Palestinian women – Commission on the Status of Women – Draft resolution

Qatar:* draft resolution

  The Commission on the Status of Women recommends to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of the following draft resolution:

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, ¹

Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,² in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform for Action³ adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” ,⁴

Recalling also its resolution 2003/42 of 22 July 2003 and other relevant United Nations resolutions,

Recalling further the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women⁵ as it concerns the protection of civilian populations,

Expressing the urgent need for the 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 deterioration of the situation of Palestinian women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and about the severe consequences of continuous illegal Israeli settlements activities as well as the harsh economic conditions and other severe consequences of the continuing Israeli attacks and sieges on Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, which has resulted in the dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families,

Concerned also that the construction of a wall by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-State solution physically impossible to implement and would cause further humanitarian hardship to the Palestinians, in particular women and children,

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 immediate 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,⁶ the Regulations annexed to The Hague Convention IV of 18 October 1907 ⁷ and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, ⁸ 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,² in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform for Action³ and the outcome of the special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”;⁴

7.  Requests the Secretary-General to continue to review the situation and 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 forty-ninth session a report based on the information provided by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.

__________

* On behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China and in accordance with rule 69 of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council.

Notes

¹E/CN.6/2004/4.

²Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10), chap. 1, sect. A.

³Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. 1, resolution 1, annex II.

⁴ See General Assembly resolutions S-23/2 and S-23/3.

⁵See General Assembly resolution 48/104.

⁶General Assembly resolution 212 A (III).

⁷See Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915).

⁸ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.

___________