Statement

by

Hon. Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro
Minister of Labour, Public Administration and Empowerment

of

Antigua and Barbuda

to

The 51st Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
 

Monday 26th February, 2007


M. Chair,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates

My delegation extends its congratulations to you and the members of your bureau on chairing this important session of the Commission on the Status of Women. We would also like to thank the Secretary-General for the comprehensive reports he has prepared to guide our work for this session.

It is my honour to address this gathering on the occasion of the 51st Session of the CSW. The government of Antigua and Barbuda welcomes the opportunity to participate with other member states at this year’s session of the Commission to further review progress on the commitments to women in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Beijing Plus Five Outcomes Document. We welcome the opportunity provided by this forum to come together with those with a common interest and commitment to the advancement of women and girls.

Antigua and Barbuda has a strong commitment to human rights and places a high priority on honouring the commitments we have made internationally to advance and protect the rights of women and girls. We are proud to have been part of the process that has allowed us to define our collective goals for action.

The Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, CRC the ICPD Programme of Action, the Belem do Para Convention together with the Millennium Development Goals remain the blueprint for our work. Fora such as this provide important opportunities to learn from each other those things that have proved instrumental in achieving progress to date.

This year’s theme “Violence against the girl child” is a very important issue for the advancement of women. The decision of the Commission to focus on the girl child is significant and provides an excellent opportunity to assess progress in implementation of the recommendations on eliminating discrimination and violence against the girl child, and to identify strategies to address the challenges. We commend the Commission’s initiative this year in providing opportunities for interactive discussion between member States. We laud, also, the sharing of experiences between member States - and what they have learned on how to further improve the well-being of women and girls.

Madam Chairperson
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is committed to achieving gender equality and continues to support and develop innovative measures to achieve this. Despite the many challenges that still exist, Antigua and Barbuda has indeed made significant strides towards the attainment and implementation of women’s empowerment and gender equality as outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action. Women and girls in Antigua and Barbuda continue to make progress in some fields including education and training. There still remain gaps where progress needs to be made.
Our experience emphasizes that empowering women to make their full contribution to their communities is essential to the development of countries and the well-being of families and societies.

The Beijing Platform for Action identifies the girl child as one priority area of concern of the international community and governments that is particularly deserving of urgent response. This critical issue specifically addresses the elimination of all forms of discrimination against the girl child and violence is no exception. Discrimination against the girl child is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace and it is linked with the Convention on the Rights of the Child which specifically calls on governments to respect and ensure the rights as set forth in the convention.

Madame Chairperson,
Despite international standards on elimination of discrimination and violence derived from the CRC and CEDAW - girls continue to be discriminated against because of their sex and are exposed to many forms of violence. Violence against girls is pervasive. Due to such factors as their youth, social pressures, lack of protective laws or failure to enforce laws, girls are more vulnerable to all kinds of violence.

The government of Antigua and Barbuda is committed to protecting and promoting the rights of women and girls in Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda signed and ratified the CEDAW Convention in 1989 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993; the two major international human rights instruments that set the standards for the protection of the rights of women and children. The unwavering commitment of the government of Antigua and Barbuda to eliminate discrimination against women was demonstrated last year by the ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in April, 2006.

Other legislative measures undertaken by my Government to protect the rights of Women and Girls include the enactment of the Sexual Offences Act of 1995 and the Domestic Violence Summary Proceedings Act, 1999. These instruments constitute landmark legislation in protecting the rights of Women & Children. These are major achievements for promoting women’s empowerment in Antigua and Barbuda

In my country, for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2006, creative initiatives were used to encourage youth involvement. With the support of UNIFEM, a successful violence against women and HIV/AIDS logo competition was launched in schools across Antigua and Barbuda stimulating awareness and exposing young minds to the ills of these real issues in our society.


Recreation of abusive situations and ways to resolve them were put on by college students in the form of street theatres. In recognition of the upcoming International Women’s Day 2007; the Gender Affairs Division hosted an open mic under the theme “Love Shouldn’t Hurt.” Victims of violence and abuse used this platform to share their experiences and others spoke up and out against Violence against Women in poetry, music and cultural expression.

I wish to inform that in November last year, I was elected President of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM). I am very proud of this position, since it is the oldest inter governmental organization in the world created to defend the rights of women. Due to the efforts of this organization, it approved the first and only International instrument in the world, the Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, (Convention of Belem do Para), which addresses specifically the issue of violence against women including the girl child.

Today, I am pleased to say that 32 out of 34 Member States of the OAS have ratified the Convention including my own country and all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Since October 2004, the State parties to this Convention adopted a statute to follow up the implementation of this Convention. It is progressing well and we expect to have by the end of the year a hemispheric report on the implementation of the Convention and the recommendations to State Parties on complying with its objectives.

My Government acknowledges the significant contributions that many organizations have made through their work with the women’s bureau in Antigua and Barbuda. With the support of agencies such as UNIFEM Caribbean Area Office, UNDP, UNFPA, CIDA and FAVACA, I am pleased to say that the close collaboration of the key actors in this area – government and civil society organizations, has begun to show progress, but there can be no stemming in our efforts to eradicate this scourge from our society.

The Directorate of Gender Affairs, the national machinery for women offers programmes that provide valuable training for young people to successfully meet the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood.

Another significant programme is the young women’s leadership institute that will engage young women in areas of advocacy, analysis and dialogue. The institute designed by and for young women has as its objective putting young women in control of educating and empowering themselves by taking action in key issues that affect their lives. The academic foundations of this institute will focus on gender issues, social change and leadership. These are some of the activities that help build girls’ skills and engage them in active participation in the learning process that better equips them to deal with abuse and exploitation and cope with harmful and vulnerable situations.
Young men are also included as a way of increasing their involvement in the change process towards gender equality. This is a critical step in tackling entrenched gender stereotypes and roles and eliminating discrimination and violence from the lives of women and girls.

Sustained efforts are essential to ensure the retention of girls in school and high levels of achievement. In some areas, the provision of scholarships, uniforms, books, free transportation and meals have proven effective in increasing enrolment and retention of girls. The Board of Education provides of Scholarships and the textbook assistance scheme provides all books that children use in schools at both the primary & secondary levels. These books are provided on loan, free of cost.

As part of my governments commitment to the alleviation of poverty a School Meals Programme was recently introduced in Antigua and Barbuda. This initiative is aimed at providing nutrition through a balanced meal which studies have shown positive correlation to academic success.

Antigua and Barbuda, through the Ministry of Youth Affairs has recently completed a national youth policy. This policy represents a nationally agreed upon formula for meeting the needs and aspirations of young men and women by providing the philosophical and institutional framework for national youth development. The policy addresses the specific concerns of: Girls & Young Women, Pregnant Girls & Teen Mothers, and Physically & Mentally challenged Young People.
Madam Chair

The Commission has a vital role to play in reviewing the implementation of international standards on women’s human rights. We look forward to sharing best practices which will impact on improving the lives of women and girls in our societies.

Thank you.