$Unique_ID{COW02466} $Pretitle{276} $Title{Mongolia On the Advancement of Women} $Subtitle{} $Author{Embassy of Mongolia, Washington DC} $Affiliation{Embassy of Mongolia, Washington DC} $Subject{women delegation mongolia social year development economic international strategies equality} $Date{1991} $Log{} Country: Mongolia Book: Mongolia on World Problems Author: Embassy of Mongolia, Washington DC Affiliation: Embassy of Mongolia, Washington DC Date: 1991 On the Advancement of Women Mongolia reiterates its consistent support for the activities within the UN system aimed at achieving further advancement of women. We continue to attach signal importance to the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies. They constitute an important guideline for the international community in the efforts to provide women with opportunities equal to those of men and involve them actively in all the fields of development process. In this regard we particularly welcome the new spirit prevailing now in the work of the Commission on the Status of Women to link the Nairobi Strategies with its social programmes and to streamline its agenda, especially on the identification of the priority themes. The 34th session of the Commission very timely drew the attention to slackening of the progress towards full implementation of the Strategies and to the need for the UN relevant organizations and Member-States to step up their efforts in order to attain the Strategies' objectives by the end of this millenium. Here, my delegation wishes to voice its support for the practical and concrete recommendations offered by the Commission and subsequently adopted by ECOSOC in resolution 1990/15. My delegation also shares the view of many other distinguished delegates that the General Assembly should adopt these recommendations as well. The overriding objectives of the Nairobi Strategies, namely, Equality, Development and Peace are as relevant as before. It has always been the consistent policy of my Government to steadily improve the situation of women to the extent the economic conditions warrant, to enable them actively participate in all spheres of social life. In my country equal rights for women are guaranteed by the Constitution and other legal instruments including the labour, civil and family codes. The recent enacted Laws on State Enterprise and on Cooperatives incorporated a number of specific provisions dealing with the rights of women which were proposed by women's organizations. Under one such provision, for example, the workers' council of every enterprise must henceforth include the representatives of women organizations in making decision on labour and social issues. Although there is de jure equality of women and men, much remains to be done to achieve equality in practice. As the country makes advancement in the social and economic development, the prospects for actual equality will undoubtedly increase. The on-going restructuring process in Mongolia has brought to light many problems, which previously had not been publicly acknowledged. These problems include the need for radical improvements in women's working and living conditions; to decrease high maternal and child mortality rates, the growing incidence of divorce and single parent families, a severe shortage of kindergarten and child care facilities, the huge difference between the living standards of urban and rural women. While it will require considerable time and resources to fully solve these problems given the difficult economic situation faced by Mongolia, some results have already been registered. In late 1989 the country's parliament enacted four decrees concerning women and children. Amendments had been made to public health legislation to give women the right to decide on the number and spacing of their children. Amendments to Labour Code ensured adequately paid maternity leave, as well as parental leave with guaranteed job continuity for mothers and single fathers with young children. Girl students are now entitled to the same benefits as working mothers. Furthermore, a 1990 Parliament decree lifted the previous limitations on the number of cattle in individual households thus enabling rural women be fully integrated on an equal footing in development process both as participants and beneficiaries. A recently enacted Law on Individual Enterprise allowed men and women alike to freely choose the type of activity for enterprise. My Government attaches priority attention to improving the social and economic conditions of the vulnerable segments of the society, namely women children, the aged and disabled. Every year the State provides 75 million tugrugs (about 15 million US dollars) to large families in a form of welfare allowance. This year we have begun to implement a comprehensive programme of mother and child care up to the year 2000. Today in my country there are 47,5 thousand disabled people, half of them being women. Hence, we wish to learn from other countries' experience on how to most rationally meet the particular needs of the disabled women to help integrate them in economic and social activities. My delegation considers it opportune that issues related to vulnerable women, including disabled will be addressed shortly by the Commission on the Status of Women as a priority sub-theme under "Equality". Education and literacy is one of the key factors enabling women to actively participate in development process. Today, in Mongolia women constitute 40 per cent of specialists with higher education as against 27 per cent in 1975. During the same period the percentage of female students in higher educational institutions has increased by approximately 7 per cent. As the main sponsor of the International Literacy Year my delegation is greatly pleased to support the initiative advanced yesterday in this Committee by the distinguished representative of Canada to introduce a resolution on Women and Literacy. My delegation believes that - with two thirds of the world's illiterates being women - this initiative would undoubtedly help sustain the momentum launched by ILY and achieve the objectives set forth in the UNESCO Plan of Action to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2000. My delegation endorses the recommendation by CSW to hold a World Conference on Women in 1995. It will surely help keep the question of the advancement of women at the high priority of international agenda. The Nairobi Strategies being one of the pillars of the international programme for the improvement of the status of women, are effectively supplemented by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. My Government was among the first to ratify the Convention. Mongolia's second periodic report was considered and commended by the CEDAW Committee earlier this year. My delegation wishes to express its gratitude to the members of the CEDAW Committee for their valuable ideas and recommendations which will undoubtedly benefit our relevant organizations in their future activities. I am pleased to inform this Committee that my Government has recently adopted a decision to withdraw the reservations it made upon accession to a number of relevant international legal instruments, including the above Convention. My delegation adds its voice to that of previous speakers who appealed to those countries, which have not yet done so, to become parties to the Convention so as to make it universal. I should like to highly commend the work of UNIFEM serving as an important catalyst and supporter of innovative projects for and on behalf of women. My delegation is pleased to report that UNIFEM has completed a mission to Mongolia in response to our invitation in September this year. As a result of this mission, UNIFEM has established working contacts with the Mongolian Women's Federation which is a main machinery dealing with all issues related to women. We find that the steps intended to be taken by UNIFEM are well responsive to the winds of change in my country and to our national economic and social development needs. And this strengthens me in my belief that this mission has laid down a good basis for constructive cooperation between Mongolia and UNIFEM.