Princess Basma highlights Kingdom's success in gender mainstreaming

March 1, 2005

NEW YORK (JT) - Ten years after the Fourth World Conference on Women took place in Beijing, the United Nations is offering an opportunity to policy-makers and experts from governments around the world to take stock of progress made in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and to recommend concrete steps for future action. The meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women's forty-ninth session, known as "Ten-Year Review and Appraisal," was held at the UN headquarters in New York from Feb. 28 to March 11. As part of the annual session of the commission, Her Royal Highness Princess Basma attended a high-level roundtable titled: "Innovations in Institutional Arrangements for Promoting Gender Equality at National Level." The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to further develop opportunities for sharing national experiences, in particular with regards to the Beijing Declaration and platform for action. Speaking about institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women in Jordan, Princess Basma highlighted the role of the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) in gender mainstreaming, which has been a major focus of the Beijing Platform for Action. "JNCW has succeeded in gender mainstreaming at both national planning and organisational levels." Referring to the major global and regional events that have often posed serious challenges to development processes and gender equity efforts in particular, the Princess noted that the major tasks of institutional mechanisms - as highlighted in the Beijing Platform for Action - have successfully been addressed by the Kingdom over the past decade. Princess Basma concluded that although JNCW does not work with a specific popular base, as do women's movements, NGOs and civil society organisations, it has developed over the years on a national scale. "Since JNCW's adoption of a participatory approach, the commission ensures that all its activities are run in the three regions of Jordan, guaranteeing that participants represent all stakeholders from different backgrounds, be it rural or urban." At a side event of the commission, Princess Basma, in her capacity as UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador, chaired an interactive panel titled, "From Disaster to Empowerment: Women at the Heart of Tsunami Recovery." The panel, which was organised by UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer, highlighted UNIFEM's new programme in support of women's leadership in disaster response. As part of the discussion, the Princess reiterated the need to include an explicit gender perspective in all responses to humanitarian and recovery requirements following the tsunami. "There are gender perspectives to be taken into account in relation to impacts on both a long- and short-term basis, in relation to health, security and livelihoods." Princess Basma also commended UNIFEM's continued efforts in working with UN partners to advocate for allocation of resources and expertise to strengthen women's networks through the phases of relief, recovery and development. Panelists included Heyzer, Indonesian State Minister for Women Empowerment Meutia Swasono, and UNIFEM Gender Adviser for Tsunami Reconstruction Savitri Goonesekere.