Madame Chair,
Let me first take the opportunity to congratulate you on your election as Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Secondly I would like to state that Sweden of course align itself with the statement made by the European Union yesterday.
Thirdly I would like to express my appreciation to the Secretary General for a comprehensive Report on the implementation of the Platform for Action. The report will serve as a good basis for our efforts to evaluate where we stand today and what we have to do tomorrow.
In my intervention I would like to address the question of "how" to implement rather than identify new goals.
In spite of certain progress, there still remains the challenge to develop and implement effective gender-sensitive strategies and methods to reach the objectives in the Platform for Action.
I would like to share with you our experience, what difference it makes for the promotion of gender equality to develop proper methods and tools for mainstreaming and assessment, setting targets and developing gender segregated data making gender inequalities visible.
We all agree that gender mainstreaming in all policies is necessary. And it is easy to commit oneself on paper to mainstreaming as a strategy, but to fulfill it in practice is much more difficult. Gender mainstreaming is a method whereby gender needs to be made visible and facts about women and men to be analysed, to be able to integrate a gender perspective in all policy making. To do this you need knowledge and awareness of gender issues which in turn calls for training of those involved in politics.
The Swedish experience is that without proper methods, adequate data and knowledge of gender issues, gender mainstreaming will only be a strategy on paper. Before we developed methods, improved our statistics and set targets the promotion of gender equality was very slow.
This is why we really need to address the question of how to implement the Platform of Action in practical and concrete terms.
I would also like to highlight our experience of the importance of political commitment, visibility and the necessity to involve men in our work in some of the critical areas in the Platform of Action.
The fact that women do not participate in the decision making processes, can not be justified in a democratic society. The absence of or a limited number of women in decision making is not a result of lack of economic resources or lack of competent women. It is due to lack of political will and commitment. In the beginning of the 90-ties the situation in Sweden was the same as in many other countries, few women in Government and Parliament and in other political bodies. Due to political commitment of the Swedish Government and pressure from individual women and NGO´s we now have a Government with more female ministers than male ministers, 11 women versus 9 men, and in Parliament 43 % of the members are women.
Political commitment can show itself in time-bound targets and by exposing the current situation in statistics, both measures which I think is important to include as actions where it is appropriate in the outcome document of the UNGASS.
Another critical area is violence against women, the most extreme example of the imbalance in power between women and men. In Sweden, as in many countries, this is a serious problem. In this area reliable and adequate data and statistics is of the utmost importance as a base for action. Without data you do not know the extent of the problem, or other important facts needed for adequate action. Improved statistics have been one of the key factors to the Swedish package of measures to combat violence against women, measures such as improved legislation, preventive measures and improved ways of supporting women victims.
I therefore would like to stress the need for adequate data and statistics not only in this area but in all critical areas as an action, where it is appropriate, in the outcome document.
Finally I would like to highlight the importance to include men in promoting gender equality.
So far, it is mainly women who have been actively involved in the work for gender equality. Similarly, gender equality measures have focused primarily on strengthening the position of women
But changes for women also have consequences for men, and as we see it, positive consequences.. Therefore, work for gender equality must be broadened in the future to involve men. One important step towards gender equality is to work for the equal sharing between women and men of responsibilities for care of children and elderly and to recognise that both women and men are breadwinners and must be able to combine work and family.
Involving men is called for if gender equality is to become a reality.
May I close by saying that my delegation looks forward to an open, concrete and substansive discussion on the outcome documents in the forthcoming days and. I would, in this respect, like to underline that these discussions must include the NGO:s, without whose support and participation we wouldn´t have come this far.