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COMMENTS FROM RUSSIA’S PARTICIPANTS IN THE SPECIAL SESSION
In New York, our country was represented by over 20 women, both official delegation members and activists from women’s organizations. The discussions left no one feeling indifferent.
Galina Karelova, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Development, leader of the official delegation –
My impressions are vivid ones. It is clear that women still take a lot in on the emotional level. There has been a qualitative change in the whole situation on resolving the “woman question.” Progress has taken place in virtually every country – the Beijing Conference energized everyone. For Russia what was important was first of all to correlate its experience with the practice of other countries. Of course one wishes that people’s attitudes to this subject would change more quickly – it is impossible to achieve real change without special financing. It is also obvious that a lot of acute problems can be solved only through the joint efforts of the international community. These include drug addiction, AIDS and poverty. Russia is ready to cooperate on the government level and also through NGOs, which in Russia are the ones who start the ball rolling on many issues.
Bi-lateral negotiations are necessary, in particular with Italy – here at the session the Italians took the initiative toward cooperation. We had a good meeting with the Portuguese delegation, whose country is now chair of the Council of Europe. By the way the European Union supported many of the Russian proposals in the documents of the General Assembly. We have had talks with international organizations on a number of the programs in which Russia is participating – on population, family planning, and the protection of childhood. It is important for Russia to comprehend the world strategy for implementing plans to improve the status of women. The final documents confirm the importance of the 12 areas that the Beijing Conference identified as having the highest priority. Poverty is one, and here we have to make major revisions in our national plan for improving women’s status, all the more so since our president singles out the problem of poverty as number one. We can make serious headway on this plan, if we work together.
Ekaterina Lakhova, deputy in the Russian Duma –
I am very pleased to be participating in this special session of the General Assembly dedicated to the problem of equality, the equality that is the concern of our women’s movement. All the countries here spoke of their achievements over the past five years, and it is clear that our women’s movement is on a parallel track. During the last two years we worked on informing and educating the public, and a lot was done.
Our government is on the right path. For the first time the first deputy speaker of our parliament is a woman, and she takes women’s problems seriously. At the very start of the VII session of the Duma, we held a hearing on the question of a special draft law on equal rights and opportunities for men and women. A consortion of women’s organizations spoke out as initiators. Our government ratified the Beijing Platform of Action as well as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is now 20 years old. Our government has a responsibility to the world community and its citizens to implement these documents, particularly since article 19 of our Basic Law proclaims equal right and opportunities.
In recent years some important documents were adopted – the presidential decrees of 1993 and 1996 on raising the role of women in our government institutions. But these documents were not reinforced by material and organizational resources – that’s the trouble, they are just pronouncements. For the moment we have surrendered our position. Education is also an acute problem, as is the problem of violence in society.
Women are little represented in the Russian power structure. We would very much like the recommendations of international organizations to have a more serious influence on our society. Now we have a new president, a new parliament, and on returning home to Russia, I think we will get together and revise our plans.
Valentina Bronevich, Governor of the Koriakski autonomous region –
I really liked Hillary Clinton’s talk here. She spoke about the importance of economic rights for women and the necessity of economic independence. These are essential. One can talk about all kinds of rights and opportunities, but economics is at the base of it all.
Liubov Sliska, First Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma –
What amazed me is that the Muslim world has moved ahead of us on issues of equality. We attended an inter-parliamentary “round table” and heard the speeches of ministers for the affairs of women and family, of general secretaries with responsibility for equal rights. They are working in many countries. Unfortunately not in ours.
In 1917 equal rights were officially declared in our country, it was a real revolution. But in recent years women in Russia feel themselves increasingly less confident. In the Duma there are fewer and fewer of us among the newly appointed leaders. Our women’s organizations – like the swan, the crayfish and the pike– have not created a united powerful movement. Of course there should be a common ideology for attaining and promoting the idea of real equality.
Natalia Berezhnaya, leader of the association “Development and Peace” –
I well remember the previous international conferences in Beijing, in Geneva. Unfortunately, in New York the government delegation and the NGOs were separated and there was not the mutual enriching exchange of ideas, as there was in Geneva.
At the same time I cannot help noticing how women’s consciousness has grown, together with the activities of the UN agencies and divisions that initiate many good programs. Hearing the speeches of the representatives of Gabon, Nigeria and Cambodia about the work of their national mechanisms and their ministers for equal rights, one understands how much has changed.
I have long been involved in the problem of women’s participation in conflict resolution. Working over the past days in New York, some of the NGOs have prepared a special document to activate the role of women in issues of peace. Men start wars and mothers mourn the dead, and it is important that women be the most active participants in the process of preventing conflicts. Quite a lot has already been done, in particular the International Tribunal has recognized rape in war as a crime against humanity. Now it is important to strengthen the position of women peacemakers the world over.
Elena Mashkova,leader of the "Femina" association in Naberezhny Chelny--
For me, as for probably many others who were there five years ago, the world conference in Beijing was the greatest proof of the power and influence of the international women's movement. During the conference, I took part in the specialized work of several sections, including privatization in countries with a transitional economy and women's rights. It is disheartening when representatives of our region give their reports because practically everywhere women have lost their former positions. At the same time, in Tatarstan [a republic which is part of the Russian Federation] we are successfully employing the UN's methodology relating to women's rights. Not long ago we held a very interesting seminar, in which even a number of Muslim women in ouyr republic participated. This work will continue.
Fliura Ziiatdinova, Deputy in the Russian Duma --
After a conference like this, it is impossible to take lightly the problems that still exist in our society. Problems with child prostitution and with rape exist not only in Africa. I dealt with this subject in a book I was recently working on. This relates directly to women, to their position in society. It is important to be aware of what laws are being passed and what social effects they will have. I have no doubt that both the delegation from the Duma as well as from the government have gleaned more than a little here. This is the second women's conference that I have taken part in. And one cannot help notice that in those countries where women are more actively represented in power, social problems are resolved more quickly, and society is stable - probably because women by nature tend towards stability. I am hoping that our delegation will prepare an analytical report for the Duma, and that such resolutions will be passed by the government as well. It is essential for women to be more actively integrated into the development of our society, it is one of our first and foremost tasks.
Olga Lipovskaia, director of the St. Petersburg Center for Gender Issues --
This is the first time I am taking part in a forum of this size, and I have come to understand just how hard it is to learn how to put aside national issues for the sake of global ones. Women of Russia and Eastern Europe must learn to work with international organizations, must learn how to debate according to accepted form, to find a common position and act mutually. We must learn this from our colleagues - the Western Europeans. We need to understand the mechanisms of the work of the UN. A big impression was made by the representatives of the UN, who work in the most various subdivisions of the organization; many of these representatives came from community initiatives and volunteer groups. The experience we have gained here is priceless, just what we need. I would also like to add that Russian women lag not only behind women of Western Europe, but also behind women of Kazakstan and Azerbaizhan. That has been the most grievous discovery of all.
Liudmila Zavadskaia, Director of Programs for women's rights in the NGO "Legal Initiative"--
For the first time in many years I worked here exclusively on women's colmmunity initiatives. There are so many interesting projects and ideas. The conclusions of the community organizations are very profound. I am reminded of the session on globalization. It was nice to find that here the problem of women is not treated in isolation from all other problems. When you come right down to it, equal rights benefit everybody. Today the question of women in politics has acquired wider dimensions, and the question has been raised linking women to the problem of security. National security, armed conflicts, macroeconomics are coming onto our agenda. Everywhere, women's perspectives should be present and only then will we approach harmony. Women should work in the army, in the special services, and in parliament, and not only in the traditional fields of healthcare and social welfare. Only then will we be able to talk about real equality.