Two views on women's rights in Burma

From darnott@iprolink.ch, 7 July 2000

In January 2000, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) met to consider Burma's initial report to the Committee.

On 4 July, “The New Light of Myanmar” quoted the (male) Chairman of the National Working Committee for Women Affairs (NWCWA), Major-General Sein Htwa, (who also happens to be Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement) as stressing that Myanmar was warmly welcomed [by CEDAW] for the progress achieved by its women. It is difficult to reconcile this statement with the Concluding Comments of CEDAW (URL and extract below). Paragraph 42, for instance, states that “ The Committee expresses concern at the absence of an enabling environment in Myanmar to ensure the full implementation of the Convention” and in para 27 we read that “The Committee is concerned about human, rights violations of women, in particular by military personnel”.

Women in Burma, particularly those from groups whose territory is occupied by the Burmese army, might also have something to say about the general's remarks.

Below is the Xinhua report of the NLM article and an extract and URL of the CEDAW Concluding Comments on Burma.

Myanmar Takes Measures to Promote Development of Women

Xinhua, Rangoon, 4 July 2000. The Myanmar government is taking measures to promote the development of women, especially giving priority to those in the border areas and regions which lag behind in socioeconomic environment.

This is expressed by Major-General Sein Htwa, Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

Only when their knowledge and outlook are broadened, will women be able to participate in building the nation, Sein Htwa was quoted by Tuesday's The New Light of Myanmar as saying.

Sein Htwa, also Chairman of the National Working Committee for Women Affairs (NWCWA), told a meeting here that the committee has been working hard for four years since its establishment on July 1996 and efforts are being made in implementing programs advocated by the 1995 Beijing Declaration of the 4th World Conference on Women.

He added that Myanmar women, who make up 50.3 percent of the country's population, have since time immemorial been on an equal footing with men in terms of law, culture and traditions.

The NWCWA has organized various activities in the reduction of women illiteracy rate, poverty-relief, health improvement, domestic science, prevention of violence against women, and their rehabilitation and all-round development.

In 1998, Myanmar held its first national women's conference and then in 1999 conducted regional consultations on violence against women and the role of health sector in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

Particularly, he stressed, Myanmar was warmly welcomed for the progress achieved by its women at the convention on elimination of discrimination against women held at the United Nations in New York early this year.

The full text of the CEDAW Concluding Comments on Myanmar is on:

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/Myaclu.htm

The Committee's Principal areas of concern and recommendations:

21. The Committee is concerned that the Myanmar National Committee for Women's Affairs, comprising deputy ministers of related ministries, representatives of the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice, and leaders of women's non-governmental organizations, does not receive any budget allocation from the Government despite its responsibilities for policy-making and its role as an intersectoral coordinating body. The Committee is further concerned that the Myanmar National Working Committee, an operational body, is exclusively comprised of voluntary members.

22.The Committee urges the Government to revise existing funding allocation policies to ensure that the national machinery has sufficient financial and human resources effectively to carry out its mandates and that members of the Myanmar National Committee should include those nominated on the basis of their expertise in the relevant fields.

23.The Committee welcomes the Government of Myanmar's recent order which overruled those provisions of the Towns Act and the Village Act that authorized the Government to extract forced labour from women. The Committee considers forced labour of women to be a contemporary form of slavery and a denial of their rights. The Committee, however, is concerned that the Towns Act and the Village Act remain as legislation. It is further concerned that there is little information about the implementation and enforcement of the recent order.

24. The Committee requests the Government to include more information and data in its next report on the implementation process of the order and recommends that the Government take the action necessary to bring perpetrators to justice.

25. The Committee notes with concern that, although Myanmar has 135 ethnic groups, there is little information in its report about how the human rights of women in all ethnic groups are guaranteed, protected and promoted.

26.The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report more information and data on the situation of women in as many ethnic minority groups as possible and the measures taken by the Government to protect and ensure their enjoyment of human rights under the Convention.

27.The Committee is concerned about human rights violations of women, in particular by military personnel.

28.The Committee urges the Government to prosecute and punish those who violate the human rights of women and to carry out human rights education and gender-sensitization training, in particular for military personnel.

29. The Committee notes with concern that there is little information on the trafficking in women and girls, despite the magnitude of the problem.

31. The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report more information and data on the situation of trafficking in women and girls.

32.The Committee is also concerned with the increasing number of women with HIV/AIDS.

33.The Committee requests more information on the situation of women affected by HIV/AIDS, including women in trafficking and prostitution, in the next periodic report. Information should also be given on their access to health care, as well as the Government's efforts to educate women, and on measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

34. The Committee expresses its concern about the situation of women in custody, especially with regard to their being subject to sexual violence.

35. The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report more information on women in custody, including data on custodial violence and the protection of the human rights of women in custody.

36. The Committee is concerned with the restrictions on the number of women admitted to certain courses in higher education, which contravenes article 10 (b) and (c) of the Convention.

37. The Committee urges the Government to modify the policies on restricted admission, noting that women themselves should be entitled to decide which subjects or professions they wish to pursue.

38. The Committee notes with concern that the information provided on primary education is insufficient, in particular in regard to the enrolment of girls.

39. The Committee requests the Government to include more information and data with regard to primary education in its next report. The Committee also recommends that the Government set numerical targets for enrolment of girls in primary education, and that it report on the results of the implementation of such targets.

40. The Committee is concerned that there is no information on a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy resulting from sexual violence. The Committee is also concerned with the high rate of maternal mortality in Myanmar, since it notes that induced abortion often results in maternal mortality.

41. The Committee urges the Government to extend the coverage of the contraceptive distribution programme in order to reduce maternal mortality from unsafe abortions. The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report more information on pregnancies resulting from rape or sexual violence and the services that are available to the victims.

42. The Committee expresses concern at the absence of an enabling environment in Myanmar to ensure the full implementation of the Convention.

43.The Committee recommends that in rebuilding its economic and political structures, the Government ensure the full and equal participation of women in an open and pluralistic society. The Committee expresses the hope that the new constitution currently being drafted will guarantee gender equality and include a definition of “sex discrimination”. The Committee also expresses the hope that the new constitution will incorporate the Convention in domestic law.

44.The Committee recommends that statistical data disaggregated by sex be included in the next report and that information be provided with regard to implementation of all articles of the Convention. The Committee encourages the Government to ratify the amendment to article 20.1 of the Convention concerning the Committee's meeting time.

45.The Committee also encourages the Government to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

46. The Committee requests that the Government respond in its next periodic report to the specific issues raised in these concluding comments.

47. The Committee requests the wide dissemination in Myanmar of the present concluding comments in order to make the people and, in particular, governmental administrators and politicians, aware of the steps that have been taken to ensure de jure and de facto equality of women and of the further steps that are required. It also requests the Government to continue to disseminate widely—particularly to women's and human rights organizations—the Convention, and its Optional Protocol, the Committee's general recommendations, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.