Participation of women in the UN system – Advancement of women/Beijing Declaration/CSW fiftieth session – SecGen report (excerpts)

Measures taken and progress achieved in follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly

Report of the Secretary-General

_______________

* A/62/150.

---

I. Introduction

1. The General Assembly, in its resolution 61/145, requested the Secretary-General to continue to report annually to the Assembly, under the agenda item “Advancement of women”, as well as to the Commission on the Status of Women and the Economic and Social Council, on the follow-up to and progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, with an assessment of progress in gender mainstreaming, including information on key achievements, lessons learned and good practices, and recommendations on further measures to enhance implementation.

/…

C. Fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Assessment of the impact of the input of the Commission on the Status of Women to discussions in the United Nations system

/…

57. In preparation for the present report, a number of United Nations entities submitted information on ways in which the Commission’s outcomes in those two areas had affected their work.²²  Contributions for preparation of this report were received from the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, the Division for the Advancement of Women, FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNCTAD, the Department of Public Information, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, ECA, ILO, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, UNEP, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP, UNFPA, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, WHO, WFP, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNAIDS, UNRWA, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, UNESCO, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Department of Political Affairs, the Financing for Development Office, the Division for Development Policy and Analysis, the Division for Public Administration and Development Management, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the International Organization for Migration, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank. The Department of Public Information, for example, has produced information kits on the outcomes of the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in relation to both priority themes and has engaged in outreach to regional and national media.

58. In following up on the agreed conclusions on “Enhanced participation of women in development: an enabling environment for achieving gender equality and the advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields of education, health and work”, several United Nations entities reported on steps taken to create an enabling environment through the development of policies and action plans. For example, the overall policies and plans of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aimed to create, within their specific areas of work, an environment that promoted and sustained gender equality. The FAO Gender and Development Plan of Action (2008-2013) aimed to advance rural women’s social and economic status and to reduce their vulnerability to poverty, and the UNEP Gender Plan of Action contained clear guidelines and timelines for the inclusion of gender perspectives in environmental policies and programmes.

/…

66. The importance of women’s representation in international forums was also raised. The Division for Palestinian Rights of the Department of Political Affairs of the Secretariat, under the guidance of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, has continued to ensure the participation of Palestinian women in its international meetings and conferences.

/…

^{___________________________}

²²  Contributions for preparation of this report were received from the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, the Division for the Advancement of Women, FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNCTAD, the Department of Public Information, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, ECA, ILO, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, UNEP, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP, UNFPA, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, WHO, WFP, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNAIDS, UNRWA, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, UNESCO, the Economic Commission for Europe, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Department of Political Affairs, the Financing for Development Office, the Division for Development Policy and Analysis, the Division for Public Administration and Development Management, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the International Organization for Migration, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank.