Beijing+5 Prepcom Stymied, Inter-sessional Planned, Pro-Lifers Abused

By Austin Ruse

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM)  What was supposed to be the final preparatory committee meeting for a June special session of the UN General Assembly on women has ground nearly to a halt. After almost two full weeks of intense wrangling, negotiators admit they are barely closer to agreement than they were in the beginning.

     The problem starts with the very first paragraph of the document where the developing world called for explicit references to national sovereignty. This language has been rejected by the western powers. When sharp disagreement occurs, all that is left to negotiators is to move on and save the recalcitrant paragraph until later. At this point, these "saved" paragraphs are piling up at an alarming rate.

     The problem also appears around the aggressive attempt by the liberal western powers to re-write the original Beijing document, something the GA ordered them not to do. The western powers, led by the US and the European Union seem fixated on advancing notions that have been rejected by democratic procedures all over the world. A whole of ideas are being met with fierce opposition within the negotiating bloc of the developing world called the Group of 77 (G-77).

     The western powers are advancing strict quotas for women in the workforce and in politics, an idea rejected by Swiss voters as recently as last week. But the areas of sexual reproduction and the family are causing the most vociferous debate.

     The western nations, negotiating as a bloc called JUSCANZ (Japan, the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia), working in tandem with the EU, are advancing new and as yet undefined terms that the G-77 view suspiciously. JUSCANZ is insisting on adding the term "diversity of women" to the document. There exists no agreement on what this term means, but the G-77 understands it as a reference to homosexuality. Several explicit references to "sexual orientation" are also causing sharp disagreements.

     Another term the west is pushing is "sexual rights." Rejected at the original Beijing conference, rejected again at Cairo+5, "sexual rights" is a loose term that could come to encompass a whole tissue of ideas related to homosexuality, abortion and other very controversial areas. So far "sexual rights" has been rejected by the G-77.

     Negotiators had hoped to find agreement by tomorrow and send the finalized document for ratification to the GA this spring. Being nowhere near agreement, officials now say an "intersessional" will be needed to finish their work. This works to the disadvantage of the cash-strapped delegations from the more conservative G-77 who may find it difficult to send delegations to another meeting like this one. Pro-life delegations fear that an "intersessional" could deplete their already tiny ranks.

     The NGO wars continue unabated. Pro-life lobbyists, young and old, have been kept from NGO meetings that are supposed to be open to everyone. Pro-lifers who do get in and try to speak have been shouted down. Pro-life NGOs intend to file formal complaints with the UN.

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