The Beijing + 5 Follow-up appears to be turning out to be Beijin-5 with, what appears to be exclusionary tactics on the part of the western countries. There also appears to be a concerted effort to exclude the NGOs from participating effectively in the Conference. Another factor which might render the recommendation of the Conference unrealistic, exclusionary and ineffectual is contained in the statement of Nana Agyeman Rawlings, Chairperson of the Ghana delegation that"...the majority of rural, grassroots women in Africa and elsewhere were not even aware that the Session was taking place,(where) their needs and concerns should be the main focus of their meeting." Please find below the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Summary No.2 from Beijing + 5. -----Original Message----- From: Peter K.A. da Costa [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday 09 June 2000 5:13 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: BEIJING + 5 SUMMARY NO. 2: SEMANTICS OVER SUBSTANCE? [APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE DISSEMINATION OF THIS SUMMARY, WHICH WAS DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. PLEASE NOTE THE DATELINE] ECA Summary No. 2 from Beijing + 5 SEMANTICS OVER SUBSTANCE? UNHQ, New York, 07 June 2000 (ECA) -- 7 June summary: Beijing +5: Presentations of country reports continue in plenary today without opportunities for debate or questions. The place for debate is within the working groups formed to negotiate the wording of the zero draft outcome document prepared by the DAW team and furthered at various Prepcoms in the past year. Progress is being made on the removal of brackets. The process is scheduled to end Wednesday afternoon, for presentation to the Committee of the Whole in plenary for discussion and adoption by tomorrow, Thursday. A unified, common purpose is emerging in the Africa Group as solidarity evolves between permanent missions, country delegates, the OAU and the ECA. No country or subregional group is strong enough to stand up alone, for example to the might of the European Union and to strong right-wing groups and blocs. An African voice and presence is becoming more evident as the political roles yield to the technical specialist role of the gender experts at national and regional level. Clearly, the strategy has to be to find language that is agreeable to all, within the framework of commitments already made at Beijing and ratified by African Heads of State. The prevailing language needs to be one of compromise that can last another five years until another world conference opens the way for a fresh Platform of Action. Among others, South Africa, Sudan and Egypt -- under the Africa Group Chairmanship of Gabon -- are this afternoon preparing precisely such a compromise statement, pledging to speak with one voice in support of the entire Beijing Platform of Action and reiterating their interest in adding to the Platform rather than detracting from it. The deliberations, as far as the Africa Group is concerned, should remain Beijing PLUS, not Beijing MINUS 5. With Africans chairing the Plenary sessions and the Ad Hoc Committee, the region has a degree of visibility, but actual substantive impact remains to be seen and will be measured by the degree to which country delegations are able to articulate Africa’s priority concerns and get them included in the outcome document. In the corridors outside the conference rooms at UNHQ and at centres of NGO activity such as the media centre in Chur ch Centre across the road, there is a degree of frustration over the lack of information and the fear that the exclusive nature of the proceedings may sideline priority concerns of Africa such as the crippling poverty and debt burden, in favour of issues Africans insist are not central or life threatening -- such as sexual rights. Some delegates report that some countries of the West, including the bloc of the European Union, may be deliberately using semantics to delay and subvert the finalization of the document. The debates and disagreements on wording can consume much time and energy, for example, how to express in a globally acceptable way, the valuable economic contributions of women’s work at home. Some NGO representatives, confined to NGO caucuses and special events, are saying that some countries want Beijing + 5 to fail for their own nefarious purposes. One much distributed flyer today claims in bold lett ering: "The West is holding up the document. If the West would stop pushing homosexual and abortion rights on unwilling countries, the document would be done. Don’t blame the developing countries with the courage to defend their values and their right to self-government". Reactions to such claims vary. Some feel that this claim is justified. Others think that right-wing organizations are seeking to manipulate opinion by making developing countries feel like victims. Today, for example, the stress has been on the wording with regard to NGO participation with government, with some favouring only national-level participation, globalization, and the core issue of women’s rights as human rights. Part of the problem is that the current stress on "sexual rights" and "sexual orientation" is not a part of the Beijing Platform and individuals seem to be attempting the impossible task of rewriting parts of the Platform, when the focus should be on operationalizing it and leaving new text to the next world conference on women. (END) ////DISCLAIMER: These summaries are intended to provide ECA constituencies with background on the proceedings, and do not in any way constitute an official United Nations position.//// Daily updates by the ECA Communication Team, related links on the Special Session on Beijing + 5 and the contents of a new CD-ROM launched by the African Centre for Women are available on the ECA Website at: http://www.un.org/depts/eca For more information about ECA's participation in the Special Session, please contact: Lorna Davidson, Sophia Denekew or Mercy Wambui C/o Regional Commissions New York Office 31st Floor UN Secretariat New York Tel: +1-212-963-6905 Fax: +1-212-963-1500 Email: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------