In February 2003, a monthly Dialogue Circle was initiated to enable a safe space for discussion and mutual learning on various issues concerning gender. Since then, facilitated by resource persons and activists from various organisations, the Dialogue Circle has been a point of constructive debate and engaging insight for staff, volunteers and guests.

Chiam J Y & Impaljit Kaur reports on July/August's Dialogue Circle...
7 August 2003

Due to everyone's irreconcilable packed schedules, July's DC was combined with August's this time around, focusing on "UN & Women" a.k.a."Unsavoury Nincompoops vs Useful Network").

The United Nations (UN) is divided into six main arms - The International Court of Justice (ICJ), Security Council (SC), General Assembly (UNGA), Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat. It is an organization established in the aftermath of the Second World War with the objectives to maintain and promote peace and stability globally. As it grew, the UN began to focus its energies into the many socio-economic and cultural matters afflicting the world's populations.

The UN that is most regularly reported in Malaysian news comprised the Security Council and the General Assembly. The Security Council is the main political decision-making body in UN, with 15 members; five permanent members made up of the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia (the victors of the Second World War), and 10 non-permanent members elected every few years. All five permanent members have veto power over all decisions made by the SC. The SC is the main platform where power struggles and diplomatic wrangling are played out in the international fora and, which some would suggest, a symbol for the UN's impotence.

On the other hand, the UNGA is comprised of all members of the UN, with every member entitled to one vote each. Many resolutions are made each year by the UNGA - on every conceivable subject matter possible. A Secretary-General heads the Secretariat - the present SG is H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan - which is the operational arm of the UN (a.k.a. the staff and bureaucrats).

Additionally, the UN is made up of numerous agencies and programmes, ranging from the World Bank (WB; please do not mistake this with the other WB, the Warner Brothers), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and various other less known but equally important agencies and programmes.

As can be observed from the short introduction above, the UN is a very complex and dynamic (and bureaucratic) organisation, which would defy any one interpretation or perspective to describe it. Just to paint a simplistic picture for argument's sake, the US has asserted that the UN is obsolete (it was presumed they were referring to the SC), while others, particularly smaller (and inherently less powerful) countries like Malaysia and Sweden have affirmed the importance of the UN in fostering multilateralism and peaceful resolutions.

The question of how could the UN help women and their struggles would invariably pop up in this discussion, and for that, it would be appropriate to turn to an important struggle, that was the endeavour to incorporate the rape of women in a conflict situation as a war crime in international law. It was a process that linked the local to the global, harnessing the strength of networks of women organisations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as the effort of governments.

The processes would be outlined below:

1. Identification of a problem (in this case, the rape of women in a conflict situation). For instance, lack of services for women who have been raped or sexually tortured.
2. Lobbying local and national governments to take action.
3. NGOs lobby other governments at regional level. Identifying the problems as being that "Rape in conflict is NOT a war crime".
4. Australian NGOs linked with international NGOs to lobby governments at the Beijing 4th World Conference on Women 1995.
5. Rape is acknowledged as a war crime in the Court of Rome (October 1998).
6. International law reflected in domestic law.
7. Domestic law shapes social policy and social policy results in better service provision for refugee women.
8. Refugee status for sexually abused women.

(Information adapted from Ms. Rozana Isa's presentation)

Aside from the above processes to further women's agenda on the international platform, many other agencies and programmes within the UN promotes the empowerment and emancipation of women around the world. One key organisation involved with women is the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) under ECOSOC. The secretariat that supports the CSW is located in New York, U.S.A. 43 governments form the CSW (sit on the Commission), with new elections every 4 years. An important feature of the CSW is the rapporteur, an elected official who reports to the UN during proceedings of meetings. There are thematic and country specific rapporteurs. S/he usually functions as a middle person between governments and NGOs. Reports presented by the rapporteurs may form the basis for further resolutions and actions/policies by the Commission.

Governments sign treaties agreeing to implement certain changes on the rights and protection of women. One such significant convention is the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Governments are expected to present a report (after a specific period of time) to the committee on the level of progress achieved - in terms of compliance with provisions within CEDAW. At the same time, NGOs prepare a parallel report and present it to the CEDAW committee (known as the "Shadow Report"). The CEDAW committee then makes the necessary recommendations to governments for follow-up. Follow-up reports are required on the implementation of these recommendations.
(Governments and NGOs hold their World Conferences simultaneously. NGOs meet and present their reports and attend workshops. They also lobby governments to pass resolutions on specific issues).

The UN is many things to different people. The degree of complexity and dynamism in the UN is so mind-boggling that no particular framework may be utilized to describe it; less one is accused of simplification and ignorance. As such, copious conclusions may be drawn about the effectiveness and relevance of the UN in our world today, varying from those of scorn for its perceived impotence to it being a symbolic bastion of idealism (depending on which aspect of UN you are peering at). Therefore, we would leave the musing of a conclusion to each individual.

For more information, check out the UN website and UNIFEM website.