Bhutan

Introductory Remarks by Mr. Bakhodir Burkhanov, UNDP RR a.i. at the launch of the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2010 on the occasion of the International Women’s Day

Your Majesty the Queen Mother of Bhutan, Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck,

Dasho Dzonghda, Hon'ble Secretary of the Ministry of Education,

UN Resident Coordinator a.i. and other UN agency colleagues,

Distinguished guests, dear students:

It is a great honor for UNDP to have this opportunity to introduce the 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report at this important gathering commemorating the International Women's Day. The Report is an annual UNDP publication which explores critical human development concerns confronting our region. Since their inception in 2003, these annual reports have been stimulating a dialogue within the region on a range of important issues. This year's Report attempts to examine gender equality through the prism of women's unequal power, voice and rights, and is symbolically launched today across the region as we commemorate the International Women's Day. We have the great privilege of Her Majesty Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck kindly launching the Report here in Bhutan concurrently with the regional launch in New Delhi by Miss Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator.

The presentation of the 2010 Report - Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific - also coincides with the 15^th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, the outcome of the historic Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

In the fifteen years since 1995, overall progress toward gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide has been uneven. In Asia and the Pacific, despite the region's relative economic growth and progress on many fronts, gender inequality persists and deprives the region of a more robust socio-economic advancement. Even as many women have benefited from their countries' improved education, health, and prosperity, they continue to face barriers to the same opportunities available to men. In the words of UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, "Equality is a right, equality promotes democracy and equality is good economics."

While recognizing that each country is unique and needs to develop its own responses, the Report calls for action across three areas: supporting the economic empowerment of women, promoting women's political voice, and advancing women's legal rights. Through these three dimensions - economics, politics and the law - the Report takes a closer look at what holds women back and how policies and institutions can be transformed - and mindsets changed - to move towards gender equality.

Allow me to take the distinguished audience through key findings of the Report under each of the three areas:

1.      Economic empowerment

Women still lag behind men in employment, pay and job opportunities, more so in South Asia than in East Asia. Women face increased hardship during the economic downturns, and lack of women's participation in the workforce costs the region about US$ 89 billion every year. Over and above the Asia-Pacific region, almost two-thirds of women in the developing world work in vulnerable jobs as either self-employed persons or as unpaid family workers in the informal economy.

Building women's economic power requires removing discriminatory barriers to assets, prioritizing investments in health and education, expanding paid employment, and making mobility safe for women.

In Bhutan, male labor force participation remains significantly higher than that of women, especially in the urban areas. Labor Force Surveys also reveal a rise in the rate of female unemployment. Female unemployment rose from 3.8% in 2006 to 5.4% in 2009, while male unemployment remained constant at 2.6% in 2006 and 2009.

2.      Political participation

The Asia-Pacific region falls behind most other regions in women's political equality. For example, the region has the second-lowest percent of women parliamentarians in the world. Regional experiences show that promoting women's political voice could be achieved by instituting quotas for women representatives, as is the case in India in local government; by training first-time leaders to improve the quality of participation; by recognizing the 'women's vote' in political parties; and by adopting gender-friendly budgets.

Whilst women and men in Bhutan enjoy equal political rights, the Royal Government recognizes that greater scope exists for improvement in the participation of Bhutanese women in the political life of the country. Women remain under-represented at all levels of government. Today, women comprise only 8% of National Assembly members and 24% of the National Council members; women's representation in the judiciary is 6% and 31% in the civil service, with a lower proportion still at top levels.

The Report argues that women's participation promotes democracy and long-term stability. It does however require strategic investments - for example, in girls' education and women's capacities - as well as a serious commitment by governments and political parties to boost the number and quality of female representation. The report also points out that development level does not necessarily correlate with high political participation for women: in Japan and the Republic of Korea, for example, women hold about 10% of legislative seats.

3.      Legal rights

In Asia and the Pacific, the level of women's representation in customary and formal justice systems remains low. Appallingly, more than one-tenth of women in the region have been assaulted by their male partners. Few countries in the region have adopted or implemented laws prohibiting violence against women. In South Asia, nearly half of the countries have no laws against domestic violence.

More broadly, in some countries of the region, legal systems are conditioned by contradictory influences. Even when the existing laws are equitable, they often do not always translate into equality in practice.

The Report commends Bhutan's equal inheritance rights for men and women, and cites that at least 60% of rural Bhutanese women hold land registration titles. This is in positive contrast with more than half of the countries in the South and West Asia favoring men in land inheritance laws. The Report also notes Bhutan's unqualified accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Your Majesty, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Let me take this opportunity to acknowledge Bhutan's strong commitment to achieve the gender equality goals in the various global compacts that it is party to, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and implementing the provisions of CEDAW.

The correlation between status of women and the achievement of MDGs is abundantly evident. The MDGs are struggling where the needs and aspirations of women are given low priority. If women's status is lifted, the goals are more likely to be achieved, with benefits for women, men, and children.

I would like to conclude by acknowledging RENEW and NCWC for their untiring efforts to promote gender equality and curb gender-based violence. On behalf of UNDP, I wish to express our deepest gratitude to Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck, for her dedicated leadership in empowering women and girls in Bhutan, and for kindly consenting to launch the 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report on this auspicious occasion.

THANK YOU AND TASHI DELEK!