CULTURALLY SENSITIVE APPROACHES CRITICAL TO WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT – UN REPORT

CULTURALLY SENSITIVE APPROACHES CRITICAL TO WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT – UN REPORT
New York, Nov 12 2008 7:10PM
Development strategies should be more culturally sensitive to the promotion of human rights, especially women's rights, a new United Nations report finds, warning that otherwise many projects in poor countries are likely to fail.

The theme of cultural sensitivity is at the heart of this year's edition of <I>The State of the World Population</I>, an annual <"http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2008/en/index.html">report released by the United Nations Population Fund (<"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1223&Language=1">UNFPA) which is this year subtitled "Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights."

"Our 2008 report is sharing our experience of many years of working within culture and engaging culture as an agent of change in order to advance gender equality," said Aminata Touré, Chief of the Culture, Gender and Human Rights Branch of UNFPA, told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

"At UNFPA we use the term 'culturally sensitive.' In concrete term it means using the language of culture, leveraging the positive value of the cultures to bring about change… in the end to achieve and sustain human rights," she said.

With 2008 marking the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the report is based on the concept that the international human rights framework has universal validity, expressing values common to all cultures and protecting groups as well as individuals.

The UNFPA report similarly reflects spirit of the commemoration, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid noted. "Cultures change, for better or worse, in good times and bad. The report is about promoting human rights in all circumstances," she said.

Despite many declarations and affirmations in support of women's rights, the report argues, gender inequality is widespread and deep-rooted in many cultures.

Drawing on the example of female genital mutilation (FGM), Ms. Touré acknowledged that while most of the 28 countries where FGM is practised have enacted laws banning the custom, populations still do not abandon the practice as it is so deeply entrenched in cultural practices such as marriage.

"If we are to be more effective and if we want to accelerate progress, we have to engage the community at a deeper level, in order to facility change in the life of the individual, the family and communities," she said.

Such a deeper level of engagement has included working with religious leaders on issues such as HIV/AIDS, women's health and gender-based violence.

The importance of culturally sensitive approaches are framed as essential throughout the report for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at promoting gender equality and the improvement of maternal health.

"Culture is not a wall to tear down. It is a window to see through, a door to open to make greater progress for human rights," said Ms. Obaid. "Human rights are everybody's work, and being culturally sensitive and understanding the context is everybody's business."
Nov 12 2008 7:10PM
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