Israeli Statement on the Advancement of Women
(October 14, 2004)
[Speech delivered by Ms. Zina Kalay-Kleitman]
Madame Chairperson,
At the outset allow me to congratulate you on your
election and wish you and the Committee a successful and productive
59th session. The Israeli delegation looks forward to these deliberations,
and has a great deal of confidence in your able stewardship.
Madame Chairperson,
A society is only as strong and healthy as its women.
They are its inner core and its binding fabric. The advancement of women
is not a "women's issue." It is an issue for all of society,
for all people. There is a direct correlation between the status of
women in a particular society and that society's own condition. The
way a society treats its women is the way that a society defines itself.
We in Israel are proud of our women and their place
in the Israeli social order. Unlike too many countries in the world,
and almost every country in the Middle East, women in Israel are given
opportunities equal to men in every strata of life. Israeli women can
and do serve in all levels of government, as high-level academics, and
as journalists. They lead, teach, and speak for the Israeli people.
Israel believes, however, that the cluster of issues
that surround the advancement of women is not strictly a domestic issue
any more than it is strictly an international issue. States must do
their utmost to promote the advancement of women within their own borders,
but the United Nations and other international organizations must do
all that they can to facilitate this on the global level.
Accordingly, Israel appreciates the appointment of
a Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women by the
Secretary General, and views it as signal of the priority given to gender
issues on the UN agenda.
Madame Chairperson,
Israel places gender equality very high on its list
of priorities. We are committed to a gender-blind society, where women
can advance as high as their ambitions and skills can take them. We
are committed to an elimination of discrimination against women. And
we are committed to tailoring our legal apparatus towards these important
ends.
In 1998, the establishment of the Authority for the
Advancement of the Status of Women in the Prime Minister's Office hailed
a new era of increased use of legislative and executive power to push
forward the imperatives that the needs of women demand. This past year,
the Authority enjoyed another successful year in its mission of fostering
programs and policies based on gender equality, and promoting gender
mainstreaming throughout society.
Along with the Authority for the Advancement of the
Status of Women, the Israeli government has created the Parliamentary
Committee for the Advancement of Women, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee
for the advancement of women in Israel. All of them work to forward
initiatives aimed at the advancement of the status of women.
In 2002, the State of Israel established the Council
for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology. Led by a female
scientist, this statutory Council is composed of men and women who represent
varied public and private scientific and academic areas. At the Council's
recommendation, all of Israel's universities and colleges have established
committees to monitor women's progress and have established a position
of Advisor to the University President on Advancing the Status of Women.
It is through initiatives like this, pushing the agenda
of women forward, and monitoring the process that it is making, that
Israel hopes to advance the goal of eliminating gender gaps in every
field of endeavor.
Madame Chairperson,
Unfortunately, the mistreatment of women often extends
beyond discrimination to physical violence. On this front, too, Israel
is vigilant and active.
Violence against women is a serious problem in Israel,
as it is in so many countries. Over the past few years, however, governmental
organs and non-governmental organizations in Israel have been able to
bring this problem to the forefront of public awareness, a critical
step in combating it.
Israel has had extensive, feminist legislation regarding
violence against women in place for well over a decade. Much of it authored
by feminist NGO's, in coordination with the Parliament Committee of
the Status of Women, this legislation has done much to protect women.
For example, The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law,
bolstered by several high-profile cases, have creates public awareness
and the momentum of public change. The Stalking Law, passed in 2001,
is based on a feminist understanding of the crime of stalking and provides
for the protection of the victim and the punishment of the offender
accordingly. These laws are based strongly on the concept of a women's
"Dignity and Liberty" - statements that gender-based violence,
or even the credible threat of such violence, are not solely a threat
to the safety of a particular woman, but rather an affront to all women's
rights to dignity and liberty.
Israeli women are being educated about their rights.
Workshops are being conducted for violent spouses, and law enforcement
officials and members of the judiciary undergo training specialized
to this issue. In Israel there are 15 government shelters for battered
women, including two for Arab women, and 50 centers for the prevention
of violence against women, including programs aimed at violent husbands.
Israel does not take violence against women lightly.
To do them harm is to do harm to society as a whole.
Madame Chairperson,
Poverty is its own form of violence.
Throughout the world, women face the threat and the
reality of poverty. Israeli women, unfortunately, are no different.
But Israel is striving to ameliorate conditions for those women who,
rather than trying to shatter the glass ceiling, are merely trying to
lift themselves off the floor beneath them.
One mechanism for aiding these women is to allow them
to help themselves. In Israel, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
in cooperation with other arms of the government, has established a
unit to encourage women to open small and medium-sized businesses. The
unit provides financing, information, workshops, mentoring, and networking
opportunities for female entrepreneurs. It is hoped that through the
encouragement and support provided, women will break through the barriers
that linger between them and entrepreneurial and financial independence.
The Authority for Small and Medium-size Enterprises
and NGOs has aided Bedouin Muslim women in Israel set up small businesses,
and is providing them with the planning and marketing skills necessary
so that these endeavors will flourish. In addition to this, the Negev
Institute for Strategies and Development (NISPED) has instituted a project
in southern Israel to provide Bedouin women with vocational, entrepreneurial
and managerial training, combined with financial support and counseling.
It is through the vehicles of independence, in combination with the
support of a compassionate government, that poverty can be eradicated.
Finally, due to a heated debate in Israel on these
topics, and in line with many of the objectives set out in the Beijing
Platform for Action, many of the basic social issues implicated in the
problem of poverty among women are currently being adjudicated by the
Israeli High Court of Justice.
Madame Chairperson,
As I mentioned earlier, Israel believes that the struggle
to advance the status of women in all these areas - discrimination,
violence, and poverty - is as international as it is domestic.
Over the past decade, Israel, through MASHAV - the
Center for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- has held courses for hundreds of women from around the world, including
Palestinian women. In MASHAV's training of women, it emphasizes gender
issues, and the promotion of the role of women in development. Through
it training institution, the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training
Center (MCTC) more than 11 000 women from around the world have been
trained in socio-economic issues. The Beijing Platform of Action raised
many areas of concern with which MCTC has been dealing since 1961, including:
poverty, education, environment and development, the girl-child, health,
economic participation, power-sharing and decision-taking.
Also of crucial importance is the struggle against
the sex slave trade of women, into which Israel, in cooperation with
other countries, is investing a vast amount of energy. This dreadful
scourge is a truly international blight, and demands a truly international
solution.
Madame Chairperson,
Israel finds herself in a turbulent region during a
turbulent time in history. Hatred separates nations, and borders divide
them. The transnational identity of women, however, should transcend
all racial, ethnic, religious, and national boundaries and construct
a sense of international cooperation. In working for better lives for
women across the Middle East, and throughout the world, we should be
bound together in our goals of harmony, rather than split by the seams
of hostility.
The women of Israel believe that if their sisters in
other countries were freer and granted more rights, these countries
would be better places for all their citizens, and better citizens of
the world.
For the world to be peaceful, just, and free, we must
rid its daughters of the chains that for too long has shackled their
mothers.
Sources: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |