WOMEN’S RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS – Project topics materials

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INTRODUCTION

One of the core elements of multilateral diplomacy is that three or more parties attend an international conference, consolidate global efforts and attempt to solve problems that challenge humanity. These conferences ensure that discussions on issues are conducted by means of oral, face-to-face exchanges, rather than the one-on-one written style of bilateral diplomacy. Thus multilateral diplomacy, with its capacity to consolidate global efforts to address global problems, is a suitable mechanism for addressing the advancement of women’s rights. Issues under discussion are monitored very closely, signaling the participants’ clear commitment deal with the obstacles they face. The multilateral conference also creates a lobby for the advancement of women’s rights: having made it to the conference stage, it would be difficult to sideline issues indefinitely. Diplomatic practice, i.e. the management of international relations, has evolved through the ages. Multilateral diplomacy is no exception.
Prevailing global issues at any given time in history, but particularly since 1945, have had their influence on both the practice of multilateral diplomacy, as well as on the institutional machinery of the United Nations. How has the process of multilateral diplomacy made its mark as an effective method of promoting the advancement of women’s rights issues? In order to provide clarity both from an analytical, as well as descriptive perspective, it is necessary to focus on how events in history have altered the way multilateral diplomacy operates. This study bases its rationale on the view that multilateral diplomacy, by virtue of its characteristics, has made specific contributions to the advancement of women’s rights. The UN and its machinery will also be discussed, particularly as it currently functions. While the world will continue to experience dramatic change, there is no consensus on the meaning of this change and how it will affect multilateral diplomatic practice in the future. No study of multilateral diplomacy is complete without an in-depth focus on the UN and the complexity of the issues that it deals with.

Multilateralism

The term “multilateralism” has several interpretations. It can refer to international trade between two or more countries without any restrictions or discrimination between them. It can also refer to international diplomatic accords or treaties between two or more states. For example: The United States of America (USA) consults with its European counterparts before making important foreign policy decisions to ensure a unified stance. “Multilateralism” also refers to the coordination of relations among three or more states in terms of certain principles. An institutional arrangement, such as collective security, is characterised by these multilateralist principles. Since peace is indivisible, war against one is thus ipso facto war against all. In such cases a collective response is called for by means of diplomatic measures, initially. Economic sanctions, as well as the use of collective force, follow. The aim is to avoid the frequent outbreaks of war, precisely as a result of this community-wide response. The ‘-ism’ in “multilateralism” suggests that this concept is a belief or ideology rather than a straightforward state of affairs (Ruggie 1993:9-10). Multilateralism maintains that activities should be organised universally for a specific group. Multilateralism is an ideology that promotes a multilateral activity, but requires of its participants to forgo all temporary advantages defined in terms of national interests. Coalitions are also discouraged. Participants in multilateralism are required to not define their interests in terms of their national interests (Ibid.: 55).

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF

MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY Through the ages historical events have shaped multilateral diplomacy into how it functions today. Multilateral diplomacy – albeit not in its present form – can be traced back to the alliances in the Greco–Persian world of the fourth century BC. Conference diplomacy first featured in modern times at the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, following the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Its primary purpose was to formally terminate the Napoleonic wars and to settle matters of territorial redistribution. The monarchs or their representatives would meet to conclude peace agreements, especially after a period of war. Disputes regarding dynastic successions were also discussed at these early conferences, where an attempt was made to establish and legitimise a new territorial status quo (Rittberger in Boisard and Chossudovsky 1998: 15-16). The European states system was the main impetus for the development of the modern statesystem. The state system also gave rise to the development of modern multilateral diplomacy. The first half of the twentieth century was primarily characterised by two world wars, as well as by the growing presence of nuclear threats. The devastation caused by the First World War and its aftermath demanded that international conferences be used for organising diplomatic exchanges between nations.
The establishiment of the League of Nations after the First World War was the main result of this decision. Both the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the Second World War demonstrated the drawbacks of political and economic unilateralism. What followed was an upsurge of multilateralism in the management of international relations. In June 1946, fifty-one states embarked on an experiment in organising states to control the outbreak of wars by means of international law and organisation. In this way members of the international community committed themselves to preserving the peace that had been won at a great cost. The founding of the UN system confirmed that diplomatic interaction was evolving.

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The importance of coalitions

Multilateral diplomacy has experienced an increase in the number of coalitions, mainly because of the bargaining strength attained when pursuing a common goal, particularly when it comes to majority voting. Coalitions aim at facilitating the exchange of points of view and the coordination of positions. They also serve as a caucus group when members, who attend a wider conference, can meet and act collectively as semi-autonomous bodies. A coalition can determine the very dynamics of a negotiation, even though it has no official status. It improves lobbying strength and offers a framework within which the exchange of information and the pooling of human and financial resources can occur. A coalition is an effective tool of conference management, which has simplified the overall framework in which multilateral diplomacy functions. The increase in the number of coalitions utilised reinforces trends in international relations towards regionalisation and globalisation. States realise the limitations of national power when seeking diplomatic solutions. More specifically, in the realms of multilateral diplomacy, where states have held onto their traditional power bases, such developments in coalition forming are indicative of the ‘paradoxical trend of globalisation and fragmentation’ (Ibid.: 14-15).

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

Page
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER TWO: MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY
- 1. INTRODUCTION
- 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
- 2.1 Diplomacy
- 2.2 Multilateral
- 2.3 Summits
- 3. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY
- 3.1 Reasons for the increase of multilateral diplomacy in the twentieth century
- 3.2 Multilateral diplomacy in the post-Cold War period
- 3.3 Changes to diplomatic interaction
- 4. NATURE OF MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY
- 4.1 The importance of coalitions
- 4.2 The conference process
- 4.3 Successes and limitations of multilateral diplomacy
- 5. THE UNITED NATIONS
- 5.1 The main organs of the United Nations
- 5.2 Specialised agencies, UN programmes and the status of women
- 5.3 Multilateral diplomacy in the United Nations
- 5.4 The United Nations and international security after the Cold War
- 5.5 The role of the United Nations in post-Cold War international relations
- 5.6 NGO’s and the United Nations
- 5.7 Assessing the progress of the United Nations in dealing with modern global issues
- 6. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER THREE: WOMEN’S RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
- 2.1 Human rights
- 2.2 Gender
- 2.2.1 Gender equality
- 2.2.2 Gender perspective
- 2.3 Feminism
- 2.4 Women’s rights
- 3 A PERSPECTIVE ON FEMINIST THOUGHT
- 3.1 Four schools of feminist thought
- 3.1.1 Liberal feminists
- 3.1.2 Radical feminists
- 3.1.3 Socialist feminists
- 3.1.4 Post-modernist feminists
- 3.2 Feminist thought and human rights
- 4 WOMEN’S RIGHTS: LIMITED BY SOCIETAL DETERMINANTS
- 4.1 Issues underlying the treatment of women in many societies
- 4.2 Culture and social stratification as determinants of the status of women in society
- 4.3 The inferior position of women in various countries
- 4.4 African women’s experience
- 5 THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- 6 THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM
- 7 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN WOMEN AND THE MAINSTREAM
- 8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR: ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS – MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY AT WORK
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
- 2.1 Gender equality
- 2.2 Targets for gender equality
- 2.3 Gender mainstreaming
- 2.4 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
- 2.5 Special Session
- 3 RELEVANCE OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING
- 4 THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MOVEMENT AND THE UNITED NATIONS
- 5 THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS THROUGH WORLD SUMMITS
- 5.1 Key strategies in the preparatory process
- 5.2 Women’s rights and the United Nations:
- 5.3 Beijing 1995: Placing gender on the global agenda
- 5.4 Main obstacles to the advancement of women’s rights
- 5.5 Women 2000: Gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century
- 6 FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN AT BEIJING AND BEYOND
- 6.1 An assessment of the global responses to Beijing
- 7 THE DUTY OF THE STATE: CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION
- 8 THE SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- 8.1 Women’s rights in South Africa
- 8.2 South Africa and the Beijing Platform for Action
- 8.2.1 Parliamentary Women’s Caucus in South Africa
- 8.2.2 Commission on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and the Status of Women
- 8.2.3 Office of the Status of Women
- 8.2.4 Commission on Gender Equality
- 9 MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY AS AN INSTRUMENT TO ADVANCE WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- 9.1 The contribution of multilateral diplomacy to the advancement of women’s rights
- 9.2 The contribution of NGO’s to the advancement of women’s rights
- 10 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FIVE: EVALUATION