Women's participation in all aspects of society more vital than ever - UN officials

Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women ), who travelled to Morocco to celebrate the Day, highlighted the role of women amid the political transitions in the Arab region, and called on world leaders to advance women's involvement in politics and empower them economically, the UN News Centre reports.  

"Despite the steps taken forward and the progress made in many Arab States, women are demanding greater progress," she said during a press conference in Rabat. "The distinction of having the world's lowest representation of women in politics and the labour force provides neither justice to Arab women nor to the history, legacy and future of the Arab world," she said.

UN Independent Expert Kamala Chandrakirana, who heads a new group charged with identifying ways to eliminate existing discrimination practices against women, echoed Ms. Bachelet's remarks, warning that economic and political transitions are a crucial time to advance women's rights but warned that they are also at risk.

"In political transition, there is a danger of regression in the enjoyment by women of their human rights and women participating in public life are often exposed to violence," Ms. Chandrakirana said. "States must take the opportunity of political transition to improve women's constitutional and political position, adopting positive measures to eliminate discrimination and promote the empowerment of women."

She also stressed that the impact of an economic crisis is especially harsh for women "as a result of precarious employment, reduction in social security and deterioration in the care economy."

Women are also more vulnerable during natural disasters, and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlstrцm, stressed that countries need to educate women to be able to face them and to build resilience in the community as a whole.

"Women's lives are put in danger because they are treated like second-class citizens in some of the most hazard-prone regions of the world," she said. "There is strong evidence to suggest that women are more likely to die in disasters than men and it is often because they are denied access to basic information about disaster risk and inhibited by social norms from escaping the home or workplace to avoid death."

In his message to mark the Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that, from access to education and rights to land ownership, to political participation and equal remuneration, women still lag behind men even in countries where there have been significant efforts to address gender inequalities.

For full version go to http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41492&Cr=women&Cr1 =