Opening remarks by the President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at the ”Women Enhancing Democracy: Best Practices” conference in Vilnius,
30 June 2011

Women Inspiring the World: Educated, Empowered, Equal

As Chair of the Council of World Women Leaders, I am very happy to welcome you all to this ‘Women Enhancing Democracy’ conference, which President Grybauskaite and I are co-hosting today. I fully share the views expressed by President Grybauskaite in her opening remarks and would like to thank you and our Lithuanian friends for organising the event. It is a pleasure to gather in Vilnius on this summer’s day.

The aim of the Council of World Women Leaders is to bring together influential women from different countries to take forward important issues for women. We women meeting here today represent the minority. Many of us would say that we are ‘Educated, Empowered, Equal’ – or at least almost equal. Although the status of women worldwide has clearly improved, the majority still live in poverty and without full human rights. Empowerment of women is not only right in order to recognise their human rights but it also seems to be an effective way to enhance democracy. Democratization is slower without women's participation and gender equality. Let us unite our forces.

Education is a key to equality. At the same time, it affects in many ways the well-being of society as a whole. Investment in education for girls and women quickly repays itself. Education is also a condition for increasing women’s influence.

Education protects their lives and integrity. Baby girls are aborted much more often than boys. Their lives can be threatened on gender-based reasons also after the birth by violence or insufficient care. Education of women helps break down the cultural and social structures that sustain and endorse violence. Violence against women is widespread: it occurs everywhere in the world and affects women of all ages.

Clear goals have been set to combat the violence but the implementation is lacking behind. Despite good efforts, the objectives have not yet been achieved. It is not acceptable to use such notions as “crime of passion” or “honour related violence”. What is at stake is always a violent crime.

Because violence against women is not seen as really important, there are no precise enough figures or statistics for it. To put an end to violence, it is important that it must be made visible using statistics, research and publicity. It is also vital that the perpetrators are held responsible according to the rule of law and that the status of the victims is strengthened.

I also regard it necessary that boys and men are guided to a path of non-violence. At the same time, it is important to remind girls and women that becoming strong does not include violence.

A change in the nature of armed conflicts has increased violence against civilian populations. Alarmingly, mass rape is often a part of warfare. I have therefore proposed in the United Nations that systematic rape in armed conflicts should be classified as a forbidden weapon of war.

Women are not only victims. They are a source of strength. Women have a vital role to play in conflict prevention, resolution and in peace-building. I hope to see soon the first female UN-appointed mediator or peace negotiator.

Women's participation in all decision-making is a prerequisite for saving the earth for future generations. Without gender equality and women's empowerment, we cannot achieve economically, ecologically and socially sustainable development.

Let us begin with economy. Poverty often has the face of a woman. Decent work is the key to a dignified life. Although women perform two-thirds of all the work in the world, they only earn one tenth of the income. Women own just one per cent of the world’s property and less than two per cent of the land. Women are employed in informal sectors more often than men bearing thus all its negative consequences.

President Zuma of South Arica and I co-chair the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Half of the Panel Members are women, which will certainly be reflected in the recommendations that we make. We see the world also from a woman's perspective.

We, today’s policymakers, have a responsibility to future generations, too. We need young people to be involved in decision-making too. As women leaders, we must encourage and help young people to make their voices heard. I hope that they also dare to promote women’s status. It is, of course, also men’s task but it is good to prove that women’s empowerment enhances equality.

We have many different UN bodies and instruments at hand for example CEDAW and UN Women for our work to enhance human rights of women. It is crucial to work at different levels; at global, regional and national levels, and together with different partners governments naturally have the main responsibility for ensuring that human rights are implemented. However, the courageous and competent work of women’s organisations and human rights organisations is vitally important for the progress in gender equality. Today we have many very experienced women with us. One of them is Ms Eva Biaudet, Minority Ombudsman of Finland, former OSCE Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. I am very proud that her work in anti-trafficking has been acknowledged by the US State Department.

I hope that we can use today’s meeting to exchange experiences of good practices, promote women’s empowerment, and strengthen our network, in order to advance these issues.