Of Women's Rights and Global Chauvinism

How is the situation of women's rights and their role as bridge-builders today, connecting between the multilateral and local settings?

- VITIT MUNTARBHORN

A recent seminar at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), hosted by its International Studies Center, elaborated upon the situation in a world witnessing tumultuous changes.

Notably, there has never been a woman UN Secretary General, nor, for Thailand, a woman Minister of Foreign Affairs. Less than 20 per cent of key politicians at the national and local levels in this country are women. Yet, there has been some progress due to welcome changes of laws, policies and practices, such as the country's Gender Equality Act. Of course, the country's Prime Minister is a woman, but the fate of her aunt, also a PM, overturned by a coup d'état, should not be overlooked.

The fickleness of international and national politics interplays with the fate of women's rights, especially their implementation. Currently, the post-World War II multilateral framework is being compromised, if not dismantled, by rampant nationalism-cum-transactionalism, with an introspective vibe at the apex of the superpower level. There is an ideological undercurrent which seeks to stifle a more liberal interpretation of women's rights and to upstage the gains which have been enjoyed by all, including the impetus from the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Beware of the rambunctious chauvinism emanating from key international players, whether in peace or in war!

The global community and friends of women's rights need to be more strategic in these fluctuating times. The most prominent instrument safeguarding women's rights is the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).