Statement delivered by Ms. TekeaTesfamichael,
President of the National Union of Eritrean Women
during the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
14 March 2024
UNHQ, New York
Mr. Chair,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
On behalf of the Government of the State of Eritrea and the Eritrean women, I am honored to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The 68th session of the CSW, is conducted under a turbulent environment, where natural disasters due to climate change and environmental degradation have destroyed normal life of many people globally; the undergoing unjust and unnecessary conflict in many parts of the world, where humanity and humanitarian situations have gone beyond the control, resulting in death, displacement, hunger destruction and hopelessness. affecting women and children the most, hence diverting the world’s attention from development and progress to crisis and catastrophes.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
This year’s priority theme is ‘’accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective’’.
The strategic approach of the Government of the State of Eritrea in promoting women’s empowerment and equality is guided by these unshakeable principles:
Ensuring gender equality and women’s rights in political, economic and socio-cultural spheres;
Protecting equal participation of women at all levels;
Securing equal payment for the same job;
Ensuring gender mainstreaming into line ministries, institutions and the private sector; and
Strengthening the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) as the women’s machinery to advance women’s rights.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
The Government of the State of Eritrea believes promoting gender equality and harnessing the productive potential of women is a necessity not a choice for ensuring socio-economic progress and creating a peaceful and harmonious nation. To this end, it has developed targeted support to women through policies and programs that progressively pave ways for their viable participation in socio-economic development. Despite the efforts, many challenges constrain Eritrea from achieving gender equality, including, discriminatory social norms, institutional capacity, the overall economic level of the country and the effects of unstable regional political developments.
In the efforts of poverty eradication not limited to poverty reduction, is something that the government is committed to tackle. Some of the strategies followed are:
Narrowing the gap between urban & rural, by shifting the development agenda to the most disadvantaged and marginalized sections of our community; reaching the farthest first.
Ensuring equal distribution of wealth/resources among its citizens;
Promoting a self-reliance policy in our development initiatives; and
Considering women as key players.
The progress made in the empowerment of women in the last 34 years of Independence, of course against all odds, is immense. For instance:
Life expectancy has jumped from 48 in 1991 to 67.7 years currently;
Women beneficiaries in micro-credit and saving scheme hold 56% now compared to 16% (only 456 women clients) of the total in 1995;
Their involvement in small-scale businesses is massive, and women hold 48% of the business licenses issued;
Allocation of land use both for housing and commercial and subsistence farming, is equally distributed with men;
Access to bank loans and ownership of self-managed business licenses is encouraging and trending in the right direction;
Access to education is making huge progress i.e. the gender parity index is almost 1:1, female student’s share in basic education, higher education and technical vocational is almost above 42 % average;
Access to health services, clean water, sanitation and communications is in place resulting in low maternal and infant mortality rates.
All these above-mentioned tools combined have made great progress in fighting poverty and empowering women and girls at all levels.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
By way of conclusion, nothing is simple and easy, we have challenges and constraints, but we are also determined to face them. I pay tribute to all women who fought and continue to fight for gender equality and create a better future for all; and to the Eritrean women whose enormous sacrifices in the struggle for liberation and nation-building have become a defining character of Eritrea.
Once again, I would like to reiterate that we are committed to work with all partners who have a progressive stand within and beyond the region to make peace and security sustainable and ensure that every child, woman and man enjoys a dignified life.
I thank you!
