Author: Soon-Young Yoon, representative for the International Alliance of Women to the UN

What do I think was the most exciting outcome from the WHO FCTC negotiations? My answer is simple. It is a strong support for women’s human rights to health.

As the Preamble affirmed….”the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, provides that States Parties to that Convention shall take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care.”

The FCTC also references the Convention on the Rights of the Child and opens the door to include other human rights treaty obligations. This text was inserted because of a savvy, on “top of the game” women’s caucus that met daily during the preparatory meetings.

The WHO and FCTC leadership opened the doors because Dr. Brundtland understood that women leaders were a critical part of the WHO political constituency.  With the funding of the Robert Woods Johnson and commitment of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, we organized the caucus to build consensus between government officials, feminist leaders and experts, drafting text and lobbying for women’s rights.

Why was this important? Like many UN treaties, this text helps change social norms by upholding a legal standard and calling for action to enforce laws in support of the common good.

Ultimately, its success rests on its impact on changing personal choices and behaviors. In this case, the WHO FCTC inspired women’s groups in many developing countries where the tobacco epidemic was rampant, including Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Feminists formed coalitions across sectors to support smoke-free spaces and condemn the tobacco industry for targeting women in false advertising.

Today, the FCTC continues to be the normative reference as well as legal grounds on which feminist and women’s groups can rally, bringing the issues closer to global spaces such as the Women Deliver conferences, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the NCD Summit. And it supports efforts by NGOs such as ASH and the NCD Alliance to work with human rights treaty bodies.

What are the actions I would like to have happen in the future?

First, we need to rally more youth leaders, including girls, to help combat the tobacco industry in the use of vaping and new nicotine products. Second, we have to remember the plight of women and girl farmers and laborers, unable to break away from tobacco farming. This means we need to change laws to give women land ownership rights and greater decision-making power in agricultural policies. Third, we have to end all forms of violence against women because it is a major obstacle to women’s leadership. Yet, accelerating progress on SDG5 on gender equality and women’s leadership is the only way we can reach the other Sustainable Development Goals, including that on SDG3 for health.

In brief, the WHO FCTC’s gender equality provision is outstanding because it contributes to the welfare of society as a whole.