A joint international conference titled UN80 – Beijing30: Building the Future Together was organized by the UN Association of Hungary in cooperation with the Ludovika University of Public Service (LUPS) and the Women4Diplomacy International on 8 December, in the Széchenyi Assembly Hall of the Ludovika Main Building.
This conference initiates international dialogue for shaping our common future – emphasized Gergely Deli, Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service, in his welcome address. He highlighted that the United Nations (UN) has, over past decades, become one of the most important global institutions for peace, sustainable development, and women’s and human rights. In today’s world full of challenges, achieving the UN’s goals, however, requires new efforts and innovations. For this, young professionals will be needed, which is why our region’s flagship institution of public service higher education, LUPS, has joined forces with the UN Association of Hungary to ensure the proper training of future decision-makers. This cooperation has for many years helped students gain first-hand knowledge about the UN’s functioning and global processes. Gergely Deli also reminded the audience that according to the still-valid fundamental principle of the Beijing Declaration, equality between women and men is one of the cornerstones of more peaceful, just and sustainable societies.
We were able to dedicate a special year, in cooperation with the university, to the 80th anniversary of the UN together with the students of Ludovika Collegium – said Katalin Bogyay, President of the UN Association of Hungary and founder of Women4Diplomacy International, in her introduction. She added that the UN will soon belong to these young people, yet we cannot turn our backs on the achievements reached so far. The hope that once created the UN is facing challenges again, so today international cooperation and dialogue between the best experts is more necessary than ever.
Celebrating is important, yet it is also worth reflecting on the thirty years following the Beijing Declaration – emphasized Orsolya Pacsay-Tomassich, President of the Hungarian Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in the section titled A Review and Celebration of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Today nations face new challenges, thus commemorating the action platform aimed at gender equality is also a strategy for our sustainable development. In Hungary, the Beijing Declaration has become a norm, even a strategic point of departure: women have been able to enter science and the diplomatic corps. Yet certain systemic obstacles still persist. Therefore, the Beijing Declaration is not yet history but an unfinished work program. At the same time, Orsolya Pacsay-Tomassich expressed her delight that more and more women work today for Hungary, at home and abroad, as diplomats and experts.
The Beijing Declaration opened a new chapter in women’s social participation – said Gong Tao, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Budapest, at the conference. The People’s Republic of China, for example, has lifted more than 6.5 million women out of extreme poverty since then. Today, more than half of local startup companies are led by women. China also seeks to increase women’s participation in diplomacy. It is necessary to recognize the innovative power of young people and women in decision-making – emphasized the ambassador.
For me, the Beijing Declaration is not a page in a history book but a personal memory – began her contribution Ruchira Gupta, professor at New York University, Indian-American children’s rights and anti–human trafficking activist, founder of Apne Aap International and the Last Girl Award. She added that she did not even know the technical term “sexual exploitation–related human trafficking” when she had already seen the suffering of women and the perpetrators’ unrestrained greed. In Beijing, however, they already spoke a common language when nations declared that the rights due to women are part of human rights. The Beijing Declaration was also honest. It did not claim that the age of equality had arrived, but it did say that it is already at the threshold, and the male-centred world can be dismantled. This was the moment when it was stated that women can attend school, receive health care and take part in decision-making just like men. The platform did not finish anything; it started something, and today we still must fight for it, because its survival is not automatic.
A symbolic and historic act was carried out in Beijing thirty years ago – said Réka Varga, Dean of the LUPS Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies (FPGIS), Head of the Department of International Law at LUPS FPGIS, and board member of the UN Association of Hungary. Although the Beijing Declaration is not only about victims, one of the most painful data points today is the number of victims of sexual violence in the world’s conflicts. This violence does not differentiate; it occurs in developed and developing countries alike, and can be committed by regular or irregular armed forces. The UN still treats sexual violence as a human rights issue rather than a security challenge, while the numbers in the related report are rising steeply: the most recent report registered twice as many cases as the previous one, while women and girls make up 95% of the victims in more than twenty countries. After the Beijing Declaration, the content of these reports is not merely numbers but a real test of whether we are capable of truly adhering to our joint international commitments. What can universities do here? – asked the dean. FPGIS, for example, launched a unique course focusing on the topic of sexual violence. Here students could meet, besides expert lecturers, survivors who endured the violence.
Today we are celebrating a birthday – began her remarks Judy Kuriansky, clinical psychologist, professor at Columbia University, UN advocate, representative of the International Association of Applied Psychology, and founding member of Women4Diplomacy International. In this context she shared photos of various international events with the audience, which highlighted violence against women, especially that appearing in the digital sphere, often based on fake news or manipulated recordings. Judy Kuriansky then handed out orange scarves to participants, as one of the UN Secretary-General’s initiatives is “Orange the World for a brighter future.” The Columbia University professor has written songs titled Hands Off the Girls and Every Woman, Every Child together with Russel Daisy, which she also presented to the audience. She further spoke about the example of Sierra Leone, “the tiny but big-hearted” African country, where child marriage—once a traditional practice—has been banned, and where online tools have been introduced for identifying digital violence, along with programs to support the mental well-being of women and girls.
From an economic, political and educational perspective, the gender gap is slowly disappearing in Europe – said Boglárka Koller, Jean Monnet Professor, Head of the Department of European Studies at LUPS FPGIS, and board member of the UN Association of Hungary, in her lecture Women in Central Europe in Comparative Perspectives: The Hidden gaps and the Leaky Pipeline held in the section titled The Role of Women and Girls in Building Future Together. As she emphasized, our history reminds us that progress is not automatic. Creating equality for women is our responsibility and our strategic duty. From an economic, political and educational standpoint, differences between men and women are slowly disappearing in Europe. However, Central and Eastern Europe are still lower on these lists, especially regarding political participation, and the situation is not better in economic life either. Stereotypes are strong: many Europeans still believe that women lack ambition, and what is more difficult, young people share this view too. Women in the region excel in education but stagnate when real careers begin. Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration, it is time to improve the leaky pipeline with regulations and policies – emphasized the department head. According to her, no society can move forward if women’s sacrifices are taken for granted. This is therefore not a women’s issue but an innovation and community resilience issue.
In the continuation of the conference, a panel discussion was held on this topic moderated by Widad Brimo, PhD candidate, former UN Youth Delegate of Hungary, member of Ludovika Collegium, and program coordinator of the UN Association of Hungary, with participants Cynthia Marie Mayer Zavala, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ecuador; Maria Elena Palo Algabre, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of the Philippines; Judy Kuriansky, UN advocate; Ruchira Gupta, New York activist; and Zeever Zahra Baqar, political advisor and founder of the Baqar Foundation.
It was stated that due to regulatory and cultural changes, women’s situation in Latin America has somewhat improved in politics and economic life. In some countries, for example, special tax benefits apply to them. Dialogue on this topic has been ongoing for decades; today the biggest challenge is equal access to resources, because it is still difficult for women to obtain start-up capital from banks. Education, economic training, then the possibility of entrepreneurship and ownership are very important, and we cannot wait years for these – added Judy Kuriansky. Regarding the Philippines, we learned that the country contributes to the world economy with more than ten million migrant workers, half of whom are women. The state’s important task is to provide conditions for their protection and integration.
In Hungary, for example, 40,000 Filipinos work, so there is also an institution in our country for these workers, and they receive significant support for their activities from, among others, the Catholic Church. It was also mentioned that the most important thing is to obtain data in the right way and base decisions on it to close gender gaps, but perhaps even more important is that women can also be present at the decision-making table. Progress is slow, yet it exists and moves forward – emphasized Zeever Zahra Baqar.
Human dignity and equality between men and women are fundamental, yet the data on this topic are not encouraging. What is the university’s real task here? – asked Pier Paolo Pigozzi, International Vice-Rector of the Ludovika University of Public Service, in his lecture Resourcement and Aggiornamento of the UN Purpose and Principles held in the section titled The Future of Multilateralism. It must collect and present the data, and then offer solutions – he answered. Dialogue is essential, and it is also good if the UN takes its task seriously. Yet more and more people say today that their trust in the UN has declined. Although the organization and its budget are enormous, suffering in the world hardly decreases. At a birthday celebration it may not be appropriate to mention this, but for now, the UN’s golden age appears to be fading.
For the global organization, some thinkers believe the solution could lie in applying the Catholic Church’s social teaching. One thing is certain: we do not need more papers and reports, but actions—namely, the genuine application of frameworks and rules that were already written down earlier.
Happiness was given an international day in 2012. This does not only refer to our well-being; a much more significant issue lies behind it – said László Lovászy, UN expert in the field of human rights, former member of the UNCRPD, Vice-President of the Federation of Scientific Societies of Economics, and board member of the UN Association of Hungary, in his lecture Building aCommon Future on Humanism. According to him, technological changes are creating aging societies, which carry economic and community challenges at the same time. With the development of artificial intelligence, a post-human era may arrive, which could remove humans from the centre. To prevent this, it would be important to return to the roots of humanism.
At the end of the international conference, the study titled Why the UN? was read aloud by the three best essay writers selected from among the students of LUPS Ludovika Collegium: Sára Seres, Csongor Péterfi and Ákos Milán.
Text: Tibor Sarnyai
Photo: Dénes Szilágyi