Становление и развитие международной защиты прав женщин

Abstract

The article considers the problem of achieving equality of men and women. A brief history of the issue demonstrates the complexity, which baffled various countries and societies in settling the problem of equal rights, beginning with eastern despotism, the democracies of Ancient Greece and Rome, the medieval times and ending with the 2000 special session of the UN General Assembly "Women in 2000: Equality of Men and Women, Peace and Development in the 21 Century". The article characterizes the UN fundamental documents on the status of women and the activities of the UN functional bodies, in particular of the Commission on the Status of Women under ECOSOS. Mechanisms of international protection of women's rights are explored; they are implemented through various measures within the UN framework including adoption of binding convention norms. In this regard the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is of particular interest. The countries which joined the convention are bound to adhere to its provisions such as including the principle of gender equality into their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation. The article reviews four world conferences on women called by the UN over the last quarter of the century, which have helped to focus the attention of the world community on the gender equality issue. Decisions of the conferences united the people of the world to achieve a number of common objectives by developing an efficient action programme on advancement of women. The article presents a detailed analysis of the documents of these conferences, their importance in promoting the solution of the gender equality issue and of the obstacles their implementation has to face. In the light of the recent UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing the UN member-states governments and NGOs have made great progress. In particular, the governments have adopted new laws and revised their state legislations to bring them into accordance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other international and regional acts on human rights' protection and the requirements of the Beijing Platform for Action. Besides, the governments have taken measures to promote a full consideration of women's life realia in planning and adopting policy concerning important modern social problems, in particular, eradication of poverty. NGOs, too, have started to use more flexible approaches in ensuring women's rights and women's empowerment on all levels. Many of them under the UN aegis put the gender equality issue to the strategic front in global policy and decision-making to promote the impact on the decision-making process. The attention to the gender equality issues remains important at the intergovernmental level especially in monitoring the implementation of the decisions of international conferences and summits. Ensuring women's enjoyment of equal rights is regarded both as a means and the objective of combatting the old enemy of poverty.