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For almost a hundred
years Socialist International Women has been fighting for equality
and social justice to ensure that the fundamental and universal
values of freedom, democracy, peace and human rights apply equally
to women.
The road has been long,
hard and painful. Although a lot has been accomplished, much more
needs to be done. Overall, Socialist International Women has made
a considerable contribution - since its foundation nearly a century
ago - in the fight to ensure women's rights through the application
and development of the principles of universal human rights.
Today the world faces
new challenges and the international community has a responsibility
and obligation to ensure that these challenges are met with a progressive
vision to achieve democracy based on justice, solidarity, equality
and cooperation.
These challenges require
a new, more responsible and effective approach in which women are
entitled to and must fully participate and play an active and dynamic
role.
Differences and conflicts
in several parts of the world often present a threat to the freedom,
democracy, security, development and prosperity of us all.
Socialist International
Women believes in developing a more effective approach, in strengthening
universal values while promoting an understanding of the diverse
cultural identities and realities of the world. Such understanding
must however never curtail or ignore women's rights, which have
to be respected and safeguarded.
Socialist International
Women therefore:
calls on all
actors - institutions, parties, civil society - to make a concerted
effort to enable all women to exercise their human rights ;
recognises that
different cultures and customs constitute a richness for the world,
but stresses that they cannot be invoked to justify harmful practices
and to deny human rights ;
reaffirms its
commitment to achieving peace, stability and prosperity in all the
regions of the world where women and women's networks can play a
role in promoting a greater understanding between cultures and peoples
;
aims to strengthen
democracy, the rule of law, the respect for women's and human rights
including freedom of expression and to achieve a just resolution
of regional conflicts based on the relevant UN Security Council
resolutions in particular Resolution 1325 on 'Women, Peace and Security';
reiterates that
a disproportionate majority of the world's poor are women, therefore
the pursuit of gender equality is essential to the UN's overarching
goal of poverty reduction by 2015 ;
calls on governments
to maintain the UN Millennium Development Goals at the centre of
their international development policy, making gender equality and
the empowerment of women a priority ;
reiterates that
the key to a sustainable, balanced economic and social development
must be based on fundamental values: combating poverty and social
exclusion and increasing democracy with equal participation of women
at all levels and
demands action
to ensure the balanced participation of women and men in decision
- making, both in politics and in the economy, which is vital to
developing real democracy.
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