Ms Saraswathi Menon:

Everybody can sign up, even those older than 14. Mr. Brown will take the petition to President Zardari and there has already been a reaction in Pakistan. We hope it will encourage that and other governments to do more.

I will speak briefly on what Ireland can do. One can relate to the issue of gender-based violence. The next Commission on the Status of Women, which meets in March in New York, has as its priority theme violence against women. It is a significant opportunity for a country like Ireland to showcase how it has dealt with the issue nationally. The second element of the issue is that Ireland will at that time have the EU Presidency, so there is an opportunity to bring together the entire European Union to discuss the issues in a way that recognises violence against women is a global epidemic. This must be dealt with in the same manner we dealt with HIV-AIDS; it is not just a problem of health, violence or women individually but a problem affecting economies, societies, politics and the lives of men, women and children. Therefore, the method of tackling the problem must be more significant than if we are dealing with an issue just related to women, health or the provision or funding of services. We must consider prevention, so I refer to the quality of education. We must judge whether the standard of education deals with these kinds of issues and transforms society in the process.

There were a couple of questions on the caste system. I come from India but gender inequality is innate in all societies, and it is often compounded when it intersects with racism, caste systems or any other form of discrimination. Gender discrimination has all kinds of ramifications in different societies. We have discussed Saudi Arabia and the one-child policy in China, including the discriminatory consequences for girls. When it intersects with other forms of discrimination, it plays out in a very different way, so tackling it cannot only be done through legislation. Untouchability is banned in the Indian constitution, for example. The problem must be tackled through the actions of women and men in society, which can be supported through education and campaigns etc. It is a transformation of the mind and the way one thinks of his or her culture and tradition that must come about.

Several of us have spoken about the opportunity Ireland will have with the post-2025 framework. Perhaps the next six months will be crucial with regard to Europe coming from the crisis, and Ireland will have the EU Presidency at this time. We would like to see the response to the economic crisis as one promoting people's development, gender equality and looking for solutions that are not singly technocratic but rather pro-people. Perhaps this moment of crisis could be used to carve a new future.