UNW Norway statement

Madam President, Executive Director, fellow delegates,

One of the advantages of speaking late in a debate like this is having the opportunity to comment on some of what has been said.  Everybody here knows that we are among the leading supporters of UN Women and have been so from before the very beginning. We believe that this new rising star of the UN system will be more than the sum of its parts.

Having listened to statements yesterday and today, we discern a particular dilemma.  We all seem to agree on and support the principle of national ownership.
We are also sadly aware of perhaps the greatest challenge faced by UN Women in fulfilling their global and universal mandate – that of making normative commitments fully operational on the ground:
Because, as we have known for decades and seen very clearly also in the past few months:

The greatest needs of women are felt by women.
The demand for UN Women’s services and assistance are often articulated by men.
They are articulated by men because power in this world is still by and large in the hands of men.

So we can hope, but we should not believe, that demands and requests will be commensurate with the needs.

This is a challenge. It is a democratic challenge, a human rights challenge and an economic challenge.  Not least an economic challenge because suppression of women, which is a fact of life in every country of this world, is suppressing the economic rise of countries towards levels of prosperity their gender policies are preventing them from attaining.

Some of these impediments are categorised as religious or cultural. I grew up in a Norwegian society where women were suppressed by religious and cultural traditions. And the custodians of those traditions were mostly men. It took political struggle initiated by women themselves, assisted and supported by modern men, to break the most oppressive of those chains, and to unleash the full potential of society. The rights of freedom have never been given. They have always been taken.
That is why when we hear the words “empowerment of women” we should ask: “by whom?”

This is the background why we are here to express our strong support for the Strategic Plan, a support which is also expressed by the vast majority of board members, from all the regions of the world.
 
Norway welcomes the Strategic Plan and stands ready to endorse it. 
That is not to say the Plan is perfect.  As pointed out by my delegation at previous informal meetings, we would have liked the Plan to even more clearly articulate;
The real challenges to women around the world,
And the specific measures UN Women intends to take to meet those challenges.
What results you expect, where and when,
And what your own contributions to those results will be, both on your own and as a leader within the UN System.
A comprehensive results framework with clear baselines, identifying linkages between your output and expected outcomes, will also be needed to ensure accountability.

And as we know, results and accountability are prerequisites for continued support, not least financial support.

While we share the six thematic priorities set out in the Plan, within those, Norway would have liked to see a greater emphasis on poverty reduction, women with disabilities (there is probably half a million of women and girls with disabilities around the world ), the challenges of working countries in conflict, and last but not least - the role of men and boys in promoting gender equality and empowerment of women.

Madame President,
We have high expectations that UN Women under its competent leadership will make a great deal of difference and contribute decisively to the liberation and empowerment of women around the world.

For that reason, and with great expectation of seeing tangible results, I am pleased to announce that Norway will continue to be among the leading donors to UN Women. 

In light of the Strategic Plan, the discussions here at the Annual Meeting and the very appropriate appeal from UN Women’s leadership, we have decided today that Norway will continue to increase our contributions and provide 15 million US dollars to UN Women’s core budget in 2011.

In any other global development context this is a very modest sum.  But for UN Women 15 million dollars is 10 percent of their entire core budget this year.  This should be a cause for great concern among everyone who cares for gender equality, empowerment of women and the crucial role of UN Women to promote this important agenda.

I would therefore close my brief statement by calling on all member states, both traditional donors and emerging economies, to seriously increase their funding. Too often, we hear big words backed by small sums. It is really a matter of honesty towards half the world’s population.

Thank you.