Foreign Minister Paet Spoke at UN Economic and Social Council
05.07.2010
Nr 226-E
In his speech at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that a society that violates and disrespects women’s rights is above all hurting itself, because a society that tolerates gender inequality blocks its own social and economic development. “I agree with former Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davies, who said that it’s like football—you can’t win if you only play with half of your team,” he added.
Foreign Minister Paet stated that achieving gender equality and protecting women’s rights is still complicated in many parts of the world. “There has been some progress made in the last fifteen years, but it is fragile. Unfortunately it may vanish during crisis situations. In the context of various crises, the advancements made in gender equality and women’s rights are among the first to disappear,” he stated.
Paet asserted that prejudices must be abolished. “Ensuring gender equality continues to be one of the priority areas of Estonia’s activities in the field of human rights as well as development co-operation. Therefore several of Estonia’s development co-operation projects in Afghanistan are dedicated to improving women’s health,” he said.
In his speech, the foreign minister noted that Estonia advocates the incorporation of the gender dimension into all UN activities. “Gender issues should be taken into consideration in carrying out international missions as well as development co-operation,” Paet explained.
The foreign minister also emphasised that Estonia will continue to bring gender equality issues and the protection of women’s rights to the forefront in the UN Economic and Social Council. “In 2011 Estonia will become a member of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2011,” Paet added.
This year the discussion in the high-level meeting of ECOSOC ministers focused on achieving gender equality-related goals.
