UN Commission on the Status of Women - National Statement of Ireland by Minister Carroll MacNeill

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Thank you Chair,

Ireland aligns with the statement of the European Union.

Chair, Vice-Chairs, distinguished delegates,

On behalf of the people of Ireland, I am honoured to address the 69th Commission on the Status of Women, marking thirty years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to make the lives of men and women equal in their experience.

On behalf of the people of Ireland, I want to pledge our support for the UN and for the multilateral structure that empowers our collective work to achieve gender equality around the world.

And we join others calling for the nomination of female candidates for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General.

I also pledge our support to civic society, to human rights defenders and to increasing funding for women’s rights organisations, who work on the ground to advance the rights of women and girls.

On behalf of the people of and the women of Ireland, I want to express our solidarity with women and girls in all conflict zones, where we know sexual violence is weaponised as an instrument of war and terror.

It is impossible to reflect on the global status of gender equality without considering the situation in Afghanistan, where women and girls are enduring an unparalleled system of oppression and discrimination. We recognise their dignity and courage.

Chair, let me speak honestly about Ireland, and recognise that while we have improved in empowering women, this has come from a background of quite some repression by our own State and religious bodies. In Ireland, we have made good progress and good policy choices and we have the resources to deliver our strategies. But being very honest, even this combination has not yet delivered for the women in Ireland.

Let me give balanced examples in business, in politics and in gender violence.

In Ireland, in business, we have laws to require employers to pay equally and to report on their gender pay gap. But the gender pay gap remains. Women also now represent 40% of board members on Irish listed companies, a 22% increase in seven years – but we know that these are not executive board memberships – the c-suite positions where women make executive decisions and get paid executive salaries to do them.

In Ireland, in politics, women parliamentarians can now take maternity leave, supporting more women to enter and remain in political life. In 1990 when Mary Robinson was the first woman elected as President, only 12% of our parliament was female. And in 2011 only 12% of our parliament was female.

We have had gender incentive laws for the last three general elections. Political parties must now have at least 40% of each gender among their candidates. But still, today only 25% of Members of our parliament are female and only 20% of our senior members of government are female.

In Ireland, we have strong laws against sexual violence, protection for victims in the courts process and a zero tolerance strategy to domestic violence. While we have secured new convictions for coercive control, I know today women in Ireland are experiencing sexual and domestic violence and I stand with them. As I know they stand with women everywhere else experiencing this same scourge.

Full equality remains a work in progress.

As Ireland’s Minister for Health let me particularly highlight our view that access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, is fundamental for transforming women’s health outcomes. It is also key to ensuring sustainable socio-economic development, for all.

Until we interrupt the trend of adolescent pregnancies everywhere;

until women are able to make informed and independent decisions such as when, whether, or how many children to have; until all our health systems are providing quality care for pregnant mothers and new-born infants, and until we end the epidemic of HIV and AIDS, everywhere, we will not live in equal societies.

To conclude, Chair, Ireland will continue to champion the Commission on the Status of Women and, as co-facilitators of the revitalisation process with Botswana, we look forward to constructive engagement with all, to ensure that CSW remains vibrant and effective into the future.

Together as governments and with civic society we must realise the human rights of all women and girls.