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OPENING STATEMENT
 BY
MR. KIM HAK-SU
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
AND THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Excellencies,
Distinguished Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to welcome all of you to this High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review the Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, and its Regional and Global Outcomes.

I am particularly pleased to see many government ministers and representatives here today.  Your presence demonstrates the continuing commitment of governments to the recognition that economic growth and social development are directly linked to gender equality, and that truly all development issues are women's issues.  As such, that the Beijing+10 process is not a separate, but an inherent step to securing peace and prosperity throughout the region. 

I am pleased to see our civil society partners and note their contributions to this meeting.  Partnership and cooperation is a key theme of this meeting. Clearly, forums like these promote a more holistic approach to understanding the multi-faceted nature of gender concerns at the highest political level.  The women's movement no longer needs to be the lone voice calling for change; instead national machineries and other government counterparts are able to recognize the value of exchange, information sharing and capacity building across sectors, between governments and together with civil society and private partners.

We have come together to review the regional implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995, and the outcome of the Beijing+5 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2000. The regional inputs discussed at this meeting will be forwarded to the Global Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action to be carried out by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-ninth session in March 2005.

The goal of this High-Level Meeting is to reflect on emerging issues within the region, while also looking for active strategies and approaches to tackling ongoing challenges and institutional roadblocks. The Beijing+5 process and this meeting, which works towards Beijing+10, are not simply a time to reflect on the declaration, but a time to re-evaluate and concentrate on the actions that lead to greater gender equality and advance the status of women and girls in our region and globally.

This meeting will be organized around plenary review sessions, two panels and corresponding parallel sessions, as well as some very exciting side events.  The first panel and its corresponding parallel sessions will focus on in-depth and substantive issues including globalization and the economic empowerment of women, violence against women and the trafficking of women and children; a gender responsive information society; gender and HIV/AIDS; and, governance and the political participation of women.  The second panel and its corresponding parallel sessions will focus on the approaches necessary for creating and sustaining an enabling environment for empowerment of women including partnerships and regional cooperation, gender mainstreaming, a rights-based approach, and working with men and boys.

While the panels are able to build dialogue on a variety of issues, several key underlying priorities remain constant within the region, namely, women's political participation, the economic empowerment of women, the human rights of women, and gender mainstreaming.  These are the issues I ask you to evaluate in a frank and explicit way during your discussions and sessions over the next four days.  

In the context of these four definitive challenges we are also able to address a variety of intersecting challenges.  We are able to acknowledge the impact of trafficking of women and children, amongst other things, as a form of violence against women, a migration issue, a form of economic exploitation, and a social protection issue.  We are keenly aware of the contradictory impacts of globalization.  While creating new employment opportunities for women and easing the problem of poverty in some cases, what remains problematic is the low economic value accorded to work performed primarily by women in conditions of exploitation with little or no job security, and in violation of labour rights.

Equally, the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in Asia and the Pacific has many dimensions.  The rate of HIV infection is rising among women more than men due, in part, to unequal power relations between men and women, a failure to encourage sex education and condom use, and poor access to effective health and prevention services.  There is also a growing care burden experienced by women, especially elderly women, of other family members with HIV/AIDS.

Similarly, while we look positively on the growth of quota systems to strengthen women's access to political participation, we need to recognize the importance of securing the human rights of women to participate fully and as equal members in all aspects of society – in order that women may be Members of Parliament and judges, but also that they may live free from fear and with a sense of security in their own homes.

Finally, there is the issue of gender mainstreaming.  This is a crucial element to our discussions.  Because this is where commitments move from statements into actions.  In this room, we have countries that have been able to make great strides in truly mainstreaming gender priorities into both the policy and programming elements of their work and their infrastructure.  The parallel sessions have been organized with an aim to strengthen capacity by sharing ideas and learning from each other's practical examples and mainstreaming tools.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that, "in Beijing, the world took a giant step forward on behalf of womankind.  For the first time, it recognized explicitly that gender equality is critical to the development and peace of every nation". 

International agreements, conventions and treaties such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women and the Millennium Development Goals together with progressive national strategies have secured definitive policies, and concrete tasks and indicators to ensure that gender equality within our nations need never take a step back.

The promotion of gender equality and the advancement and empowerment of women and girls is the culmination of years of determined advocacy and action at the local, national, regional and global levels.  The process is ongoing and dynamic.  As we move forward towards Beijing+10, and even Beijing+15, persistent concerns remain and new challenges will continue to present themselves.  Equally, opportunities to address long-standing inequalities through stronger national legislation reinforce the necessity of a determined political will to shift fundamental barriers and work proactively with the women's movement. 

UNESCAP remains committed to supporting inclusive and effective mechanisms for greater women's empowerment as means to achieve gender equality and ultimately, reduce poverty.  As such, we will continue to assist in building linkages between governments, civil society and other partners in order to encourage and strengthen channels for dialogue through regional and sub-regional cooperation and integration.

I look forward to the outcomes of this meeting, as I believe we have come together to reinforce our commitments and reflect openly and honestly on the gaps and challenges that persist.  This is a time to actively reassert our support to what was pledged ten years ago, and as a region to remain steadfast in our ongoing pursuit of gender equality for all women and girls for the decades to come.

Before I close, allow me to express our most profound sentiments concerning a recent tragedy that has taken place in our part of the world.  We share in the pain and suffering of the parents, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors of those who died, as well as those wounded, in the tragic event in the Russian town of Beslan.  Our thoughts and prayers go with all the people of the Russian Federation.

Thank you.