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Press Release
Marie-Josée Jacobs at the UN: Equality between men and women – a political objective to be reached

Date of release : 01-03-2005

Policy area : Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs


Marie-Josée Jacobs, Minister for Equal Opportunities, was at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York to participate in the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which is being held from 28 February to 11 March 2005. It is in this framework that the UN organised the review of the implementation of the Beijing Action Programme and the documents of the 23rd extraordinary session of the General Assembly. The Office of the Commission proposed a declaration text that reaffirms the commitments made by the governments in Beijing in favour of the emancipation of women and gender equality.

The Minister first attended an opening session accompanied by three representatives of civil society. Ms Jacobs then had the opportunity to speak with the Ministers responsible for questions of equality from several countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Morocco and New Zealand, in the framework of bilateral meetings.

After her speech at the meeting of the International Agency for Francophony, Marie-Josée Jacobs spoke about innovations in the area of institutional mechanisms in the framework of a high-level round table.

The day after, Ms Jacobs presided over a coordination meeting of the European Union, during which she requested the support of the Ministers of the European Union in favour of the defence of the initial proposal declaration of the Office. The amendment of the United States, stating that the Beijing Action Programme does not create any new international human rights, was rejected by the Member States of the UN.

Strengthened by the spirit of consensus in the Community, Marie-Josée Jacobs, the first speaker at the high-level plenary session before the General Assembly, underlined that the ministerial declaration adopted by the 25 Member States of the European Union, accession countries Bulgaria and Romania, candidate countries Turkey and Croatia, as well as Iceland and Norway, members of the EEA, on 4 February 2005 was a fundamental step in the commitment of the European Union in favour of policies of equality between men and women.

In her speech, the Minister emphasised that it was essential to act in partnership to fully reaffirm, unequivocally and unanimously, the commitments to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

In the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), she insisted that equality between men and women was not just an important goal in itself, but that it was also essential for the realisation of all of the MDGs.

"Equality between men and women cannot be considered without guaranteeing the sexual and reproductive rights of women", she added.

According to the Minister, the goal of equality affects both women and men. Consequently, it is necessary to encourage the active participation of men, and boys, to realise it.

The Minister also stated that equality between men and women is essential for the realisation of full employment, for economic growth, to strengthen social protection and to eradicate of poverty.

The Luxembourg Presidency declared that the Member States are prepared to take concrete measures to create a favourable educational and social environment in which women and men, girls and boys, can fully develop themselves and in which the aspect of gender is integrated into all educational programmes and policies.

The Minister concluded by emphasising that the goal is to achieve equality between women and men in the area of decision making and to guarantee the balanced participation of women and men in all sectors of political, economic and social life in order to strengthen democracy.

After her speech, the Minister met with a delegation from the European Parliament.

During a bilateral meeting with the United States, the delegations clarified their divergent positions. The negotiations on the adoption of the declaration continued until Friday, 4 March, and ended in the withdrawal of the American amendment.

For the text of the various speeches by Ms Jacobs, please see the Ministry of Equal Opportunities' Website : http://www.mega.public.lu/actualites/actu_min/2005/02/Session_CSW/index.html




This page was last modified on : 06-06-2005

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