if women and girls - along with their talents and potential – are left out of the equation. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stressed, “What begins as a failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends as a calamity for entire nations”.
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