Top female diplomats appeal to faith leaders

Contributed by Amana Staff
Monday, 29 October 2007

Some of Asia's highest rankings female diplomats have called on faith leaders to play their part in empowering the region's women, saying religious conservatism remains a significant impediment to gender equality.

At a United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) forum in Bangkok on 16 October, India's ambassador to Thailand, Latha Reddy, said equal opportunities remained out of reach for some Muslim women in her country.

Reddy said conservative religious influences on families had a "definite" impact on opportunities for women. She called on India's religious leaders to work for gender empowerment in a country where "a large number of women have to face very basic battles for survival."

Fellow forum speaker and Norwegian ambassador to Thailand, Merete Fjeld Brattested, pointed out tensions between liberalism, religion and development. But she said being part of a faith community did not necessarily mean being opposed to gender equality.

"You can be a very religious person and still believe that women have exactly the same human rights as men."

The UNIFEM forum panel also included South African ambassador to Thailand, Pearl Nomvume Magaqa, and Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Yael Rubinstein. All four ambassadors emphasised the challenges still facing women in their countries, despite the nations being at very different stages of development.

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