****************************************************************************** This document has been posted online by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, DPCSD. Reproduction and dissemination of the document - in electronic and/or printed format - is encouraged, provided acknowledgement is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available. ****************************************************************************** Aide-Memoire Subregional Conference of Senior Governmental Experts on the "Implementation of the Platform for Action adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, in Central and Eastern Europe". (Bucharest, Romania, 12-14 September 1996) Introduction The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women/Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DAW/DPCSD) and the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States/United Nations Development Programme (RBEC/UNDP), are convening jointly a Subregional Conference of Senior Governmental Experts on the "Implementation of the Platform for Action adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, in Central and Eastern Europe". The Conference will be organized in association with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), and in cooperation with the Government of Romania. The Conference will take place in Bucharest, Romania, from 12-14 September 1996. The Conference will focus on elaborating national plans for action which are due by the end of 1996 and strategies for their implementation; strengthening the institutional capacity of national machineries for the advancement of women and their role in elaboration and implementation of those plans; and strategies to enhance the role of NGOs and other actors in civil society in this process. I. Background The situation of women in Central and Eastern European countries in transition was analysed by the Division for the Advancement of Women in 1991, within the framework of the United Nations regional seminar on the "Impact of economic and political reform on the status of women in Eastern Europe". Various aspects of the situation of women in those countries were also highlighted in the preparatory process to the Fourth Word Conference on Women in Beijing through the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies and through working contacts of the United Nations with Governments, representatives of NGOs and civil society. Among numerous meetings, seminars and other events in the sub-region, mainly the national level, some UNDP initiatives gained particular importance and visibility. They included: A forum on women from conflict zones held in March 1995 in New York; the Regional Women's Conference held in Chisinau, Moldova in May 1995; and the Beijing Express project, a "training train", which transported 200 NGO"s and governmental representatives from over 30 Eastern European countries, from Warsaw to Beijing and which provided opportunities for training in gender analysis, empowerment of women, human rights and computer literacy. The high-level Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Fourth World Conference on Women organized by the Economic Commission for Europe in Vienna, from 17-21 October 1994 adopted the Regional Platform for Action which inter alia emphasized the need "to highlight both the major problems faced by women and the new opportunities for realizing their potential, particularly in the economies in transition and to identify the remaining constraints to realizing that potential" (para. 1.d), and stated that "Regional or sub-regional groupings are encouraged to provide an opportunity for increasing cooperation for the advancement of women and members of such organizations, especially countries in transition, are to be invited to explore new possibilities for opening cooperation to support the advancement of women in the economic, social and political as in the peace and security fields" (para.203). The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action stress the need for continued international cooperation with and assistance to the countries with economies in transition (Declaration, para.37, Platform, para.356). The Platform notes that "In countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social transformation, the skills of women, if better utilized, could constitute a major contribution to the economic life of their respective countries. Their input should continue to be developed and supported and their potential further realized" (para.159). In order to improve the situation of women, affected in some ways disproportionately by the process of transition and to utilize their potential in the design and implementation of the ongoing reforms, "The organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, including the technical and sectoral agencies, should facilitate the efforts of those countries in designing and implementing policies and programmes for the advancement of women......" (Para.356). II. Objectives Based on those mandates and in order to design appropriate national policies and appropriate structures for the implementation of the Platform for Action in Central and Eastern Europe, to establish priorities and facilitate cooperation and coordination within and outside of the region, the Conference will focus on: - Elaboration of national plans for action due by the end of 1996, and strategies for their implementation, including mobilization of resources and international cooperation; - Ways and means of strengthening the institutional capacity of national machineries for the advancement of women and their role in the elaboration of, and follow-up to, national plans for action; - Strategies for strengthening the role of NGOs and other actors in civil society in elaborating and implementing national plans for action and promoting synergies between NGOs and the Gender and Development Centres, academic/research institutes and national machineries. III. Expected outcome The Conference should result in the elaboration of a model of a national plan for action and guidelines for the preparation of a national plan for action. It should contribute to strengthening the institutional capacity of national machineries for the advancement of women and their role in the elaboration and implementation of those plans and an overall implementation of the Platform for Action, and the improvement of skills and knowledge necessary for the preparation and implementation of national plans for action among the participants and its multiplier effect at the national level. Besides, the participating countries will be provided with assistance in the completion of their national plans for action by two facilitators, available upon request in the period of two months after the Conference. The Conference will also lead to the better understanding and coordination of work related to the elaboration of national plans for action through identification of substantive sectoral areas of common interest, ways and means of cooperation, improvement of skills in resource mobilization, and increased awareness among decision-makers of their commitments resulting from the Conference in Beijing. IV. Background documentation and profile of participants The basic documentation for the Conference will comprise technical papers commissioned by the DAW, UNDP and ECE and prepared by consultants, and background papers prepared by governmental experts. The technical papers will include: an overview of the situation of women in the region based on the background papers submitted by governmental experts, which will be presented to the Plenary meeting; a paper addressing the key aspects of elaboration and implementation of national plans for action which will inaugurate the discussion in Working Group I; a paper focused on the role of national machineries, and a paper on the role of NGOs and other actors in civil society, which will be introduced in Working Groups II and III respectively. The governmental experts should present background papers which will identify and analyse the issues which are key for the implementation of the Platform for Action in their respective countries. They should further suggest ways and means of addressing those issues, including various forms of regional and international cooperation and identify key governmental and non-governmental actors involved in the process. Governmental experts, at least two from each participating country, will be designated by their respective Governments. V. Organization The Conference will be jointly organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women/Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States/ United Nations Development Programme in association with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and in cooperation with the Government of Romania, which will host the Conference. It will be attended by governmental experts from the participating countries from the Subregion, representatives of interested Governments, consultants, as well as observers from the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations, in particular from the European Region, financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations. VI. Administrative arrangements The Conference will be conducted in English. Details of the administrative and logistic arrangements will be provided later by the Government of Romania in cooperation with the UNDP Country Office in Romania. All correspondence should be addressed to: Ms. Angela E.V. King Director Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development United Nations, Room DC2-1220 New York, N.Y. 10017, USA Tel. No: (212) 963-5086 Fax. No: (212) 963-3463