"Today’s informal thematic debate is being held in the context of the 30th anniversary of  international women’s day, and the important deliberations of the 51st session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.

 

Women have not yet achieved the equality envisaged by the United Nations and its Member States 30 years ago. Women and girls continue to struggle. Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70 per cent are women and two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls. Violence against women and girls also continues unabated as one of the most pervasive and unrecognized human rights violations. 

 

For these reasons, the international community committed itself in 2000 to the Millennium Development Goal of promoting gender equality and empowerment of women. Since 2000, there has been increasing consensus that every single goal is related directly to women’s rights and that in societies where women are equal to men there is a much greater chance of achieving all the Millennium Development Goals. Canada, with the international community, recognizes that the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women are the global frameworks to achieving this goal. 

 

Canada supports initiatives throughout the world aimed at improving girls’ education, ending violence against women and supporting the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We ensure that concerns related to the equality of women and men, girls and boys are explicitly and systematically integrated in all our overseas development programming. Canada has created a framework for assessing performance on this goal and looks forward to continuing to share experiences and information on achieving results for equality of women and men, girls and boys.

 

The theme of this year’s international women’s day, “Ending Impunity for Violence” sits firmly within the core values of Canada’s new government and reminds us of the persistent and unacceptable nature of violence against women and girls, and of the work that remains to be done in achieving equality of women and men, girls and boys and the empowerment of women.
 
Canada takes seriously its commitments to ending all forms of violence against women and has taken significant steps to address questions of impunity for such crimes in our national and international work. The recent In-depth Study on Violence against Women by the United Nations Secretary-General emphasizes the need for political will and commitment at the highest levels to make strengthening prevention of and ending impunity for violence against women a priority.

 

Canada has a strong legislative framework for protecting women and girls from violence, including domestic violence. Additionally, the Government of Canada addresses the problem of domestic violence against women and girls through the Family Violence Initiative. This initiative takes action on violence through prevention, protection and treatment programmes. The government also shares the concerns of all Canadians on the issue of violence against aboriginal women and has taken concrete measures to address the root causes of violence against aboriginal women and girls in their homes and in the wider community. This issue has been given added and more focussed attention through increased funding to family shelters in First Nations communities and through the Sisters in Spirit initiative which is attempting to find concrete solutions to the problem of violence against aboriginal women in Canada.

 

Internationally, Canada continues to be actively engaged on the issue of violence against women.  From 1994-2005 Canada led an annual resolution on the elimination of violence against women at the former UN Commission on Human Rights urging states to take concrete measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. Canada will continue efforts to address violence against women in the newly formed UN Human Rights Council.

 

Canada is presently finalizing its Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

 

This comprehensive, all-of-government Action Plan addresses the four key areas covered by Security Council Resolution 1325, including the need for full and equal participation of women in peace processes and peace-building activities. Canada’s Action Plan also emphasizes Canada’s commitment to reducing and ending impunity for all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual exploitation and abuse. Canada will continue its efforts in this area to ensure that women’s and girls’ rights are respected and protected. 

 

Today’s informal thematic debate is an occasion for us to review how far we have come in the struggle for equality of women and men, girls and boys and women’s empowerment and an opportunity to look ahead for further meaningful change." ~~~~~