| United Nations | E/CN.6/1998/12 - E/1998/27 |
Economic and Social Council
Commission on the Status of Women
Report on the forty-second session
(2-13 March 1998)
Economic and Social Council
Official Records, 1998
Supplement No. 7
United Nations - New York, 1998
NOTE
Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined
with figures.
ISSN 0252-0117
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. MATTERS CALLING FOR ACTION BY THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OR
BROUGHT TO ITS ATTENTION ......................................... 1
A. Draft resolution to be recommended by the Council at its
resumed organizational session for 1998 for adoption by the
General Assembly ............................................. 1
Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and full
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action ................................................... 1
B. Draft resolutions for adoption by the Council ................ 3
I. Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan .............. 4
II. Palestinian women ........................................ 6
III. Mid-term review of the system-wide medium-term plan for
the advancement of women, including the status of women
in the Secretariat ....................................... 7
IV. Conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women on
critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing
Platform for Action ...................................... 9
C. Draft decision for adoption by the Council ................... 32
Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on its
forty-second session and provisional agenda and
documentation for the forty-third session of the
Commission ............................................... 32
D. Matters brought to the attention of the Council .............. 33
Resolution 42/1. Human rights and land rights discrimination 33
Resolution 42/2. Release of women and children taken hostage
in armed conflicts, including those
subsequently imprisoned .................... 35
Resolution 42/3. Violence against women migrant workers ..... 36
Resolution 42/4. Older women and support systems: gender and
caregiving ................................. 39
Resolution 42/5. Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights ................ 41
Decision 42/101. Documents considered by the Commission on
the Status of Women under agenda items 3
and 5 ...................................... 42
II. COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN ACTING AS THE PREPARATORY
COMMITTEE FOR THE HIGH-LEVEL REVIEW IN THE YEAR 2000 OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NAIROBI FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION, TO BE
HELD BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY .................................... 44
III. FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN ............... 46
IV. COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING THE STATUS OF WOMEN ................... 57
V. CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST WOMEN, INCLUDING THE ELABORATION OF A DRAFT OPTIONAL
PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ...................................... 60
VI. PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE FORTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMISSION 61
VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON ITS FORTY-SECOND
SESSION ......................................................... 62
VIII. ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION ..................................... 63
A. Opening and duration of the session ......................... 63
B. Attendance .................................................. 63
C. Election of officers ........................................ 63
D. Agenda and organization of work ............................. 64
E. Consultations with non-governmental organizations ........... 64
Annexes
I. SUMMARIES OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON THE CRITICAL AREAS OF
CONCERN ......................................................... 65
II. REPORT OF THE OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON THE ELABORATION OF A
DRAFT OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF
ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN ....................... 76
III. ATTENDANCE ...................................................... 96
IV. LIST OF DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COMMISSION AT ITS FORTY-SECOND
SESSION ......................................................... 100
Chapter I
MATTERS CALLING FOR ACTION BY THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COUNCIL OR BROUGHT TO ITS ATTENTION
A. Draft resolution to be recommended by the Council at its
resumed organizational session for 1998 for adoption by
the General Assembly
1. The Commission on the Status of Women recommends to the Economic and
Social Council the approval of the following draft resolution for adoption by
the General Assembly:
The Economic and Social Council
Recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft
resolution:
"Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and
full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action*
(* For the discussion, see chap. II, paras. 3-8.)
"The General Assembly,
"Recalling its resolutions, in particular resolution 52/100 of
12 December 1997, on follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women
and full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for
Action, and agreed conclusions and relevant resolutions of the
Commission on the Status of Women and the Economic and Social Council on
the follow-up to the Conference,
"Reaffirming the commitments made in the Beijing Declaration 1/
and Platform for Action, 2/
"1. Decides that the high-level plenary review to appraise and
assess the progress achieved in the implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women 3/ and the
Beijing Platform for Action, five years after its adoption, and to
consider further actions and initiatives, should be held as a special
session of the General Assembly for five days, from 5 to 9 June 2000;
"2. Also decides that the special session should reaffirm the
commitment to the Beijing Platform for Action and further focus,
inter alia, on obstacles encountered in implementation, as well as on
strategies to overcome those obstacles, with a view to fully
implementing the Platform, as well as to taking further action and
initiatives;
"3. Recalls that, in keeping with General Assembly resolution
52/100, the Commission on the Status of Women will serve as the
preparatory committee for the review and will be open-ended for the
purposes of the preparations;
"4. Decides that the preparatory work, which should be supported by
inter-sessional consultations convened by the open-ended Bureau of the
Commission on the Status of Women as needed, will be carried out by the
Commission at its forty-third and forty-fourth sessions in the years
1999 and 2000, respectively, and that the forty-third and forty-fourth
sessions will be extended by five days each to complete the
preparations;
"5. Calls upon the Secretary-General in collaboration with the
regional commissions to develop a standardized questionnaire with a
focused set of indicators on all critical areas of concern as a
framework to assist national Governments in their assessment of and
reporting on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action;
"6. Encourages Governments, especially those that have not yet done
so, to submit their national plans of action to the Division for the
Advancement of Women of the United Nations Secretariat by September 1998
as an input to the start of the review during the forty-third session of
the Commission and, in 1999, to submit information on their
implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, focusing particularly
on positive actions, lessons learned, obstacles, key challenges
remaining and a vision for gender equality in the next millennium;
"7. Invites Governments to prepare their national evaluations on
the implementation of the Platform for Action with the involvement of
civil society;
"8. Requests the Secretary-General to invite all entities of the
United Nations system, including the specialized agencies, funds and
programmes, to be actively involved in preparatory activities and to
participate at the highest level in the special session, including
through presentations on best practices, obstacles encountered and a
vision for the future to accelerate implementation and address new and
emerging trends;
"9. Encourages appropriate regional preparatory activities for the
special session, inter alia, by Governments in cooperation with the
regional commissions, and recommends submission of the results as an
input to the Commission at its forty-fourth session, in the year 2000;
"10. Invites the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission at
its forty-third session, in addition to the documentation already
foreseen in the long-term work programme of the Commission for the
review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for
Action, suggestions on further initiatives and actions that might be
considered during the review, with attention to mainstreaming gender
equality and to common trends and themes across the twelve critical
areas of concern;
"11. Requests the Secretary-General to provide in the report on
emerging issues to be submitted to the Commission at its forty-fourth
session, additional material on further actions and initiatives for the
preparation of the outlook beyond the year 2000;
"12. Invites the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women to provide information in 1999 on implementation of the
Platform for Action, based on its review of reports of States parties to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women; 4/
"13. Invites the Secretary-General to integrate in his reports
information from relevant treaty-monitoring bodies, within their
mandates, on their efforts to mainstream a gender perspective;
"14. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General
Assembly at its special session a comparative report on how different
categories of projects and programmes of United Nations organizations
include women's interests and gender mainstreaming issues and on
resources allocated in this regard;
"15. Recommends that the United Nations Development Programme and
the World Bank focus on gender issues in the Human Development Report
and the World Development Report for the year 2000;
"16. Requests the Secretary-General to provide by the end of 1999 a
compilation of updated statistics and indicators on the situation of
women and girls in countries around the world by issuing, for example, a
volume of The World's Women;
"17. Calls upon States, the United Nations and non-governmental
organizations to undertake necessary measures with a view to providing
appropriate information to the public on the implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action and the process of preparations for the
special session of the General Assembly;
"18. Emphasizes the important role of non-governmental organizations
in implementing the Platform for Action and the need for their active
involvement in preparations for the special session as well as the need
to ensure appropriate arrangements for their contributions to the
special session;
"19. Requests the Secretary-General to make available the necessary
resources for the participation of the least developed countries at the
special session in accordance with past practice."
B. Draft resolutions for adoption by the Council
2. The Commission on the Status of Women recommends to the Economic and
Social Council the adoption of the following draft resolutions:
DRAFT RESOLUTION I
Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 45-50.)
The Economic and Social Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, 5/ the International Covenants on Human Rights, 6/ the
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, 7/ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 8/ the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
9/ the Beijing Declaration 10/ and Platform for Action adopted at the
Fourth World Conference on Women, 11/ and other instruments of human rights
and international humanitarian law,
Deeply concerned by the continuing and substantiated reports of
violations of the human rights of women and girls, including all forms of
discrimination against them, particularly in areas under control of the
Taliban, resulting, inter alia, in restrictions upon movement, denial of equal
access of women to health care, prohibition of most forms of female
employment, restrictions upon education for women and girls, the closing of
girls' schools, and severe limitations upon the enrolment of females in
institutions of higher education and upon their access to humanitarian
assistance,
Welcoming the ongoing work of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, in particular
his special focus on violations of the human rights of women and girls,
especially in territories under the control of the Taliban faction,
Welcoming also the decision of the Secretary-General to send a gender
mission to Afghanistan, hoping that it will serve as a model for future
efforts to address the gender dimension of crisis/conflict situations, and
encouraging the Secretary-General to continue to send such high-level
missions, when appropriate,
Taking into account the report of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-
General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women on her visit to Afghanistan
in November 1997,
Expressing its appreciation for the international community's support of
and solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan, being supportive of
the women of Afghanistan who protest violations of their human rights, and
encouraging women and men worldwide to continue efforts to draw attention to
their situation and to promote the immediate restoration of their ability to
enjoy their human rights,
1. Condemns the continuing violations of the human rights of women and
girls, including all forms of discrimination against them, in all areas of
Afghanistan;
2. Calls upon all parties within Afghanistan to recognize, protect,
promote and act in accordance with all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion, in accordance with international
human rights instruments, and to respect international humanitarian law;
3. Strongly urges all of the Afghan factions to end discriminatory
policies and to recognize, protect and promote the equal rights and dignity of
women and men, including their rights to full and equal participation in the
life of the country, freedom of movement, access to education and health
facilities, employment outside the home, personal security, and freedom from
intimidation and harassment, with special respect to the implications of
discriminatory policies for the distribution of aid;
4. Appeals to all States and to the international community to ensure
that all humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan integrates
gender concerns and actively attempts to promote the participation of both
women and men and to promote peace and human rights;
5. Encourages the continuing efforts of the United Nations,
international and non-governmental organizations and donors to ensure that all
United Nations-assisted programmes in Afghanistan are formulated and
coordinated in such a way as to promote and ensure the participation of women
in those programmes, and that women benefit equally with men from such
programmes;
6. Welcomes the establishment of the ad hoc Inter-Agency Task Force on
Gender in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Special Adviser to the
Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, and encourages
Member States to make particular efforts to promote the human rights of women
in Afghanistan;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that reports of future
gender missions are made available to the Commission on the Status of Women.
DRAFT RESOLUTION II
Palestinian women*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 60-62.)
The Economic and Social Council,
Having considered with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General
concerning the situation of Palestinian women and assistance provided by
organizations of the United Nations system, 12/
Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of
Women, 13/ in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and
children, and the Beijing Platform for Action 14/ adopted at the Fourth
World Conference on Women,
Recalling also its resolution 1997/16 of 21 July 1997 and other relevant
United Nations resolutions,
Recalling further the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women 15/ as it concerns the protection of civilian populations,
Concerned about the stalemate facing the Middle East peace process,
including the lack of implementation of the agreements reached in
Washington D.C. between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the
Government of Israel, and the deterioration of the socio-economic conditions
of the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli positions and measures,
Concerned also about the continuing difficult situation of Palestinian
women in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and about
the severe consequences of continuous illegal Israeli settlements activities,
as well as the harsh economic conditions and other consequences for the
situation of Palestinian women and their families, resulting from the frequent
closures and isolation of the occupied territory,
1. Stresses its support for the Middle East peace process and the need
for speedy and full implementation of the agreements already reached between
the parties;
2. Reaffirms that the Israeli occupation remains a major obstacle for
Palestinian women with regard to their advancement, self-reliance and
integration in the development planning of their society;
3. Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply fully with the
provisions and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 16/
the Regulations annexed to The Hague Convention of 1907 17/ and the Geneva
Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, 18/ in order to protect the rights of Palestinian women and
their families;
4. Calls upon Israel to facilitate the return of all refugees and
displaced Palestinian women and children to their homes and properties in the
occupied Palestinian territory, in compliance with relevant United Nations
resolutions;
5. Urges Member States, financial organizations of the United Nations
system, non-governmental organizations and other relevant institutions to
intensify their efforts to provide financial and technical assistance to
Palestinian women for the creation of projects responding to their needs,
especially during the transitional period;
6. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to continue to
monitor and take action with regard to the implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in particular
paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, and the Beijing
Platform for Action;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to review the situation
and to assist Palestinian women by all available means, and to submit to the
Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-third session a report on the
progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.
DRAFT RESOLUTION III
Mid-term review of the system-wide medium-term plan
for the advancement of women, including the status
of women in the Secretariat **
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 63-64.)
The Economic and Social Council,
Reaffirming the revised system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement
of women, 1996-2001, and the comments of the Commission on the Status of Women
contained in Commission resolution 40/10 and the annex thereto, 19/
Noting with concern that a number of obstacles have been encountered in
the implementation of the plan,
1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the mid-term review
of the implementation of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement
of women, 1996-2001 20/ and endorses the recommendations contained therein;
2. Urges the Secretary-General to ensure that the obstacles encountered
in the implementation of the plan are dealt with effectively, in particular
through heightened accountability at all levels, particularly that of senior
managers, and by including the necessary training, where appropriate;
3. Emphasizes the need for continued efforts by all areas of the United
Nations system to implement the plan fully;
4. Stresses in particular the importance of mainstreaming a gender
perspective into the formulation and implementation of operational activities
for development of the United Nations system and into the United Nations
Development Assistance Framework, notably at the country level;
5. Welcomes the work of the Administrative Committee on Coordination
Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, particularly its
coordination and catalytic role in the area of gender mainstreaming, policy
analysis and operational activities in the work programmes of the bodies of
the United Nations system, and its work in compiling good practices,
guidelines and indicators in the area of gender mainstreaming;
6. Urges Member States, when considering the triennial policy review of
operational activities for development of the United Nations system, during
the fifty-third session of the General Assembly, to fully integrate a gender
perspective into those activities;
7. Requests the United Nations Development Group to institute
guidelines and procedures for the implementation of relevant aspects of the
Beijing Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women
21/ into the planning and preparing of the operational activities for
development of United Nations funds and programmes;
8. Recommends that gender equality and women's empowerment goals be
integrated into the continuing United Nations reform process, including in the
work of the executive committees and, in that regard, reaffirms the goal of
50/50 gender distribution by the year 2000 in all categories of posts within
the United Nations system, especially at the D-1 level and above, with full
respect for the principle of equitable geographical distribution, in
conformity with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, and also
taking into account the lack of representation or under-representation of
women from certain countries, in particular developing countries and countries
with economies in transition.
DRAFT RESOLUTION IV
Conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women on critical
areas of concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 67-70.)
The Economic and Security Council
Endorses the following conclusions adopted by the Commission on the
Status of Women with respect to the four critical areas of concern addressed
by the Commission at its forty-second session:
I. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The Commission on the Status of Women
Reaffirms the Beijing Platform for Action, 22/ notably chapter IV.D on
violence against women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 23/ and the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women, 24/
Requests States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women to take into account in their initial
and periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, general recommendation 19 on violence against women, adopted by
the Committee at its eleventh session, 25/ and the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women,
Requests States parties to international human rights treaties to
compile information and report on the extent and manifestations of violence
against women, including domestic violence and harmful traditional practices,
and the measures taken to eliminate such violence, for inclusion in reports
under the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and to
include such information in reports to other treaty bodies,
Proposes, in order to accelerate the implementation of the strategic
objectives of chapter IV.D:
A. An integrated, holistic approach
Actions to be taken by Governments and the international community:
- Formulate comprehensive and multidisciplinary and coordinated
national plans, programmes or strategies, which will be widely
disseminated, to eliminate all forms of violence against women and
girls and provide for targets, timetables for implementation and
effective domestic enforcement procedures by monitoring mechanisms,
involving all parties concerned, including consultations with
women's organizations;
- Call upon the international community to condemn and act against all
forms and manifestations of terrorism, in particular those that
affect women and children;
- Develop strong and effective national, regional and international
cooperation to prevent and eliminate trafficking in women and girls,
especially for purposes of economic and sexual exploitation,
including the exploitation of prostitution of women and girls;
- Encourage the media to take measures against the projection of
images of violence against women and children;
- Strengthen effective partnerships with non-governmental
organizations and all relevant agencies to promote an integrated and
holistic approach to the elimination of violence against women and
girls;
- Integrate effective actions to end violence against women into all
areas of public and private life, as a means of working to overcome
the violence and discrimination that women face because of such
factors as race, language, ethnicity, poverty, culture, religion,
age, disability and socio-economic class or because they are
indigenous people, migrants, including women migrant workers,
displaced women or refugees;
- Ensure that comprehensive programmes for the rehabilitation of
victims of rape are integrated into global programmes.
B. Provision of resources to combat violence against all women
Actions to be taken by Governments, non-governmental organizations and
the public and private sector, as appropriate:
- Support the work of non-governmental organizations in their
activities to prevent, combat and eliminate violence against women;
- Provide adequate resources for women's groups, helplines, crisis
centres and other support services, including credit, medical,
psychological and other counselling services, as well as focus on
vocational skill training for women victims of violence that enables
them to find a means of subsistence;
- Provide resources for the strengthening of legal mechanisms for
prosecuting those who commit acts of violence against women and
girls, and for the rehabilitation of victims;
- Support and encourage partnerships for the establishment of national
networks and provide resources for shelters and relief support for
women and girls, so as to offer a safe, sensitive and integrated
response to women victims of violence, including the provision of
programmes designed to heal victims of trafficking and rehabilitate
them into society;
- Consider increasing contributions for national, regional and
international action to combat violence against women, including for
the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence
against women, its causes and consequences and the Trust Fund in
Support of Action to Eliminate Violence against Women of the United
Nations Development Fund for Women;
- Develop special programmes that would assist women and girls with
disabilities in recognizing and reporting acts of violence,
including the provision of accessible support services for their
protection and safety;
- Encourage and fund the training of personnel in the administration
of justice, law enforcement agencies, security, social and health-
care services, schools and migration authorities on matters related
to gender-based violence, and its prevention, and the protection of
women from violence;
- Include in national budgets adequate resources related to the
elimination of violence against women and girls.
C. Creation of linkages and cooperation with regard to particular
forms of violence against women
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Consider, where appropriate, formulating bilateral, subregional and
regional agreements to promote and protect the rights of migrant
workers, especially women and girls;
- Develop bilateral, subregional, regional and international
agreements and protocols to combat all forms of trafficking in women
and girls, and assist victims of violence resulting from
prostitution and trafficking;
- Improve international information exchange on trafficking in women
and girls by recommending the setting up of a data-collection centre
within Interpol, regional law enforcement agencies and national
police forces, as appropriate;
- Strengthen the implementation of all relevant human rights
instruments in order to eliminate organized and other forms of
trafficking in women and girls, including trafficking for the
purpose of sexual exploitation and of pornography;
- Strengthen gender focal points of the regional commissions, and
further enhance their contributions to gender-balanced development
policies, as they have already made significant contributions by
helping member States to build capacities and as regards gender-
mainstreaming for alleviating gender-based violence against women,
and have contributed actively to promoting the human rights of
women.
D. Legal measures
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Ensure the gender-sensitive development of an integrated framework
that includes criminal, civil, evidentiary and procedural provisions
and that addresses sufficiently the multiple forms of violence
against women;
- Take all appropriate measures to develop an integrated and
comprehensive legislative framework that addresses sufficiently the
multiple forms of violence against women;
- Promote, where necessary, the harmonization of local legislation
that penalizes acts of violence against women;
- Provide adequate infrastructure and support services to respond to
the needs of the survivors of violence against women and girls, and
to assist towards full recovery and reintegration into society, such
as witness protection programmes, restraining order against
perpetrators, crisis centres, telephone hotlines, shelters,
provisions for economic support and livelihood assistance;
- Develop guidelines to ensure appropriate police and prosecutorial
responses in cases of violence against women;
- Establish and support programmes that provide legal aid and
assistance for women and girls bringing complaints relating to
gender-based violence through various applicable ways and means,
such as non-governmental organization support for women with claims
relating to violence against women;
- Ensure the accountability of relevant law enforcement agencies for
implementation of policies to protect women from gender-based
violence;
- Investigate, and in accordance with national legislation, punish all
acts of violence against women and girls, including those
perpetrated by public officials;
- Implement strategies and practical measures, taking account of the
Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of
Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice adopted by the General Assembly, in its resolution 52/86 of
12 December 1997, and contained in the annex thereto;
- Review national legislation in order to effect complete legal
prohibition of rape and all forms of violence against women and
girls, such as domestic violence, including rape, and to ensure that
legislation that protects women and girls from violence is
effectively implemented;
- Criminalize all forms of trafficking in women and girls for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and penalize all traffickers;
- Take steps to enable women who are victims of trafficking to make
complaints to the police and to be available when required by the
criminal justice system, and ensure that during this time women have
access to social, medical, financial and legal assistance, and
protection, as appropriate;
- Develop and implement national legislation and policies prohibiting
harmful customary or traditional practices that are violations of
women's and girls' human rights and obstacles to the full enjoyment
by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms;
- Ensure that women are safe at work by supporting measures that
promote the creation of a workplace environment free from sexual
harassment or other violence and encourage all employers to put in
place policies designed to eliminate and deal effectively with
harassment of women whenever it occurs in the workplace;
- Encourage the participation of women in law enforcement agencies so
as to achieve gender balance.
E. Research and gender-disaggregated data collection
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Promote coordinated research on violence against women to ensure
that it is multidisciplinary and addresses the root factors,
including external factors, that encourage trafficking in women and
girls for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation;
- Encourage research aimed at exploring the nature, extent and causes
of violence and collect data and statistics on its economic and
social costs, and its consequences, and conduct research on the
impact of all laws relevant to combating all forms of violence
against women;
- Develop common definitions and guidelines and train relevant actors
for the collection of data and statistics on violence against women
and ensure that all cases of violence against women are recorded
systematically and appropriately, whether they are first reported to
the police or to health and social services;
- Sponsor community-based research and national surveys, including the
collection of disaggregated data, on violence against women, with
regard to particular groups of women, such as women with
disabilities, migrant women workers and trafficked women;
- Support evaluations of the impact of measures and policies,
particularly with regard to legislative, evidentiary and procedural
law reform, to address violence against women with a view to
identifying and exchanging good practices and lessons learned, and
initiate intervention and prevention programmes;
- Promote the sharing of research results, including information on
best practices at national, regional and international levels;
- Explore the possibility of mechanisms such as national rapporteurs,
who report to Governments on the scale, prevention and combating of
violence against women, particularly trafficking in women and girls.
Action to be taken by the United Nations:
- Consider ways to share good practices and lessons learned, including
establishing a readily accessible database of good practices and
lessons learned with regard to all forms of violence against women.
F. Change attitudes
Actions to be taken by Governments and civil society, including
non-governmental organizations:
- Work to create violence-free societies by implementing participatory
educational programmes on human rights, conflict resolution and
gender equality, for women and men of all ages, beginning with girls
and boys;
- Support programmes of peer mediation and conflict resolution for
schoolchildren and special training for teachers to equip them to
encourage cooperation and respect for diversity and gender;
- Encourage innovative education and training in schools to enhance
awareness of gender-based violence by promoting non-violent conflict
resolution, and short- and mid- and long-term strategic educational
goals for achieving gender equality;
- Introduce and invest in comprehensive public awareness campaigns,
such as "zero tolerance", that portray violence against women as
unacceptable;
- Encourage the promotion in media portrayals of positive images of
women and of men, presenting them as cooperative and full partners
in the upbringing of their children, and discourage the media from
presenting negative images of women and girls;
- Encourage the media to create positive images of women and men as
cooperative and crucial actors in preventing violence against women
through the development of voluntary international media codes of
conduct, on positive images, portrayals and representations of
women, and on the coverage of the reporting of violence against
women;
- Raise awareness and mobilize public opinion to eliminate female
genital mutilation and other harmful traditional, cultural or
customary practices that violate the human rights of women and girls
and negatively affect their health;
- Promote the responsible use of new information technologies, in
particular the Internet, including the encouraging of steps to
prevent the use of these technologies for discrimination and
violence against women, and for trafficking in women for the
purposes of sexual exploitation, including the exploitation of
prostitution of women and girls;
- Create policies and programmes to encourage behavioural change in
perpetrators of violence against women, including rape, and monitor
and assess the impact and effect of such programmes;
- Establish legal literacy programmes to make women aware of their
rights and the methods of seeking protection under the law;
- Recognize that women and girls with disabilities, women migrants and
refugee women and girls could be particularly affected by violence,
and encourage the development of programmes for their support;
- Encourage campaigns aimed at clarifying opportunities, limitations
and rights in the event of migration so as to enable women to make
informed decisions and to prevent them from becoming victims of
trafficking;
- Encourage and support men's own initiatives to complement efforts of
women's organizations to prevent and eliminate violence against
women and girls;
- Conduct research on, and create policies and programmes to change,
the attitudes and behaviour of perpetrators of violence against
women within family and society;
- Actively encourage, support and implement measures aimed at
increasing the knowledge and understanding of violence against
women, through gender analysis capacity-building and gender-
sensitive training for law enforcement officers, police personnel,
the judiciary, medical and social workers, and teachers.
II. WOMEN AND ARMED CONFLICT
The Commission on the Status of Women
Reaffirms the Beijing Platform for Action, 26/ notably chapter IV.E on
women and armed conflict;
Proposes the following, taking into account the Commission's conclusions
on human rights of women, violence against women and the girl child, in order
to accelerate the implementation of the strategic objectives of chapter IV.E:
A. Ensuring gender-sensitive justice
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Ensure that national legal systems provide accessible and gender-
sensitive avenues of redress for victims of armed conflict;
- Ensure that a gender-sensitive perspective is integrated in the
drafting and interpretation of international law and domestic
legislation, including for the protection of women and girls in
armed conflict;
- Support efforts to create an international criminal court that
integrates a gender perspective in its statute and functioning,
enabling a gender-sensitive interpretation and application of the
statute;
- Provide and disseminate to the public in local languages, including
to women's groups and non-governmental organizations, information on
the jurisdiction and procedures for accessing the ad hoc war crimes
tribunals, human rights treaty bodies and all other relevant
mechanisms; this information should be widely and actively
disseminated in cooperation with the United Nations system and
non-governmental organizations;
- Protect children in situations of armed conflict, especially the
girl child, against participation, recruitment, rape and sexual
exploitation through adherence to the applicable principles of
international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and
national legislation;
- Promote a gender balance and gender expertise in all relevant
international bodies, at all times, including the International Law
Commission, the ad hoc war crimes tribunals and the human rights
treaty bodies, having due regard for the principle of equitable
geographical distribution;
- Examine and consider modifying existing legal definitions and
standards to ensure that they encompass concerns of all women and
girls affected by armed conflict, and, in particular, reaffirm that
rape, systematic rape and sexual slavery in armed conflict
constitute war crimes;
- Ensure that where crimes of sexual violence are committed in
situations of conflict, all perpetrators, including those among
United Nations and international peacekeeping and humanitarian
personnel, are prosecuted.
B. Specific needs of women affected by armed conflict
Actions to be taken by Governments and international organizations:
- Collect and provide information on violations of the human rights of
women under foreign occupation and take steps to ensure the full
enjoyment of the human rights of these women;
- Take account of the impact of armed conflict on the health of all
women and introduce measures to address the full range of women's
health needs, including those of women with disabilities, and the
psychological needs arising from trauma stemming from sexual abuses
and the effects of violations of their rights;
- Address the specific needs and concerns of women refugees and
displaced persons and ensure appropriate training for relevant
bodies to address the specific needs and concerns of women refugees,
who should receive special protection, including the proper design
and location of camps and the adequate staffing of camps;
- Recognize the importance of fully involving women in designing
rehabilitation policies in post-conflict situations and take steps
to assist household economies, including the social and economic
conditions of women-headed households and widows;
- Ensure the physical safety and security of all refugee women and
girls and those internally displaced by, inter alia, adequately
providing for and increasing their access to the right of return to
their country or place of origin, and the participation of women in
the committees responsible for the management of the camp(s), and
ensure that camps are designed in accordance with the 1995
Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women 27/ of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and arrange for gender-
sensitive legal, social and medical services in camps, and for the
talents and capabilities of refugee and displaced women and girls to
be fully integrated in the development and implementation of these
programmes while they are in these camps;
- Provide refugee victims of sexual violence and their families with
adequate medical and psychosocial care, including culturally
sensitive counselling, and ensure confidentiality;
- Take measures in accordance with international law with a view to
alleviating any negative impact of economic sanctions on women and
children;
- Mainstream a gender perspective, as appropriate, into national
immigration and asylum policies, regulations and practices, in order
to extend protection to those women whose claim for protection is
based on gender-related persecution;
- Provide and strengthen assistance to all women and girls in conflict
and post-conflict situations, including through non-governmental
organizations, as appropriate. Refugee women and men must have
equal rights in the administration and distribution of goods and
services in the camps;
- Condemn and bring to an immediate end massive violations of human
rights, especially in the form of genocide, and ethnic cleansing as
a strategy of war, and its consequences, such as rape, including
systematic rape of women in war situations;
- Encourage rehabilitation centres to ensure that the knowledge and
professions of displaced and refugee people are utilized;
- Mainstream a gender perspective into humanitarian responses to
crises and armed conflicts and into post-conflict reconstruction
activities.
C. Increasing the participation of women in peacekeeping,
peace-building, pre- and post-conflict decision-making,
conflict prevention, post-conflict resolution and
reconstruction
Actions to be taken by Governments and international and regional
intergovernmental institutions:
- Increase, including through measures of affirmative action, women's
participation and leadership in decision-making and in preventing
conflict;
- Mainstream a gender perspective into peace-promoting activities at
all levels as well as humanitarian and peace-building policies,
including through gender analysis and the encouragement of the
participation of more female personnel at all levels, in particular
at senior or high levels in field missions, and monitor and review
such policies as appropriate, on the basis of equitable geographical
distribution where applicable;
- Recognize and support women's non-governmental organizations,
particularly at the grass-roots level, in respect of their
preventing conflict, including early warning and peace-building;
- Take note of the Kampala Action Plan on Women and Peace, 28/ as
well as the post-Beijing follow-up Kigali Declaration on Peace,
Gender and Development, 29/ and A Plan of Action for Conflict-
affected Areas, 30/ and if appropriate, convene conferences to
assess progress and promote implementation;
- Regional research and training institutes should carry out research
on the role of women in conflict resolution and identify and analyse
policies and action programmes;
- Create mechanisms to encourage more women candidates with the
appropriate qualifications to apply for judicial, prosecutorial and
other positions in all relevant international bodies, in order to
achieve gender balance on the basis of equitable geographical
distribution;
- Nominate and appoint more women as special representatives in
conflict resolution, taking due consideration of the principle of
equitable geographical distribution;
- Enhance the role of women in bilateral preventive diplomacy efforts
as well as those undertaken by the United Nations in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations;
- Ensure that the participants in humanitarian missions and in
peacekeeping operations, both military and civilian, are given
specific gender-sensitive training;
- Develop and implement innovative strategies to increase the
participation of women in peacekeeping operations and invite the
Secretary-General to analyse their effectiveness in his reports on
peacekeeping operations, if appropriate, based on an expert group
meeting;
- Mainstream a gender perspective into bilateral and multilateral
peace-building discussions and promotion of social development.
D. Preventing conflict and promoting a culture of peace
Actions to be taken by Governments, the international community and
civil society, as appropriate:
- Integrate a gender perspective into foreign policies and adjust
policies accordingly;
- Support the establishment of women-for-peace networks;
- Discourage the adoption of and refrain from any unilateral measure
that is not in accordance with international law and the Charter of
the United Nations and that impedes the full achievement of economic
and social development by the population of the affected countries,
in particular women and children, that hinders their well-being and
that creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of their human rights;
- Ensure that education, including teacher training, promotes peace,
respect for human rights and gender-sensitivity, tolerance for
diversity, including cultural and religious diversity, and
pluralism;
- Encourage the incorporation of relevant international humanitarian
law principles and their interpretation from a gender perspective
into national legal systems;
- Encourage and support the participation of young people in
programmes, seminars and workshops on conflict resolution and human
rights, negotiations for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the
importance of a gender perspective in the promotion of a culture of
peace, development and human rights of women;
- Strengthen ongoing efforts to train international peacekeeping
forces on human rights and gender-sensitivity, provide training on
codes of conduct and prevention of violence against women, ensuring
that trainers include civilians, women and experts in gender issues,
and monitor the impact of this training;
- Enhance the culture of peace and the peaceful settlement of armed
conflicts, including through mass media, audio and video as
appropriate;
- Draw upon and utilize the expertise of the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the Division for the Advancement of
Women of the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations
Development Fund for Women and the United Nations Children's Fund
for the preparation of materials for the training of United Nations
peacekeepers;
- Continue to make resources available nationally and internationally
for prevention of conflict and ensure women's participation in the
elaboration and implementation of strategies for preventing
conflict;
- Recognize and support the work done by national machineries for the
advancement of women and by non-governmental organizations and work
towards mobilizing the action necessary to encourage the achievement
by women of a critical mass at the national cabinet level in key
ministries and departments and in international organizations that
make or influence policy with regard to matters related to
collective peace and security.
Actions to be taken by the United Nations:
- Acknowledge and support the vital work of non-governmental
organizations in the field of peace in efforts towards preventing
conflict and for peace-building;
- Organize programmes and seminars to sensitize community leaders and
women on the important role that women should play in developing a
culture of peace in society.
E. Disarmament measures, illicit arms trafficking,
landmines and small arms
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- In order to alleviate the suffering of women and children caused by
landmines, work towards the objective of eliminating anti-personnel
landmines; and in this regard take due note of the conclusion of the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and
its implementation by those States that become parties to it;
- Join international efforts to elaborate international policies to
prohibit illicit traffic, trade and transfer of small arms, and to
control their excessive production, with a view to alleviating the
suffering of women and children in the situation of armed conflict;
- Provide landmine awareness campaigns or classes in close cooperation
with communities and community leaders formally and informally,
making them accessible to women in afflicted areas, and provide
resources and assistance for landmine clearance and share technology
and information so that local populations can engage effectively in
the safe clearance of landmines;
- Support programmes for the rehabilitation and social integration of
women victims of anti-personnel landmines, and demining and mine
awareness activities;
- Encourage as appropriate the role of women in the peace movement,
working towards general and complete disarmament under strict and
effective international control including disarmament of all types
of weapons of mass destruction;
- Work to prevent and put an end to aggression and all forms of armed
conflict, thereby promoting a culture of peace.
III. HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN
The Commission on the Status of Women
Reaffirms the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World
Conference on Women, 31/ in particular chapter IV.I on the human rights of
women, and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World
Conference on Human Rights, 32/
Recommends that the Commission on Human Rights give particular attention
to the economic and social rights of women in any discussions it may have at
its fifty-fourth session on the question of the appointment and mandate of a
special rapporteur on economic, social and cultural rights, or a specific
aspect thereof; and invites the Secretary-General to report to the Commission
on the Status of Women in 1999 on decisions taken by the Commission on Human
Rights on this issue, and further recommends that the rapporteur on economic,
social and cultural rights, if appointed, should make his or her reports
available to the Commission on the Status of Women,
Proposes, in order to accelerate the implementation of the strategic
objectives of chapter IV.I of the Platform for Action:
A. Creation and development of an environment conducive to women's
enjoyment of their human rights and awareness-raising
Actions to be taken by Governments, non-governmental organizations,
employers, trade unions, the private sector and other actors in civil
society, as appropriate:
- Ensure universal awareness by all persons, women and men, girls and
boys of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and
children, including the girl child, through comprehensive human
rights education in accordance with the United Nations Decade for
Human Rights Education, and create and promote a culture of human
rights, development and peace;
- Encourage and support broad-based national and community-based
dialogues that include women and men, and girls and boys, from
diverse backgrounds, on the meaning of human rights, on the
obligations thereby created and on gender-specific discrimination
and violations;
- Ensure that work, including, inter alia, work by treaty bodies
within their mandates to develop an understanding of the gender
dimensions of human rights, is compiled and widely disseminated, and
that this gender-sensitive interpretation of human rights is fully
integrated into all policies and programmes of international and
regional organizations;
- Make widely available reports of United Nations mechanisms that deal
with the human rights of women, such as on discrimination and
violence against women, to the public, including the judiciary,
parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations;
- Support, encourage and disseminate research, and collect gender- and
age-disaggregated statistics on factors and multiple barriers that
affect the full enjoyment by women of their economic, social,
cultural, civil and political rights, including their right to
development, and on violations that are particular to women, and
disseminate the findings and utilize the collected data in assessing
the implementation of the human rights of women;
- Develop and implement national legislation and policies prohibiting
customary and traditional practices that are harmful to women and
that are violations of women's human rights;
- Eradicate customary or traditional practices, particularly female
genital mutilation, that are harmful to, or discriminatory against,
women and that are violations of women's human rights and
fundamental freedoms, through the design and implementation of
awareness-raising programmes, education and training;
- Ensure that their personnel periodically receive gender training and
are educated and made aware of all women's, men's and children's
human rights;
- Mobilize the resources necessary and create the conditions for the
full exercise of women's economic, social, cultural, civil and
political rights;
- Establish and strengthen partnerships and cooperation with each
other and with the United Nations system and regional organizations
in order to promote more actively the full enjoyment by women of
their human rights;
- Ensure that indigenous and other marginalized women's special
conditions are taken fully into consideration within the framework
of the human rights of women;
- Mainstream a gender perspective, as appropriate, into national
immigration and asylum policies, regulations and practices in order
to extend protection to those women whose claim for protection is
based on gender-related persecution.
B. Legal and regulatory framework
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Guarantee the existence of a national legal and regulatory
framework, including independent national institutions, or other
appropriate mechanisms, that ensure the full realization of all
human rights of women and girls on the basis of equality and non-
discrimination, including their right to be free from violence, in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, other instruments
related to human rights and international law;
- Take steps, including a gender-sensitive review of national
legislation, to revoke any laws or legal procedures and eradicate
practices - national or customary - that promote discrimination on
the basis of sex;
- Ensure that women and children have full and equal access to
effective legal remedies for violations, including domestic
mechanisms, which are monitored and revised to ensure that they
function without discrimination, and international mechanisms that
address human rights as provided, inter alia, under the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; 33/
- Promote changes that ensure that women enjoy equal opportunities in
law and in practice to claim their rights through the national legal
systems, including through educating them on these rights as well as
ensuring availability of measures such as free or affordable legal
aid, legal representation and court appeals procedures, and support
existing programmes of non-governmental organizations and other
agencies.
C. Policies, mechanisms and machineries
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Ratify and accede to and ensure implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 34/
so that universal ratification of the Convention can be achieved by
the year 2000;
- Limit the extent of any reservations to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: formulate
any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible;
ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and
purpose of the Convention or otherwise incompatible with
international treaty law and regularly review those reservations
with a view to withdrawing them; and withdraw reservations that are
contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention or that are
otherwise incompatible with international treaty law;
- Create channels of communication to promote information exchange
between national institutions that address the human rights of
women, and non-governmental organizations and relevant policy-making
bodies of Government;
- Create gender mainstreaming mechanisms within all policy-making
bodies so that women's ability to enjoy their rights is strengthened
by all policies and programmes, including through gender-sensitive
budgeting;
- Support efforts to create an international criminal court that
integrates a gender perspective in its statute and functioning,
enabling a gender-sensitive interpretation and application of the
statute;
- Mainstream a gender perspective into all economic and social
policies in order to promote the human rights of women and girls,
including their right to development;
- Adopt measures to ensure by appropriate means that women enjoy equal
opportunities to participate in decision-making processes, including
parliamentary and other elected assemblies.
Actions to be taken by States parties to human rights instruments:
- Promote gender balance in the nomination and election of independent
experts to treaty bodies having expertise and sensitivity in regard
to gender issues in the field of human rights, giving due
consideration to equitable geographical distribution and different
legal systems;
- Take note of the report of the United Nations Secretariat to the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on
reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women 35/ and encourage similar studies by
other treaty bodies, as well as by the Sixth Committee of the
General Assembly, especially with respect to their effect on women's
and girls' enjoyment of their human rights;
- Ensure that their periodic reports to treaty monitoring bodies
mainstream a gender perspective.
Within the United Nations system:
- Urge the Commission on Human Rights to ensure that all human rights
mechanisms and procedures fully incorporate a gender perspective in
their work, within their respective mandates;
- The Administrative Committee on Coordination Inter-Agency Committee
on Women and Gender Equality should, as planned, conduct a workshop
to clarify the understanding of a rights-based approach to women's
empowerment and advancement and to gender equality, drawing on the
work already being done in this regard by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women and others;
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat should
strengthen and improve coordination in general human rights
activities within their respective mandates and continue to prepare
the joint annual work plan;
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the Division for the Advancement of Women should continue to
prepare the joint annual work plan and strengthen cooperation and
coordination in human rights activities, in particular:
(a) By collaborating in the writing of reports for the
Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human
Rights, the first initiative of this type 36/ being welcomed;
(b) Through sharing information systematically on the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, its
sessions and documentation, in order to ensure that its work will be
better integrated into the work of the other treaty bodies and
United Nations human rights activities;
(c) Through capacity-building to implement agreed conclusions
1997/2 of the Economic and Social Council 37/ on mainstreaming a
gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United
Nations system, in particular training and gender-sensitization
especially of human rights monitors;
- Take further steps to increase cooperation and promote integration
of objectives and goals among the Commission on the Status of Women,
the Commission on Human Rights and the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women, as well as the United Nations
Development Fund for Women, the International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations
Development Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund and other
United Nations funds and programmes;
- Cooperation, communication and exchange of expertise should be
enhanced between the Commission on the Status of Women and other
functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, including
the Commission on Human Rights, in order to more effectively promote
women's human rights;
- The treaty bodies within their mandates should continue to promote a
better understanding of the rights contained in international human
rights instruments and their particular significance to women;
- Given the importance of general comments in clarifying the
provisions of human rights treaties, the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women is invited to draw up
joint general comments with other treaty bodies, within their
respective mandates, on the universality, indivisibility,
interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights and should
discuss these and other collaborative activities at the annual
chairpersons meeting;
- The treaty bodies should continue to develop working methods that
facilitate communications between non-governmental organizations,
treaty bodies and the States parties;
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
is commended for establishing a gender team for studying, within the
mandate of the Office, the human rights of women; the team should be
given the necessary support by the most senior levels of management
and decision-making to carry out its work effectively;
- Specialized agencies and other bodies of the United Nations system,
as well as other international financial and national trade
organizations, should develop innovative ways of integrating the
promotion of women's enjoyment of their human rights in all their
policies and programmes.
IV. THE GIRL CHILD
The Commission on the Status of Women
Reaffirms the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World
Conference on Women, 38/ notably chapter IV.L on the girl child, the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human
Rights, 39/ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 40/ and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, 41/
Proposes, in order to accelerate the implementation of the strategic
objectives of chapter IV.L:
A. Promotion and protection of the human rights of the girl child
Actions to be taken by Governments, local authorities, non-governmental
organizations and civil society and the United Nations system, as
appropriate:
- Promote further the enjoyment by children, particularly the girl
child, of their human rights, by the elaboration of an optional
protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on measures
for the prevention and eradication of the sale of children, child
prostitution and pornography;
- Organize community-based actions, including the setting up of local
committees to create awareness of, and monitor conformity with, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, with a
special focus on the situation of adolescent girls and young
mothers;
- Conduct awareness-raising campaigns designed to mobilize
communities, including community leaders, religious organizations,
parents and other family members, especially male family members,
with regard to the rights of the child, giving special emphasis to
the girl child, and monitor changes in attitudes;
- Conduct awareness-raising campaigns and gender training targeted at
law enforcement and justice system officials with regard to the
rights of children, giving special attention to the girl child;
- Eliminate traditional and customary practices that constitute son-
preference through awareness-raising campaigns and gender training;
- Recognize and promote the contribution of girls and boys to
development;
- Promote non-discriminatory treatment of girls and boys in the family
and, in this regard, adopt measures to ensure equal access by girls
and boys to food, education and health.
Actions to be taken by States parties to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women:
- Include comprehensive information and sex- and age-disaggregated
data on children in their reports to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, and invite the treaty monitoring bodies to pay
special attention to the rights of the girl child while assessing
those reports;
- Ensure that any reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child are formulated as precisely and as narrowly as
possible and that they are not incompatible with the object and
purpose of those conventions, and review the reservations to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child with a view to
withdrawing them.
B. Education and empowerment of the girl child
Actions to be taken by Governments, educational institutions and the
United Nations system, as appropriate:
- Consider drawing upon the findings and recommendations of the United
Nations Expert Group Meeting on Adolescent Girls and their Rights,
held in Addis Ababa in October 1997;
- Consider making primary education compulsory;
- Ensure universal enrolment and retention of girls in school and
ensure the continued education of pregnant adolescents and young
mothers in order to guarantee basic education to the girl child;
- Encourage all levels of society, including parents, Governments and
non-governmental organizations, to support the implementation of
educational policies to enhance gender awareness in the community;
- Provide gender-sensitive training for school administrators, parents
and all members of the school community, such as local
administrators, staff, teachers, school boards and students;
- Review teaching materials, including textbooks, to promote the self-
esteem of women and girls through positive self-images and revise
these materials, highlighting women's effective role in society,
including in decision-making, development, culture, history, sports
and other social, political and economic endeavours;
- Develop programmes of sensitization on the gender perspective for
staff of government offices working on educational issues concerning
indigenous and rural girls, and develop educational materials
adapted to their situation;
- Identify the special needs of girls in difficult circumstances,
including girls from migrant families, refugee and displaced girls,
girls from ethnic minorities, indigenous girls, orphaned girls,
girls with disabilities and other girls with special needs, and
provide the resources necessary to address their needs;
- Involve girls, including girls with special needs, and their
representative organizations in the decision-making process and
include them as full and active partners in identifying their own
needs and in designing, planning, implementing and assessing
policies and programmes to meet those needs;
- Provide training opportunities for girls to develop their skills in
leadership, advocacy and conflict resolution;
- Make visible girls' and boys' unpaid work in the household by
conducting research and documenting gender differences, particularly
in rural communities, note the implications of household work for
girls' equal access to basic and further education and career
development and take measures to redress imbalances and eliminate
discrimination.
C. Health needs of girls
Actions to be taken by Governments, civil society and the United Nations
system, as appropriate:
- Protect the girl child from all forms of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse by taking appropriate measures, including, for example,
designing and implementing legislation;
- Encourage parents, coalitions of concerned organizations and
individuals, especially political leaders, popular and community
figures and the media, to advocate for children's health, including
adolescent girls' reproductive and sexual health;
- Eradicate all customary or traditional practices, particularly
female genital mutilation, that are harmful to or discriminate
against women and girls and that are violations of women's human
rights and obstacles to the full enjoyment by women of their human
rights and fundamental freedoms, through the design and
implementation of awareness-raising programmes, education and
training, as well as programmes to help the victims of such
practices to overcome their trauma;
- Develop and implement national legislation and policies prohibiting
customary or traditional practices that are violations of women's
human rights and obstacles to the full enjoyment by women of their
human rights and fundamental freedoms and prosecute the perpetrators
of practices that are harmful to the health of women and girls;
- Make widely available information and counselling to adolescent
girls and boys, especially on human relationships, reproductive and
sexual health, sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent
pregnancy, that are confidential and easily accessible and emphasize
the equal responsibility of girls and boys;
- Improve the health care for adolescent girls by health personnel and
provide the latter with appropriate training, and encourage health-
care personnel to work with girls to understand their special needs;
- Recognize and protect from discrimination pregnant adolescents and
young mothers and support their continued access to information,
health care, nutrition, education and training;
- Support the activities of non-governmental organizations in the area
of reproductive health and health orientation centres for girls;
- Enact laws concerning the minimum age for marriage and raise the
minimum age for marriage when necessary in order to ensure respect
for the rights of the child, as stipulated in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. 42/
D. Girls in armed conflict
Actions to be taken by the United Nations and Governments:
- Incorporate information on the rights of the child in the mandates
and operational guidelines of peacekeeping forces, the military and
humanitarian workers and provide them with gender-sensitive
training;
- Encourage girls and other individuals and communities to play a key
role in reporting violations of rights of girls in armed conflict to
the appropriate authorities and ensure adequate, accessible and
gender-sensitive support services and counselling;
- Protect the girl child in situations of armed conflict against
participation in armed conflicts, recruitment, rape and sexual
exploitation, in particular through the adoption of an optional
protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 43/ as
recommended by the General Assembly;
- Take measures to address the special needs of girls for protection
and for gender-appropriate support and counselling centres in
refugee camps, and in resettlement and reintegration efforts;
- Create and respect zones of peace for children in armed conflict.
E. Trafficking, including for purpose of prostitution
and other forms of sexual exploitation
Actions to be taken by Governments, international organizations and
civil society:
- Collect information and raise public awareness on the issue of
trafficking, physical and psychological abuse, and sexual
exploitation of girls in order to better design and improve
preventative programmes;
- Consider implementing the recommendations of the Declaration and
Agenda for Action of the World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children, 44/ held in Stockholm in 1996;
- Establish recovery programmes for children who have been abused or
sexually exploited, with specially trained personnel to provide a
safe and supportive environment.
Actions to be taken by Governments:
- Enact and enforce laws that prohibit sexual exploitation including
prostitution, incest, abuse and trafficking of children, paying
special attention to girls;
- Prosecute and punish persons and organizations engaged in and/or
promoting the sex industry, sexual exploitation, acts of
paedophilia, trafficking in organs, child pornography and sex
tourism involving minors, and condemn and penalize all those
offenders involved, whether local or foreign, while ensuring that
children who are victims of those practices are not penalized;
- Design mechanisms and strengthen international cooperation to better
protect girls and bring to justice the perpetrators of such crimes;
- Adopt measures that ensure that judicial and legal processes are
sensitive to the specific needs of abused girls to prevent further
traumatization or victimization.
F. Labour and the girl child
Actions to be taken by Governments, international organizations and the
private sector:
- Consider ratifying and implementing international agreements that
are designed to protect children, including conventions of the
International Labour Organization, and bring national legislation
into conformity with those agreements in order to protect the girl
child;
- Ensure that girls who work have access to education and vocational
training, health, food, shelter and recreation on equal and
favourable conditions, and are protected from economic exploitation,
sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace;
- Pay special attention to girls in the informal sector, such as
domestic workers, and develop measures to protect their human rights
and fundamental freedoms and prevent their economic exploitation,
ill-treatment and sexual abuse;
- Raise government and public awareness as to the nature and scope of
the special needs of girls employed as domestic workers and of those
performing excessive domestic chores in their own households, and
develop measures to prevent their economic exploitation and sexual
abuse;
- Actively contribute to efforts at the 1998 session of the
International Labour Conference to draw up a new international
convention to eliminate the most abhorrent forms of child labour;
- Consider the implementation of the actions identified in the Agenda
for Action 45/ of the 1997 Oslo Conference on Child Labour.
G. General recommendations
Actions to be taken by Governments and the United Nations system:
- Prepare programmes for the girl child as part of national action
plans in order to fully implement the Beijing Platform for Action
adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women; 46/
- The organizations of the United Nations system, in particular the
United Nations Children's Fund, as the agency mandated to deal with
the rights and concerns of children, should give greater attention
to the girl child through Fund country programmes, using its
goodwill ambassadors for raising awareness on the situation of the
girl child on national, regional and international levels;
- The Secretary-General should report on the girl child to the
Commission on the Status of Women prior to the five-year review of
the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action;
- Base programmes and policies for the girl child on the rights of the
child, the responsibilities, rights and duties of the parents and
the evolving capacity of the girl child, in accordance with the
Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. 47/
C. Draft decision for adoption by the Council
3. The Commission on the Status of Women recommends to the Economic and
Social Council the adoption of the following draft decision:
Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on its forty-
second session and provisional agenda and documentation for
the forty-third session of the Commission*
(* See chap. VI.)
The Economic and Social Council takes note of the report of the
Commission on the Status of Women on its forty-second session and approves the
provisional agenda and documentation for the forty-third session of the
Commission set out below.
PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND DOCUMENTATION FOR THE FORTY-THIRD SESSION
OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
1. Election of officers.
2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.
3. Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women:
(a) Review of mainstreaming in organizations of the United Nations
system;
Documentation
Report of the Secretary-General on the measures taken and the progress
achieved in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and in
mainstreaming a gender perspective within the United Nations system
(b) Emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting the
situation of women or equality between women and men;
Documentation
Report of the Secretary-General on the differential impact of population
ageing on men and women, as a contribution to the International Year of
Older Persons
(c) Implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical
areas of concern.
Documentation
Analytical report of the Secretary-General on the thematic issues before
the Commission in accordance with the multi-year work programme,
including, as far as possible, progress made in national implementation,
based on available existing data and statistics
4. Initiation of the comprehensive review and appraisal of the
implementation of the Platform for Action and preparation for the high-
level plenary review in the year 2000.
5. Communications concerning the status of women.
Documentation
Lists of confidential and non-confidential communications concerning the
status of women
6. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, including the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the
Convention.
7. Provisional agenda for the forty-fourth session of the Commission.
8. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its forty-third session.
D. Matters brought to the attention of the Council
4. The following resolutions and decision adopted by the commission are
brought to the attention of the Council:
Resolution 42/1. Human rights and land rights discrimination*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 38-42.)
The Commission on the Status of Women,
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 48/ the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 49/ the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 50/ the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 51/ the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on
Human Rights, 52/ and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of
the Fourth World Conference on Women, 53/
Noting that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits
discrimination and proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights, and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and
freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, including
distinction based on sex,
Noting also that the States parties to the International Covenants on
Human Rights have the obligation to ensure the equal right of men and women to
enjoy all economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, and
concerned, however, that despite these various instruments extensive
discrimination against women continues to exist,
Gravely concerned that in many countries the treatment accorded to
women, whether in terms of property rights, land rights, rights of
inheritance, laws related to marriage and divorce or the rights to acquire
nationality, manage property or seek employment, reflects the inequality
between women and men,
Concerned that in situations of poverty, women are disproportionately
affected and have the least access to productive resources, food, health,
education, training and opportunities for employment and other needs,
Recognizing that land is a valuable resource, and that secure land
rights are key rights for the economic empowerment of women,
Recognizing also that the full and equal participation of women in all
spheres of life is essential for the full and complete development of a
country,
Reaffirming the equal rights of women and men, as enshrined, inter alia,
in the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
1. Stresses the need for full and urgent implementation of the rights
of women, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
2. Urges all States to take all necessary measures, including
legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women for the
purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men, and to take
effective action against violations of those rights and freedoms;
3. Calls upon States:
(a) To set goals and develop and implement gender-sensitive strategies
for addressing the rights and needs of women;
(b) To generate social support to change the social and cultural
patterns of conduct of women and men with a view to achieving the elimination
of prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the
inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles
for women and men;
(c) To develop innovative activities at all levels, including human
rights education, to increase women's awareness of their human rights and the
mechanisms that are available to protect and enforce women's full enjoyment of
them, inter alia, through the translation, production and dissemination of
information materials on these rights to all sectors of society;
(d) To ensure women's equal rights with men in the areas of education,
health and nutrition, and to provide equal access to programmes of continuing
education, including adult and functional literacy programmes;
4. Urges States to pay particular attention to women and their rights
and needs in designing and implementing development programmes, and
specifically to address the feminization of poverty and its root causes,
including secure land tenure;
5. Also urges States to design and revise laws to ensure that women are
accorded full and equal rights to own land and other property, including
through the right to inheritance, and to undertake administrative reforms and
other necessary measures to give women the same right as men to credit,
capital, appropriate technologies, access to markets and information;
6. Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in
the exercise of her mandate, to increase awareness that land rights
discrimination is a violation of human rights and that in addressing the right
to development secure land tenure for women should be taken into account;
7. Requests the Secretary-General, as Chairman of the Administrative
Committee on Coordination, to ensure that all organizations and bodies of the
United Nations system, individually and collectively, in particular the United
Nations Development Programme, take into account land rights discrimination
and its negative impact on women in all poverty eradication programmes and
policies;
8. Calls upon all States and all relevant organizations and bodies of
the United Nations system to report to the Commission on the Status of Women
at its forty-third session on initiatives related to the present resolution.
Resolution 42/2. Release of women and children taken hostage in
armed conflicts, including those subsequently
imprisoned*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 51-52.)
The Commission on the Status of Women,
Recalling its resolutions 39/2 of 31 March 1995, 40/1 of 22 March 1996
and 41/1 of 21 March 1997,
Recalling also the relevant provisions contained in the instruments of
international humanitarian law relative to the protection of women and
children in areas of armed conflict,
Welcoming the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action by the Fourth World Conference on Women, 54/ including the
provisions regarding violence against women and children,
Expressing grave concern at the continuation of armed conflicts in many
regions throughout the world and the human suffering and humanitarian
emergencies they have caused,
Emphasizing that all forms of violence committed against the civilian
population, including women and children in areas of armed conflict, including
capturing them as hostages, seriously contravene international humanitarian
law, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, 55/
Expressing its strong belief that the rapid and unconditional release of
women and children taken hostage in areas of armed conflict will promote the
implementation of the noble goals enshrined in the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action,
1. Condemns violent acts in contravention of international humanitarian
law against civilian women and children in areas of armed conflict, and calls
for an effective response to such acts, including the immediate release of
such women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently
imprisoned, in armed conflicts;
2. Strongly urges all parties to armed conflicts to respect fully the
norms of international humanitarian law in armed conflict and to take all
necessary measures for the protection of these women and children and for
their immediate release;
3. Urges all parties to conflicts to provide unimpeded access to
specialized humanitarian assistance for these women and children;
4. Requests the Secretary-General and all relevant international
organizations to use their capabilities and efforts to facilitate the release
of these women and children;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, taking into account the
information provided by States and relevant international organizations, a
report on the implementation of the present resolution, for submission to the
Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-third session.
Resolution 42/3. Violence against women migrant workers*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 53-57.)
The Commission on the Status of Women,
Recalling all resolutions relevant to women migrant workers adopted by
the General Assembly, in particular Assembly resolution 52/97 of 12 December
1997, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Human Rights
and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, as well as the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 56/
Recalling also the outcome of major world conferences, specifically
those pertaining to women migrant workers,
Emphasizing the need for objective comprehensive, broad-based
information and a wide exchange of experiences and lessons learned by
individual Member States and civil society in the formulation of policies and
strategies to address the problem of violence against women migrant workers,
Noting the large numbers of women from developing countries and some
countries in transition who continue to venture forth to more affluent
countries in search of a living for themselves and their families as a
consequence of poverty, unemployment and other socio-economic conditions, and
acknowledging the duty of the sending States to work for conditions that
provide employment and security for their citizens,
Acknowledging the economic benefits that accrue to sending and receiving
countries from the employment of women migrant workers,
Recognizing the importance of continued cooperation at the bilateral,
regional and international levels in protecting and promoting the rights and
welfare of women migrant workers,
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the thematic
issues before the Commission on the Status of Women; 57/
2. Invites concerned Governments, particularly of sending and receiving
countries, to include in their national action plans information on the
problems of women migrant workers;
3. Encourages concerned Governments, particularly of sending and
receiving countries, to avail themselves of the expertise of the United
Nations, including the United Nations Statistics Division and other relevant
bodies such as the International Research and Training Institute for the
Advancement of Women, to develop appropriate national data-collection
methodologies that will generate comparable data on violence against women
migrant workers as bases for research and analyses on the subject;
4. Invites Governments, in cooperation with relevant United Nations
bodies, other intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental
organizations, to undertake further research on the causes and consequences of
violence against women migrant workers;
5. Invites concerned States parties, particularly of sending and
receiving countries, to include in their periodic reports to relevant human
rights treaty bodies, updated and comprehensive information on actions they
have taken to address the problem of violence against women migrant workers;
6. Invites Member States and non-governmental organizations to
contribute to the proposed database of good practices and lessons learned on
all forms of violence against women, information on bilateral and multilateral
agreements, national experiences and lessons learned, initiatives and projects
that have proved viable and effective in evolving national strategies and
strengthening bilateral, regional and international cooperation for dealing
with violence against women migrant workers;
7. Calls upon concerned Governments, particularly of sending and
receiving countries, if they have not done so, to put in place penal and
criminal sanctions to punish perpetrators of violence against women migrant
workers and, to the extent possible, to provide victims of violence with the
full range of immediate assistance, such as counselling, legal and consular
assistance, temporary shelters and other measures, that will allow them to be
present during the judicial process, as well as to establish reintegration and
rehabilitation schemes for returning women migrant workers;
8. Encourages Member States to consider ratifying and complying with
International Labour Organization conventions and to consider signing and
ratifying or acceding to the International Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; 58/
9. Encourages the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women to consider developing a general recommendation on the situation
of women migrant workers;
10. Encourages concerned Governments, in particular those of sending and
receiving countries, to adopt measures to regulate the recruitment and
deployment of women migrant workers, as well as consider adopting appropriate
legal measures against intermediaries who deliberately encourage the
clandestine movement of workers and who exploit women migrant workers;
11. Requests the United Nations Development Programme, the United
Nations Development Fund for Women and other relevant organizations of the
United Nations system, within the context of the country cooperation and
development assistance framework, to support national measures, in both
sending and receiving countries, designed to strengthen preventive action, in
particular education and information campaigns to increase awareness of the
issue of violence against women migrant workers, and to ensure adequate
briefing and training of prospective women migrant workers on the laws,
culture, working and living conditions, possible problems, coping mechanisms
and support services in the receiving countries;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to take into account the relevant
provisions contained in the present resolution in preparing, for submission to
the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, the report on the problem of
violence against women migrant workers requested by the Assembly in paragraph
10 of its resolution 52/97.
Resolution 42/4. Older women and support systems: gender
and caregiving*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 58-59.)
The Commission on the Status of Women,
Aware that gender difference in life expectancy rises with age and that
therefore two thirds of the very old are women,
Aware also that, traditionally, women are relied upon as caregivers at
all ages and that they make an essential but often unrecognized and
unremunerated contribution to society and the economy,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on older women and
support systems: new challenges, 59/ based on the report and
recommendations of the Expert Group Meeting on Caregiving and Older Persons:
Gender Dimensions, held in Malta from 30 November to 2 December 1997, which
underscored that:
(a) Changes in the traditional support systems affect women and men
differently;
(b) Urbanization has weakened the traditional support systems for older
persons;
(c) There are growing numbers of women who, as the primary caretakers,
are entering the labour market;
(d) Because women live longer than men, they are more likely than men to
live alone in old age: in most countries, widows outnumber widowers;
(e) Older women are more likely than men to be poor;
(f) Older women face a higher risk of chronic illness and disability;
female advantage in life expectancy is often offset by disability;
(g) Older women's contributions to the well-being of their families,
communities and the economy are widely overlooked,
1. Takes note of the recommendations made in the report of the
Secretary-General;
2. Invites Member States to consider implementing, at the national
level, as appropriate, the recommendations contained in the annex to the
present resolution, which are based on the report of the Secretary-General and
the views expressed in the Commission by Member States;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to take into account these
recommendations when preparing his report to the Commission at its forty-third
session, as requested in its resolution 41/2, on key global issues regarding
the differential impact of population ageing on men and women.
Annex
RECOMMENDATIONS ON CAREGIVING AND OLDER PERSONS:
GENDER DIMENSIONS
A. Research
So far, there is a lack of expertise and research on support systems for
older persons from a gender perspective. National and international
statistical and research institutes should:
(a) Disaggregate all data by age and sex;
(b) Analyse the needs of older persons and caregivers from a gender
perspective;
(c) Pay special attention to the situation of older women and men in
developing countries and carry out research on how support systems affect
women and men differently;
(d) Analyse the consequences of changes in pensions and health care
based on gender and age;
(e) Develop a methodology to measure the value of women's unpaid labour.
B. Economic security
Women in all parts of the world are more likely than men to be poor.
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions should:
(a) Ensure that women at all stages of life have access to employment,
social protection systems and income equal to that of men;
(b) Value the important contributions older women make to development;
(c) See that particular attention is paid to efforts to eliminate the
gender gap in income;
(d) Eliminate discrimination against women in pension funds that are
based on the principle of continuous employment;
(e) Ensure that older women have access to credit and income-earning
possibilities;
(f) Involve men and women equally at all levels when designing and
implementing economic policies that affect older persons.
C. Education and empowerment
The level of formal education and participation in public life of older
women is much lower than that of men. Governmental, intergovernmental and
non-governmental institutions should:
(a) Ensure that throughout their lives, girls and women have equal
access to education and vocational training, and promote women's self-esteem
at all stages of life;
(b) Promote lifelong learning on the part of women, provide
possibilities for training and retraining, and equip older women with
knowledge of modern and traditional technologies so they remain in the
mainstream of society;
(c) Promote a positive image of older women in political and economic
decision-making through mass media and education in order to ensure older
women's autonomy and productivity;
(d) Give special attention to the situation of older women in the
context of the International Year of Older Persons (1999).
D. Well-being of caregivers
Women as caregivers are in demand. In order to support caregivers,
Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions should:
(a) Attach higher value to unpaid caregiving labour and be aware that
caregiving is not in unlimited supply;
(b) Ensure that the demand put upon women as caregivers does not
increase disproportionately in relation to that put upon men;
(c) Provide caregivers with opportunities for occasional respites from
their duties and provide caregivers with various services, such as
housekeeping help, self-help groups, specialized counselling and training;
(d) Promote an equal sharing and better reconciliation of working,
employment and caregiving responsibilities between men and women;
(e) Consider providing financial assistance to informal caregivers;
(f) Support women and men who combine paid work and elder care with
measures such as flexible working arrangements, family leave for the care of
older dependent family members, and reintegration of caregivers after a career
break;
(g) Offer a variety of alternative services to older people, such as
home care and day-care centres.
Resolution 42/5. Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights*
(* For the discussion, see chap. III, paras. 65-66.)
The Commission on the Status of Women,
Recalling, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, 60/ that the Universal Declaration reiterates
the principle of the equal rights of women and men contained in the Charter of
the United Nations, and entitles everyone to the rights and freedoms set forth
in the Universal Declaration without distinction on the basis of sex,
Recalling also that gender mainstreaming is a key strategy for achieving
equality between women and men and the full enjoyment of all human rights by
women,
1. Calls upon the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council,
the Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations system as a whole to
ensure that the human rights of women form an integral part of all activities
in the commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and are
also especially addressed through targeted activities;
2. Recommends that all activities for the commemoration should address
the human rights of women, with a view to achieving common understanding and
awareness on the promotion and protection of all human rights of women by, for
instance, inviting gender experts to participate or contribute and devoting
specific attention to the theme "Human rights of women";
3. Also recommends that specific activities be undertaken to highlight
the human rights of women such as the analysis of obstacles in the realization
of their rights;
4. Encourages Member States, as well as other actors in the human
rights field, to also mainstream a gender perspective into their commemorative
activities.
Decision 42/101. Documents considered by the Commission on the
Status of Women under agenda items 3 and 5
At its 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission on the Status of Women
took note of the following documents:
(a) Report of the Secretary-General on a high-level plenary review in
the year 2000 to appraise and assess the progress achieved in the
implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement
of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, containing options for convening
the review as contained in General Assembly resolution 52/100; 61/
(b) Synthesized report of the Secretary-General on national action plans
and strategies for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action; 62/
(c) Report of the Secretary-General containing an annotated comparison
of the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women and the amendments proposed thereto with
the provisions of existing international human rights instruments; 63/
(d) Report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the status of
women in the Secretariat; 64/
(e) Note by the Secretariat on the high-level plenary review in the year
2000; 65/
(f) Report of the Secretary-General on women's real enjoyment of their
human rights, in particular those relating to the elimination of poverty,
economic development and economic resources. 66/
Notes
1/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13),
chap. I, resolution 1, annex I.
2/ Ibid., annex II.
3/ Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of
the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,
Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10),
chap. I, sect. A.
4/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
5/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
6/ General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
7/ General Assembly resolution 39/46, annex.
8/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
9/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
10/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. 96.IV.13), chap. I,
resolution 1, annex I.
11/ Ibid., annex II.
12/ E/CN.6/1998/2/Add.2.
13/ Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of
the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,
Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10),
chap. I, sect. A.
14/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. 96.IV.13), chap. I,
resolution 1, annex II.
15/ General Assembly resolution 48/104.
16/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
17/ See Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and
Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915).
18/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
19/ Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1996, Supplement
No. 6 (E/1996/26), chap. I, sect. C.2, resolution 40/10.
20/ E/CN.6/1998/3.
21/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap.
I, resolution 1, annex II.
22/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13),
chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.
23/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
24/ General Assembly resolution 48/104.
25/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session,
Supplement No. 38 (A/47/38), chap. I.
26/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap.
I, resolution 1, annex II.
27/ Geneva, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1995.
28/ Document E/ECA/ATRCW/ARCC.XV/94/7, April 1994.
29/ A/52/720, annex, sect. 4.
30/ Ibid., sect. 3.
31/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap.
I, resolution 1, annex II.
32/ A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
33/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
34/ Ibid.
35/ CEDAW/C/1997/4.
36/ E/CN.4/1998/22-E/CN.6/1998/11.
37/ See A/52/3, chap. IV, sect. A, para. 4.
38/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap.
I, resolution 1, annex II.
39/ A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
40/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
41/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
42/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
43/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
44/ A/51/385, annex.
45/ A/53/57.
46/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September
1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution
1, annex II.
47/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
48/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
49/ See General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
50/ Ibid.
51/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
52/ A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
53/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. 96.IV.13), chap. I,
resolution 1, annexes I and II.
54/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing,
4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap.
I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
55/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.
56/ General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993.
57/ E/CN.6/1998/5.
58/ General Assembly resolution 45/158, annex.
59/ E/CN.6/1998/4.
60/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
61/ A/52/789.
62/ E/CN.6/1998/6.
63/ E/CN.6/1998/7.
64/ E/CN.6/1998/8.
65/ E/CN.6/1998/10.
66/ E/CN.4/1998/22-E/CN.6/1998/11.
Chapter II
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN ACTING AS THE PREPARATORY
COMMITTEE FOR THE HIGH-LEVEL REVIEW IN THE YEAR 2000 OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NAIROBI FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR
ACTION, TO BE HELD BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1. In accordance with General Assembly resolution 52/100, the Commission,
during its forty-second session, met also as the Preparatory Committee for the
High-level Review in the Year 2000 of the Implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Beijing
Platform for Action, which is to be held by the General Assembly.
2. The Preparatory Committee held five meetings (1st to 5th) and a number
of informal meetings, on 4, 6 and 11 to 13 March 1998. It had before it the
report of the Secretary-General on the high-level plenary review in the year
2000 (A/52/789) containing options for convening the review and a note by the
Secretariat on the review (E/CN.6/1998/10).
ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION
Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and full implementation of
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
3. At the 3rd meeting, on 11 March, the Preparatory Committee had before it
a draft text for a resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.11) entitled "Follow-up to the
Fourth World Conference on Women and full implementation of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action", submitted by the Chairperson on the
basis of informal discussions.
4. At the 4th meeting, on 12 March, the Chairperson made a statement with
regard to the draft resolution.
5. At the 5th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission had before it a
statement of the programme budget implications of the draft resolution,
submitted by the Secretary-General in accordance with rule 31 of the rules of
procedure of the Economic and Social Council (E/CN.6/1998/L.14).
6. At the same meeting, the Chairperson drew the attention of the
Commission to an informal paper containing revisions to the draft resolution
resulting from informal consultations.
7. The Commission then adopted the draft resolution, as revised (see
chap. I, sect. A, draft resolution).
8. Before the draft resolution was adopted, statements were made by the
representatives of Indonesia (on behalf of the States Members of the United
Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China) and Co^te d'Ivoire and
the observer for Pakistan.
Report of the Secretary-General containing options for a high-level plenary
review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the year
2000
9. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission took note of the report
of the Secretary-General on a high-level plenary review in the year 2000 of
the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women
(A/52/789) containing options for convening the review (see chap. I, sect. D,
Commission decision 42/101).
Chapter III
FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN
1. The Commission considered item 3 of its agenda at its 1st to 10th, 12th
and 13th meetings, from 2 to 6 and on 12 and 13 March 1998. It had before it
the following documents:
(a) Report of the Secretary-General on the high-level plenary review in
the year 2000 on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World
Conference on Women (A/52/789), containing options for convening the review;
(b) Report of the Secretary-General on the follow-up to and
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(E/CN.6/1998/2 and Add.1 and 2);
(c) Report of the Secretary-General on the mid-term review of the
implementation of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of
women, 1996-2001 (E/CN.6/1998/3);
(d) Report of the Secretary-General on older women and support systems:
new challenges (E/CN.6/1998/4);
(e) Analytical report of the Secretary-General on the thematic issues
before the Commission (E/CN.6/1998/5);
(f) Synthesized report of the Secretary-General on national action plans
and strategies for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
(E/CN.6/1998/6);
(g) Report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the status of
women in the Secretariat (E/CN.6/1998/8);
(h) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting information provided by
the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the implementation of General
Assembly resolution 50/166 on the role of the Fund in eliminating violence
against women (E/CN.6/1998/9);
(i) Note by the Secretariat on the high-level plenary review in the year
2000 (E/CN.6/1998/10);
(j) Report of the Secretary-General on women's real enjoyment of their
human rights, in particular those relating to the elimination of poverty,
economic development and economic resources (E/CN.4/1998/22-E/CN.6/1998/11).
2. At the 1st meeting, on 2 March, the Commission heard an introductory
statement by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
3. At the same meeting, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women made a statement.
4. Also at the 1st meeting, statements were made by the representatives of
Indonesia (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are
members of the Group of 77 and China), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that
are members of the European Union), the United States of America, Chile and
the Dominican Republic and the observers for Zambia (on behalf of the States
Members of the United Nations that are members of the Southern African
Development Community) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
5. The representative of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific also made a statement.
6. The Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women made a
statement.
7. At the 2nd meeting, on 2 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Brazil, Japan, Co^te d'Ivoire, Ghana and China and the
observers for Ecuador, Spain, South Africa, Bangladesh, Israel, Liechtenstein,
Singapore, Namibia and Botswana.
8. Statements were made by the representatives of the Economic Commission
for Europe and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
9. Statements were also made by the representatives of the United Nations
Development Programme, the International Research and Training Institute for
the Advancement of Women and the United Nations Children's Fund.
10. Statements were made by the representatives of the International Labour
Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
11. The observers for the Council of Europe and the International
Organization for Migration also made statements.
12. Statements were made by the observers for the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, a non-governmental organization in general
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, and All India
Women's Conference, a non-governmental organization in special consultative
status with the Council.
13. At the 3rd meeting, on 3 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Norway, Poland, the Philippines, Togo, the Republic of
Korea, the United Republic of Tanzania, Mexico, Slovakia and the Islamic
Republic of Iran and the observers for Sweden, Canada, Australia, Kenya, Saint
Lucia (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members
of the Caribbean Community), New Zealand and Finland.
14. The observer for the Holy See also made a statement.
15. The representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees made a statement.
16. The observer for the Women's Environment and Development Organizations,
a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and
Social Council, Roster, also made a statement.
17. At the 7th meeting, on 5 March, the Commission held a discussion on
agenda item 3 (a) and (b) and heard statements by the representatives of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (on behalf of the States
Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union), the
Republic of Korea, the Dominican Republic, Greece and China and the observers
for Israel and Canada.
18. The observer for the European Community also made a statement.
19. A statement was made by the observer for HelpAge International, a
non-governmental organization in general consultative status with the Economic
and Social Council, who spoke on behalf of a coalition of non-governmental
organizations.
20. At the 9th and 10th meetings, on 6 March, the Commission resumed its
discussion of agenda item 3.
21. At the 9th meeting, statements were made by the representatives of
Sri Lanka, Cuba, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Paraguay, Morocco,
Ethiopia, Lebanon, Uganda, India and Mali and the observers for Pakistan,
Iraq, Lithuania, Argentina, Jordan, Algeria, Austria, Nigeria and El Salvador.
22. The observer for Palestine also made a statement.
23. Statements were made by the representatives of the Economic Commission
for Africa and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
24. Statements were also made by the observers for the Inter-Parliamentary
Union and the International Council of Women, non-governmental organizations
in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, and by a
caucus of non-governmental organizations on women in armed conflict.
25. At the 10th meeting, on 6 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Rwanda, Peru, Greece and the Sudan and the observers for
Guatemala, Ukraine, Venezuela and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
26. The representative of the United Nations Population Fund also made a
statement.
27. Statements were made by the observers for the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the
Red Cross.
28. Statements were also made by the observers for the following
non-governmental organizations: an Asian caucus; the World Islamic Call
Society, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council, Roster; an African caucus; Housewives in
Dialogue, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with
the Council (on behalf of several non-governmental organizations); and General
Arab Women Federation, a non-governmental organization also in special
consultative status with the Council.
Panel discussions on implementation of strategic objectives and action in the
critical areas of concern (agenda item 3 (c))
29. At the 4th meeting, on 3 March, the Commission held a panel discussion
and dialogue on human rights of women (agenda item 3 (c) (iii)).
30. Presentations were made by the following experts: Cecilia Medina,
member, Human Rights Committee, Chile; Rose Mtengeti Migiro, Senior Lecturer
in Law, University of Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania; Shelagh Day,
human rights consultant, Canada; and Shanti Dairiam, Director, International
Women's Rights Action Watch in Asia and the Pacific, Malaysia.
31. At the 5th meeting, on 4 March, the Commission held a panel discussion
and dialogue on the girl child (agenda item 3 (c) (iv)).
32. Presentations were made by the following experts:
Lina Bellosillo-Laigo, Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Philippines; Sadig Rasheed, Director, Programme Division, United
Nations Children's Fund; Paloma Bonfil Sanchez, Executive Secretary, Grupo
Interdisciplinario sobre Mujer, Trabajo y Pobreza (GIMTRAP), Mexico; and
Margaret Vogt, Research Professor and Head, Strategic Studies Division,
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
33. At the 6th meeting, on 4 March, the Commission held a panel discussion
and dialogue on women and armed conflict (agenda item 3 (c) (ii)).
34. Presentations were made by the following experts: Helga Hernes,
Ambassador and Special Adviser, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway;
Rafiga Azimova, research scientist, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Academy
of Sciences, Azerbaijan; Bernard Muna, International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations
of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and
Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed
in the Territory of Neighbouring States, between 1 January and
31 December 1994, Cameroon; and Hina Jilani, advocate, Supreme Court of
Pakistan.
35. At the 8th meeting, on 5 March, the Commission held a panel discussion
and dialogue on violence against women (agenda item 3 (c) (i)).
36. Presentations were made by the following experts: Barbara Prammer,
Federal Minister for Women's Affairs and Consumer Protection, Austria;
Bonnie Campbell, Head, Violence against Women Office, United States Justice
Department, United States of America; Lisbeth Guevara, Professor of Law, and
member, Commission against Domestic Violence of the National Women's Council,
Venezuela; and Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights on violence against women, Sri Lanka.
37. The principal elements emerging from the panel discussions were
summarized by the moderators of the four panels, that is to say, the
Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission. The text was approved by
the Commission for inclusion as an annex to its report on its forty-second
session (see annex I to the present report); and was neither negotiated nor
adopted by the Commission.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION
Human rights and land rights discrimination
38. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the observer for Zambia, 1/ on behalf
of Austria, 1/ Belgium, Botswana, 1/ Canada, 1/ Chile, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, 1/ Denmark, 1/ Ecuador, 1/ Finland, 1/ France, Ghana, Greece,
Ireland,1 Italy, 1/ Kenya, 1/ Kyrgyzstan, 1/ Luxembourg, 1/ Malawi, 1/
Mauritius, 1/ Mozambique, 1/ Namibia, 1/ the Netherlands, 1/ Norway, Portugal,
Saint Lucia, South Africa, 1/ Spain, 1/ Swaziland, Sweden, 1/ Turkey, 1/ the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of
Tanzania, 1/ Zambia 1/ and Zimbabwe, 1/ introduced a draft resolution
(E/CN.6/1998/L.3) entitled "Human rights and land rights discrimination".
39. Subsequently, Angola, Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Germany,
Guinea,1/ Guinea-Bissau, 1/ Mali, Nigeria, 1/ the Philippines, Poland,
Rwanda, Switzerland, 1/ Togo, Uganda and the United States of America joined
in sponsoring the draft resolution.
40. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the representative of the Sudan
proposed an amendment to operative paragraph 5 of the draft resolution, by
which the word "equal" was deleted before the word "inheritance".
41. The amendment was accepted by the observer for Zambia on behalf of the
sponsors.
42. At the same meeting, the Commission agreed that no explanations of
position would be made on the draft resolution. Upon that understanding, the
Commission adopted the draft resolution, as orally amended (see chap. I,
sect. D, Commission resolution 42/1).
The girl child
43. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the Commission had before it a draft
resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.4) entitled "The girl child", submitted by the
observer for Namibia, 1/ on behalf of Angola, Bangladesh, 1/ Botswana, 1/
Kyrgyzstan, 1/ Lesotho, Malawi, 1/ the Marshall Islands, 1/ Mauritius, 1/
Morocco, Namibia, 1/ Pakistan, 1/ South Africa, 1/ Swaziland, Uganda, the
United Republic of Tanzania, 1/ Zambia 1/ and Zimbabwe. 1/ The draft
resolution read as follows:
"The Commission on the Status of Women,
"Recalling General Assembly resolution 52/100 of 12 December 1997,
"Also recalling all relevant conferences and human rights
instruments as they concern the girl child,
"Noting with appreciation the expert group meeting on adolescent
girls and their rights, held at Addis Ababa from 13 to 17 October 1997,
which was jointly organized by the Division for the Advancement of
Women, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Population
Fund and the Economic Commission for Africa,
"Deeply concerned about the discrimination against the girl child
and the violation of the rights of the girl child, which often result in
less access for girls to education, nutrition, physical and mental
health care, in girls enjoying fewer rights, opportunities and benefits
of childhood and adolescence than boys and often being subjected to
various forms of cultural, social, sexual and economic exploitation, and
in violence and harmful practices, such as incest, early marriage,
female infanticide, prenatal sex selection and female genital
mutilation,
"Taking note of the panel discussion held on the critical areas of
concern on the girl child during the forty-second session of the
Commission,
"Stressing the need for more awareness-raising at the global level
on the plight of the girl child,
"1. Demands that Governments, intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, as appropriate, ensure the full and
urgent implementation of the rights of the girl child, as guaranteed to
her under all human rights instruments, including the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women;
"2. Calls upon the Secretary-General to appoint a special
ambassador to raise awareness on the special needs and concerns of the
girl child;
"3. Requests Governments, the United Nations system and
non-governmental organizations to give due account to the
recommendations contained in the report of the expert group meeting on
adolescent girls and their rights;
"4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the
Commission on the Status of Women prior to the five-year review of the
Fourth World Conference on Women in the year 2000, and thereafter on a
biennial basis, on the initiatives and progress made in the
implementation of the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World
Conference on Women relating to the Girl Child."
44. At the same meeting, the observer for Namibia withdrew the draft
resolution on behalf of the sponsors.
Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan
45. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the representative of the United
States of America, on behalf of Australia, 1/ Austria, 1/ Belgium, Bolivia,
Canada, 1/ Chile, the Czech Republic, 1/ the Democratic Republic of the
Congo,1/ Denmark, 1/ Finland, 1/ France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, 1/
Guinea-Bissau, 1/ Iceland, 1/ Ireland, 1/ Israel, 1/ Italy, 1/ Japan,
Kyrgyzstan, 1/ Liechtenstein, 1/ Luxembourg, 1/ Malawi, 1/ Mali, the Marshall
Islands, 1/ the Netherlands, 1/ New Zealand, 1/ Panama, 1/ Peru, the
Philippines, Portugal, Romania, 1/ Rwanda, Slovakia, South Africa, 1/ Spain,
1/ Sweden, 1/ Turkey, 1/ the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland and the United States of America, introduced a draft resolution
(E/CN.6/1998/L.5) entitled "Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan".
Subsequently, Argentina, 1/ Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 1/
Ghana, Guinea, 1/ Malta, 1/ Norway and Poland joined in sponsoring the draft
resolution.
46. In introducing the draft resolution, the representative of the United
States of America orally revised it by adding an operative paragraph 7 which
read as follows:
"Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that reports of future
gender missions are made available to the Commission on the Status of
Women".
47. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the representative of the United
States of America further orally revised the draft resolution by deleting the
word "Member" before the word "States" in operative paragraphs 4 and 6.
48. The observer for Switzerland 1/ joined in sponsoring the draft
resolution, as further orally revised.
49. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft resolution, as
further orally revised (see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution I).
50. After the draft resolution was adopted, the representative of the
Russian Federation made a statement.
Release of women and children taken hostage in armed conflicts, including
those subsequently imprisoned
51. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the observer for Azerbaijan, 1/ on
behalf of Angola, Argentina, 1/ Azerbaijan, 1/ Bangladesh, 1/ Bolivia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, 1/ Botswana, 1/ Co^te d'Ivoire, Ecuador, 1/ Georgia, 1/
Ghana, Guatemala, 1/ Guinea-Bissau, 1/ the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan,1/
Kazakhstan, 1/ Kyrgyzstan, 1/ Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, 1/ Nigeria, 1/
Pakistan, 1/ Peru, South Africa, 1/ Tajikistan, 1/ Togo, Tunisia, 1/ Turkey,1/
Turkmenistan, 1/ Uzbekistan 1/ and Zimbabwe, 1/ introduced a draft resolution
(E/CN.6/1998/L.6) entitled "Release of women and children taken hostage,
including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts". Subsequently,
the Dominican Republic, Guinea, 1/ Mozambique 1/ and the Sudan joined in
sponsoring the draft resolution.
52. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission adopted the draft
resolution (see chap. I, sect. D, Commission resolution 42/2).
Violence against women migrant workers
53. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the representative of the Philippines,
on behalf of Bangladesh, 1/ Bolivia, Co^te d'Ivoire, the Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, 1/ Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines and
Sri Lanka, introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.7) entitled "Women
migrant workers", which read as follows:
"The Commission on the Status of Women,
"Recalling all resolutions relevant to women migrant workers adopted
by the General Assembly, in particular resolution 52/97 of
12 December 1997, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission
on Human Rights and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, as well as the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
Against Women,
"Also recalling the outcome of major world conferences, specifically
those pertaining to women migrant workers,
"Emphasizing the need for comprehensive, broad-based information and
a wide exchange of experiences and lessons learned by Member States and
civil society in the formulation of policies and strategies to address
the problem of violence against women migrant workers,
"Recognizing the importance of continued cooperation at the
bilateral, regional and international levels in protecting and promoting
the rights and welfare of women migrant workers,
"1. Takes note of the Secretary-General's report on the thematic
issues before the Commission on the Status of Women;
"2. Requests concerned Governments to include in their national
action plans information on the problems of women migrant workers which
could form part of a database for the formulation of appropriate
measures to address the problem of violence against women migrant
workers;
"3. Encourages Governments to avail themselves of the expertise of
the United Nations, including the Statistics Division of the United
Nations Secretariat and other relevant bodies such as the International
Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, to develop
appropriate data collection methodologies that will generate comparable
data on violence against women migrant workers as bases for research and
analyses on the subject;
"4. Invites Governments, in cooperation with relevant United
Nations bodies and non-governmental organizations to undertake further
research on the causes and consequences of violence against women
migrant workers;
"5. Requests concerned States Parties to include in their periodic
reports to relevant human rights treaty bodies updated and comprehensive
information on actions they have taken to address the problem of
violence against women migrant workers;
"6. Requests the Secretary-General to establish a database of good
practices and lessons learned relating to gender-based violence, in
cooperation with relevant entities in the United Nations system, and in
that regard, invites Member States and non-governmental organizations to
provide information on bilateral and multilateral agreements, national
experiences and lessons learned, initiatives and projects which have
proved viable and effective as bases for evolving model strategies for
dealing with violence against women migrant workers;
"7. Calls upon concerned Governments to put in place penal and
criminal sanctions to punish perpetrators of violence against women
migrant workers and to provide survivors with the full range of
immediate assistance, such as counselling, legal and consular
assistance, temporary shelters and other measures that will allow them
to be present during the judicial process;
"8. Encourages Member States to ratify and comply with
International Labour Organization conventions and to sign and ratify or
accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families;
"9. Invites Member States to implement, as appropriate, the Model
Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against
Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice;
"10. Invites the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women to develop a general recommendation on
women and migration;
"11. Requests the United Nations Development Programme, the United
Nations Development Fund for Women and other relevant agencies of the
United Nations system, within the context of the country cooperation and
development assistance framework, to support national measures designed
to strengthen preventive action, in particular, education and
information campaigns to increase awareness of the issue of violence
against women migrant workers;
"12. Requests the Secretary-General to take into account the
relevant provisions contained in the present resolution in preparing the
study requested in paragraph 10 of General Assembly resolution 52/97."
54. In introducing the draft resolution, the representative of the
Philippines orally revised it. Subsequently, Argentina, 1/ Ghana, Guinea, 1/
and Guinea-Bissau 1/ joined in sponsoring the draft resolution, as orally
revised.
55. Also at the 12th meeting, the representative of the Russian Federation
made a statement.
56. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the representative of the Philippines
further orally revised the draft resolution.
57. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft resolution, as
further orally revised (see chap. I, sect. D, Commission resolution 42/3).
Older women and support systems: gender and caregiving
58. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the representative of the Dominican
Republic, on behalf of Australia, 1/ Austria, 1/ Bangladesh, 1/ Bolivia,
Canada, 1/ Chile, Costa Rica, 1/ Co^te d'Ivoire, the Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, 1/ El Salvador, 1/ Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece,
Guatemala, 1/ Guinea-Bissau, 1/ Ireland, 1/ Israel, 1/ Japan, Lesotho,
Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, 1/ Pakistan, 1/ Panama, 1/ Paraguay, Peru,
the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, 1/ the Sudan, Togo and the United States of
America, introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.8) entitled "Older women
and support systems: gender and caregiving". Subsequently, Bulgaria,
Guinea,1/ Indonesia, Italy, 1/ Malta, 1/ Namibia, 1/ the Republic of Korea,
Swaziland, Switzerland, 1/ Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania 1/ and Uruguay1/
joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
59. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission adopted the draft
resolution (see chap. I, sect. D, Commission resolution 42/4).
Palestinian women
60. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the representative of Indonesia, on
behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the
Group of 77 and China, introduced and orally corrected a draft resolution
(E/CN.6/1998/L.9) entitled "Palestinian women".
61. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission adopted the draft
resolution, as corrected, by a recorded vote of 34 to 1, with 5 abstentions
(see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution II). The voting was as follows: 2/
In favour: Angola, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China,
Co^te d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Germany,
Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic
of), Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Paraguay,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian
Federation, Slovakia, Sudan, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Against: United States of America.
Abstaining: Lebanon, Lesotho, Norway, Rwanda, Uganda.
62. Before the draft resolution was adopted, statements were made by the
representative of the United States of America and the observer for Israel;
after it was adopted, statements were made by the representatives of Lebanon,
Norway and the Russian Federation and the observer for the Syrian Arab
Republic. The observer for Palestine also made a statement.
Mid-term review of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of
women, including the status of women in the Secretariat
63. At the 12th meeting, on 12 March, the observer for Canada, 1/ on behalf
of Angola, Argentina, 1/ Armenia, 1/ Australia, 1/ Austria, 1/ Bangladesh, 1/
Botswana, 1/ Canada, 1/ Chile, Co^te d'Ivoire, Denmark, 1/ the Dominican
Republic, Finland, 1/ France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, 1/ Ireland, 1/
Japan, Kyrgyzstan, 1/ Lesotho, Liechtenstein, 1/ Luxembourg, 1/ Malawi, 1/
Mali, Morocco, Namibia, 1/ the Netherlands, 1/ New Zealand, 1/ Nigeria, 1/
Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, 1/ Rwanda, Senegal, 1/ South
Africa, 1/ Spain, 1/ the Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, 1/ Uganda, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America
and Zambia, 1/ introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.10) entitled
"Mid-term review of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of
women, including the status of women in the Secretariat". Subsequently,
Belgium, Bolivia, Ecuador, 1/ Guinea, 1/ Guatemala, 1/ India, Indonesia,
Italy, 1/ Malaysia, Mozambique, 1/ Paraguay, Togo and the United Republic of
Tanzania 1/ joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
64. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission adopted the draft
resolution (see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution III).
Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
65. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission had before it a draft
resolution (E/CN.6/1998/L.12) entitled "Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights", submitted by the Chairperson.
66. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft resolution (see
chap. I, sect. D, Commission resolution 42/5).
Conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women on critical areas of
concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action
67. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission had before it draft
conclusions submitted by the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons as the
Moderators of the panel discussions on the critical areas of concern
(E/CN.6/1998/CRP.2, CRP.3/Rev.1, CRP.4 and CRP.5).
68. At the same meeting, revisions to the draft conclusions were circulated
to the Commission in informal papers.
69. Also at the 13th meeting, the representative of the Sudan made a
statement, to which the Chairperson responded.
70. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft conclusions, as
orally revised (see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution IV).
Documents relating to agenda item 3
71. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission took note of the
following documents under agenda item 3:
(a) Synthesized report of the Secretary-General on national action plans
and strategies for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
(E/CN.6/1998/6);
(b) Report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the status of
women in the Secretariat (E/CN.6/1998/8);
(c) Report of the Secretary-General on women's real enjoyment of their
human rights, in particular those relating to the elimination of poverty,
economic development and economic resources (E/CN.4/1998/22-E/CN.6/1998/11).
(See chap. I, sect. D, Commission decision 42/101.)
Notes
1/ In accordance with rule 69 of the rules of procedure of the functional
commissions of the Economic and Social Council.
2/ The delegation of Peru subsequently indicated that, had it been present
during the voting, it would have voted in favour of the draft resolution.
Chapter IV
COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING THE STATUS OF WOMEN
1. The Commission considered item 4 of its agenda at the 11th meeting (a
closed meeting), on 11 March 1998.
2. Pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 1983/27, the
Commission had established a working group to consider communications
concerning the status of women. The following five members, nominated by
their regional groups, were appointed: Esmaeil Afshari (Islamic Republic of
Iran); Fidel Coloma (Chile); Die'ne'bou Kaba Camara (Co^te d'Ivoire); Sissel
Salomon (Norway); and Krystyna Zurek (Poland). The Working Group held six
meetings.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION
Report of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women
3. At the 11th meeting (a closed meeting), on 11 March, the Commission
considered the report of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of
Women (E/CN.6/1998/CRP.6).
4. At the same meeting, the Commission took note of the report of the
Working Group and agreed to include it in the report of the Commission. The
report of the Working Group is as follows:
"1. The Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women was
guided in its deliberations by the mandate given in Economic and Social
Council resolution 76 (V) of 5 August 1947, as amended by Council
resolutions 304 I (XI) of 14 and 17 July 1950 and 1983/27 of 26 May
1983.
"2. The Working Group considered the confidential list of communications
(E/CN.6/1998/SW/COMM.LIST/32 and Add.1) and the non-confidential list of
communications concerning the status of women (E/CN.6/1998/CR.34).
"3. The Working Group took note of the nine confidential communications
received directly by the Division for the Advancement of Women of the
United Nations Secretariat and of the 27 communications that formed the
confidential list received by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
It also took note of the fact that no confidential communications had
been received from other United Nations bodies or specialized agencies.
It considered three non-confidential communications. At the request of
one Government, the Working Group agreed to postpone consideration of
one confidential communication until the forty-third session of the
Commission on the Status of Women.
"4. Regarding the confidential communications, the Working Group
expressed its deep concern in relation to the systematic and grave
violation of women's human rights, including violations of women's and
girls' rights to security; to life and liberty; to freedom of movement,
freedom of thought and freedom of expression; and to the right to
assemble.
"5. The Working Group was further concerned at the alleged use of
massive arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, detention of minors,
torture, refusal of a fair trial to political opponents and prisoners,
and the use of forced exile. The Working Group was also specifically
concerned at the abusive treatment of women with impunity by security
forces, including military and police forces, and by other governmental
authorities. That abusive treatment included rape and sexual abuse of
women in detention and in camps for detained migrant workers.
"6. The Working Group also expressed its deep concern over the mass
punishment of women residents in areas targeted by security forces and
the cruel and degrading treatment of women by soldiers, including gang
rape and sexual slavery.
"7. The Working Group was gravely concerned about the allegedly
increasing gross violations of the human rights of women, including
patterns of arbitrary and extrajudicial killings, kidnappings,
disappearances and disappearances after arrest, death in police custody,
and also trafficking in women and girls.
"8. The Working Group noted with concern the widespread repression in
the context of conflict situations which resulted in gross human rights
violations that sometimes amounted to genocide, leading to physical and
psychological abuses of women, including rape.
"9. The Working Group expressed its concern at harmful traditional
practices, such as female genital mutilation, which continued in certain
States, and also noted with concern the practices of forced abortion and
sterilization.
"10. The Working Group further noted the alleged harassment to which
human rights defenders had been subjected by members of the police and
other authority figures.
"11. The Working Group noted with concern the continued discrimination
against indigenous families, including women and children who had been
forcefully evicted from their homes and land and moved to unknown
places. It also noted with concern the discrimination against
minorities, in particular the denial of their rights to education and to
the enjoyment of their religious and cultural life.
"12. The Working Group noted with grave concern the gross and consistent
violations of the social, economic and cultural rights of women as
reflected in the continued discrimination against women in the spheres
of employment, education and health, including malnutrition.
"13. The Working Group further noted with concern the continuing de
facto discriminatory treatment of women as reflected in limited
employment opportunities, forced retirement during pregnancy and after
childbirth, and the absence of child-care leave for part-time workers
with time-limited employment - a majority of whom were women.
"14. The Working Group took note of the alleged specific cases of
discrimination and harassment, including physical and sexual assault,
verbal and non-verbal abuse, unprovoked and improper obscene comments,
psychological abuse, intimidation and threats of bodily harm, shunning
and exclusion from employee gatherings.
"15. In considering the non-confidential communications, the Working
Group took note of the continued absence of women in decision-making
processes, particularly in the context of conflict prevention and
resolution.
"16. The Working Group expressed appreciation to Governments for having
sent replies conducive to the clarification of the cases concerned. It
noted, however, that some Governments had not replied. The Working
Group urged the Commission to encourage all Governments concerned to
send their replies and to cooperate in order to improve the
communication mechanism.
"17. With reference to the criteria used in selecting the communications
to be submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women, the Working
Group reiterated that the content of communications must refer to women
and to women's issues only - that is, to injustices or discriminatory
acts or practices against women."
Chapter V
CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST WOMEN, INCLUDING THE ELABORATION OF A DRAFT OPTIONAL
PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION
1. The Commission considered item 5 of its agenda at the 13th meeting, on
13 March 1998. It had before it the report of the Secretary-General
containing an annotated comparison of the draft optional protocol and the
amendments proposed thereto with the provisions of existing international
human rights instruments (E/CN.6/1998/7).
ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMMISSION
Report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
2. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Chairperson of the Open-ended
Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
Aloisia Woergetter (Austria), introduced and orally revised the report of the
Working Group, as contained in documents E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.1-3.
3. The Commission also had before it an informal paper containing a summary
by the Chairperson of the Working Group of views and comments made by
delegations during the negotiations, which was subsequently circulated in
document E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.4.
4. The representative of the United States of America raised a question,
which was responded to by the Chairperson of the Working Group.
5. The Commission then adopted the draft report of the Working Group, as
orally revised, and agreed to annex it to the report of the Commission (see
annex II to the present report).
Report of the Secretary-General containing an annotated comparison of the
draft optional protocol and the amendments proposed thereto with the
provisions of existing international human rights instruments
6. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March, the Commission took note of the report
of the Secretary-General containing an annotated comparison of the draft
optional protocol and the amendments proposed thereto with the provisions of
existing international human rights instruments (E/CN.6/1998/7) (see chap. I,
sect. D, Commission decision 42/101).
Chapter VI
PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE FORTY-THIRD SESSION
OF THE COMMISSION
1. The Commission considered item 6 of its agenda at the 13th meeting, on
13 March 1998. It had before it a note by the Secretariat containing the
draft provisional agenda for the forty-third session together with a list of
requested documentation (E/CN.6/1998/L.13).
2. At the same meeting, the Deputy Director of the Division for the
Advancement of Women made a statement.
3. The Commission then approved the provisional agenda for its forty-third
session together with the requested documentation (see chap. I, sect. C, draft
decision).
Chapter VII
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
ITS FORTY-SECOND SESSION
1. At the 13th meeting, on 13 March 1998, Zuzana Vranova' (Slovakia), as
Vice-Chairperson with rapporteurial responsibilities, introduced the report of
the Commission on its forty-second session (E/CN.6/1998/L.2 and Add.1) and
orally revised it.
2. At the same meeting, following statements by the representative of
France and the observers for the Syrian Arab Republic, Egypt and Spain, the
Commission adopted its draft report, as orally revised, and entrusted the
Vice-Chairperson with its completion.
3. It was noted that full interpretation services were provided for
extended and additional meetings of the Commission and its Working Group at
the current session on an as-available basis. The taking of action without
full interpretation at one of those meetings was agreed to by the Commission
on an exceptional basis on the understanding that it would not constitute a
precedent.
Chapter VIII
ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION
A. Opening and duration of the session
1. The Commission on the Status of Women held its forty-second session at
United Nations Headquarters from 2 to 13 March 1998. The Commission held
13 meetings (1st to 13th). In accordance with Economic and Social Council
decision 1997/227, the Open-ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women also met during the session.
2. In addition, the Commission held 5 meetings as the preparatory committee
for the High-level Review in the Year 2000 to Appraise and Assess the Progress
Achieved in the Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for
the Advancement of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, which the
General Assembly, in its resolution 52/100, had decided to convene.
3. The session was opened by the Chairperson of the forty-first session of
the Commission, Sharon Brennen-Haylock (Bahamas), who also made a statement.
4. At the 3rd meeting, on 3 March, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights addressed the Commission on the occasion of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and participated in a
dialogue with representatives and observers attending the session of the
Commission.
B. Attendance
5. The session was attended by representatives of 44 States members of the
Commission. Observers for other States Members of the United Nations and for
non-member States, representatives of organizations of the United Nations
system and observers for intergovernmental, non-governmental and other
organizations also attended. A list of participants is contained in annex III
to the present report.
C. Election of officers
6. At the 1st meeting, on 2 March 1998, the Commission elected the
following officers by acclamation:
Chairperson: Patricia Flor (Germany)
Vice-Chairpersons: Karam Fadi Habib (Lebanon)
Marcela Maria Nicodemos (Brazil)
Nonhlanhla P. L. Tsabedze (Swaziland)
Zuzana Vranova' (Slovakia)
7. At the 4th meeting, on 3 March, the Commission designated Zuzana
Vranova' Vice-Chairperson with rapporteurial responsibilities.
D. Agenda and organization of work
8. At the 1st meeting, on 2 March, the Commission adopted its provisional
agenda and approved its organization of work, as contained in document
E/CN.6/1998/1 and Corr.1. The agenda read as follows:
1. Election of officers.
2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.
3. Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women:
(a) Review of mainstreaming in organizations of the United Nations
system;
(b) Emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting
the situation of women or equality between women and men;
(c) Implementation of strategic objectives and action in the
critical areas of concern.
4. Communications concerning the status of women.
5. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, including the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the
Convention.
6. Provisional agenda for the forty-third session of the Commission.
7. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its forty-second session.
9. Also at the 1st meeting, the Commission was informed that
Aloisia Woergetter (Austria) would continue to serve as Chairperson of the
Open-ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, established in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution
1995/29.
E. Consultations with non-governmental organizations
10. Written statements, submitted by non-governmental organizations in
accordance with rule 76 of the rules of procedure of the functional
commissions of the Economic and Social Council, were circulated in documents
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/1-11.
Annex I
SUMMARIES OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON THE CRITICAL
AREAS OF CONCERN
A. Chairperson's summary
1. Member States, United Nations organizations and non-governmental
organizations made statements during the general debate, held on 2, 3 and
6 March 1998, on agenda item 3 (c), Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference
on Women: implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical
areas of concern.
2. Delegates reported on actions taken to implement the Beijing Platform
for Action, including specific national action plans that had been formulated
for that purpose, which in some cases were elaborated on with assistance from
organizations of the United Nations system from specific countries. They
underlined the importance of strengthening national and international efforts
to follow up on the Beijing Conference, emphasizing that the Platform for
Action had become an important frame of reference for action at the national
level for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality.
While priorities differed, depending on the situation in a given country, the
human rights of women and the elimination of violence against women tended to
be common priorities. Countries that had not formulated national plans to
follow up on the Platform for Action were urged to do so by the year 2000.
3. Representatives emphasized the importance of pursuing a policy of gender
mainstreaming for equality and the empowerment of women. A number reported on
recently formulated gender policies and on the establishment of national
mechanisms for the advancement of women, including integration of gender
equality goals into development policies, such as a white paper on women's
advancement, integration of a gender perspective into a reconstruction and
development plan, and gender mainstreaming in federal development plans.
Others noted the establishment of monitoring and oversight mechanisms to
oversee activities for the advancement of women, sometimes in collaboration
with non-governmental organizations and other actors in civil society.
4. The need for development assistance from the international community for
national efforts to implement the Platform for Action was underscored.
5. Several representatives emphasized the urgency of stepping up efforts to
collect statistical data disaggregated by sex and on gender-specific
indicators. Some reported progress in that regard, including the development
by one country of a set of economic gender-equality indicators which provided
benchmarks of women's and men's economic realities that were often overlooked.
6. A number of delegates recommended continued close cooperation between
the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Rights and
their secretariats. One representative called for further rationalization of
the work of the Commission on the Status of Women to ensure that, in its
decisions and recommendations, it addressed only the central issues.
7. Several representatives expressed views on the proposals for a high-
level review in the year 2000 of the implementation of the Nairobi and Beijing
strategies. Preference to convene the review as a special session in May or
June in the year 2000 was expressed, and the importance of the preparatory
process was emphasized. The substantive framework for the review needed to be
established as soon as possible and should provide for active contributions
from the regional commissions, the specialized agencies, and United Nations
funds and programmes. Delegates welcomed the prospect of the African regional
conference, to be convened by the Economic Commission for Africa in 1999.
8. A number of representatives thanked the Division for the Advancement of
Women for the preparation of high-quality reports and endorsed the
recommendations in the reports of the expert group meetings, convened by the
Division in partnership with other institutions, on gender-based persecution,
adolescent girls and their rights, and promoting women's enjoyment of their
economic and social rights. The previous Bureau of the Commission was
commended for its efforts inter-sessionally to prepare for the Commission and
its panel discussions.
B. Human rights of women: Moderator's summary
9. On 3 March 1998, at the 4th meeting, the Commission held a panel
discussion, followed by a dialogue, on the human rights of women, one of the
critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action. The panellists were:
Rose M. Migiro (United Republic of Tanzania), Head, Department of Civil and
Criminal Law, University of Dar es Salaam; Cecilia Medina (Chile), member,
Human Rights Committee; Shanthi Dairiam (Malaysia), Director, International
Women's Rights Action Watch in Asia and the Pacific; and Shelagh Day (Canada),
Special Adviser on Human Rights, National Association of Women and the Law.
10. Participants noted that the Beijing Platform for Action reaffirmed that
all human rights were universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,
and that the human rights of women and girls were an inalienable, integral and
indivisible part of universal human rights. Building on the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action and taking it further, the Platform
stressed that enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by women and
girls was a priority for Governments and the United Nations and was essential
for the advancement of women. The Platform underlined the importance of
gender analysis in addressing the systemic and systematic nature of
discrimination against women.
11. Women's enjoyment of their human rights required a holistic approach to,
and a better understanding of, women's human rights, including violations
thereof, and Governments had primary responsibility for ensuring women's full
enjoyment of their rights. A compartmentalization of rights - for example, of
civil and political rights, on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural
rights, on the other - was not in keeping with the spirit of fundamental human
rights and not conducive to achieving women's equality, advancement and
empowerment, since development and human rights complemented each other.
12. Although progress had been made in many countries in achieving women's
de jure equality, women's de facto lack of, or limited enjoyment of, human
rights was particularly visible in their economic inequality, which
contributed to women's poverty. That constituted a significant obstacle to
women's economic empowerment and to development. Women's enjoyment of human
rights would strengthen democracy and contribute to more accountable and
transparent government.
13. Representatives cited factors contributing to women's lack of enjoyment
of human rights, including the continuing prevalence of discriminatory
cultural norms and traditions, national laws, including customary laws,
inconsistent with international human rights norms, harmful traditional
practices, and women's high levels of illiteracy and consequent
marginalization and exclusion. Trends such as globalization, market
liberalization and privatization had had an impact on women's enjoyment of
their human rights as well, contributing to the changing role of the State,
including its decreasing ability to deliver social services.
14. Some participants noted that indigenous, disabled, refugee and ethnic
minority women, elderly women and single mothers were among the most
vulnerable. Women in poverty or precarious economic situations were
increasingly becoming victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Migrant
women workers were susceptible to multiple forms of discrimination.
15. Equal access to rights, equal opportunities for the enjoyment of rights,
and equal treatment in that enjoyment remained to be achieved in areas such as
health and health care, education, work and employment, and participation in
public life. Widespread discrimination against women persisted with regard to
ownership of land, property and inheritance rights and access to economic
resources such as credit and agricultural extension services, all of which
were among the essential means for women to overcome poverty. Discrimination
in marriage, family and nationality laws also persisted. Violence against
human rights activists and defenders of women's rights further inhibited
progress. Religious fundamentalism had also often led to a denial of rights
to women.
16. There was general agreement that knowledge of rights was an important
starting point for improving enjoyment of rights. Restrictive and traditional
interpretations and applications of human rights law from a male perspective
affected the ways in which women experienced rights or violations thereof.
Clarifying the scope and content of human rights from a gender perspective
required a new approach on the part, inter alia, of international human rights
treaty bodies. It also required that States parties, in their regular
reporting to those bodies, include gender-specific information.
17. Human rights education, research and broad-based awareness-raising of
women's human rights were needed, along with efforts to reach illiterate and
disadvantaged women. Men also needed to be targeted for increased awareness.
The role of non-governmental organizations and civil society was pivotal in
the protection and promotion of women's human rights.
18. At the national level, legislative change was necessary but not
sufficient. Constant and critical monitoring of legal provisions was required
to determine their impact on women's enjoyment of their rights. International
human rights law and jurisprudence provided guidance and incentives for
domestic legislative reform. The impact of, and change brought about by,
other measures also needed to be monitored over the long term.
19. Some representatives emphasized that the availability of strong and
independent national institutions for promoting the enjoyment of rights,
including remedies for violations, was essential for the realization of
women's rights. Such institutions should allow diverse groups of women to
share their experience and should thus lead to an enriched understanding of
factors that affected the enjoyment of rights.
20. At the international level, the establishment of an international
criminal court was viewed favourably by a number of delegations, and there was
support expressed for making gender-based persecution and trafficking in women
and girls an integral part of the court's mandate and for ensuring gender
expertise and gender balance throughout the court. Human rights bodies and
mechanisms, including the Commission on Human Rights, also needed to develop
greater expertise on women's human rights issues. The Commission's catalytic
role in that regard could facilitate such efforts, and women's non-
governmental organizations could increase their visibility at and
contributions to such mainstream forums in order to shape their agendas. An
optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, with broad standing for individuals and groups,
was seen by many representatives as an essential step in strengthening the
Convention.
21. Several speakers noted that a gender perspective needed to be
mainstreamed into all human rights activities and machineries at the national
and international levels. More and better data collection, more systematic
use of data, and more research on women's human rights issues were essential.
Women's human rights needed to be an integral part of the development of
economic, trade and fiscal policies. It was stated that economic indicators
providing benchmarks of women's and men's economic realities, which were often
overlooked, should be developed.
22. As a matter of principle, a call for action was made to address
violations of women's and girls' human rights in particular countries,
including Afghanistan. Concern was expressed about the situation of women and
children in Algeria and Palestine and for Palestinian women, who remained
refugees and were unable to return to their homeland. The human rights impact
of the embargo on women in Iraq was also mentioned.
C. Violence against women: Moderator's summary
23. At the 8th meeting, on 5 March 1998, the Commission held a panel
discussion on violence against women, one of the critical areas of concern in
the Platform for Action. Presentations were made by the panellists: Barbara
Prammer (Austria), Federal Minister for Women's Affairs and Consumer
Protection; Bonnie Campbell (United States of America), Head of Violence
against Women, Office of the Justice Department; Maria Lisbeth Guevara
(Venezuela), Coordinadora de la Comisio'n de Legislacio'n, Consejo Nacional de
la Mujer; and Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka), Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights on violence against women.
24. Participants in the panel discussion and the dialogue recalled that the
Beijing Platform for Action had identified violence against women as a
priority concern of the international community and had defined it, in line
with the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (General
Assembly resolution 48/104), as an act of gender-based violence occurring in
public or private life. The Platform for Action emphasized the need to take
integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and to
study the causes and consequences of violence and the effectiveness of
preventive measures.
25. Participants emphasized that violence and fear of violence in public and
private life remained one of the main concerns of women worldwide. Violence
continued to be an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and
peace, since it had a direct impact on women's economic, social and political
participation. Thus, violence against women in all its forms constituted a
flagrant violation of women's human rights, which could only be tackled
through a multidisciplinary and coordinated approach.
26. Gender-based violence which resulted in or was likely to result in
physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women affected the
corporal integrity of women. It was emphasized that the elimination of
violence against women was therefore linked to other human rights guarantees,
including the right to life, freedom from torture, detention and arbitrary
arrest, and the Geneva Conventions.
27. All forms of gender-based violence against women had a devastating
effect on women and their families, in particular their children, and brought
with it the risk of a continuous cycle of violence between generations,
focused on groups of women, including women with disabilities, migrant women
and women in prostitution.
28. It was noted that trafficking in women had become an integral feature of
transnational organized crime. International cooperation was needed to
address the issue of trafficking and to punish those involved in organizing
and profiting from it. In several instances, regional cooperation in that
regard had started, and national task forces had been established. It was
underlined that the problem of trafficking should be dealt with along the
lines set out by the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which had not yet been
ratified by all countries.
29. Recently, many Governments had given the elimination of violence against
women top priority, as reflected in the many national action plans established
in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women. In addition,
several countries had elaborated specific action plans to combat gender-based
violence, involving non-governmental organizations. At the international
level, activities carried out by existing mechanisms, including the Commission
on the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the
Commission on Human Rights and reports of the Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, were praised.
30. Mention was made of good practices in the fields of appropriate
assistance, management and communication, and prevention, investigation and
prosecution, which involved social, educational, medical, judicial, law
enforcement, and migration authorities as well as non-governmental
organizations. There was consensus that legal action and reform of the
criminal and civil justice systems were critical. It was essential that
perpetrators be confronted with the consequences of their behaviour and held
accountable. It was noted that some countries had introduced legislation that
made it possible to remove the violent offenders from the family home, instead
of accommodating victims and children in shelters.
31. Gender training for law enforcement officers and other personnel,
relevant governmental agents and officials was considered important in order
to sensitize the criminal justice system regarding violence against women. In
some countries, special examination kits were provided to the police for
collecting forensic evidence from women. It was emphasized that the full
participation of women in the development and execution of laws was required
and that there was need for more gender-sensitive women police officers,
prosecutors and judges. Training of health and social workers, teachers and
counsellors was also necessary in order to ensure that they would be able to
identify crimes of violence committed against women and girls. Effective
partnership between the police and non-governmental organizations working on
violence was considered crucial.
32. Various steps had been taken to make women aware of the existing
problem, to ensure their safety and to give assistance. Shelters and
emergency helplines, which provided support and protection to victims, existed
in many countries. Greater restrictions on access to weapons was being
considered in some countries. Witness protection schemes using protective
court orders had been introduced and were necessary for protecting, in
particular, female victims of trafficking and rape during war.
Multidisciplinary teams made up of medical doctors, social workers,
psychologists, health workers, teachers, volunteers and non-governmental
organizations were providing legal assistance and social services. The
valuable assistance given by non-governmental organizations in providing legal
and psychological counselling was acknowledged.
33. To raise public awareness and to break the silence and taboos
surrounding violence, public awareness campaigns on the impact of violence
were considered essential. Many community education campaigns were being
carried out, aimed at changing community attitudes towards violence,
introducing "zero tolerance" for violent behaviour, and promoting non-violent
methods of conflict resolution. Teacher training and the development of
curriculum material to address gender-based violence in schools were
mentioned. Media campaigns could encourage women to file complaints instead
of hiding the problem. At the same time, the portrayal of violence in the
media perpetuated violence and continued to have negative effects, especially
on children.
34. Many obstacles remained, and the gap between de jure and de facto
implementation persisted, since most women seemed not to seek help from crisis
services or the police, because of ignorance, fear or shame. Many women were
not aware of existing laws or their rights and frequently had no access to the
judicial system, especially if they were poor, illiterate or migrants. It was
deplored that the real extent of violence against women remained hidden as
well as unreported. Random surveys suggested that the extent of the problem
was much greater than estimated. Consequently, it was difficult to design
adequate policies and offer sufficient services to victims. The lack or
inadequacy of data available made it difficult to assess the nature, severity
and effects of violence against women and to better understand its causes.
The academic community needed to conduct more research on the causes and
consequences of violence against women and on the economic costs that accrued
to countries because of such violence. It was regretted that there were so
few impact studies on steps taken to combat violence against women.
35. With regard to the rehabilitation of perpetrators, programmes had been
carried out in a number of countries, with varied success. Most programmes
focused on the role of men, emphasizing positive new role models for men and
new types of male/female relationships in the family. It was important to
change patriarchal values and to create a non-violent culture. However, in
view of the scarcity of funds, assistance to victims of violence had to be the
priority and needed to be seen as a moral obligation.
36. Participants also recalled the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women and stressed the need for concrete follow-up, including
studies on the impact of measures to eliminate violence against women and to
assist the victims, and it was proposed that mechanisms were needed to monitor
follow-up on violence against women, including good practices.
D. The girl child: Moderator's summary
37. At the 5th meeting, on 4 March 1998, the Commission held a panel
discussion on the girl child, one of the critical areas of concern in the
Platform for Action, and heard presentations by the following panellists:
Lina Laigo (Philippines), Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and
Development, and Chairperson, Council for the Welfare of Children; Sadig
Rasheed (Sudan), Director, Programme Division, United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF); Paloma Bonfil Sanchez (Mexico), Secretaria Ejecutiva, Grupo
Interdisciplinario sobre Mujer, Trabajo y Pobreza (GIMTRAP); and Margaret Vogt
(Nigeria), Senior Associate, International Peace Academy.
38. Following the panel discussion, 16 government delegations participated
in a dialogue. Two girls, sponsored by the non-governmental organization
Committee for UNICEF/Working Group on Girls, and representatives of a non-
governmental organization caucus also spoke.
39. Speakers recalled that the Beijing Platform for Action recognized that
women in many countries faced discrimination from the earliest stages of life.
They also recognized that discrimination and neglect in childhood could
initiate a lifelong downward spiral of deprivation and exclusion. The
Platform for Action had called upon Governments, the United Nations system and
civil society to take urgent measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination
against the girl child, including negative traditional and cultural attitudes
and practices and discrimination with respect to education, skills development
and training, health and nutrition, employment and family life. It
recommended that Governments enact and enforce appropriate legislation and
take actions that would ensure equal rights for girls and their full
participation in development.
40. Since the Fourth World Conference on Women, a variety of policy measures
and programmes specifically targeting the girl child had been introduced by
countries, reflecting actions also proposed at recent United Nations
conferences and summits and in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
various International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and standards.
Public awareness campaigns had been organized in various regions to sensitize
people to the specific needs and concerns of girls. National legislation had
been reviewed and modified to protect girls. Stereotypes in teaching
materials had been removed in some countries, and teachers were being given
gender training. Affirmative action had been used to increase the number of
female entrants to colleges and universities.
41. Representatives stressed that the empowerment of the girl child was
critical not only for eliminating gender-based discrimination but for personal
growth. Human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, obliged States parties to make efforts to protect the
rights of the girl child and to eliminate discrimination. The two conventions
were viewed by some delegates as interrelated, and measures had been taken to
implement them in a coordinated and complementary way. However, in order to
be more effective, it was proposed that the two conventions be widely
disseminated in local languages and incorporated into national laws.
42. Education was referred to as the most important tool for girls'
empowerment and, in that connection, many participants expressed concern at
the high drop-out rate among girls, compared with boys. A support system
needed to be in place to help girls complete their education and to prevent
the sexual harassment of girls in schools. The paucity of role models for
girls in textbooks was noted.
43. Reference was made to prevailing negative cultural and traditional
attitudes and practices that often stood in the way of equal treatment of
girls. Some of those attitudes and practices, combined with traditional role
models maintained by families, discouraged girls' career development, their
participation in social and political life, and their access to recreational
activities and sports. A preference for sons continued in many countries,
leading to discrimination against girls, often even before birth, and to such
practices as female infanticide and prenatal sex selection.
44. The situation of girls living in poor economic conditions was mentioned
by a number of speakers. Those girls were often the most marginalized. They
were often forced to take up low-paid work or to become prostitutes. They
often became domestic workers, were paid very little, and were subjected to
abuse and exploitation.
45. In rural areas, unpaid domestic work was frequently expected from girls,
preventing them from going to school or developing skills suited to income-
earning activities. Moreover, their contribution to household work was often
undervalued. Since globalization contributed to the further impoverishment of
rural areas in many developing countries, out-migration by adults had
increased and had led to an increase in girls' domestic labour and
responsibilities.
46. In traditional cultures, families generally maintained the traditional
roles of males and females. Since the empowerment of girls started in the
family, families needed to recognize the rights and specific needs of the girl
child beyond the traditional cultural framework.
47. The particular needs of adolescent girls resulting from the transitional
and developmental nature of their physical and emotional states were
acknowledged. Adolescent girls and boys needed to be given adequate
information on sexual and reproductive health, and it was necessary to help
counsellors who dealt with adolescents to be gender-sensitive. It was also
important for national Governments and the international community to
recognize that the health needs of girls were generally different from those
of boys. Traditional practices that were harmful to girls' health, such as
female genital mutilation, should be eliminated. Adolescent girls should be
empowered and supported by their families and communities to take control of
their physical well-being and educational attainment.
48. Reference was made to girls affected by armed conflict and to refugee
girls. Where the family system was no longer functioning, many children were
left without parents or primary caregivers. Concerns were expressed that
girls in such circumstances were particularly vulnerable to rape and sexual
violence, for example, in refugee camps or when fleeing their home countries.
49. Personnel involved in peacekeeping and humanitarian activities should be
sensitized to the specific needs of girl children and should not exploit them.
Attention was drawn to young girls' serving as soldiers, a phenomenon that
seemed to be on the increase and one on which more data and research were
required.
50. Much concern was expressed about trafficking and the sexual abuse of
girls, including the growing sex industry, and on child pornography, including
the use of the Internet in that regard. Rehabilitation of the victims of
sexual abuse and trafficking needed to be organized by trained personnel.
Mechanisms at the national and international levels to prosecute and punish
the perpetrators were also urgently needed, whether their offences were
committed in their own or in a foreign country.
E. Women and armed conflict: Moderator's summary
51. On 4 March 1998, at the 6th meeting, the Commission held a panel
discussion on women and armed conflict, followed by a dialogue. The
panellists were: Helga Hernes (Norway), Special Adviser on Peacekeeping and
Preventive Diplomacy, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rafiga Azimova
(Azerbaijan), Head, Research Centre of the Council of Women; Bernard Muna
(Cameroon), International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons
Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory
of Neighbouring States, between 1 January and 31 December 1994; and Hina
Jilani (Pakistan), advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan.
52. Representatives noted that the Beijing Platform for Action emphasized
that peace was inextricably linked to equality between women and men, but that
aggression, foreign occupation, ethnic conflict and other types of conflict
were an ongoing reality, affecting women and men in nearly every region. They
recalled that, building on the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the
Platform for Action had stressed that violations of the human rights of women
in times of armed conflict were violations of fundamental principles of
international human rights and humanitarian law and emphasized that the
implementation of cooperative approaches to peace and security was urgently
needed. Noting the consequences of armed conflict for women, which included
internal displacement and refugee flight, the speakers stressed the crucial
role of women in the maintenance and promotion of peace and security and the
preservation of social order in times of armed conflict. They also reiterated
the Platform for Action's emphasis on the importance of all forms of education
to foster a culture of peace, tolerance and respect for diversity and stressed
the critical role of an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender
perspective into all policies and programmes to address armed conflict or
other conflicts.
53. It was noted that contemporary armed conflict affected civilians
disproportionately. Most conflicts were fought within, rather than between,
States and were no longer fought exclusively by professional soldiers.
Non-State actors, including paramilitaries and vigilantes, increasingly
threatened the security of civilians, particularly women and children.
Reduced tolerance for ethnic, religious and cultural diversity and decreased
respect for the right to self-determination brought about instability. The
easy availability of small arms, including landmines, to non-State actors had
heightened the possibilities of civilian insecurity and risk, especially for
women and children, during both conflict and post-conflict, in, inter alia,
refugee camps and camps for the internally displaced.
54. Representatives noted that, although entire communities were affected by
and suffered the consequences of armed conflict, women and girls were
particularly affected because of their status in society and their sex. They
suffered many forms of abuse during armed conflict, but were particularly
vulnerable to sexual abuse, rape, sexual mutilation, sexually humiliating
treatment, forcible impregnation, sexual slavery and forced marriages. Sexual
violence was commonly used as an instrument of war. Sexual violence brought
with it the risk of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and pregnancy. Women have been forced to bear and raise
the children of their aggressors or forced to raise rejected orphans. Women
have also experienced the trauma of being shamed in the eyes of their
communities, of losing relatives and friends in times of armed conflict, and
of having to take responsibility for the care of surviving family members.
55. Representatives recalled that armed conflicts, civil strife and foreign
occupation had resulted in internal displacement and refugee flows, with women
and children comprising the majority of those who were internally displaced or
refugees. Displaced and refugee women faced the risk of abuse during flight,
in refugee camps and in countries of ultimate refuge, from the military,
paramilitaries, bandit gangs and male refugees.
56. Camps for the internally displaced and refugees had sometimes become the
site of continuing conflict and, in the absence of structures to preserve law
and order, had served to shield the activities of warring groups. Displaced
and refugee women in camps faced other difficulties, including lack of
physical security and privacy, difficulties relating to health, and lack of
suitable occupation and income-generating opportunities. Humanitarian workers
were sometimes insensitive to the needs of women in camps, and that
circumstance underlined the importance of gender balance among such workers
and mainstreaming a gender perspective into their activities. Representatives
noted the importance of training all security workers in international human
rights and humanitarian principles and the participation of women in all
areas, as civilian and military peacekeepers, peace-builders and as special
representatives of the Secretary-General. National armed forces should be
well acquainted with international human rights and humanitarian principles as
well as gender perspectives. The increased participation of women at all
levels of national armed forces should be a specific goal.
57. Breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law affecting
women required a particularly effective response and should not be
marginalized during post-war reconstruction. Speakers emphasized the
importance of justice at the international and national levels to provide the
foundation for national reconciliation. Delegates stressed that the statute
of the proposed international criminal court should provide for the
prosecution of violations of the human rights of women during conflict and
should specifically address sexual violations. National legal systems should
also be reviewed in order to ensure that they provided justice for women who
had been affected by armed conflict. The importance of procedural and
evidentiary safeguards and of strengthened support for victims was also
emphasized by representatives. Representatives encouraged support for trust
funds for women victims of armed conflict.
58. Many representatives emphasized the potential of women as agents of
preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peace-building. Noting that women
should not be viewed primarily as the victims of armed conflict, delegates
noted that the participation of women in peacekeeping missions had positive
results and that their participation should be secured in all relevant areas,
particularly in modern multifunctional peacekeeping operations. Innovative
strategies to encourage women's participation in peace processes, refugee
camps and their reconstruction, and post-conflict resolution were crucial, and
concrete steps were necessary to ensure that women were appointed as special
representatives of the Secretary-General. Close connections with grass-roots
and local initiatives with regard to peace-building were also essential.
59. Representatives stressed that sustained and energetic efforts to avert
the occurrence of conflict were required, along with short-term and long-term
strategies to develop a culture of peace. Formal and informal education
should incorporate values emphasizing the morality of peace, a tolerance of
diversity, gender-sensitivity and respect for human rights. Governments and
civil society, including the media, should develop programmes involving women
relating to peace education and conflict prevention and resolution, and girls
and women should be encouraged to speak as women, rather than as
representatives of other interests.
Annex II
REPORT OF THE OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON THE ELABORATION OF A
DRAFT OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF
ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
Chairperson: Ms. Aloisia WOERGETTER (Austria)
1. In accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/29 of
24 July 1995, the Open-ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women met as an in-session open-ended working group of
the Commission at its fortieth session. By its decisions 1996/240 of
22 July 1996 and 1997/227 of 21 July 1997, the Council renewed the mandate of
the Working Group so that it might continue its work, and authorized it to
meet in parallel with the Commission at its forty-first session, and at its
forty-second and forty-third sessions, respectively.
2. Ms. Aloisia Woergetter (Austria) continued to serve as Chairperson of
the Working Group.
3. The Working Group met from 2 to 13 March 1998. It held 5 meetings (1st
to 5th) and a number of informal meetings. It had before it the following
documents:
(a) Report of the Secretary-General containing an annotated comparison
of the draft optional protocol and the amendments proposed thereto with the
provisions of existing international human rights instruments (E/CN.6/1998/7);
(b) Note by the Secretary-General on the results of the eighteenth
session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(E/CN.6/1998/CRP.1).
4. At the 1st meeting, on 2 March, the Chairperson opened the meeting and
made a statement.
5. At the same meeting, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and Director of the Division for the
Advancement of Women made an introductory statement.
6. Also at the 1st meeting, a statement was made by the Minister of the
Department for Women's Affairs of Chile.
7. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the representatives of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (on behalf of the
States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), Australia, Norway, Ghana, Algeria,
China, Liechtenstein, Lesotho, Japan, New Zealand, the United States of
America and Pakistan.
8. Also at the 1st meeting, a statement was made by the representative of
the Friends World Committee for Consultation, a non-governmental organization
in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.
9. At the 2nd meeting, on 3 March, a statement was made by the
representative of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, in her capacity as a resource person in accordance with Economic and
Social Council resolution 1997/227.
10. At the same meeting, the representative of India made a statement.
11. At the 3rd meeting, on 4 March, statements were made by the State
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, and by the Federal Minister
for Women's Affairs and Consumer Protection of Austria.
12. At the 4th meeting, on 13 March, a statement was made by the
representative of Cuba.
13. At the 5th meeting, also on 13 March, a statement was made by the
representative of the European Women's Lobby, a non-governmental organization
in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.
General exchange of views
14. At the 1st meeting, on 2 March, the Working Group, at the invitation of
the Chairperson, held a general exchange of views on item 5 of the agenda of
the Commission.
15. Delegations recalled that the conclusion of an optional protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was
a commitment of both the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna) and
the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing). They noted that the year
1998 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and that it was five years since Governments had
adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. They pointed out that
the adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention would make 1998 the
year of women's human rights, thereby giving real meaning to the anniversary.
16. Delegations stressed the importance of concluding a strong protocol that
would take account of the difficulties faced by women in accessing legal
remedies for violations of their human rights but that would at the same time
build on existing and widely accepted principles. The importance of
concluding a strong, well-drafted text that could be widely accepted was
emphasized.
17. Several delegations suggested that standing requirements should be
broad, and there was also a suggestion that, although the protocol should be
based on other instruments, it should contribute to the progressive
development of international law. Accordingly, it was suggested that specific
provisions relating to interim measures and follow-up should be included in
the text. A number of delegations stressed the usefulness of an
investigations procedure.
18. Several delegations were of the view that it was vital not to allow
reservations to the protocol.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE WORKING GROUP
19. At the 4th meeting, on 13 March, the Working Group adopted its draft
report (E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.1), as orally corrected. It agreed that the revised
draft optional protocol contained in document E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.2, as orally
revised during informal consultations, should be included in its report to the
Commission (see appendix I to the present annex).
20. At the same meeting, the Working Group had before it, in document
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.3 and in an informal paper, a summary by the Chairperson of
views and comments made by delegations during negotiations on a draft optional
protocol, which was subsequently circulated in document E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.4.
21. At the 5th meeting, on 13 March, the Working Group decided to include
the Chairperson's summary in its report to the Commission (see appendix II to
the present annex).
Appendix I
REVISED DRAFT OPTIONAL PROTOCOL SUBMITTED BY THE CHAIRPERSON
ON THE BASIS OF THE COMPILATION TEXT CONTAINED IN THE REPORT
OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN ON ITS FORTY-FIRST
SESSION (E/1997/27) AND PROPOSALS MADE BY THE COMMISSION AT
ITS FORTY-SECOND SESSION
[The States Parties to this Protocol,
Noting that the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in
the equal rights of women and men,
Noting that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone
is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without
distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex,
Recalling that the international covenants on human rights and other
international human rights instruments prohibit discrimination on the basis of
sex,
Recalling also the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, in which States Parties condemn discrimination
against women in all its forms and agree to pursue by all appropriate means
and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women,
Reaffirming their determination to ensure the full and equal enjoyment
by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to take effective
action to prevent violations of these rights and freedoms,
[Recalling also that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
reaffirms that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and
interrelated,]
[Recalling that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action calls for
the introduction of a right to petition through the preparation of an optional
protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women,]
[Recalling also that the Beijing Platform for Action urges that such a
protocol enter into force as soon as possible,]]
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
[A State Party to the present Protocol recognizes the competence of the
Committee to receive and consider communications [submitted in accordance with
article 2].]
Article 2
[Communications may be submitted by [or on behalf of] individuals or
groups [of individuals] under the jurisdiction of a State Party claiming to be
victims of a violation of any of the [rights] [provisions] set forth in the
Convention [through an act or failure to act] by that State Party.]
Alternative
[Communications may be submitted by an individual or groups of
individuals, or on their behalf, by organizations/their designated
representatives, subject to the jurisdiction of a State Party, claiming to be
victims of violations of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.]
Article 3
Communications shall be in writing and shall not be anonymous. No
communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party
to the Convention that is not a party to this Protocol.
Article 4
1. The Committee shall not consider a communication unless it has
ascertained that all available domestic remedies have been exhausted unless
[it is demonstrated that] the application of such remedies is unreasonably
prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief [as determined in accordance
with generally recognized rules of international law].
2. The Committee shall declare a communication inadmissible where [, in the
view of the Committee]:
(i) The same matter has already been examined by the Committee or has
been or is being examined under another procedure of international
investigation or settlement;
(ii) It is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention;
[(iii) It is manifestly ill-founded or not sufficiently substantiated;]
[(iv) It is [vexatious] or otherwise an abuse of the right to submit a
communication;]
(v) The facts that are the subject of the communication occurred prior
to the entry into force of this Protocol for the State Party
concerned unless those facts continued after that date.
Article 5
1. At any time after the receipt of a communication and before a
determination on the merits has been reached, the Committee may transmit to
the State Party concerned for its [urgent] consideration a request that the
State Party take interim measures as may be necessary to avoid possible
irreparable damage to the victim or victims of the alleged violation.
2. Where the Committee exercises its discretion under paragraph 1, this
does not imply a determination on admissibility or on the merits of the
communication.
Article 6
1. Unless the Committee considers a communication inadmissible without
reference to the State Party concerned, and provided that the individual or
individuals consent to the disclosure of their identity or identities to that
State party, the Committee shall bring any communication submitted to it under
this Protocol [confidentially] to the attention of the State Party concerned.
2. Within six months, the receiving State Party shall submit to the
Committee written explanations or statements clarifying the matter and the
remedy, if any, that may have been taken by that State Party.
[3. During its examination of a communication, the Committee shall place
itself at the disposal of the parties concerned with a view to facilitating
settlement of the matter on the basis of respect of the rights and obligations
set forth in the Convention]. [In the event of agreement between the parties,
the Committee shall adopt findings taking note of the settlement of the
matter].
Article 7
[1. While exercising its function under this Protocol, the Committee should
be in compliance with the principles of objectivity and impartiality.]
1. The Committee shall consider communications received under this Protocol
in the light of all [[written] [or recorded]] information made available to it
by [or on behalf of] the [author] [individual] and by the State Party
concerned. [The Committee may also take into account information obtained
from other [United Nations] sources provided that this information is
transmitted to the author and the State Party for comment.]
2. The Committee shall hold closed meetings when examining communications
under this Protocol.
[2 bis. When a communication is being considered, the State Party concerned
shall be entitled to take part in the proceedings of the Committee and to make
submissions orally and/or in writing.]
3. After examining a communication, the Committee shall transmit its views
on the communication, together with its recommendations, if any, to the State
Party and the individual or individuals concerned.
4. The State Party shall give [due] consideration to the views of the
Committee, together with its recommendations, if any, and shall submit to the
Committee, [as far as possible] within six months, a written response,
including information on any action taken in the light of the views and
recommendations of the Committee.
5. The Committee may invite the State Party to submit further information
about any measures the State Party has taken in response to its views or
recommendations, if any, including as deemed appropriate by the Committee, in
the State Party's subsequent reports under article 18 of the Convention.
Article 10
[1. If the Committee receives reliable information indicating a serious
[and] [or] systematic violation by a State Party to the Protocol of rights set
forth in the Convention [or of a failure to give effect to obligations set
forth in the Convention], the Committee shall invite that State Party to
cooperate in the examination of the information and to this end to submit
observations with regard to the information concerned.
2. Taking into account any observations that may have been submitted by the
State Party concerned as well as any other reliable information available to
it, the Committee may designate one or more of its members to conduct an
inquiry [with the consent of the State Party] and to report urgently to the
Committee. [[Where warranted and] [in agreement with] [with the consent of]
the State Party, the inquiry may include a visit to its territory.]
3. After examining the findings of such an inquiry, the Committee shall
transmit these findings to the State Party concerned together with any
comments and recommendations.
4. The State Party shall, within [three] [six] months of receiving the
findings, comments and recommendations transmitted by the Committee, submit
its observations to the Committee.
5. Such an inquiry shall be conducted confidentially and the [consent and]
cooperation of the State Party shall be sought at all stages of the
proceedings.]
Article 11
[1. The Committee may at [any] [an appropriate] time invite a State Party
concerned to discuss with it the measures that that State Party has taken in
response to such an inquiry.
[2. The Committee may invite the State Party concerned to include in its
report under article 18 of the Convention details of any measures taken in
response to such an inquiry].]
Article 11 bis
[1. Each State Party may, at the time of signature or ratification of this
Protocol or accession thereto, declare that it [does not] recognize[s] the
competence of the Committee provided for in articles 10 and 11.
2. Any State Party having made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 1
of this article may, at any time, withdraw this declaration by notification to
the Secretary-General.]
Article 12
[States Parties to this Protocol undertake:
[(a) To respect the [right] [procedure] provided by this Protocol to
submit communications or information to the Committee and to cooperate with
the Committee at all stages of its proceedings under this Protocol;]
[(b) To take all appropriate steps to protect [all persons] [those] under
its jurisdiction submitting communications or information [or those the
subject of such information/communications,] to the Committee from
interference or reprisal by any party.]]
Article 13
The Committee shall include in its annual report under article 21 of the
Convention a summary of its activities under this Protocol.
Article 14
Each State Party to this Protocol undertakes to make [widely] known and
to give [due] publicity to the Convention and its Optional Protocol and to
facilitate access to information about the views and recommendations of the
Committee, in particular, in matters involving that State Party.
Article 15
The Committee shall develop its own rules of procedure to be followed
when exercising the functions conferred on it by this Protocol.
Article 16
[The Committee shall meet for such a period as is necessary [within its
agenda] to carry out its function under this Protocol.]
Alternative
[The Committee shall hold meetings to exercise its functions under this
Protocol, in addition to its meetings held under article 20 of the Convention.
The duration of such meetings shall be determined, and reviewed, if necessary,
by a meeting of the States Parties to the Protocol, subject to the approval of
the General Assembly.]
New resources paragraph
[The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary
staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the
Committee under the present Protocol.]
Article 17
1. This Protocol shall be open for signature by any State that has signed,
acceded to or ratified the Convention.
2. This Protocol shall be subject to ratification by any State that has
ratified or acceded to the Convention. Instruments of ratification shall be
deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. This Protocol shall be open to accession by any State that has ratified
or acceded to the Convention.
4. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Article 18
1. This Protocol shall enter into force three months after the date of the
deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the [fifth]
[tenth] [twentieth] instrument of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying this Protocol or acceding to it after its entry
into force, this Protocol shall enter into force three months after the date
of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 20
[No reservations to this Protocol shall be permitted.]
Alternative
[Reservations to this Protocol shall be permitted, unless such a
reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the present
Protocol and the Convention, in accordance with the rules of international
law.]
Article 21
1. Any State Party to the present Protocol may propose any amendment and
file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-
General shall thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States
Parties to this Protocol with a request that they notify her/him whether they
favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and
voting on the proposal. In the event that at least one third of the States
Parties favour such a conference, the Secretary-General shall convene the
conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by
a majority of the States Parties present and voting at the conference shall be
submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.
2. Amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the
General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds majority
of the States Parties to this Protocol in accordance with their respective
constitutional processes.
3. When amendments come into force, they shall be binding on those States
Parties that have accepted them, other States Parties still being bound by the
provisions of this Protocol and any earlier amendments that they have
accepted.
Article 22
1. Any State Party can denounce this Protocol at any time by written
notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Denunciation shall take effect six months after the date of receipt of the
notification by the Secretary-General.
2. Denunciations shall be without prejudice to the continued application of
the provisions of this Protocol to any communication or inquiry before the
effective date of denunciation.
Article 23
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States of:
(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions under this Protocol;
(b) The date of entry into force of this Protocol and the date of entry
into force of any amendment under article 21 and any denunciations under
article 22.
Article 24
1. This Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the
United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified
copies of this Protocol to all States referred to in article 25 of the
Convention.
Appendix II
CHAIRPERSON'S SUMMARY OF VIEWS EXPRESSED AND COMMENTS MADE BY
DELEGATIONS DURING THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL
TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
1. The Open-ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women held a number of informal meetings to continue negotiations on
the optional protocol based on the results of a first reading of the draft
which had been completed in 1997, and reflected in appendix I of annex III to
document E/1997/27. The Working Group requested the Chairperson to prepare a
summary of the discussions held during the informal meetings for inclusion in
the report of the Working Group.
2. Throughout the informal meetings, the Working Group benefited from the
comments of and replies to questions by Ms. Silvia Cartwright, a
representative of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, who participated in the Working Group as a resource person in
accordance with Economic and Social Council decision 1997/227. The Working
Group also benefited from the comments of a member of the Human Rights
Committee who provided the Working Group with information on the practice of
the Human Rights Committee under its first Optional Protocol (to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). The Working Group
received information from a representative of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights on technical aspects of the work and
practice of human rights treaty bodies under similar procedures to those
contained in the draft optional protocol, and from a representative of the
Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts of the United Nations
Secretariat.
3. The following reflects the Chairperson's understanding of the discussions
of the Working Group on the optional protocol, arranged on an
article-by-article basis. Delegations requested amendments to the text from
the floor, but the Chairperson wishes to note that this text was not
negotiated, nor was it adopted by the Working Group.
Preamble
1. The Working Group agreed that the optional protocol would be preceded by
a short, succinct preamble which reflected the international human rights
framework of the United Nations. Delegations agreed that the preamble would
note that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights establish the principles of equality between men and women and
the entitlement of all, without distinction based on sex and other grounds, to
human rights. Delegations agreed that the preamble would recall the
international covenants and other human rights instruments, including the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
It would reaffirm States parties' determination to ensure the full and equal
enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to take
effective action to prevent violations of these rights and freedoms. Some
delegations suggested that the preamble should also recall that the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action reaffirmed the universality,
indivisibility and interrelatedness of all human rights and that it called for
the introduction of the right of petition through the preparation of an
optional protocol to the Convention. Some delegations also suggested that the
preamble should make reference to the Beijing Platform for Action. Others
suggested that these documents be addressed in a resolution.
Article 2
2. The Chairperson of the Working Group submitted a new draft of article 2
which was accepted by the Working Group as the basis for its further
negotiations on this article.
3. Delegations agreed that the optional protocol should entitle individuals
and groups of individuals to submit communications to the Committee. Some
delegations were of the view that groups should be entitled to submit
communications, while several suggested that organizations, including
non-governmental organizations, should also be entitled to do so, as they also
can be victims of human rights violations. Other delegations expressed the
view that groups and organizations might participate in other human rights
mechanisms.
4. Many delegations referred to the communications procedures in the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families which entitle communications
to be submitted on behalf of complainants. The practice of the Human Rights
Committee, reflected in its rules of procedure, was to receive communications
submitted on behalf of victims. Many delegations took note of the explanation
of the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights with regard to the existing procedures under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention
against Torture in relation to communications submitted in cases where victims
are unable to submit communications themselves, or when victims give consent
for the submission of communications by others. These delegations were of the
view that this protocol should explicitly provide that communications could be
submitted on behalf of complainants and that this element could be specified
in the Committee's rules of procedure.
5. Several delegations were of the view that the parameters of the phrase
"on behalf of" required clarification so as to preclude communications from
unauthorized representatives with neither the consent of, nor a link to,
victims. Several delegations suggested that clarification could be provided
by limiting those who could claim submission of communications "on behalf of"
victims to designated representatives.
6. Delegations agreed that it was important to indicate that the protocol
would reflect existing communications procedures and provide that claimants
should be subject to the jurisdiction of the relevant State party. Some
suggested that designated representatives should also be subject to the State
party's jurisdiction, while others suggested that this requirement was
inappropriate.
7. Many delegations suggested that it was important to provide for
communications concerning violation of rights set forth in the Convention
through an act or failure to act by the State party. Other delegations were
of the view that communications should be able to address violations of all
the provisions of the Convention. Several delegations expressed the view that
violation of rights of the Convention encompassed both acts and omissions and
that a concise formulation referring to violation of rights or provisions of
the Convention would be understood as including acts and the failure to act
and was thus sufficient.
8. One delegation expressed the view that article 2 should include, as did
the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, reference to the requirement of exhaustion of available
domestic remedies which would also be addressed in article 4.
Article 3
9. Delegations recalled that article 3 of the draft optional protocol had
been agreed by the working group ad referendum. Noting that article 1 of the
first draft protocol had explicitly precluded reception of communications
relating to States parties to the Convention that were not States parties to
the protocol, delegations agreed to the addition of this formula in article 3
ad referendum.
Article 4
10. Delegations agreed that admissibility criteria would be reflected in two
separate subparagraphs of article 4, that is to say, article 4 (1) would deal
with the exhaustion of domestic remedies, and article 4 (2) would reflect the
remaining criteria.
11. Delegations agreed to a negative formulation according to which the
Committee would not consider a communication unless it had dealt with the
question of exhaustion of domestic remedies, thereby making the subparagraph
more succinct. Some delegations doubted whether current language on this
matter as contained for example in the Convention against Torture was
appropriate within the scope of the present protocol, and were in favour of a
requirement that the author of a communication demonstrate the exhaustion of
domestic remedies. Others noted that the exhaustion of domestic remedies was
a standard provision in other human rights instruments, and its application
should be determined within generally recognized principles of international
law.
12. While delegations discussed various possibilities for reflecting
inadmissibility because of an abuse of the right, several suggested that this
element would be further specified by the addition of the criterion of
vexatiousness. It was agreed to combine lack of substantiation and manifest
ill-foundedness. However, both sets of criteria, as contained in article
4 (2) (iii) and (iv), remain in brackets, with the word "vexatious" also
appearing in brackets. Delegations agreed to include admissibility criteria
covering prior occurrence and prior, or simultaneous, consideration by another
procedure of international settlement.
13. Some delegations, while emphasizing that the principles of objectivity
and impartiality which they noted were important principles of international
law, needed to be maintained in the consideration of communications by the
Committee, suggested that, instead of those principles' being included as an
admissibility criterion, they could be moved to another place within the
protocol, for example, to a new article 7 (1). Other delegations noted that,
while appreciating the removal of this aspect from article 4, they could not
agree to its inclusion in article 7.
14. Delegations agreed to retain article 4 (1) and (2) as set out in document
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.2 with two sets of brackets in article 4 (1) and one set in
the chapeau of article 4 (2), in addition to the sets of brackets around
article 4 (2) (iii) and (iv). Several delegations suggested that a further
paragraph should be added to the article that would provide for the consent of
the victim of the violation for representative communications.
Article 5
15. Some delegations considered it inappropriate for the Committee to request
a State party to take interim measures, while many pointed out that this was
in accordance with established practice of human rights treaty bodies, such as
the Human Rights Committee. A formulation according to which the Committee
may transmit to a State party a request for interim measures was acceptable to
all delegations, especially since a similar approach was used in article 7
(transmittal of views). Delegations also noted that a State party was under a
general bona fide obligation to give consideration to such a request of the
Committee, and that this could be reflected in a shortened article 5 (1) with
the deletion of article 5 (2).
16. While some delegations expressed a preference for the deletion of all
three bracketed qualifications of situations that might justify the request
for interim measures, all delegations agreed to the retention of the words "as
may be necessary". Delegations agreed that a reference to the preservation of
the status quo could be ambiguous, indicating preservation of a violation, and
should therefore be deleted. While some delegations expressed a preference
for the term "harm" in English, others pointed out that for translation into
other languages, the use in English of the term "damage" would be preferable.
17. Delegations agreed that the use of interim measures did not imply a
determination on the merits of a case, nor on its admissibility, and that this
should be reflected in article 5 (2).
18. Article 5 (1) and (2) was retained by the Working Group, with the word
"urgent" in article 5 (1) remaining in brackets.
Article 6
19. Many delegations expressed the view that the identity of the complainant
should be revealed to the State party. It was noted that practical
considerations required that the State party be informed of the identity of
those submitting communications to allow for the provision of information to
the Committee. Several delegations suggested that claimants should be able to
decide whether their identities should be revealed to the State party.
20. Several delegations noted the changing practice of the Human Rights
Committee in regard to confidentiality. Some delegations expressed a
preference for deleting the confidentiality requirement from article 6 (1),
but others expressed the view that, while a communication was pending, only
the State party, the complainant and the Committee should be apprised of the
proceedings and their content.
21. While some delegations expressed a preference for a three-month time
limit for submission of information by the State party, all delegations agreed
on a six-month period.
22. Several delegations expressed their support for the retention of the
substance of article 6 (3) in the optional protocol. Other delegations
suggested that the current language of article 6 (3) was inappropriate in a
human rights instrument. Several noted that the provision suggested that the
Committee had an arbitral role which they considered inappropriate. Others
underlined that the thrust of this provision was to encourage reconciliation
and mediation, rather than arbitration or quasi-judicial proceedings.
23. The Working Group agreed to retain article 6 (1), with the term
"confidentially" remaining in brackets. Article 6 (2) was adopted ad
referendum. Article 6 (3) remains unchanged.
Articles 7, 8 and 9
24. Many delegations suggested the deletion of the requirement that only
written information may be used by the Committee in considering a
communication, pointing in particular to the constraints that women in
developing countries might face in this regard. Some suggested an explicit
reference to recorded information. Others maintained that the procedure
should be based on written information. While several delegations were of the
view that the Committee should be entitled to receive information from "other
sources" which would be transmitted to the State party and the author of the
communication, others pointed to the importance of verifying these sources.
Some delegations indicated that they could accept other sources if these were
further specified.
25. Article 7 (2) had been agreed to ad referendum in 1997.
26. Some delegations expressed the view that article 7 (2) bis would
encourage the dialogue between the Committee and the State party, and argued
that a State party was entitled to be present at proceedings of the Committee
involving that particular State party. Other delegations noted the resource
implications of such a provision, which would also preclude authors of
communications and their representatives' taking advantage of a similar
opportunity. Several delegations noted that the Human Rights Committee did
not grant States parties or complainants access to its proceedings.
27. Article 7 (3) was adopted ad referendum in a shortened version.
28. As many delegations recognized the desirability of setting out provisions
on follow-up currently contained in articles 7 (3), 8 and 9, including
alternatives, in a streamlined form, it was agreed to merge these articles and
to delete the original drafts. Recognizing the need for both short- and
long-term follow-up to the Committee's views and recommendations, if any, many
delegations agreed that the State party should provide a first follow-up
response to the Committee's views within six months on any action taken. In
light of constraints that might be present in a State party, some delegations
requested a qualification of the six-month time period. Others pointed out
that since no detailed reply on completed actions would be required at this
short-term stage, but that an indication of initiated action and planned steps
would suffice, they could not agree to such a qualification. Delegations also
affirmed that this article, including the time period for the submission of
information to the Committee, would apply only to the follow-up phase after
the Committee's adoption of views, and was not linked to article 5.
29. Delegations agreed that the Committee would have a long-term role in
monitoring follow-up to its views on communications, including through the
inclusion of relevant information in the periodic reports States parties are
required to submit under article 18 of the Convention. Article 7 (5) was
adopted ad referendum.
Article 10
30. Several delegations, while noting their support for an inquiry procedure,
stated that, in their view, the Committee already had the power under its
current mandate to deal with situations of serious or systematic violations.
In this regard, they encouraged the Committee to develop its mandate under
article 18 of the Convention, especially in regard to exceptional reports. It
was also noted that the proposed inquiry procedure would strengthen and expand
the Committee's mandate in this regard. Some doubt about the desirability of
including an inquiry procedure in the optional protocol was also voiced.
31. As to whether an inquiry procedure could be based on the Committee's
receipt of information about what was termed "serious [and] [or] systematic
violation", several delegations stated that, while they preferred "or", they
would also be able to accept "and". It was argued that the use of the word
"or" would not achieve the objective of the inquiry procedure. Others were of
the view that the reverse was the case. Single cases of violations could be
serious, but they should be dealt with under the communications procedure.
Those who supported the retention of "and" noted that in order for an inquiry
by the Committee to be initiated, allegations of violations needed to be both
serious and systematic.
32. Many delegations expressed the view that the words "with the consent of"
in article 10 (2) and "the consent ... of" in article 10 (5) were redundant,
while others emphasized the importance of this explicit requirement. Several
delegations were of the view that a provision under this article allowing for
visits to the territory of the State party should be retained, stressing that
such visits could only take place with the agreement or consent of the State
party.
Article 11 bis
33. Recognizing that while many delegations favoured the inclusion of an
inquiry procedure in the optional protocol, others were reluctant to provide
the Committee with such a mandate, the Chairperson introduced a provision
according to which States parties would, upon signature, ratification or
accession to the optional protocol, be in a position to declare that they did
not recognize the competence of the Committee under its articles 10 and 11
(the so-called opt-out clause).
34. Delegations welcomed this proposal as a good basis for further
discussions on articles 10 and 11. Some delegations proposed that, instead of
an opt-out procedure, an opt-in procedure should be included. While noting
their preference for an opt-in procedure, some also expressed their
flexibility in this regard. Other delegations noted that in principle, and to
ensure the integrity of the optional protocol, such a provision should not be
required at all. In this regard, some delegations noted the link between this
proposal and the issue of reservations and that they could only consider an
opt-out procedure on the basis of a clause precluding reservations. Others
suggested that the question of the opt-out provision should not be linked to
the issue of reservations.
Article 12
35. Some delegations were of the view that article 12 of the protocol was not
required because States parties to the protocol would be obliged to ensure
that its procedures were accessible and to cooperate with the Committee and
because the texts of existing international procedures did not include a
similar provision.
36. Many delegations were of the view that an article emphasizing States'
obligations in this regard was desirable, but that this article should be put
in positive terms. Several delegations suggested that the State party should
be called upon to cooperate in the effective exercise of the right to submit
communications or information to the Committee. Others suggested that this
right should be facilitated, promoted or supported. A number of delegations
were of the view that it was undesirable to refer to the protocol as creating
rights and it was preferable to provide that States parties would respect the
procedure provided by the protocol.
37. Many delegations suggested that the protocol should provide that the
State would cooperate with the Committee at all stages of its proceedings
under the protocol, but noted that this obligation would be implied in the
absence of such a provision.
38. Some delegations suggested that the protocol should explicitly provide
that States parties would undertake to take appropriate steps to protect those
using the protocol from interference and reprisal.
Article 13
39. Delegations recalled that article 13 had been adopted ad referendum.
Article 14
40. Many delegations stressed the importance of wide knowledge of and
publicity for the protocol, its procedures and the conclusions of the
Committee in this context. Several noted the importance of ensuring wide
dissemination of the jurisprudence of the Committee. Several noted that
provisions relating to knowledge of and publicity for treaties were not
included in existing instruments providing communications procedures, while
others noted that article 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child made
such provision, as did the rules of procedure of the Human Rights Committee.
41. A number of delegations expressed the view that a simple formulation
relating to publicity would be appropriate and that this should address the
optional protocol and the Convention. Several expressed the view that this
could be accommodated by mention of the protocol, which would be enough to
make known its procedures.
42. Many delegations agreed that it was important for women to be aware of
the Convention and the protocol, but cautioned against a provision that would
involve onerous obligations, including of a financial nature, for States
parties. Several delegations were of the view that a provision of this nature
was unnecessary and inappropriate, and that States parties that had not been
subject to the procedures set forth in the protocol should not have
obligations with respect to publicizing proceedings.
Article 15
43. Several delegations noted that in light of article 19 of the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 15 of
the protocol was redundant. Many delegations expressed the view that a
specific reference to the Committee's powers with regard to rules of procedure
should be included in the protocol for the purposes of clarity. Delegations
adopted the article ad referendum.
Article 16
44. Possible implications of the adoption and entry into force of the
optional protocol with regard to the Committee's requirements for meeting time
and resources were discussed. In this regard, the financial regulations and
rules of the United Nations, in particular those applying to the preparation
of the proposed programme budget by the Secretary-General and its review and
approval by the General Assembly following the consideration of the reports of
the financial and budgetary committees, were noted. While there was
recognition that to enter into any particular aspect of possible implications
would be premature, it was pointed out that the Committee's responsibilities
under the optional protocol would have implications for the Committee's
meeting time. In this regard, it was suggested that the recent amendment of
article 20 (1) of the Convention could be reflected in the optional protocol.
Possible resource implications with regard to the Secretariat's servicing of
the Committee would also have to be addressed by Member States in due course
in accordance with established regulations and rules.
45. Note was taken of the proposed new paragraph on resources, introduced by
the Chairperson, which restates article 17 (9) of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
46. Following consideration of the resource issues by the Working Group, a
proposal was made by the Chairperson to remove provisions pertaining to
resources, including meeting time, from the text of the optional protocol and
to have these elements reflected in the resolution by which the finalized text
of the protocol would be adopted. Pending further discussion, the paragraphs
were retained in brackets.
Article 17
47. Delegations adopted article 17 of the draft protocol ad referendum.
Article 18
48. While several delegations expressed the view that the optional protocol
should enter into force after the fifth instrument of ratification or
accession was lodged with the Secretary-General, they were willing to join the
many delegations who favoured entry into force after 10 ratifications or
accessions. A number of delegations, arguing for consistency with the
threshold established in the Convention, were of the view that 20 should be
required.
Article 19
49. Several delegations were of the view that this provision was a
restatement of article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and
suggested its retention. A number of delegations noted that an equivalent
provision was not to be found in the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women. Delegations agreed to delete this
article from the protocol.
Article 20
50. Many delegations recalled that reservations to human rights treaties,
consistent with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and not
incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty, were permissible under
international law and might be appropriate in certain circumstances.
51. Recognizing that the purpose of the protocol would be to assist women in
realizing their rights under the Convention, but that there were, however, a
large number of reservations to the Convention itself, many delegations
supported the inclusion of an explicit provision prohibiting reservations,
which they noted was also compatible with international law. The optional and
procedural nature of the protocol was stressed, as well as the
interrelationship among the provisions of the protocol, the effective
functioning of which would be undermined if reservations to any of its
provisions were permitted.
52. A number of delegations noted that, while several provisions of the
protocol, such as article 11 bis, had been drafted to address the concerns of
some delegations that might otherwise have resulted in reservations, several
provisions of the protocol had been agreed to by a number of States on the
understanding that a provision prohibiting reservations would be included.
Some delegations expressed the view that if reservations were permitted, then
article 11 bis, about which there was no agreement, would not be necessary,
and more States might accept the competence of the Committee to conduct
inquiries.
53. A number of delegations indicated that a prohibition of reservations
could only be accepted when the balance of the protocol had been agreed.
Several suggested that a provision prohibiting reservations might discourage
States from ratifying or acceding to the protocol. Some delegations argued
that certain States might be willing to accept all substantive obligations
established by the protocol, but unable to accept minor obligations. In such
cases, a provision precluding reservations would prevent such States from
becoming party to the protocol. These delegations suggested the inclusion of
a provision allowing for reservations permissible under the Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties or the setting out of no provision relating to the
issue, which would subject the protocol to the regime of that Convention and
preclude reservations that were inconsistent with the protocol's object and
purpose.
54. Several delegations acknowledged difficulties in respect of examining the
question of reservations at the present stage of consideration of the
protocol, but expressed the wish to address the issue once the draft protocol
was consolidated. Several took note of the strong sentiments expressed in the
Working Group with respect to the prohibition of reservations in light of the
subject matter of the Convention and agreed to take these sentiments into
account as the draft reached finalization.
55. A number of delegations noted that human rights treaties rarely contained
explicit prohibitions of reservations and that no instruments establishing
communications procedures incorporated such a provision. Noting that their
Governments did not envisage specific reservations to the protocol, several
delegations expressed serious concerns about the long-term implications of a
complete prohibition of reservations in a human rights instrument. Despite
these concerns, some delegations indicated a willingness to discuss a wide
variety of options with respect to discouraging or otherwise limiting
reservations to the protocol short of an absolute ban of the type contained in
article 20.
56. A large majority of delegations argued, nevertheless, that the protocol
was an exceptional case which justified a complete prohibition of
reservations. Recalling that the underlying aim of the protocol was to assist
women in realizing their rights under the Convention, those delegations
stressed with great passion that reservations could defeat the purpose of the
protocol.
Articles 21, 22, 23 and 24
57. Delegations adopted these articles ad referendum.
Annex III
ATTENDANCE
Members*
(* The Congo was not represented at the session.)
Angola Joana Lina Ramos Baptista, Maria Mpava Medina,
Adriano Ramos Gaspar, Suzana Nicolau Ingle^s, Margarida
Isata, Andre' Ramos Pereira Santana, Maria Jožo Manuel,
Anica Gaspar Estevžo
Belgium Alex Reyn, Dirk Wouters, Lily Boeykens, Annie De Wiest,
Martha Franken, Nathalie Cassiers, Ariadne Petridis
Bolivia Elizabeth In~iguez de Salinas, Peggy Maldonado
Brazil Marcela M. Nicodemos
Bulgaria Vladimir Sotirov, Maria Pavlova, Valentin D. Hadjiyski
Chile Josefina Bilbao, Juan Somavi'a, Eduardo Tapia,
Teresa Rodriguez, Fidel Coloma, Imay Ortiz, Gloria Claro
China Feng Cui, Cui Tiankai, Zou Xiaoqiao, Meng Xianying, Wu
Jihong, Xie Bohua, Chen Peijie, Song Wenyan, Li Sangu, Huang
Shu, Li Tingting
Co^te d'Ivoire Gnanazan Albertine He'pie', Die'ne'bou Kaba Camera,
Serge Roland Bony, Marie'tou Guiehoa, Syas E. Ahounou
Cuba Yolanda Ferer Go'mez, Pedro Nu'n~z Mosquera,
Magalys Arocha Domi'nguez, Yamira Cueto Milia'n,
Margarita Velle Camino, Elsa Agramonte Herna'ndez,
Ana Milagros Marti'nez Reilo
Dominican Cristina Aguiar, Julia Tavares de Alvarez, Francisco Tovar,
Republic Sully Saneaux
Ethiopia Tadelech H/Michael, Fesseha A. Tessema, Genet Abebe
France Franc'oise Gaspard, Caroline Mechin, Miche`le Dubrocard,
Gilbert Bitti, He'le`ne Dantoine, Fre'de'ric Desagneaux,
Assia Sixou
Germany Gerhard Henze, Marion Thielenhaus, Ulrike Fremerey,
Renate Augstein, Friederike Kirner, Uta Niemann-Jordan,
Ursula Sottong, Patricia Flor, Holger Mahnicke
Ghana Molly Anim-Addo, Mary Grant, Charolotte Charity Abaka,
Grace Boakye, Sarah Dam, Leslie Kojo Christian, Marian
Tackie
Greece Christos Zacharakis, Maria-Niki Koutsileou, Aliki Hadji,
Anastasia Sotiriadou
India Asha Das, Vidyaben Shah, Gautam Mukhopadhaya, Atul Khare
Indonesia Makarim Wibisono, Rini Soerojo, Arizal Effendi,
Sri M. Tadjudin, SH, Sutjiptohardjo Donokusumo,
Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, R. A. Esti Andayani,
Ms. Listyowati
Iran (Islamic Zahra Shojaie, Bagher Asadi, Mehdi Hamzehei, Esmaeil
Afshari,
Republic of) Afsaneh Nadipour, Tatemeh Ardaneh
Japan Yoriko Meguro, Makiko Sakai, Fumiko Saiga, Haniwa Natori,
Yoshiko Ando, Fumiko Suzuki, Mitsuko Ito, Takako Ito,
Yuki Suzuki, Koji Yanagisawa, Keiko Hayashi, Mika Ichihara
Lebanon Hassan Nejam, Fadi Karam, Taline Buchakjian
Lesotho Phakiso Mochochoko, žMantho Motselebane, Makhopotso Lebona
Malaysia Sharifah Zarah Syed Ahmad, Siti Hajjar Adnin
Mali Diarra Afoussatou Theiro, Moctar Ouane, Illalkamar Ag Oumar,
Sissoko Naminata Dembele, Daouda Cisse, Diallo Sohayata
Maiga, Rose Barstide
Mexico Ai'da Gonza'lez Marti'nez, Mari'a Antonieta Monroy, Yanerit
Morgan
Morocco Ahmed Snoussi, Jamina Akhamlich Bennani, Naoual Jouihri,
Jamila Alaoui
Norway Janne Haaland Matlary, Wenche Kverneland, Elisabeth Angell,
Helga Hernes, Sissel Salomon, Merete K. Wilhelmsen,
Susan Eckey, Anne Lene Svingen, Dag Nylander,
Karin Stoltenberg, Helga Ervik, Rigmor Aaserud Jahren
Paraguay Cristina Mun~oz, Bernardino Hugo Saguier,
Ida Fleitas de Hermoza, Martha Moreno Rodri'guez
Peru Fernando Guille'n, Maritza Rodri'guez, Alfredo Chuquihuara,
Augusto Cabrera
Philippines Patricia B. Licuanan, Maria Lourdes V. Ramiro Lopez,
Linglingay F. Lacanlale, Imelda M. Nicolas, Aurora J. De
Dios, Myrna S. Feliciano, Eleanor Conda, Violeta V. David,
J. Edgar Ledonio
Poland Krystyna Zurek
Portugal Anto'nio Ricoca Freire, Conceic'žo Brito Lopes, Mo'nica
Lisboa
Republic of Hoo-Jung Yoon, Chang Beom Cho, Woo-Keon Park, Young Han Bae,
Korea Jae Hong Yuh, Young Sam Ma, Hye Ran Yoo, Hyun-Joo Lee,
Soon-Young Chung, Pil-Wha Chang
Russian G. N. Karelova, G. V. Gulko, A. V. Aparina, G. H. Galkina,
Federation O. Y. Sepelev, A. A. Rogov, I. V. Khriskov, M. O. Korunova
Rwanda Marie Claire Mukantabana, Fatuma Ndangize
Saint Lucia Calliopa Pearlette Louisy, R. Sonia Leonce-Carryl,
Sonia Johnny, Patricia Louis, Bernadette Saltibus
Slovakia Olga Keltožova', Irena Belohorska', Oksana Tomova',
Daniela Baži'kova', Zuzana Vronova', Eva Havelkova'-
Taldikova', Zuzana Jezerska'
Sri Lanka Janaka Nakkawita, E. Rodney M. Perera, W. Hettiarachchi
Sudan Ihsan A. Algabshawi, Mubarak Rahmtalla, Khadija Abulgasim,
Tarig Ali Bakhit, Ahlam Abdul Elgalil,
Attiat Mustafa Abdel Halim, Badrya Suleiman Abbas Hamid
Swaziland Moses M. Dlamini, Joel Nhleko, Duma Hlatshwako,
Nonhlanhla P. L. Tsabedze, Melusie M. Masuku
Thailand Saisuree Chutikul, Charivat Santaputra, Sriwatana Chulajata,
Karn Chiranond, Sweeya Santipitaks
Togo Kissem Tchangai-Walla, Tche'coulah Babakane Coulibaley,
Mama-Raouf Tchagnao
Uganda Semakula Kiwanuka, G. N. Bitamazire, Paul Mukasa-Ssali
United Kingdom Joan Ruddock, Jeremy Astill-Brown, Pauline Barrett,
of Great Britain Sue Garner, Valerie Evans, Jill Barrett, Judith Bailey,
and Northern Betty Moxon, Helen McCarthy, Yvette Swan, Ms. Smith,
Ireland Vicki Lea, David Evans, Peter Gooderham, David Frost,
Ian Felton, Pat Holden, Simon Tonge, Ian Morley
United States Linda Tarr-Whelan, Betty King, Celena Green, Seth Winnick,
of America Sharon Kotok, Susan O'Sullivan, Nigel Purvis, David Shapiro,
David Stewart, Iris Burnett, Peggy Kerry, Catherine O'Neill,
Jill Merrick
States Members of the United Nations represented by observers
Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia,
Finland, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland,
Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands,
Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Republic of Moldova, Romania,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain,
Suriname, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United
Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Non-member States represented by observers
Holy See, Switzerland
United Nations
United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Development Fund for
Women, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund,
Economic Commission for Africa, Economic Commission for Europe, Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia,
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International
Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, Centre for Human
Rights
Specialized agencies and related organizations
International Labour Organization, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, United Nations Industrial Development
Organization
Intergovernmental organizations represented by observers
Council of Europe, European Community, International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Organization for Migration,
Organization of African Unity, Organization of American States
Other organizations represented by observers
Palestine
Non-governmental organizations
A large number of non-governmental organizations that either are in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council or had been
accredited to the Fourth World Conference on Women also attended the session
Annex IV
LIST OF DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COMMISSION AT ITS
FORTY-SECOND SESSION
Document symbol Agenda item Title or description
A/52/789 3 (a) Report of the Secretary-
General on a high-level
plenary review in the year
2000 on the implementation of
the outcome of the Fourth
World Conference on Women
E/CN.6/1998/1 and Corr.1 2 Provisional annotated agenda
E/CN.6/1998/2 and Add.1 and 2 3 (a) Report of the Secretary-
General on the follow-up to
and implementation of the
Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action
E/CN.6/1998/3 3 (a) Report of the Secretary-
General on a mid-term review
of the implementation of the
system-wide medium-term plan
for the advancement of women,
1996-2001
E/CN.6/1998/4 3 (b) Report of the Secretary-
General on older women and
support systems: new
challenges
E/CN.6/1998/5 3 (c) Analytical report of the
Secretary-General on the
thematic issues before the
Commission on the Status of
Women
E/CN.6/1998/6 3 (c) Synthesized report of the
Secretary-General on national
action plans and strategies
for implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action
E/CN.6/1998/7 5 Annotated comparison of the
draft optional protocol and
the amendments proposed
thereto with the provisions of
existing international human
rights instruments: report of
the Secretary-General
E/CN.6/1998/8 3 (a) Report of the Secretary-
General on the improvement of
the status of women in the
Secretariat
E/CN.6/1998/9 3 (a) Note by the Secretary-General
containing information
provided by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women on
the implementation of General
Assembly resolution 50/166 on
the role of the Fund in
eliminating violence against
women
E/CN.6/1998/10 3 (a) Note by the Secretariat on a
high-level plenary review in
the year 2000 of the
implementation of the outcome
of the Fourth World Conference
on Women
E/CN.4/1998/22-E/CN.6/1998/11 5 Report of the Secretary-
General on women's real
enjoyment of their human
rights, in particular those
relating to the elimination of
poverty, economic development
and economic resources
E/CN.6/1998/SW/COMM.LIST/32 4 Confidential list of
and Add.1 communications concerning the
status of women: note by the
Secretary-General
E/CN.6/1998/CR.34 4 Non-confidential list of
communications concerning the
status of women: note by the
Secretary-General
E/CN.6/1998/L.1 2 Status of documentation for
the session: note by the
Secretariat
E/CN.6/1998/L.2 and Add.1 7 Draft report of the Commission
on its forty-second session
E/CN.6/1998/L.3 3 (c) Botswana, Canada, Democratic
Republic of the Congo,
Finland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi,
Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa,
Swaziland, United Republic of
Tanzania and Zambia: draft
resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.4 3 (c) Angola, Bangladesh, Botswana,
Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi,
Marshall Islands, Mauritius,
Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan,
South Africa, Swaziland,
Uganda, United Republic of
Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabwe: draft
resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.5 3 (c) Austria, Bolivia, Canada,
Chile, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Malawi,
Marshall Islands, Netherlands,
Panama, Portugal, Rwanda,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
Turkey, United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern
Ireland and United States of
America: draft resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.6 3 (a) Argentina, Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Iran (Islamic
Republic of), Jordan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Malaysia, Mali, Morocco,
Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Peru, South Africa,
Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Zimbabwe: draft resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.7 3 (c) Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco,
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines
and Sri Lanka: draft
resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.8 3 (c) Austria, Bangladesh, Bolivia,
Canada, Chile, Costa Rica,
Co^te d'Ivoire, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala,
Israel, Mali, Morocco, Panama,
Paraguay, Philippines, Spain
and United States of America:
draft resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.9 3 (c) Indonesia (on behalf of the
States Members of the United
Nations that are members of
the Group of 77 and China):
draft resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.10 3 (a) Austria, Canada, Chile,
Finland, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia,
Netherlands, New Zealand,
Philippines, Portugal,
Republic of Korea, South
Africa, Spain, Swaziland,
Sweden, United
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, United
States of America and Zambia:
draft resolution
E/CN.6/1998/L.11 3 Draft text for a resolution
submitted by the Chairperson
E/CN.6/1998/L.12 3 Draft resolution submitted by
the Chairperson
E/CN.6/1998/L.13 6 Draft provisional agenda and
documentation for the forty-
third session of the
Commission: note by the
Secretariat
E/CN.6/1998/L.14 3 Statement of the programme
budget implications of draft
resolution E/CN.6/1998/L.11,
submitted by the Secretary-
General in accordance with
rule 31 of the rules of
procedure of the Economic and
Social Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/1 3 (b) Statement submitted by the
World Federation of the
Ukrainian Women's
Organizations and World
Movement of Mothers,
non-governmental organizations
in special consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/2 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
Transnational Radical Party, a
non-governmental organization
in general consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/3 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
World Veterans Federation, a
non-governmental organization
in general consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/4 3 (c) Statement submitted by Friends
World Committee for
Consultation, a
non-governmental organization
in special consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/5 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
International Federation of
Business and Professional
Women,
a non-governmental
organization in general
consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/6 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
International Council on
Social Welfare, a
non-governmental organization
in general consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council, and the International
Federation of University
Women, a non-governmental
organization in special
consultation status with the
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/7 3 (c) Statement submitted by Rotary
International, a
non-governmental organization
in general consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/8 3 (c) Statement submitted by HelpAge
International, International
Council of Women,
International Federation of
Business and Professional
Women, Soroptimist
International and Zonta
International,
non-governmental organizations
in general consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council; All India Women's
Conference, Associated Country
Women of the World, Baha'i'
International Community,
Italian Centre of Solidarity,
International Association of
Democratic Lawyers,
International Council of
Jewish Women, International
Council on Alcohol and
Addictions, International
Federation for Home Economics,
International Federation of
University Women, Pax Romana
(International Catholic
Movement for International and
Cultural Affairs -
International Movement of
Catholic Students), Socialist
International Women, Women's
International Zionist
Organisation and World
Association of Girl Guides and
Girl Scouts, non-governmental
organizations in special
consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council;
and European Union of Women,
International Inner Wheel and
International Round Table for
the Advancement of
Counselling, non-governmental
organizations on the Roster
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/9 3 (c) Statement submitted by
Franciscans International,
International Alliance of
Women, International Council
of Women, International
Federation of Business and
Professional Women, and
Society for International
Development, non-governmental
organizations in general
consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council;
All India Women's Conference,
Arab Lawyers Union,
Association of Arab-American
University Graduates, Baha'i'
International Community,
Disabled People's
International, International
Federation of Settlements and
Neighbourhood Centres,
International Federation of
University Women,
International Federation of
Women in Legal Careers,
International Federation of
Women Lawyers, St. Joan's
International Alliance, World
Association of Girl Guides and
Girl Scouts, and World
Information Transfer,
non-governmental organizations
in special consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/10 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
International Federation of
Settlements and Neighbourhood
Centres, a non-governmental
organization in special
consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council
E/CN.6/1998/NGO/11 3 (c) Statement submitted by the
All-China Women's Federation,
a non-governmental
organization in
special consultative status
with the Economic and Social
Council
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.1 5 Results of the eighteenth
session of the Committee on
the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women:
note by the Secretary-General
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.2 3 (c) Draft conclusions submitted by
the moderator (Patricia Flor)
of the panel discussion on
human rights of women
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.3/Rev.1 3 (c) Revised draft conclusions
submitted by the moderator
(Marcela Nicodemos) of the
panel discussion on the girl
child
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.4 3 (c) Draft conclusions submitted by
the moderator (Karim Fadi
Habib) of the panel discussion
on women and armed conflict
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.5 3 (c) Draft conclusions submitted by
the moderator (Nonhlanhla P.
L. Tsabedze) of the panel
discussion on violence against
women
E/CN.6/1998/CRP.6 4 Report of the Working Group on
Communications on the Status
of Women
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.1 5 Draft report of the Open-ended
Working Group on the
Elaboration of a Draft
Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.2 5 Revised draft optional
protocol to the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against
Women, submitted by the
Chairperson of the Open-ended
Working Group on the basis of
the compilation text contained
in the report of the
Commission on the Status of
Women on its forty-first
session (E/1997/27) and
proposals made by the
Commission at its forty-second
session
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.3 5 Summary submitted by the
Chairperson of the Open-ended
Working Group on the
Elaboration of a Draft
Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
E/CN.6/1998/WG/L.4 5 Summary of views expressed and
comments made by delegations
during the negotiations on a
draft optional protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, submitted by
the Chairperson of the Open-
ended Working Group
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