by Dinah Kakai.
NAM FORUM SHOULD FIGHT AGAINST NEO-COLONIALISM: H.E IIHAM ALIYEV, PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN. THE MINISTER OF GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Hon Betty Amongi is representing Uganda
The President of AZERBAIJAN H.E IIham Aliyev has called on global communities to continue with the agenda that his country set under their chair of NAM and fight against countries that still wants to interfere with internal affairs of other countries. AZERBAIJAN led NAM countries because we strongly believed that we needed to fight neocolonialism; why are some European countries still meddling in the affairs of other countries and there are no Sanctions imposed on them, yet the same organs are quick to Sanction other countries even without criminal actions? Why? H.E Questioned.
The President opined that they were able to make NAM more vocal, active and capable of resolving serious issues among members States with notable forums of Women, Youth and the Parliamentary forums formed to discuss issues of NAM. He called on the forum to defend justice, international law, tolerance, human rights and democracy.
As we prepare to host COP29, we should not portion blame against oil countries as those contributing to damaging the world; we should appreciate the fact that all countries has a right to utilise their natural resources. AZERBAIJAN will continue to use it’s oil to support other countries and scale her Green Agenda.
As we debate on intercultural dialogue, we shall continue to strengthen dialogue, work for shared futures, multilateralism, mutual respect and will craft a people’s centred approach.
In a related news, THE MINISTER OF GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Hon Betty Amongi is representing Uganda and has delivered a keynote address.
Hon. Betty Amongi Akena, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development calls on global leaders and citizens to reform cultures, traditions and religious practices that undermines women’s rights
In a compelling keynote address at the 6th World Forum on Intercultural dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan, Hon. Amongi called on UN member states to implement and codify convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
READ FULL SPEECH BELOW………..
6TH WORLD FORUM ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE, BAKU 1-3 MAY 2024
DIALOGUE FOR PEACE AND GLOBAL SECURITY: COOPERATION AND INTERCONNECTIVITY.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY: HON. AMONGI BETTY AKENA, MP
MINISTER OF GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE CHAIRPERSON OF AFRICAN UNION GENDER AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERNMENT STC COMMITTEE
AT THE PANEL DISCUSSION ON:
EMPOWERING WOMEN’S RIGHTS THROUGH
INTER-CULTURAL DIALOGUE: A PATHWAY TO GLOBAL PROGRESS.
I start by thanking H.E Ilham Aliyev, President of the republic of Azerbaijan,
My colleagues: H.E Adil Karimli, Minister of Culture and Ms. Bahar Muradova, Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan for their steadfast commitment to issues that unite us as a global community.
Allow me to also recognize all other Ministers, Excellencies, the Ambassadors, the UN agencies represented here, and all other distinguished participants.
We meet today in the beautiful city of Baku to discuss the fundamental subject of inter-cultural dialogue in promoting peace, security, co-existence and human rights. Baku is a reputable city that has demonstrated meaningful engagement of her citizens and global community, periodically rallied us to commit to global values, and taught us the need to consider different perspectives in our communities. The choice therefore, is not by coincidence, but rather by preference.
Within the context of global engagements, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has already established an ambitious set of goals to advance peaceful and prosperous societies, through calling upon state parties to work towards achieving inclusive and sustainable development. The Agenda offers a universal, integrated and indivisible vision, acknowledging that for individuals and communities to thrive in our rapidly changing world, efforts must be made to better connect the three pillars of United Nations’ action: human rights, peace and development.
The challenges of addressing growing diversity have amply demonstrated that this vision is needed now more than ever. We all have much to gain from more open and connected societies yet misunderstanding, exclusion and discrimination continue to push identity and culture-based grievances towards conflict and violence, challenging the very foundations of sustainable and inclusive development.
Within the context of cultural dialogue on the broad issues, we applaud UNESCO for driving the agenda for Intercultural dialogue since the Organization’s inception. It’s core mandate is captured in the preamble of its constitution which states that ‘ignorance of each other’s ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war’.
Further, The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of cultural expressions (2005) in article 2, underscore the notion that cultural rights can be promoted and protected only if human rights and fundamental freedoms are guaranteed, and that no one may invoke the provisions of the cultural Covenant inorder to infringe the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of HR or other rights guaranteed by international law, or to limit the scope thereof.
EQUALLY, globalization defines common values and creates universal acceptable norms that should influence transformation of culture, religion, customs, traditions that should be embraced by nations to anchor citizens’ rights.
BUT IN REALITY, many countries have not yet embraced these universal approach.
We still see many private institutions and governments that have failed to integrate international conventions that protects the rights of women as human rights, arguing that their culture or religion permits certain norms and rules on how men and women are treated.
In many countries, male dominate leadership, will decide, determine and declare whether their culture or religion allow them to acknowledge women’s rights; Cultural and religious defense poses severe difficulties for women’s rights implementation globally, regionally and nationally because when people in power invoke a policy narrative around culture, even feminist fear to challenge it for fear of being alienated from the moral side of society.
Relatedly, In the lives of many women, religion continues to play an important role. Whether they are believers or not, most women are affected in one way or another by the attitude of different faiths towards women, directly or through their traditional influence on society or the State.
In many countries, women’s rights are often curtailed or violated in the name of culture and religion. While most religions teach equality of women and men before God, they attribute different roles to women and men on earth. Religiously motivated gender stereotypes have conferred upon men a sense of superiority which has led to discriminatory treatment of women by men and even violence at their hands. If women’s right is to be achieved, culture and religion cannot be accepted as a pretext to justify violations of women’s rights, be they open or subtle, legal or illegal, practiced with or without the nominal consent of the victims – women and girls.
FOR INSTANCE, statistically, we still have several crimes committed against women in the name of culture, religion and traditions some of which are:
Honor” crimes,
Forced marriages
Female genital mutilation,
Limited participation in employment in order to fulfil maternal and house wife functions. For instance, women with higher education often choose to stay at home to fulfil their obligations as mothers or wives or to work a reduced working day.
In some countries, no education for girls or women are permissible
Curtailing dress code, participation in creative industry (music, film, drama etc)
Lack of participation in entrepreneurships and banking services
In societies which value girls less than boys, selective abortion of unborn children because they are girls and the murder of girls at birth. Preference for boys (and the societal standing of men) is so engrained in tradition that it is not unusual for women in some parts of India to kill their newborn daughters themselves, or for women in China to abort female foetuses as soon as they find out they are expecting a girl, or in Africa justifying marrying another wife because a wife has not produced a boy child.
Denying widows inheritance rights of property acquired together with their diseased husband, rather, passing such inheritance through their sons, or brother in laws rendering widows dependents in their own homes, with others controlling property they worked hard and acquired.
TO CHANGE THE ABOVE, we need dialogue on complimentary role of women’s rights, culture and religion. We need opportunity for meaningful engagements to achieve coexistence. We need willingness by custodians of cultural to change their perspectives, to build social cohesion and to uphold women’s rights and reform cultures and religion that is harmful to women and other segments of society.
THE NEED FOR DISCOURSE FOCUSING ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE.
Gender equality and women’s rights do not necessarily have to conflict with a country’s traditions, as long as these traditions are interpreted in a spirit of tolerance and openness from a religious and cultural point of view. The aim of promoting gender equality and women’s rights is not to undermine a country’s or a community’s identity, or the possibility for individuals to make their own choices about their way of life. Thus, for example, no woman should be forced to go out to work if she would rather stay at home to look after her children. However, if a woman has no real choice, but to stay at home to look after her children, because, for example, her husband does not want her to go out to work, she has not been properly educated as a girl, she is not offered a job because she is a woman, she is paid a lower wage than her husband, she is the victim of discrimination in the labour market or she cannot afford suitable childcare, this is a different matter altogether.
The intercultural dialogue on Women’s human rights and culture or religion should be presented as compatible and reinforcing rights rather than two different rights clashing with each other. The UN CEDAW which has been ratified by most countries enjoins member states to prioritize women’s rights over culture where such cultural and religious practices is harmful to the rights of women.
International legal instruments recognize the importance of culture and religion and preserves and protects it as fundamental rights. At the same time, those instruments call for state parties to take appropriate measures to eliminate cultural and religious practices that are discriminatory and harmful to women and girls. Intercultural dialogue in relations to women’s rights thus, acknowledges that cultural and religious rights are crucial in advancing a country’s human dignity but that we should preserve positive cultural rights that doesn’t violate women’s rights to avoid conflicts.
In our dialogue, the principle should be that preservation of cultural and religious practices, customs and norms should not lead to violations of women’s rights, because women’s rights, and the right to positive cultural preservations are both protected as universal human rights, anchored on the principle of equality and non-discrimination.
While there is a right to live according to one’s cultural or religious believes or there exists the right to practice ones religious beliefs as guaranteed under UNESCO and other UN conventions, those same instruments provides that these rights only exist under the condition that human/women’s rights are not restricted or violated. The European Convention on HR, The international Convention on civil and political rights, and the AU Maputo Protocol all allow restrictions of rights to religion and culture in order to protect the rights and freedom of others. Non-discrimination of Women’s rights falls within the scope of that limitation.
In our intercultural dialogue, we should therefore, encourage states to modify cultures, traditions and religious practices that are damaging and negative to the enjoyment of the rights of women. We should acknowledge that many of the cultural practices impose severe restrictions on women and the intercultural dialogue should delve into how we can exercise both rights without infringement on the rights of women.
We also need to educate and raise awareness among women themselves because they are the custodians of culture. We need a positive agenda designed to empower women in society so that they can start reforms and dialogue right from their family, clans and community they serve.
We should encourage the active participation of women in initiatives aimed at promoting intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, which should always include the gender equality dimension.
For such an agenda to have any hope of success, it is necessary to involve other stakeholders. These stakeholders are not only women (represented, for example, by the women’s movement), but also men: men who may think that they have more to lose than to gain from women’s empowerment, especially men who hold powerful positions in society, such as decision makers in the public and political sphere (members of government or parliament), religious leaders or economic magnates. It will only be possible to move forward with a progressive agenda on gender equality and women’s rights if we can prove to them that the whole of society – including themselves – stands to gain from strengthening of women’s role in society. Statistics on the economic cost for non-participation of women is crucial.
IN CONCLUSION, Cultural rights are empowering, for they provide individuals with control over the course of their lives, facilitating the enjoyment of other rights. The realization of equal cultural rights for men and women would help to reconstruct gender in ways that transcend notions of women’s inferiority and subordination, thereby improving conditions for the full and equal enjoyment of their human rights in general. This requires a shift in perspective from seeing culture as an obstacle to women’s human rights to ensuring women’s equal cultural rights.
Together with women and men, governmental, parliamentary and civil society representatives, as well as religious leaders, we should work to:
Abolishing harmful gender stereotypes: Women can challenge and advocate for the abolition of laws and practices that sustain harmful gender stereotypes. By dismantling these stereotypes, women can create space for their equal participation in cultural life.
Recognizing women’s contributions to culture: Women have made significant contributions to culture throughout history. Acknowledging and celebrating these contributions can help shift cultural norms and recognize women’s agency and creativity.
Taking action against institutions: Women can mobilize and take action against institutions that threaten their right to participate in cultural life. This includes advocating for policies and legal measures that protect and promote women’s cultural rights.
Occupying public space: Women’s and feminist movements play a crucial role in societal transformations. Activists occupy public spaces, lobby governments, create alliances, and appeal to international regimes to pursue legal or policy changes that promote gender equality and justice.
Implement UN conventions on CEDAW to combat discrimination against women and gender-based violence;
Promote “positive measures” to achieve balanced participation of women and men in public, political and economic life;
Make education and training of girls and women a priority issue and place emphasis on promoting an equal role for women and girls in education programmes.
Take action to raise awareness among representatives of religions and civil society in this area while rejecting all cultural and/or religious relativism;
Develop programmes aimed at promoting participation by women in intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.
Make a review of possible measures (best practice and new suggestions) aimed at strengthening the role of women in modern societies, including in intercultural and inter-religious dialogue;
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
