Talks And Rules Matter

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=190906

By Fay Volatabu

SUVA (The Fiji Times / Pacific Media Watch): I have a five-year-old nephew and a niece who are a year apart. It is interesting that the two used to do things together but as the girl started school, she came back with some habits such as teasing her younger brother and now and again she would isolate her brother when playing with her older friends.

One day, the boy came home crying saying this sister did not want to play with him anymore. The parents spoke to them and reminded them of their playing rule that it was not right to seclude or exclude others but a privilege they should always share with each other and their friends.

They were to share their toys as well as their time with each other and their friends too. Our hope is that this rule will be the foundation in which to build their life, to always consider others and to care for people.

Wouldn't it be so simple if all our problems could be solved with talks and rules? Well, I guess the United Nations thought that rules were the best way to go when they initiated the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and other conventions to govern our lives.

The United Nations, through the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) by its member states ensures that women and children's survival and happiness are not left to chance but an enshrined right to be upheld by everyone.

The Conventions are benchmarks for states to adhere to and to govern the way they conduct themselves so as to ensure there is no discrimination against certain elements of society.
Unlike the loose agreement between my nephew and niece which means we step in each time a teary individual comes home, the conventions ensure that regardless of the circumstances, there is a standard decision.

People have become so self-serving and the social norms and customs are no longer enough to govern our behaviour and sometimes these are exploited to favour a certain section of community.

For example, the traditional seeking of forgiveness for a wrong done to a woman was accepted for a while in Fiji until the Domestic Violence Decree came into effect where all forms of violence against women and children are no longer tolerated and anyone engaged in these activities are liable for prosecution.

Women in Fiji are fortunate in that the State has ratified CEDAW. What this means is that the tenets of CEDAW will be adhered to by the government.

Every four years, the Fiji government presents a report to the CEDAW Committee in New York and in all its report it gives an update on what the state is doing as well as discussions on the general recommendations given by the Committee since its last seating.

While the State is the only formal voice to report on what it is doing about CEDAW, there is what is called an Optional Protocol which allows individual women or groups of women to submit a report on violation of CEDAW.

The report will then allow for an inquiry procedure relating to the violation reported in what is always termed as the Shadow Report.

Through this process, governments will therefore be accountable to the CEDAW committee as they will have both the State and Shadow report (from non state actors) from which to assess the true nature of CEDAW awareness and compliance in a country.

Governments can say that this was never brought to their attention or the group of women do not represent all women in their country or are written by a renegade group of women but what should be the focus is that women's issues should be addressed in all forms of media so that the government cannot say that the issues were never brought to their attention nor was it ever highlighted.

It is therefore the responsibility of the media, of leaders, of the education system, of policy makers to raise issues of violations to CEDAW.

Article 4 of CEDAW states there should be an adoption of Temporary Special Measures (TSM) aimed at accelerating de-facto equality between men and women - this shall not be considered discriminatory and shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.

In essence, this means that everything should be done to ensure women have equal access, numbers, and opportunities in all spheres of life until such equality is reached and this action should not be deemed discriminatory.

The CEDAW interactive benchmark states TSM should be geared towards women's participation in all segments of society ù political, social, cultural or civil arena. It is an essential mechanism, vital to promote the dignity of women and should be directed towards arriving at equilibrium in terms of access, opportunities and benefits between women and men and should be deemed necessary only up to the point that the desired result has already become a reality.

Furthermore the introduction of TSM's is rooted in the fact that "all throughout history women have, as a group, experienced a pervasive undervaluing quite beyond that experience by men in society.
They also recognise the fact that these women realities are deeply ingrained in our systems, ideologies and institutions.

Thus, they do not merely enunciate the principle of equality between men and women, they underscore measures by which their vision could be achieved and therefore sustained.

What this means is that through no fault of their own but due to the cultural norms, ideologies and practices in society, women have always been led to believe they have a role to play and certain domains are not theirs such as leadership in government, in certain fields, statutory boards, positions etc.

Fiji today has the first female deputy secretary in the Fijian Affairs Board and this is in itself a big move in the patriarchal society that we live in but there are certain areas which we need to apply TSM's especially when we are looking at Article 7 for instance which looks at women in public life.

As far back as 1995 in the 14th session of CEDAW, general recommendation eight ensured the constitutions and legislations comply with CEDAW.

Fiji is at the crossroads of our democracy and if there was such a time to voice women's issues this would be it.

How could this be done more effectively?

Maybe there should be a gender perspective in all policies and programmes.

Maybe the electoral reform should include the inclusion of women politicians by ensuring at least 30 percent of all parties to field women in popular seats.

Maybe there should be more women ministers, more women permanent secretaries and more women diplomats (not as support staff but as ambassadors).

Maybe there should be more funds allocated for women in all ministries or at least 30 percent of all positions in leadership in government reserved for women.

These maybe a month too late for Santa's wish list but if we are to make CEDAW a reality and if we are to ensure that Article 4 and Article 7 be addressed initially then we would not be amiss in saying that we are helping to eliminate all prejudice and current practices that hinder the full operation of the principles of the social equality of women.

We may not be as innocent and naive as the two children who believe that through the intervention of their parents all their unfair treatment by the other sibling will go away and their faith and peace of mind restored, but what we do know is that Fiji has ratified CEDAW and we have reputable leaders who will ensure that all the tenets of CEDAW is realised and truly living up to the ideal that tourism Fiji promotes Fiji Me: FIJI IS ME - and for me that is a Fiji that is women friendly, women focused and is truly a first in ensuring that CEDAW is not just a piece of paper nor a rhetoric but a reality.

How can you as a citizen of Fiji contribute to CEDAW?

Fay Volatabu is the general secretary for the National Council of Women Fiji. Email: secretary@ncwfiji.org or ncwfgs1@gmail.com

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