Women’s rights

Discrimination and violence against women and girls occur in every country in
the world. By preventing women and girls from benefiting fully from health,
education and other services, gender inequality increases maternal mortality,
vulnerability to HIV and exploitation, and undermines global security and
development. Gender equality and women’s empowerment is a key priority
for the Government. We remain a driving force in advancing women’s rights
internationally through our work to eliminate discrimination and violence
against women and girls and by encouraging other countries to implement
international gender equality commitments.

Women’s rights is an area where our domestic record can help promote our
values internationally. To coincide with the UN International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the Government
launched a new strategy entitled “Call to End Violence against Women and
Girls”, which for the first time includes international work. The appointment on
25 November of Minister of Equalities Lynne Featherstone as the government
champion to tackle violence against women and girls overseas further
reinforced this commitment. Her role will be to provide policy coherence and
coordination across UK government departments, represent the UK overseas
and encourage all government ministers to ensure that this issue remains
high on their domestic and international agendas.

International institutions have a vital role to play in advancing women’s rights.

The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women is a legally binding international treaty designed to end gender
inequality and promote women’s empowerment. The UK ratified the
convention in 1986. In 2011 the UK will submit its report on the measures we
have taken to comply with our obligations under the convention. The Beijing
Declaration and Platform of Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference
on Women in Beijing in 1995, embodies the commitment of the international
community to the advancement of women, ensuring that a gender perspective
is reflected in all policies and programmes at the national, regional and
international levels. The year 2010 was the 15-year review of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform of Action, undertaken by the UN Commission on the
Status of Women. The review recognised that although the international
community has made advances in women’s rights in the 15 years since its
adoption, many challenges remain to women achieving the full enjoyment of
their human rights.

In September the UK welcomed the adoption at the Human Rights Council of

the resolution on “The Elimination of Laws and Practices that Discriminate
against Women.” The resolution agreed to establish a new expert working
group of five independent and geographically representative experts who will
conduct country visits, make recommendations on best practice, and highlight
laws and practices that violate women’s rights.

The creation of a new UN agency for women, UN Women, in July is a

welcome development. UN Women merges four existing UN agencies on
gender equality and women’s empowerment into one agency to provide a
more coherent and coordinated approach to women’s rights. In September
the UN Secretary-General appointed Michelle Bachelet, the former Chilean
president, as the new head of UN Women. Negotiations to agree the size and
composition of the governance body of UN Women, the executive board,
were lengthy. We supported the final board that includes a diverse
representation of countries. The UK will be represented on the board for five
out of the next six years. We will actively engage in the development of UN
Women during our tenure.

The UK was keenly involved during 2010 in the development of the draft
Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against
women and domestic violence. Negotiations on this convention will continue
in 2011. In September, the UK welcomed the adoption of the five-year EU
Strategy for Equality between Women and Men to promote equality in Europe
which sets specific measures to tackle inequality and gender-based violence.

Our embassies also have an important role in promoting women’s rights. In

addition to lobbying on women’s rights, they also supported a number of
projects and initiatives. In November our Embassy in Rabat, Morocco, in
partnership with a local NGO, launched a project to teach women in the
Berkane region environmental sustainability and income-generating skills. In
Sierra Leone our Embassy supported an initiative to broadcast radio
programmes against sexual violence.