Palestinian women, assistance – CSW action, resolution, decision – 49th session report

Commission on the Status

of Women

    Report on the forty-ninth session

(28 February-11 and 22 March 2005)

Economic and Social Council 

Official Records, 2005

Supplement No. 7

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 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 and assistance to Palestinian women*

  The Economic and Social Council,

 Having considered with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, ⁴ 

 Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,⁵ in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform for Action ⁶ adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, ⁷

 Recalling also its resolution 2004/56 of 23 July 2004 and other relevant United Nations resolutions,

 Recalling further the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women ⁸ as it concerns the protection of civilian populations,

 Expressing the urgent need for the full resumption of negotiations within the Middle East peace process on its agreed basis and towards the speedy achievement of a final settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,

 Concerned about the grave situation of Palestinian women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, resulting from severe impact of ongoing illegal Israeli settlement activities and the unlawful construction of the wall, as well as the severe consequences arising from Israeli military operations on and sieges of civilian areas, which have detrimentally impacted their social and economic conditions and deepened the humanitarian crisis faced by them and their families,

 Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice on the “Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, ⁹ and recalling also General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004,

 Recalling also the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ¹⁰ the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights¹⁰ and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ¹¹ and affirming that these human rights instruments must be respected in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

 Expressing its condemnation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction, especially the excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians, many of them women and children, resulting in injury and loss of human life,

 1.  Calls upon the concerned parties, as well as the international community, to exert all the necessary efforts to ensure the full resumption of the peace process on its agreed basis, taking into account the common ground already gained, and calls for measures for tangible improvement of the difficult situation on the ground and the living conditions faced by Palestinian women and their families;

 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, ¹² the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention IV of 18 October 1907 ¹³ and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, ¹⁴ 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 compliance with the relevant United Nations resolutions;

 5.  Calls upon the international community to continue to provide urgently needed assistance and services in an effort to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families and to help in the reconstruction of relevant Palestinian institutions;

 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, ⁵ in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform for Action ⁶ and the outcome documents of the special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”; ⁷

 7.  Requests the Secretary-General to continue to review the situation, to assist Palestinian women by all available means, including those laid out in the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women” and to submit to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fiftieth session a report, including information provided by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.

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    Decision 49/103

Documents considered by the Commission on the Status of Women under agenda item 3 *

  At its resumed 20th meeting, on 22 March 2005, the Commission on the Status of Women took note of the following documents:

 Under item 3 (a)

 (a)   Report of the Secretary-General on measures taken and progress achieved in the follow-up to and implementation of the outcomes of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, with an assessment of progress made in mainstreaming a gender perspective within the United Nations system; ⁵⁶ 

 (b)   Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women; ⁵⁷ 

 (c)   Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan; ⁵⁸ 

 (d)   Report of the Secretary-General on the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; ⁵⁹ 

 (e)   Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the elimination of violence against women. ⁶⁰ 

 Under item 3 (c) 

  Report of the Secretary-General on the review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”. ⁶¹ 

Chapter II

    Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”

1.   The Commission considered agenda item 3 at its 1st to 20th meetings, from 28 February to 11 March and at its resumed 20th meeting on 22 March 2005. It had before it the following documents:

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 (c)   Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (E/CN.6/2005/4);

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    Action taken by the Commission

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    Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women

113.   At the 13th meeting, on 8 March, the observer for Jamaica, on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women” (E/CN.6/2005/L.7).

114.   At the 19th meeting, on 11 March, the observer for Jamaica, orally revised the draft resolution as follows:

 (a)   In the sixth preambular paragraph, the word “attacks” was replaced by the words “military operations”;

 (b)  The seventh preambular paragraph, which had read: 

 “ Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice concerning Israel’s unlawful construction of a wall, and recalling in particular the Court’s conclusion regarding the applicability of international humanitarian law and human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,”

was deleted;

 (c)   After the seventh preambular paragraph, two new preambular paragraphs were inserted as follows:

 “Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice on the ‘Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’, and recalling also General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 of 20 July 2004;

 “Recalling also the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and affirming that these human rights instruments must be respected in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;”.

115.   At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of Luxembourg.

116.   The Commission was informed that the draft resolution contained no programme budget implications.

117.   The Commission adopted the draft resolution, as orally revised, by a recorded vote of 38 to 1, with 2 abstentions (see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution I). The voting was as follows:

In favour:

  Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Botswana, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan , Peru, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania.

Against:

 United States of America. 

Abstaining:

 Canada, Iceland.

118.   Statements in explanation of vote before the vote were made by the representatives of Canada and the United States.

119.   A statement in explanation of vote after the vote was made by the representative of Japan.

120.   Before the adoption of the draft resolution, a statement was made by the observer for Israel; after the vote, statements were made by the representative of the Russian Federation, as well as by the observer for the Niger.

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