The United Nations – Working for you?

NO. 37

March 25, 2008

The eReview provides analysis on public policy relating to Canadian families and marriage. Below please find

a report on the recent United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York.

The United Nations – Working for you? By Dave Quist, Executive Director, Institute of Marriage and Family Canada During the week of March 3 – 7, I had the opportunity to participate as a Non-Government Organization (NGO) representative in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). The UNCSW meeting took place in New York City at the United Nations site and is one of the Commissions where family social policy is debated by national delegates from the 192 member nations of the UN [1]. Having never attended a UN meeting before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After being there for a week, I couldn’t help but agree with a friend, who described the UN as a place where 192 countries bring their worst administrative and bureaucratic processes together in order to—make them even worse. Start with something as simple as registering and the mess becomes evident. Registration documents are faxed in – there is no online submission. In order to be issued my security pass, the original documents are faxed to a UN office; I then had to carry a copy of the same documents to the New York office, where they were compared to the fax copy. I filled out a very similar form by hand, had that form stamped and was then directed not just to another office, but an entirely different building for my photo ID to be issued. The majority of UNCSW meetings and delegate sessions were closed to NGOs and the public, thus keeping in secret what was being discussed and negotiated. Only final documents are available on the website of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, [2]however, the deliberations were not available, nor are the votes for or against the motions noted. Such a practice would be and is seen as completely undemocratic here in Canada. Rare is the occasion when a Parliamentary Committee meets or votes in secret. On many days, the only updates Canadian NGOs received were during a 15 minute session lead by the Canadian delegates – representatives from Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. [3]While these sessions were appreciated, they really don’t give the full scope of the meetings. For instance, which countries supported or opposed having the meetings closed to NGOs? What else took place during this time? All Canadians should have the right to know where and how their tax dollars are being spent and how they are being represented at the United Nations. And our tax dollars really are being spent at the UN. Canada ranks “as the 7th largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget” [4] contributing a total of $201.7M, or 2.813% of the “UN regular budget and the UN peacekeeping budget.” [5]In addition, “Canada is among the top ten donors to the UN System [6] of funds, programs and agencies, such as the UN Development Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, providing over US$600 million dollars a year in core and program funding.” [1][7] According to UN documents, the total regular budget contributions by member states total US$1,754,673,738. Not only are our tax dollars spent, but there also appear to be disagreements between UNCSW final statements and Canadian foreign policy. For instance, the Agreed Conclusions and Resolutions contained a statement regarding assistance to Palestinian women and referred to the “illegal Israeli practices, including settlement activities and the unlawful construction of the wall in the OccupiedPalestinianTerritory.” [1][8] This appears to counter a June 20, 2007 statement by then Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay: “Specifically, Canada cannot accept the inclusion of a permanent agenda item on Palestine and the occupied Arab territories, as it singles out one situation for highly politicized, partial and subjective treatment of a complex issue.” [9] Again, if the meetings and final voting record were held in public, Canadians would know fully and transparently how the Canadian delegates voted in this instance. However, the meetings were not all doom and gloom. There are many Canadian and international NGOs present to represent strong family values. There were several parallel events, hosted by other groups. Some of these sessions presented new medical research, for example “Pregnancy Associated Homicide” and “Women Bear the Cost: Women’s Mental Health after Pregnancy Loss.” [10] The research information available at these sessions was exemplary. It is imperative that Canada’s delegates push for transparency and accountability at the UN, both for votes as well as for consistency with Canadian policy. Right now, we cannot be sure this occurs. Perhaps accountability should begin with a Canadian delegation report from our Canadian representatives now back on Canadian soil, on the congruities between Canadian policy and UN resolutions. Send us your feedback on this issue at: info@imfcanada.org. [1] Endnotes: [1] United Nations Member States http://www.un.org/members/list.shtml [2] Commission on the Status of Women, Fifty-second Session; 25 February – 7 March 2008 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/52sess.htm#participants [3] Personal attendance at the Canadian NGO briefings held 1:00 – 1:15 PM on the days of the UNCSW meetings. [4] Canada's Financial Contribution to the United Nations, Government of Canada; http://geo.international.gc.ca/canada_un/ottawa/policy/financial_contribution-en.asp [5] ibid [6] United Nations System of Organizations http://www.unsystem.org/ [7] Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (E/CN.6/2008/L.3) UNCSW 52 Session Advance unedited versions of CSW52 Agreed Conclusions and Resolutions http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw52/AC_resolutions/Final%20L3%20%20Palestinian%20women%20%20-%20advance%20unedited.pdf 25 February – 7 March, 2008 [8] Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (E/CN.6/2008/L.3) UNCSW 52 Session Advance unedited versions of CSW52 Agreed Conclusions and Resolutions http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw52/AC_resolutions/Final%20L3%20%20Palestinian%20women%20%20-%20advance%20unedited.pdf 25 February – 7 March, 2008 [9] Statement By Minister Mackay On Final Decisions Of Fifth Session Of Human Rights Council; http://w01.international.gc.ca/minpub/Publication.aspx?isRedirect=True&publication_id=385253&docnumber=84&language=E [10] Scheduled Calendar of Parallel Events organised by NGOs http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/conf/seforms/dspUNcalendar2.htm Permission is granted to reprint or broadcast this information with appropriate attribution to the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada

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