The participants in the International Conference on Woman and Child - Health, Empowerment, Rights and Development, having met in Loni, India, from November 14-16, 1998.
By reaffirming that dignity and love are absolute elements of life for every woman, man and child and that every human being is born into this world with certain intrinsic rights, which when realized, lead to a life of dignity, in harmony with the family, community and environment as a whole,
and recognizing that the development of a nation is wholly dependent on the health, education and economic well-being of all its citizens and that the violation of the rights of women and children is a serious obstacle in the development of a nation,
Decelare that women have long been denied there birth-right to be in charge of their individual lives and as such have been deprived of their decision-making power even on such vital issues as their own health care, health care of their infants and young children as well as education and socio-economic well-being of their families and communities and that gender inequality is perpetuated by
- attitudes of society,
- societal norms,
- interpretation of religion, which is very often in confilict with the core religious texts and teachings,
- in work situations and wage discrimination,
- inequitable investments in human development especially for women and children, and
- denial of economic rights such as ownership of property and equitable distribution of wealth in an family and in a society.
...that the national judicial systems in most parts of the world, even at the turn of this century, failed to bring about gender justice and continue to discriminate against women and girls.
Further recognizing that health in all dimensions, an essential component of development, is a process which is dependent on food security, access to safe drinking water and essential health care services, all of which are ultimately dependent on political, social, cultural and spiritual ideologies,
...That value-based education for all is an essential prerequistie for individuals to grow to their full potential and improve the quality of lif, that governments and institutions have the responsibility to create structures to support women's multiple roles in the family and men should share those responsibilities including child care
...That the impact of global economic trends on the lives of women and children should be managed to fully benefit them.
Believing that women must be empowered to enable them to exercise their rights to be free of inhuman subjugation by men and unjust societal norms, grow to their full potential, lead a life of dignity and self fulfillment and to work to be equal partners in the development process.
...that all citizens have the moral obligation to work towards the realisation of human rights of those, who, due to adverse circumstances, are deprived of a voice,
...that men need to accept and support, and participate in the realisation of the rights of women and children, and that a mutually benefical partnership is the basis of a happy family,resulting in a healthy and peaceful community,
...that institutions alone cannot bring about change. It is at the community level that most action should be directed, since it is at this level that sutainable changes are better achieved and accountability of governments ensured,
...that governments all over the world have an indisputable obligation to implement policies and laws to protect and promote these very human rights.
...that non-governmental organisations play a vital role in the mobilisation of communities,
...that international organisations which have been established to oversee the world order also share in this responsibility to work towards these human rights, Convinced that to fulfill this obligations, citizens, especially men and the privileged, must commit themselves to action at local, national and international levels and must engage themselves in activities which support the efforts of governments and national and international organisations, and where activities do not exist, they must initiate or cause to initiate new activities,
...that this commitment must be inspired not by a sense of duty, but more importantly, by a sense of justice, by the desire for peace and in a spirit of fellowship which is the basis for all positive human interaction.
Realising that in order to live up to the pledges and promises of the past in this direction made to the world at large, to its womenfolk in particular, we herby appreciate that greater efforts must be made on an urgent basis in order to accompoish this noble, ethical and pragmatic imperative for the society as a whole and to reach out to those in the greatest need, further releasing that the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world is a cause for grave confern and it poses the greatest threat to women and children who are discriminated against by individuals and the society.
...that the scientific and technological advances are used to exploit and harm the rights of the woman and child,
WE,THE PARTICIPANTS, hereby commit ourselves to promote gender equality and equity at all level and address gender issues, like:.
HEALTH
- networking with government and NGOs involved in primary health care to promote activities which empower communities, particularly, women, to decide on all issues of their health so as to develop sustainable solution to health problems at the family and community levels,
- dealing with harmful practices like female infanticide,
- Networking with NGOs involved with child development to promote elimination of exploitation of children through unacceptable, unfair practices such as child labour, negligence of street children, genital mutilation, child pornography and sex trade.
- Working with adolescent girls, especially among marginalised ethnic groups, who bear the brunt of harmful practices, who are frequent victims of sex trade, and to whom health care services are especially unaivlable, thus helping them to improve their situation though better nutrition, health care and acquisition of skills,
- strengthening health programmes aimed at women and the girl-child, especially in the field of nutrition and essential health services, and
- working with health care insitutions to develop women friendly and child friendly services which meet the special needs especially reproductive health needs of women and promote and operationalise her reproductive rights by helping her to have informed choices including family planning with dignity.
- Ensure that mother and child are provided with a (conducive) atmosphere to breast-feeding and remove all constraints for breast-feeding at home, work places and in public.
- Ensure women's rights on reproductive health to take all precautions in preventing the HIV infection.
- Ensure that the scientific and technological advances are not used to exploit or harm the women and children. The delegates condemn the use of technology in sex forthwith and adequate measures must be taken to protect unborn girl children.
- Establishing and supporting women's organisation and voting with these organisation - formal and non-formal, to develop communication and leadership skills among women and to bring about effective representation of women at all levels of public life.
- Working with men's organisations - formal and non-formal, to build awareness and ensure their participation in programs for woman and to bring about a positive change in their attitude towards women's health and socio-economic status,
- Working at school and college levels in urban and rural areas, to sensitise the younger generation towards gender issues,
- Prevailing upon government to bring the lacunae in legislation to address the issues of gender justic and ensure that the laws are properly enforced,
- Working towards changing the existing economic system, to ensure equal participation, control and utilisation of the wealth equally by women and children with men.
- Establishing dialogue with religious leaders to understand the core texts which promote the rights of women and children,
- Ensuring that these texts and commentaries are given adequate publicity even among the poor and the illiterate,
- Taking up issues with the judicial system in order to ensure that adequate laws to protect the rights of women and children are enacted and enforced,
- Sensitising the guardians of law and order that they up-hold justice and not intimidate women and children while performing their duty.
- Working with formal and nonformal organisations towards elimination of all forms of gender-bassed discrimination and violence against women,
- Ensuring economic rights for women especially rights in share of the capital and ensureing adequate laws are enacted and enforced. Ensureing the control of property does not cease even after the death of the husband or after separation and divorce.
- "Realising that the global wisdom based on experience demands a balanced approach to development in trying to solve the problems of girl children and women in a holistic manner touching not only their physical aspects, but also their mental, intellectual and spiritual needs".
- Working towards poverty alleviation among women by imparting useful skills and promoting income generating activities,
- Working with banks and financial institutions to ensure that adequate capitals available for these incomegenerating activities.
- Working with academic instituions towards development of relevant curricula and to promote schemes which encourage school attendance, particularly of the girl-child with a view to economic empowerment in post-school years,
- Working with governments, banks, and financial institutions, public and private sector employers, etc. to ensure that the work environment is conducive for women employees and that there is no wage discrimination,
- Networking with all individuals, government departments, corporations and NGOs who are committed to improving the quality of life of women and children, and preparing a data-bank of such individuals and agencies.
- Additionally, we the delegates, with the support of the organising committee, further commit ourselves to :
- Publishing the results of the conference within the first year and disseminating this to all stake-holders,
- Establishing a network system, including a periodic newsletter, which will give maximum publicity to the above commitments and the action taken by us in this regard,
- Organising a follow-up international convention within the next three years to review the progress made and define further courses of action,
- Organising at chapter local, regional, national and international levels to systematically disseminate information, pepare plans of action and obtain feedback from the grass-roots level, so that there is a meaningful interaction at all levels,
- Using the information superhighways for collection and dissemination of information, and, last but not the least.
- As a pilot project, organising awareness camps, health camps and similar programmes to highlight the plight of women and children from deprived sections of society, covering Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, India, the experience of which can be shared with the other agencies undertaking similar work, with the objective of making women's welfare a people's movement.