Leticia Ramos-Shahani “One theme has held her life together: service to individuals; her country, the Philippines; and the international community.�
The UN, Women, and Development: The World Conference on Women
ON THE COVER
Leticia Ramos-Shahani
Leticia Ramos Shahani has had a varied career in education, culture,
foreign affairs. and agriculture, but one theme has held her life together: service to individuals; her country, the Philippines; and international community. Educated in elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines, she received her bachelor’s degree from Wellseley College and her Ph.D. from the University of Paris. She entered the Philippine Foreign Service, reaching the highest rank of ambassador, at which rankshe served in the German Democratic Republic and Australia (1975-81). She served in the United Nations for nine years and was named assistant secritary-general for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (1981-86). As secretary-general of the UN Third World Conference on Women in 1985, she led the important breakthrough that made women’s issues legitimatre global concerns at the UN.
Returning to her country in 1986 as undersecretary of foreign af-
fairs, she
ran
for
senator during President Cory Aquino’s adminis-
tration. In her twelve years in Senate (1987-98) she sponsored landmark legislation in women including Anti-Rape Act, the Gender and Development provision in the annual Government Appropriations Act, and the Act Defining Discrimation Against Women in the area of equal pay for work of equal value. Under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, she served as presidential adviser on culture.
A widow and single parent since 1968, she raised three chil-
dren while pursuing her career. She also paid attention to the development of her personal life, which in her view should shape outer life.
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CON TENTS
1 ON THE COVER
3 ABOUT L.R. SHAHANI
5 AT THE UNITED NATIONS
8 PLANNING THE MEXICO CITY
CONFERENCE 9 DRAFTING CEDAW 11 CONTROVERSY AT COPENHAGEN 12 THE NAIROBI CONFERENCe AND THE FORWARDLOOKING STRATEGIES 13 THE BEIJING CONGERENCE PLATFORM FOR ACTION AND BEIJING +5 15 credits
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“I cite my mother’s life because most women are influenced by their mothers in their attitudes towards themselvcs and feminism.”
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ABOUT L.R. SHAHANI Leticia Ramos Shahani was born in 1929 and grew up in a
middle-class family in the Philippines. Her mother was an English teacher and her students and colleagues loved and respected her. She was also her father’s political campaigner and valued partner. Because her mother was an early feminist, Leticia began to read articles on women’s rights and activities. She said that, “I cite my mother’s life because most women are influenced by their mothers in their attitudes towards themselves and feminism.” She was fortunate to have wonderful role model. Her mother often talk about her own mother, Crispina. Even though her grandmother died at an early age and she never saw her, she still felt close to her in spirit. From an early age, Leticia felt equal to boys and she don’t think that her personal experience was unusual in the Philippines. The Philippines, fortunately, is one of the counties that has firm roots of tradition, which discrimantes against women, has not developed. In her view, what caused discrimination against women in our country was poverty and lack of opportunities rather than custom and tradition. Living and studying abroad have also influenced her outlook on women’s issues. Her father was appointed to the diplomatic service in 1946 and they lived in Washington, D.C. She attended Wellesly College in the United States, where she was trained to be independent and self-reliant. These early influences in her life were extremely important in shaping and directing her commitment and dedication to the women’s movement.
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AT THE UNITED NATIONS
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Leticia Ramos Shahani began her formal introduction to the women’s movement at the international level when she was transferred to the Section on the Status of Women under the Division of Human Rights. She had an opportunity to work under the first head of Section on the Status of Women, Margaret K. Bruce who impressed on her Secritariat staff the need to be objective and impartial.
Mrs. Margaret K. Bruce (left), Chief of the Status of Women Section, Division of Human Rights; snd Mrs. Helvi L. Sipila (Finland), Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations, New York, 23 February 1967
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Commission of the Status of Women Women’s issue during the early days of the United Nations came under the classification of human rights. As a member of the secritariat, Leticia Ramos Shahani was introduced to the inner workings of the Commision of the Status of Women (CSW) because they prepare the commision’s annual meetings and, its documentation and program of work. In 1960’s, the priorities of the UN were fcused on human rights in the Western sense of the phrase. These trends were reflected in the work of the CSW, which at that period was drafting legal instruments that were relevant to women.
As a member of the section of the status of women, Leticia learned how to draft UN documents that avoided controversial or offensive remarks. She was trained to help delegations with their needs for information and documentation. Through these trainings,
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she gained an understanding of political, economic and social forces of the United Nations. She also learned how to help push ideas deemed useful by governments and NGOs through the circumscribed focused work of the secritariat. The demand from the developing countries for emphasis on development issues at the UN slowly brought more focus on women. In order for human rights to
be realized and exercised, the proper economic and social conditions should be created and put in place. Women’s issues began to evolve in the direction of development. Before Leticia Ramos Shahani left the secritariat in 1968, she prepared one of the first reports on development for the commision, titled ”Community Development and the Status of Women.”
PLanning the mexico city conference Leticia Ramos Shanahi decided to resign from the Secritariat and return to the Philippines at the sudden death of her husband in 1968. When she came back to the Philippines, she was assigned to the United Nations Office in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1969 and became the Philippine representative to the Commission on the Status of Women. In 1974 she served as chairperson of the commision to prepare for the first international conference on women, to be held in Mexico City in 1975, which had been declared International Women’s year by the UN General Assembly.
to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly. She realized why Soviets were against it beCause making women’s issue international through a UN conference will give way to the socialist, capitalist and Third World countries to participate and shape their women’s movement, weakening Soviet Union’s grip on the women’s issue among its allies and losing a powerful tool of control and propaganda.
There was a general enthusiasm of holding international conference on women among the NGOs but a little among the permanent representatives and the diplomats, mostly of whom were men. At that time, women’s issue was marginalized topic that came under the sector of social welfare in the viewof governments and private sector.
The First World Conference was held in Mexico in 1975. The draft of the Mexico Plan of Action was quickly prepared, setting its general tone that lacks specific amd concrete detail. However, it was adopted by consensus. The Declaration of Mexico was a shorter and more controversial document approved at the conference. The controversial statemenrs were “Zionism is a form of racial discrimination” and “women have sovereignt over their bodies.” These were debated in the next two conferences.
At the 1974 CSW session, the Soviet Union that was led by Tatiana Nikolaeva opposed the resolution to hold the conference and, with its allies filibustered to prevent the passage of the resolution for
Women’s issues were finally accepted in the government of Mexico as their legitimate concern, and a source of international cooperation and fierce debate as well.
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DRAFTING CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
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After the Mexico City conference, the commission was intensified to come up with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Several countries, mainly from the developing world, insisted on a convention that would make the national legislation follow the standards set by the convention to eliminate discrimination against women. The Western countries were lukewarm about this initiative, saying that they did not regard UN conventions legally binding and that they do not automatically follow UN conventions. Eventually, the commission decided to start drafting the convention and Shahani belonged to the drafting group.
She went to New York with the draft in hand to attend the annual session of the commission. At the group meeting, she noticed that the problem was the absence of a working draft so she quietly approached Tatiana Nikolaeva to ask if she was willing to join her in submitting the draft. Nikolaeva readily said yes. But Shahani knew she was taking a big risk for she had not cleared the draft with the government even if she justified that it was just a draft and it did not reflect the Philippine government position. The next day, she received a telegram from Carlos P. Romulo reprimanding her for not asking permission to present a draft paper.
Shahani saw that the absence of a working draft would be a major stumbling block for the CSW. She then started preparing a draft convention without making it a Philippine submission with the help of Minerva Falcon as they used the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to guide them.
But Shahani knew that if she had cleared the draft with the government, she would notbe able to finish the draft on time. She explained her delicate situation with the working group and they agreed on adopting the draft as a basic working paper without attributing it to any individual delegation.
“For my part, I knew I was taking a risk , for I have not cleared the draft with my government.�
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CONTROVERSY AT COPENHAGEN Shahani served as one of the several vice presidents of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women1980: Copenhagen. The final document of the conference, the Copenhagen Programme of Action ran into controversy because of the inclusion of Zionism as a form of racial discrimination and other controversial resolutions condemning the Western group of nations. The Copenhagen Programme of Action failed to be adopted by consensus and the conference was not considered a success. The one bright feature of the conference was the opening of the CEDAW for signature by member nations wherein 57 countries signed.
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THE NAIROBI CONFERENCE AND THE FORWARDLOOKING STRATEGIES Shahani was appointed UN Asst. Secretary-General to head the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs based in Vienna. In 1983, she was named the secretary-general for the Nairobi conference. Having observed the other conferences on women, she vowed to work hard to bring about consensus on “The Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women” (FLS). The preparatory conference needed an extra meeting before they could go to Nairobi so Shahani flew in to New York to ask secretary-general Javier Perez de Cuellar to arrange a fourth and final meeting, which was quickly approved. However, during the last night of the conference, no one was still sure if the final document would be adopted by consensus and the issue of Zionism as a form of racial discrimination was causing the lack of consensus. The Americans said they would walk out if the word “Zionism” appeared in the FLS while the Africans and Arab groups threatened to do the same if the word was deleted. Late in the evening a small group of them met and agreed that the word “Zionism” would be deleted, with the phrase “all forms of racial discrimination” substituted for it, and that no explanation of vote would be given to the effect that all forms of discrimination could mean Zionism.
“WHAT A BEAUTIFUL VICTORY.” 12
THE BEIJING CONFERENCE PLATFORM FOR ACTION AND BEIJING +5 Shahani was head of the Philippine delegation and a senator when she went to Beijing for the 4th World Conference on Women. An important feature of Beijing was the extensive coverage by CNN as well as other international media. The work accomplished in Nairobi made possible the comprehensive Platform for Action adopted by consensus in Beijing, which contained many useful concrete proposals and details for implementaion. She also atteded the Beijing +5 conference in 2000 in NY as a member of the Philippine delegation. The conference did help push the women’s issue as crucial to the lives of millions of women and as a concern of government for human-centered development. After 12 years in the Senate, Shahani retired but remained active in women’s issues at both the national and village level.
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"I am confident there will be steadying and liberating influences coming from women and men over the world who fully understand the major role women can now play in creating a more humane and just world". -L.R. Shahani
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* All written articles on this magazine are adapted from Developing Power: How Women Transformed International Development. Written by Leticia Ramos Shahani, edited by Arvonne S. Fraser, and Irene Tinker. (New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 2004) p.26-36 * All images used are copyrighted to their respective owners. No copyright infringement was intended.
PHOTO CREDITS Front Cover Photo credit: Manila Standard (2 April 1987) Original image URL: http://bit.ly/1nIpyyi Page 5 Photo credit: aNDy on Flickr. (https:// www.flickr.com/adwow/) Original image URL: https://www.flickr. com/photos/adwow/9231808623 Page 6 Photo credit: United Nations, New York (23 February 1967) Original image URL: http://www.un.org/ womenwatch/daw/news/helvi.html Page 7 Photo credit: Woman from Yemen Original image URL: http://bit.ly/1zIBGEK Page 8 Photo credit: Abigail Daker Original image URL: http://www.abigaildaker.com/74045/-illustration-
Page 11 Photo credit: Michael Levi on Flickr. (https://www.flickr.com/michaellevi/) Original image URL: https://www.flickr. com/photos/michaellevi/6233683473/ Page 12 Photo credit: UN Multimedia (http:// www.unmultimedia.org/) Original image URL: http://bit.ly/Whoqrz Page 13 Photo credit: International Women’s Day Timeline Original image URL: http://bit.ly/1r409jL Page 14 Photo credit: Asia Society (http:// asiasociety.org/ ) Original image URL: http://bit.ly/1jxwGhd