{"id":196236,"date":"2007-07-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=196236"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:10:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:10:10","slug":"auto-insert-196236","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-196236\/","title":{"rendered":"Report of Commission on the Status of Women – ECOSOC adopts resolution on Palestinian women – Press release (excerpts)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Economic and Social Council<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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ECOSOC\/6305 <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ADOPTS TEXTS ON PALESTINIAN WOMEN, VIOLENCE<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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AGAINST GIRLS FROM REPORT OF COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Discusses Mainstreaming Gender Perspective into All<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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United Nations Policies, Women and Development, Advancement of Women<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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(Reissued as received.)<\/p><\/div>\n

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GENEVA, 24 July (UN Information Service) — The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this afternoon adopted a resolution from the report of the Commission on the Status of Women in which it called 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 approved a text on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the resolution on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, which was adopted by a roll-call vote of 38 in favour, two against and one abstention, the Council called 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 called for intensified measures to be taken for tangible improvement of the difficult situation on the ground and the living conditions faced by Palestinian women and their families.  It also called 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.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Commenting on the resolution were Pakistan, the United States, Costa Rica and Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Action on Resolution and Decisions<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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In a resolution contained in the report of the Commission on the Status of Women and entitled situation of and assistance to Palestinian women<\/u>, adopted by a roll-call vote with 38 in favour to 2 against, with 1 abstention, the Council 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 intensified measures to be taken for tangible improvement of the difficult situation on the ground and the living conditions faced by Palestinian women and their families; demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply fully with the provisions and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Regulations annexed to The Hague Convention IV of 18 October 1907 and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, in order to protect the rights of Palestinian women and their families; 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; 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; and 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 on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, and to submit to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-second 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.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The results of the vote were as follows:<\/p><\/div>\n

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In favour<\/u>  (38): Algeria, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Cape Verde, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand and United Kingdom.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Against<\/u> (2): Canada and United States.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Abstention<\/u> (1): Angola.<\/p><\/div>\n

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General Comments and Explanation of Votes Before and After the Vote<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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BILAL HAYEE ( Pakistan<\/u>), speaking in a general comment, said that Pakistan introduced this draft resolution in March 2007.  The resolution expressed concern about the grave situation of women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a result of the unlawful construction of the wall.  The resolution also called for efforts to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis, which the Palestinian women and their families were facing.  Pakistan expressed its hope that the draft resolution would be adopted.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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LORIE SHESTACK ( United States<\/u>), in an explanation of the vote after the vote, said the United States remained deeply concerned about the situation of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian women.  However, it also deeply grieved for the suffering of Israeli women as a result of Palestinian terrorist attacks.  One-sided resolutions such as these made less attainable the peace of Palestinian women and all of those caught up in the conflict.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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LAURA THOMPSON (Costa Rica<\/u>), speaking in an explanation of the vote after the vote, said that Costa Rica actively promoted the rights of all women and that was the reason why it had voted in favour of the resolution.  Palestinian women were in a dire situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  The international community and United Nations bodes must continue their efforts to strengthen the rights of all women in the world regardless of their nationality.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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NOA FURMAN ( Israel<\/u>), in a general comment, said the adoption of the resolution was cause for dismay, as it was not universally applicable in nature.  It turned a humanitarian issue into a political one, monopolizing attention for Palestinian women.  This resolution was not the tool for improving the life of Palestinian women, as it ignored internal factors in Palestinian society that negatively impacted women, as well as the impact of terrorism on both Palestinian and Israeli women.  Israel was currently working to reduce hostilities and increase coordination, and it was hoped this would result in better economic conditions for all.  Selective resolutions such as these would not aid in this task.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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Documents<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Council has before it the report of the <\/span>Commission on the Status of Women<\/u><\/span> (<\/span>E\/2007\/27<\/a>), containing matters calling for action by the Economic and Social Council or brought to its attention, including agreed conclusions on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child; draft resolution for adoption by the Council; situation of and assistance to Palestinian women; draft decision for adoption by the Council; report of the Commission on the Status of Women on its fifty-first session and provisional agenda and documentation for the fifty-second session of the Commission; matters brought to the attention of the Council; resolutions on women, the girl child and HIV\/AIDS; on ending female genital mutilation and on forced marriage of the girl child as well as a decision on documents considered by the Commission on the status of Women.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on <\/span>assistance to the Palestinian People<\/u><\/span> (<\/span>A\/62\/82-E\/2007\/66<\/a>), which says, during the reporting period (May 2006-April 2007), the Palestinian economy suffered a significant decline and the socio-economic and humanitarian conditions of the population worsened.  Many donors reviewed their assistance policy to the Palestinian Authority, in the context of the three principles spelled out by the Middle East Quartet in January 2006.  At the same time, the Government of Israel continued to withhold the payment of the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, with the exception of one transfer early in 2007.  As a result, and despite increased levels of aid, the Palestinian Authority has been facing a worsening fiscal crisis, which has exacerbated the already precarious situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Corrigendum<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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In press release ECOSOC\/6302 of 23 July, the statements by Amr Nour, Representative of the Regional Commissions’ New York Office, should read as follows:<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr. NOUR, Representative of the Regional Commissions’ New York Office<\/u>, said that he would introduce the note by the Secretary-General on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan.  The report covered developments only until February 2007.  It contained detailed information.  As the report revealed, the occupation of the Palestinian territory by Israel continued to deepen the economic and social hardship for Palestinians.  The severe Israeli mobility restrictions and closure policies remained a primary cause of poverty and humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian Territory, and restricted Palestinian access to health and education services, employment, markets and social and religious networks. Confiscation orders continued to be issued by the Israeli authorities throughout 2006.  According to the Office of for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of physical obstacles in the West Bank grew from 475 in January 2006 to 550 in February 2007.  The continuation by Israel to construct the barrier was having a major humanitarian impact on Palestinian communities living in the West Bank. <\/p><\/div>\n

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Almost 15 per cent of all West Bank agricultural land had already been confiscated in connection to the construction of the barrier, including some of the most fertile land in the West Bank.  The fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority was already considered unsustainable by the end of 2005. Israel withheld Customs and Value Added tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority amounting to roughly $60 million per month.  That amounted to almost half of the Palestinian Authority’s monthly budget.  According to the International Monetary Fund, the financial resources of the Palestinian Authority shrank by 60 per cent from $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2005 to $0.5 billion by the same quarter of 2006.  This financial crisis had left the public health system unable to sustain care levels.  Hospitals lacked adequate supplies, equipment maintenance, cleaning agents and the hygienic environments necessary to control infections.  Education services were disrupted as well.<\/p><\/div>\n

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For information media • not an official record<\/strong> <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Economic and Social Council ECOSOC\/6305 Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ADOPTS TEXTS ON PALESTINIAN WOMEN, VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS FROM REPORT OF COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN   Discusses Mainstreaming Gender Perspective into All United Nations Policies, Women and Development, Advancement of Women (Reissued as […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2433,1329],"document-source":[1953],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,1937,1841],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-196236","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-french-text","document-category-press-release","document-source-economic-and-social-council-ecosoc","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-economic-issues","document-subject-women","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/196236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/196236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=196236"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=196236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}