03 March 2005

United States Committed To Empowering Women

U.N. Representative Sauerbrey cites U.S. initiatives that support women

In a message to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women read by Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is "committed to working in partnerships with other nations to enlarge the freedom and empowerment of women."

In her message, delivered by Sauerbrey March 2, Rice said the United States has cooperatively worked to advance educational, economic, and political opportunities for women, in addition to improving access to health care and protection from violence.

The secretary also noted that even though much remains to be done to improve the situation of women in Muslim countries, the bigger picture is that of "freedom expanding and surmounting the forces of tyranny, including those that hold women in second-class status."

Ambassador Sauerbrey, who serves as U.S. representative to the commission, cited a number of Bush administration initiatives as manifestations of the administration's commitment to improving the status of women.

Sauerbrey said the United States has provided $295 million since 2002 to support anti-trafficking efforts in over 120 countries, that sum in addition to a $50 million anti-trafficking initiative announced by President Bush in 2003. She also noted the success of Operation Predator in combating sex tourism that targets children.

Ambassador Sauerbrey said the United States leads the world's fight against HIV/AIDS through President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief. She also said the United States has made financial commitments to development assistance, health programs for refugees, and programs to advance the rights of women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sauerbrey also said the Bush administration is pleased with a growing international consensus that abortion policies are a matter of national sovereignty.

Following is the transcript of Ambassador Sauerbrey's remarks, including Secretary Rice's message to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women:

(begin transcript)

United States Mission to the United Nations
March 2, 2005

Statement by the United States Representative to the Commission on the Status of Women Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, at the 49th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, March 2, 2005

Thank you, Madam Chair. First I would like to share a message from Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and I quote:

"I welcome the opportunity to send greetings to the delegates to the Beijing+10 commemoration. In the decade since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the United States has worked in cooperation with many nations to improve the lives of women and girls throughout the world. We can be proud of the progress we have achieved together advancing educational and economic opportunities, greater access to health care, protection from violence, assistance to refugees and protection in conflict situations, and increasing political participation. In many Muslim countries, while there is much that remains to be done to improve the situation for women, the bigger picture is one of freedom expanding and surmounting the forces of tyranny, including those that hold women in second-class status. From Jordan and Bahrain, to Iraq and Afghanistan, the world has witnessed elections and expanding roles for women. In the Near East and all around the world, the United States is committed to working in partnerships with other nations to enlarge the freedom and empowerment of women. I wish you a successful meeting."

Colleagues, we would like to mention some key U.S. initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Human trafficking, a horrible crime of exploitation and abuse, that treats women and girls as commodities. Our 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) provides for protection of and assistance to victims in the United States, and outlines assistance programs to foreign countries to prevent and deter trafficking. Since 2002 the United States provided $295 million to support anti-trafficking efforts in over 120 countries. In 2003 at the U.N. General Assembly, President Bush announced a $50 million anti-trafficking initiative at the UN General Assembly to protect and rescue women. On child sex tourism, a 2003 law allows prosecuting of Americans who travel abroad to engage in sex with a minor. Operation Predator has led to 4,300 arrests, including individuals involved in child sex tourism. The United States is sponsoring a resolution on trafficking at this session of the Commission.

My country continues to lead the world's fight against HIV/AIDS. Women are the primary beneficiaries under the President's five-year, $15 billion Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief concentrated on 15 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. The United States has pledged $1.97 billion to the Global Funds to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the largest single funding commitment from any source.

The United States recognizes the gender dimension of the struggle against HIV, and has oriented much of its assistance to address the special needs of women and girls, by increasing access to information and services for prevention, treatment, and care. The United States therefore supports actions to empower and protect women, and encourage responsible behavior by men.

President Bush's Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is a $5 billion development assistance initiative in which U.S. contributions will go to countries that rule justly, that invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom. Countries that fail to protect women's human rights would find it difficult to qualify for this funding. One of the eligibility criteria is girls' primary school completion rates.

The Department of State spends between $50-70 million annually on health programs for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of whom are vulnerable women and girls.

We are very active in helping women in post-conflict situations. In Afghanistan 17 women's resources centers were built to meet women's education and health needs and give them job skills and political training. The U.S.-Afghan Women's Council promotes private-public partnerships between U.S. and Afghan institutions.

The people of Iraq have recently participated in historic democratic elections. Our Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative and U.S.-Iraqi Women's Network laid the groundwork for the large turnout of women voters. The Democracy Initiative funded programs that trained women in political organization, entrepreneurial skills, coalition-building and media outreach. The presence of our women colleagues from Iraq and Afghanistan should be very heartening to all of us today.

I would also like to emphasize my country's commitment to women's reproductive health. The United States has a long history of supporting international reproductive health care, including voluntary family planning to couples who want to make free and responsible decisions about the number and spacing of their children.

The United States is the world's largest supplier of contraceptives. Since the start of the Bush administration, the United States has supplied approximately $1.7 billion dollars for family planning and reproductive and maternal health.

As colleagues in this meeting know, the United States has had concerns about efforts to mischaracterize the outcome documents of Beijing and Beijing+5 in creation of new international rights. It is clear that there was no intent on the part of States supporting the Beijing documents to create new rights. While those documents express important political goals, they do not create rights or legally binding obligations on States under international law, including the right to abortion. The United States recognizes the International Conference on Population and Development principle that abortion policies are a matter of national sovereignty. And, we are pleased that so many other governments have indicated their agreement with this position, and we anticipate that we can now focus clearly on addressing the many urgent needs of women around the world.

Thank you for the opportunity to express our views.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)