Economic and Social Council
Coordination Segment
Agenda item 4 (a) Review and appraisal
of the system-wide implementation
of the
Council’s agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming
a gender
perspective into all policies and programmes
of the United
Nations system
Statement by Carolyn Hannan, Director
Division for the Advancement of Women
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Mr. Vice-President
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this meeting of
the ECOSOC Coordination Segment. I am honoured to present the
Secretary-General’s Report on “Review and appraisal
of the system-wide implementation of the Council's agreed conclusions 1997/2 on
mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the
United Nations system.”
The
Report of the Secretary General has been prepared in response to ECOSOC
resolution 2003/49 of July 2003. It draws on information gathered from United
Nations entities, the work of the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender
Issues and Advancement of Women and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and
Gender Equality, as well as on previous reports of the Secretary-General to the
Commission on the Status of Women, ECOSOC, and the General Assembly since 1997.
Gender mainstreaming was clearly
established as a global strategy for promoting gender equality, alongside
specifically targeted activities, in the Platform for Action adopted at the United Nations Fourth World
Conference on Women in
In 1997,
the Economic and Social Council took a critical step in translating this
commitment from the Fourth World Conference on Women into practice. In adopting its agreed conclusions 1997/2,
the Council emphasized its desire to promote a coordinated and coherent policy
of gender mainstreaming. To that end, the Council clarified the concept of
mainstreaming and the central principles associated with it. Perhaps most importantly, the Council
addressed specific recommendations to all actors within the United Nations
system. It gave direction to the
intergovernmental processes, and also spelled out the institutional requirements
for gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes.
The ECOSOC agreed conclusions (1997/2) defined gender mainstreaming as “the process of
assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels, and as a
strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an
integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of
policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that
women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.”
The importance of the gender mainstreaming strategy was reinforced in the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly to follow-up the implementation of the Platform for Action (June 2000). Other intergovernmental bodies and major global events since 1997 have also provided important mandates for gender mainstreaming in specific areas of the work of the United Nations. A major breakthrough on gender mainstreaming in the area of peace and security, for example, was achieved with the Security Council resolution 1325 (October 2000) which clearly states that there is an "urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations".
Following the establishment of the critical framework for gender mainstreaming in the agreed conclusions 1997/2, the Economic and Social Council has continued to play a critical role in promoting and facilitating the implementation of gender mainstreaming. ECOSOC resolution 2001/41 called for attention to gender perspectives in the work of ECOSOC and all its functional commissions, as well as in the integrated and coordinated follow-up to global conferences. A new agenda item was established on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system, specifically to monitor and evaluate progress and obstacles in gender mainstreaming, and to consider further measures to enhance attention to gender perspectives. The review being undertaken in the Coordination segment today will make an important contribution to furthering the full implementation of gender mainstreaming. It will provide critical inputs into the review and appraisal of implementation of the Platform for Action to be undertaken in the Commission on the Status of Women in 2005, where there will be a strong focus on gender mainstreaming. It will also contribute to the review of the Millennium Declaration to be held in 2005.
Mr Vice-President, Excellencies and distinguished participants,
The
report before you in document E/2004/59 provides an overall analysis of gender mainstreaming in the
United Nations system and at intergovernmental level since 1997. It highlights
achievements, gaps and challenges that the Council may wish to focus on in the
review and appraisal of implementation. The report assesses progress in the
United Nations system in relation to policy, strategy and budget
frameworks, programmes and operational
activities, and institutional arrangements, including gender specialist
resources, capacity-building, data and indicators, monitoring and evaluation
and accountability. It highlights the contribution of interagency collaboration,
in particular through the Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality.
The report also assesses progress in increasing the attention to gender
perspectives in the integrated and coordinated implementation and follow-up to
the major conferences and summits, as well as in the work of the General
Assembly and its subsidiary bodies, the Economic and Social Council and its
functional commissions and the Security Council.
The
report concludes that gender mainstreaming remains a critical strategy for
promoting gender equality and empowerment of women and the ECOSOC agreed conclusions
remain a valid framework for gender mainstreaming and should continue to guide
the efforts of the United Nations. While considerable efforts have been undertaken
to implement gender mainstreaming across the United Nations system, and significant
achievements have been made - for example in the area of development of
specific policies and strategies on gender equality, capacity-building and
development of methodologies and tools - a lot remains to be done before the
commitments on gender mainstreaming in the Platform for Action and the ECOSOC
agreed conclusions are fully implemented.
The
gap between policy and practice remains a major constraint. While
gender-specific policies and strategies, capacity-building programmes,
methodology development, and interagency collaboration have been developed,
full implementation of gender mainstreaming requires further efforts to integrate
gender perspectives into other policies and strategies in different sector
areas, into all capacity building programmes, into methodology development
initiatives in all areas, and into different forms of inter-agency
collaboration, including thematic groups at country level.
Significant
challenges remain at the institutional level. These include underdeveloped
monitoring and accountability mechanisms; inadequate availability and
ineffective utilization of gender specialist resources; and lack of systematic use
of gender analysis as the basis for policy and programme development, including
because of lack of capacity.
The
report concludes that inter-agency collaboration has significantly enhanced the
use of the gender mainstreaming strategy and should be further encouraged. Areas
where significant contributions have been made by collaboration through the
Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality include policy development,
capacity-building, methodology development, advocacy and outreach and
monitoring and evaluation. Recommendations in the report are addressed to both
the Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality as well as to other
inter-agency mechanisms.
The
report highlights the significance of progress made in mainstreaming gender
perspectives at the intergovernmental level on efforts undertaken and progress
made within the United Nations system. A number of recommendations to address
remaining gaps and challenges are addressed to the General Assembly, the
Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on the Status
of Women, other functional commissions, and to the governing bodies of agencies,
funds and programmes.
Mr Vice-President, Excellencies and distinguished participants,
I would like
to draw your attention to the fact that four Conference Room Papers complement
the Secretary-General’s report. The Conference Room Papers are focused on
gender mainstreaming in operational activities (E/2004/CRP.1); the work of the
Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality in promoting and supporting
gender mainstreaming (E/2004/CRP.2); gender mainstreaming in peace and security
(E/2004/CRP.3); and gender mainstreaming in intergovernmental processes (E/2004/CRP.4).
An additional document has been made available at the back of the room as an
information resource. This provides a compilation of baseline
information on gender mainstreaming in United Nations entities, focused on key
elements of gender mainstreaming, including mandates, specialist resources, methodologies
and tools, and monitoring and evaluation.
In
conclusion, like all strategies, gender mainstreaming is only as good as it is
implemented. The review and appraisal of implementation of the agreed
conclusions 1997/2 in the Coordination Segment provides an important
opportunity to build on achievement made and lessons learned and to identify
and address the main gaps and challenges hindering full implementation.
I
wish you success in your deliberations.
Thank
you.