***************************************************************** This document has been made available in electronic format by the United Nations. 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. ***************************************************************** UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL E/CN.6/1994/1 3 February 1994 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Thirty-eighth session New York, 7-18 March 1994 Item 2 of the provisional agenda ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS Provisional agenda 1. Election of officers. 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. 3. Programming and coordination matters related to the United Nations and the United Nations system. 4. Monitoring the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. 5. Priority themes: (a) Equality: Equal pay for work of equal value, including methodologies for measurement of pay inequities and work in the informal sector; (b) Development: Women in urban areas: population, nutrition and health factors for women in development, including migration, drug consumption and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; (c) Peace: Measures to eradicate violence against women in the family and society. 6. Preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace.* 7. Provisional agenda for the thirty-ninth session of the Commission. 8. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its thirty-eighth session. ________________________ * In accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/12, the Commission is acting as the preparatory body for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace. Annotations Item 1. Election of officers 1. Rule 15 of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council provides that, at the commencement of the first meeting of a regular session, the Commission shall elect, from among the representatives of its members, a Chairman, one or more Vice-Chairmen and such other officers as may be required. At past sessions, the Commission has elected, in addition to a Chairman, three Vice-Chairmen and a Rapporteur. 2. In resolution 1987/21, the Economic and Social Council recommended that, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the work of the Commission, the officers elected to the bureau of the Commission serve for a term of office of two years. The Commission will be required to elect a new bureau at the present session. The officers elected will serve during the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions. Item 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters 3. Rule 7 of the rules of procedure provides that the Commission shall, at the beginning of each session, after the election of its officers, adopt the agenda for that session on the basis of the provisional agenda. 4. In resolution 1987/22 on measures to strengthen the role and functions of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Economic and Social Council decided to structure the agenda for future sessions of the Commission around its functions, namely programming, coordination, monitoring and policy development. 5. The provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-eighth session of the Commission was approved by the Economic and Social Council in decision 1993/233. The annotations to the provisional agenda set out below take into account those resolutions adopted by the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session that are relevant to the work of the Commission. 6. Proposals concerning the organization of work of the thirty-eighth session of the Commission will be submitted in a note by the Secretariat. 7. In accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1979/69, the Commission will have before it a note by the Secretariat on the status of documentation for the session. Documentation Note by the Secretariat on the status of documentation for the session (E/CN.6/1994/L.1) Note by the Secretariat on the organization of work of the session (E/CN.6/1994/L.2) Item 3. Programming and coordination matters related to the United Nations and the United Nations system 8. In resolution 1993/9 on improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council urged the Secretary-General to implement fully the action programme designed to remove the obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat by 1995, and noted that his visible commitment was essential to the achievement of the targets set by the General Assembly. 9. Also in resolution 1993/9, the Economic and Social Council urged the Secretary-General, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to accord greater priority to the recruitment and promotion of women in posts subject to geographical distribution, particularly in senior policy-level and decision-making posts, in order to achieve the goals set in General Assembly resolutions 45/125, 45/239 C, 46/100 and 47/93 of an overall participation rate of 35 per cent by 1995 and 25 per cent in posts at the D-1 level and above by 1995; and strongly urged the Secretary-General to make further use of the opportunity offered by the United Nations reorganization process to promote more women into senior-level positions. 10. In resolution 48/106, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to ensure that a progress report on the status of women in the Secretariat containing, inter alia, policy measures aimed at the prevention of sexual harassment in the Secretariat was submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women, in accordance with the relevant rules on the delivery timetable for documentation, at its thirty-eighth session, and to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General containing updated information on the status of women in the Secretariat and a comprehensive policy on measures aimed at the prevention of sexual harassment in the Secretariat (E/CN.6/1994/5) Documentation for information Report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (A/48/513) Item 4. Monitoring the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women 11. In resolution 1993/15, the Economic and Social Council requested the Commission the Status of Women to continue monitoring the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, and requested the Secretary-General to assist in the review of the situation of Palestinian women using all available resources, including missions of experts to the occupied Palestinian territory, and to submit to the Commission, at its thirty-eighth session, a report on the implementation of the resolution, containing recommendations and a programme of action aimed at improving the situation of Palestinian women under Israeli occupation. 12. The report of the Secretary-General on this question will be before the Commission. Women and children under apartheid 13. In resolution 1993/13, the Economic and Social Council urged those involved in the multi-party forum to place high on their agenda issues concerning women, such as freedom, justice and equality, development and the environment; requested the Centre against Apartheid to widen and strengthen its cooperation with the Division for the Advancement of Women, with a view to creating specific programmes of assistance to South African women to enable them to participate fully in the process of transition of their country towards a non-racist democracy; called upon the Secretary-General to consolidate the United Nations observer mission already deployed in Africa to monitor and report on the unprecedented proportion of incidents of political and domestic violence directed against women and children from a variety of sources; decided that the Commission on the Status of Women should remain seized of the question of women and children living under apartheid; and requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session a report on the implementation of the resolution. 14. The report of the Secretary-General on this question will be before the Commission. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 15. In resolution 47/94, the General Assembly recommended that meetings of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women be scheduled, whenever possible, to allow for the timely transmission of the results of its work to the Commission on the Status of Women, for information, in the same year. The main substantive results of the work of the thirteenth session of the Committee will be made available to the Commission. Communications concerning the status of women 16. In resolution 76 (V) of 5 August 1947, the Economic and Social Council established a procedure by which the Commission on the Status of Women would handle communications relating to the status of women. In resolution 304 I (XI) of 14 and 17 July 1950, the Council amended resolution 76 (V) and requested the Secretary-General to compile, before each session of the Commission, a list of confidential and non-confidential communications containing a brief indication of the substance of each communication. 17. In resolution 1983/27, the Council reaffirmed the mandate of the Commission to consider confidential and non-confidential communications on the status of women, and authorized the Commission to appoint a working group to consider such communications and prepare a report thereon for the Commission. 18. In resolution 1993/11, the Economic and Social Council reaffirmed that the Commission on the Status of Women was empowered to make recommendations to the Economic and Social Council on what action should be taken on emerging trends and patterns of discrimination against women revealed by such communications; invited the Commission to take into account the report of the Secretary-General on examining mechanisms for communications on the status of women, submitted to the Commission at its thirty-fifth session, in considering ways of making the existing procedure for receiving and considering communications more effective; and requested the Secretary- General to report to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session on the ways in which the communications mechanism of the Commission had been publicized. 19. The report of the Secretary-General on this question will be before the Commission. Follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights 20. By resolution 37/4, the Commission on the Status of Women made recommendations concerning women's rights and concerns to be considered under the substantive items of the provisional agenda for the World Conference on Human Rights. 21. In resolution 48/108, the General Assembly requested the Commission on the Status of Women to examine the implications of the World Conference on Human Rights and the Programme of Action adopted by the Conference for its central role in matters related to women's rights within the United Nations system, and to report to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994. The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report for submission to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session, on steps to be taken by the Division for the Advancement of Women, in cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specifically the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat, to ensure that relevant human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, such as treaty-monitoring bodies, rapporteurs and working groups, regularly addressed violations of women's human rights, including gender-specific abuses. 22. The requested report will be before the Commission. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (E/CN.6/1994/6) Report of the Secretary-General on women and children under apartheid (E/CN.6/1994/7) Report of the Secretary-General on follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights (E/CN.6/1994/11) Report of the Secretary-General on ways in which the communications mechanism of the Commission has been publicized (E/CN.6/1994/8) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting a list of confidential and non-confidential communications concerning the status of women (E/CN.6/1994/CRP. ) Documentation for information Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its twelfth session (A/48/38) Results of the thirteenth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (E/CN.6/1994/CRP. ) Report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (A/48/354) Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the year 2000 (A/48/413) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report on the situation of human rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia prepared by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights (A/48/92-S/25341) Item 5. Priority themes (a) Equality: Equal pay for work of equal value, including methodologies for measurement of pay inequities and work in the informal sector (b) Development: Women in urban areas: population, nutrition and health factors for women in development including migration, drug consumption and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (c) Peace: Measures to eradicate violence against women in the family and society 23. In resolution 1990/15, the Economic and Social Council endorsed the priority themes for the thirty-seventh to fortieth sessions of the Commission. 24. In resolution 1987/24, the Council recommended that, when resources were available, expert group meetings be convened to assist in the preparation of the work of the Commission on priority themes. For the present session of the Commission, the following meetings and seminars were held: expert group meeting on measures to eliminate violence against women (Rutgers University, New Jersey, United States of America, 4-8 October 1993) and seminar on urban women (Santo Domingo, 22-25 November 1993). The results of these meetings have been incorporated in the appropriate reports. 25. In resolution 48/108, the General Assembly requested the Commission, when considering the priority theme related to development during its thirty-seventh and subsequent sessions, to ensure its early contribution to the preparatory work of forthcoming major international conferences, such as, the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995, and the World Summit for Social Development, also to be held in 1995, and to address the impact of technologies on women. 26. In resolution 48/104, the General Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; in resolution 48/108 it recognized that the Declaration was essential to the attainment of full respect for women's rights and was an important contribution to efforts aimed at achieving the objectives of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the year 2000. 27. In resolution 48/110, the General Assembly urged that the subject of violence against women migrant workers be included in the agenda of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in Beijing in 1995; called upon competent bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations to inform the Secretary-General of the extent of the problem and to recommend further measures to implement the purpose of the resolution; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the implementation of the resolution, taking note of the relevant views of the Commission on the Status of Women in its discussion of the subject of violence against women at its thirty-eighth session, in March 1994. 28. In resolution 36/4 on the integration of elderly women into development, the Commission on the Status of Women invited the Secretary-General to report to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session on the establishment, on a country-by- country basis, of profiles concerning the present and future situation of women at all stages of their lives; on an evaluation of analytical methods permitting the establishment of strategies and programmes for the integration of women in development; and on the inclusion of gender criteria in numerical targets concerning ageing. Reporting on these matters will take place in the context of the discussion of the priority themes. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General on equal pay for work of equal value, including methodologies for measurement of pay inequities and work in the informal sector (E/CN.6/1994/2) Report of the Secretary-General on women in urban areas: population, nutrition and health factors for women in development, including migration, drug consumption and acquired immunodefieiency syndrome (E/CN.6/1994/3) Report of the Secretary-General on measures to eradicate violence against women in the family and society (E/CN.6/1994/4) Item 6. Preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace 29. In resolution 45/129, the General Assembly endorsed Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/12, in which the Council recommended that a world conference on women be held in 1995, and requested the Commission on the Status of Women to act as the preparatory body for the conference. 30. In resolution 36/8 A, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to prepare draft rules of procedure for consideration at its thirty-eighth session. 31. In section III of resolution 37/7, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to prepare, and to present to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session, a draft of the Platform for Action, following the guidelines set out in the annex to the resolution and in the results of the meeting of the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Commission, held from 10-14 January 1994. 32. In section II of resolution 37/7, the Commission requested the Secretary-General of the Conference, taking as a guideline practices being used by such other world conferences as the International Conference on Population and Development, to propose to the regional commissions a formula to determine the eligibility of non-governmental organizations not in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to participate in preparatory activities and/or regional meetings, which would make them eligible to apply for accreditation to the World Conference; also requested the Secretary-General of the Conference to obtain from the regional commissions a list of those non-governmental organizations not in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council which were determined to be eligible, which would be submitted to the Commission at its thirty-ninth session so that the Commission might make the list of those to be invited to the World Conference, bearing in mind that for the proper functioning of the Conference and the efficient participation of non-governmental organizations themselves, their number should not be excessive and that the list should have a regional balance; attention would be given to the existing resources and facilities available in the host country; and further requested the Secretary-General of the Conference to submit to the Commission at its thirty-ninth session a proposal for criteria to be used by the Commission in drawing up the final list. 33. In resolution 48/108, the General Assembly, taking into account Commission resolution 37/7, adopted modalities for the participation in and contribution to the Fourth World Conference on Women and its preparatory process of non-governmental organizations. 34. In the same resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit a preliminary version of the updated World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, a basic document for the Fourth World Conference on Women, to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994, through the Commission. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General on the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace (E/CN.6/1994/9) Report of the Secretary-General on the draft Platform for Action (E/CN.6/1994/10) Report of the Inter-sessional Working Group of the Commission on the Status of Women (E/CN.6/1994/12) Report of the Secretary-General containing a preliminary version of the updated World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (E/1994/ ) Note by the Secretariat on the draft provisional rules of procedure for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace (E/CN.6/1994/L.3) Item 7. Provisional agenda for the thirty-ninth session of the Commission 35. Pursuant to paragraph 3 of Economic and Social Council resolution 1984 (LVII), the Commission will have before it the draft provisional agenda for its thirty-ninth session, with an indication of the documents to be submitted under each agenda item and the legislative authority for their preparation, in order to enable the Commission to consider those documents from the point of view of their contribution to the work of the Commission, their urgency and their relevance in the light of the current situation. In view of the Commission's role as the preparatory body for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, the focus of the thirty-ninth session will be on the preparations for the Conference. Item 8. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its thirty-eighth session 36. In accordance with rule 37 of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, the Commission shall submit to the Council a report on the work of its session. -----