*************************************************************************** The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Secretariat. *************************************************************************** AS WRITTEN STATEMENT FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN SEPTEMBER 1995 BEIJING, CHINA CATHERINE BERTINI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME Women eat last. In almost every society in the world, women gather the food, prepare the food, serve the food. Yet most of the time, women eat last. A woman feeds her husband, then her children, and, finally -- with whatever is left -- she feeds herself. Even pregnant women and breast feeding women often eat last when, of all times, they should eat first. The World Food Programme, the food aid arm of the United Nations, touches the lives of more than 30 million women. Who are these women? Well, they are quite different from most of us here in this conference. Imagine for a moment a pregnant, sickly woman sweating over a loom outside Dhaka; a frightened little girl trapped in a basement by shelling in Sarajevo; or a desperate Rwandan refugee prostituting herself to feed her children. These are the women we serve at the World Food Programme, these are the women who give meaning and purpose to our work. But for each woman the World Food Programme now reaches, there are 20 more hungry women who need our help. We Need Action, Not More Analysis In the last few decades we -- the UN system, national governments, and voluntary groups -- have developed a superb ability to describe the problems of women. Each year we do a better job of it -- our statistics expand, our gender guidelines grow. We can tell you with reasonable assurance that half a million women will die needlessly this year while carrying or giving birth to their children, tens of millions -- perhaps more -- will be victims of physical and sexual violence, even to the point of mutilation. We have made a compelling case that women are victims in nations rich and poor, almost without exception. Now what? What comes next? Yes, women are victims in the most fundamental ways, but there is a point - and we have reached it -- where we have to stop using so much energy describing the plight of women and move on to strategies and solutions. For all our policy papers and guidelines on women, we have made only a small dent in the problem. We hear all too many excuses on how projects to empower women will not work. It is time to trade excuses for action. It is time to stop writing guidelines and get to work. What We Will Do at the World Food Programme The Secretary-General has asked each UN agency head to make commitments 1 here in Beijing to enhance the role of women. The World Food Programme can and will do more. We commit ourselves to the following: First and foremost, we will use food aid to change behaviour and improve the status of women: In our food-for-work and other development projects, we will use food aid as a tool, an incentive to change behaviour and give women opportunities they do not have today. In countries with major gaps in literacy, education and basic skills between men and women, we will commit at least 60 percent of our food aid resources to women and girls. In Afghanistan, Rwanda, and so many other trouble spots where emergency food aid is crucial, WFP will push and push hard to have women take the lead in managing food aid. We want women beneficiaries to help us assess food needs, deliver food to households, and monitor food distribution. And we want food aid distributed to women. because women are most invested in insuring their families are fed. We will only work with NGOs willing to be active partners in this enterprise and we will press governments and UN agencies to join us. Second, we will do more to promote education: We will allot 50 percent or more of our school feeding resources to girls and more than double funding for women's literacy projects. Too many governments want to feed boys in school and train men for jobs. Girls and women don't count. We want to persuade them otherwise. At the same time, we will expand use of food aid in refugee camps to support training for women -- in basic education, work skills, family planning, health and nutrition. Third, We will target food aid better to overcome vitamin and mineral deficiencies among women: Well over a billion women suffer from iron deficiency, and anaemia is almost universal among adolescent girls in the developing world. We will do more to fortify or adjust our food rations to alleviate deficiencies of iron, vitamin A, and other micronutrients among poor women. Fourth, we will build a staff more attuned to women's issues: We will assess all management staff on their performance on gender issues. Sensitivity to gender will not be discretionary for employees at WFP. Finally, we will hire and promote more women: until we reach the Secretary General's goal of 25 percent of high level posts for women and full gender equality by the year 2000. Let's have no illusions. We can't easily change the underlying beliefs and prejudices that do so much damage to women worldwide. We cannot quickly change attitudes, but we can change behaviour. At the World Food Programme we have recognized what a valuable tool food aid can be in changing behaviour. In so many poorer countries food is money, food is power. In some of our most successful food aid projects, we literally pay families who do not believe in educating their daughters to send those girls to school. A little free cooking oil can go a long way. We trade a 5 litre can of oil for 30 days of school attendance by a young girl. Yes, it's bribery. We don't apologize for that. We are changing behaviour, we are giving hope and opportunity to young girls -and that is all that counts. Each small change in behaviour will one day pay off in a change in attitude. Women are the sole breadwinners in one household in three worldwide. They produce 80 percent of the food in Africa, 60 percent in Asia and 40 percent in Latin America. Women hold together our families, our communities, our societies. What could be more right, more just than for us to create a world in which women don’t eat last?