I am very pleased to be here today to talk about the mainstreaming of equal opportunities in policy making. I will talk about the values behind equal opportunities legislation. My colleagues Priscilla and Fred will talk about how they translate the equal opportunity values into their work.

First of all, let me ask if you have all watched or read, "Yes, minister". There is a hilarious episode on the appointment of woman ministers. Here is my own rendition of it.

(Conversation between James Hacker, Minister for Department of Administrative Affairs, later Prime Minister and Sir Humphrey Appleby, Permanent Secretary of Department of Administrative Affairs, civil service job).

What is the reason for having woman ministers?

Well, the masses want it and the women can deliver the votes. There is something to be said about that, minister.

Hmm…..yes…..,how many should we have then ?

Well, perhaps you can consider 25%?

Y-y-yes and how soon?

Well, may be over four years, in time for the elections, perhaps?

Where shall we start?

Well minister, very good point. John is about to retire, you can shift Tom there. It is a retirement job. Oh, Peter is a bright young chap, always plays the rules with the boys, may be you can consider promoting him to Tom's job, all about money, terribly important. That frees up the labour job, it doesn't really matter who is there, nobody has succeeded in reducing the unemployment rate. How about a woman to champion the right of women to work and the right of men to stay at home?

Good, and we can say to the press that the party is firmly behind equality and we have carefully crafted a policy of affirmative action for women to help them move right up to the top. We will aim to achieve a 25% women at the minister level and we will begin with the Minister of Labour. We hope the public will support this bold measure. Da….Da …. Da….We can leave it to the spin doctor to make us look good.

The Hong Kong Government's conventional wisdom is to start with consultation, usually to nip something in the bud with the usual conclusion that the majority does not favour it. Then it flaunts the step by step approach. That means as many as may be necessary but let's take one step a time and then look back to see if we should go forward with the next one. I can give you a blow by blow account on how these lines were used at each stage of the fight for equal opportunities legislation.

THE RESAONS

Let me now take you through the reasons for an equal opportunities framework.

First, the right to equal opportunities is an INHERENT INDIVIDUAL RIGHT. These rights cannot be stripped by any majority wish because they are there to protect the most vulnerable in our society. This is an intrinsic aspect of the rule of law - that every person is equal before the law.

It is one area where our Covenant Obligations, the Basic Law and the Bill Of Rights require the government to legislate to prohibit discrimination. It is one area where government must reverse its gear from backward or neutral to forward. To comply with the law is a salient feature of ACCOUNTABILITY. As policy makers I urge you not to use the PUBLIC OPINION CARD to defeat the growing demand for protection in this area.

Second, anti-discrimination laws the world over, recognize that individuals are DIFFERENT BUT EQUAL and hence the conclusion that segregation is not equality.

Third, of all forms of human rights, nothing can be more basic than that of the RIGHT TO LIFE and SURVIVAL. An extension to this right is the RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT. Thus every individual should have equal access to education, employment, services and facilities. Development of the individual will lead to SELF RELIANCE and REDUCED DEPENDENCY ON OUR PUBLIC PURSE.

The ultimate value of an equal opportunities framework is about DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL and the EFFECTIVE USE OF OUR HUMAN RESOURCES. This is particularly important for Hong Kong because we do not have minerals underground or agriculture above ground. I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT WE DO NOT AS YET HAVE A WELFARE MENTALITY.

BUSINESS NEEDS

Next, I'd like to introduce the business and economic reasons for equal opportunities legislation.

First, it is about getting THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE RIGHT JOB. It means recognizing that a diverse and motivated workforce ENHANCES PRODUCTIVITY AND COMPETITIVENESS.

Second, MARKETABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY come together.

Business now recognizes that there is increasing CONSUMER DEMAND that the foods they eat, the clothes they wear and the products they use are manufactured under ETHICAL WORKING CONDITIONS.

These include fair employment opportunities for men and women, fair wages, a safe working place and a clean environment to name a few. Market share and brand name value now depend on consumer acceptance.

For some companies, they also see that to increase their market share, they need to look at the women market, what people now call "WOMENOMICS". For the IT industry, it also makes sense to increase the number of subscribers to their services by developing products for the disabled. This is one tool that can transform their lives and they can become a captive market.

Third, TRADE LIBERALISATION AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY come together.

At the 1999 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum , Kofi Annan challenged business leaders to initiate the GLOBAL COMPACT to support human rights and the environment .

Nine principles were recommended. Amongst these are that corporations should not be complicit in human rights abuses and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Increasingly, benefit to the individual and social accountability are being used to counter balance the rough edges of globalisation and liberalization of trade.

To encourage business leaders to take on board the principles of the Global Compact, I'd like to ask you to consider incentives for business in government procurement and tendering exercises. Government is not just the largest employer in Hong Kong, it is also the largest purchaser of services and goods. Will it be willing to create a system to recognize those suppliers who promote equal opportunities and social accountability in their businesses. It is one way to induce the business to do more by creating MARKET DRIVEN TOOLS. After all there is always a statement in government contracts requiring contractors to comply with the law and this is also good practice.

Let me conclude by telling you a few male perspectives of woman.

I'll begin with my husband's. I asked him for the definition of a woman. He explained that some say it is the woe of men.

Next, I'd like to quote Mr. Michael Sze when he was Secretary for Constitutional Affairs. I asked him if the government planned to consult the public and hold public hearing when preparing rights reports. His answer was, "This is an apple pie and motherhood issue", meaning, I suppose, both desirable and wholesome but you cannot have either. If I had been quicker on my feet then, I would have said, "I am sorry that the Secretary cannot have both as he suffers from obvious limitations. But God has endowed me more generously and as a woman, I can." In the event I was more serious and gave a more subdued response.

When the government eventually saw the light, Mr. Michael Suen, came out with the bold announcement that the government stood firmly behind rights and it intended to legislate for gender equality. But when asked if the proposed legislation would include discrimination arising from marital status and pregnancy, the shocking answer was, "No, because these have nothing to do with gender." I thought to myself then, it had everything to do with a women but nothing to do with gender equality.

Thank you.

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