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No Excuses
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Despite considerable advances in gender equality in recent decades, gender discrimination is still pervasive in many parts of the world, if not the whole world.
The extent and nature of this discrimination vary considerably, but it is cause for concern that there is no region in the developing world where women are equal to men as regards their legal, social, and economic rights.
These inequalities are unfair and have direct consequences for the women concerned. They deprive society of badly needed human resources and are ultimately a core development effectiveness issue.
We simply cannot afford to retain obstacles that prevent half the population from contributing fully to the development process.
Norway has been taking an active part in the international struggle for gender equality since 1945. Norwegian development cooperation has mirrored Norwegian society in general in its focus on equal rights and opportunities for women and men in all areas of society.
For several years, the Norwegian development budget included a special budget item for efforts to empower and mobilize women. This is no longer the case.
Rather than sidelining these issues as a separate budget item, we have made the promotion of gender equality an integral component of all our development cooperation activities.
The United Nations (UN) Declaration at the Millennium Summit emphasizes that promoting gender equality and empowering women are effective ways of combating poverty, hunger, and disease, and of encouraging sustainable development.
In short, if poverty is to be eradicated, gender equality is indispensable. In 2002, the Norwegian Government adopted an Action Plan for Combating Poverty in the South toward 2015. The plan is an overall strategy for Norway’s contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals - MDGs.
It is an ambitious and dynamic plan, of which gender equality is an integral part.
"We simply cannot afford to retain obstacles that prevent half the population from contrituting fully to the development process"
The international community has made substantial commitments in this regard, not least in Beijing in 1995 with the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Many countries, including most developing countries, have also made a legal commitment to putting an end to all discrimination against women by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). We are determined to assist partner countries in meeting these obligations.
Yet much remains to be done. Discrimination is still the order of the day. One recent example of the difficulties in gaining recognition for the equal rights of women and men, and one that I regret very much, is from Johannesburg.
It was not possible to reach consensus at the World Summit on Sustainable Development on giving women the same rights to own land as men. And this was in 2002.
The adoption of the MDGs was a breakthrough. Halving world poverty by 2015 is a formidable challenge, and one that requires a multilateral approach.
The UN agencies, World Bank, and the regional development banks are assisting poor countries in their own efforts to achieve the goals. Norway, therefore, provides much of its development assistance through these organizations.
If we are to succeed in these endeavors, we must have efficient international development organizations. Thus, we are constantly pushing for change through active participation on the boards of these organizations and by means of strategic financial support.
We have financed the establishment of gender units, gender trust funds, and gender experts within various organizations and also projects for the empowerment of women.
But these organizations still need to strengthen their capacity to address gender concerns.
This is why Norway, together with the governments of Canada and Denmark, recently initiated a multidonor fund to help the Asian Development Bank (ADB) carry out its gender and development policy and action plan. All countries wishing to support gender and development work in ADB are welcome to join.
"If poverty is to be eradicated, gender equality is indispensables"
Lofty strategies and policies are by no means a guarantee of success. The main challenge is their practical implementation. The continuing slowness in mainstreaming gender-related activities into the institutions’ own general budgets is unacceptable.
Gender mainstreaming is a political process, and structural changes in societies — or in multilateral institutions for that matter — do not take place overnight.
Nevertheless, there is no excuse for not making genuine equal rights and opportunities for women and men at all levels of society an integral part of the development process.
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