Mercy Global Concern - 2004

Women's commission adopts agreed conclusions on men's role in Achieving Gender Equality, Women's Equal Participation in Conflict Prevention

Commission on the Status of Women
Forty-eighth Session - 16th Meeting (PM)

Concludes 48th Session

The Commission on the Status of Women concluded its forty-eighth session this afternoon with the adoption of agreed conclusions on the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality for women ?- one of the main themes of the session. Also adopted, as orally revised, were agreed conclusions on the other main theme of the session ?- women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building. The Commission also requested the Economic and Social Council to endorse those agreed conclusions, which were contained in informal papers.

Addressing the Commission for the last time as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Angela E.V. King said the Commission had accomplished a great deal, examined particular themes, broadened its interactive debates with other commissions and charted the way forward for next year's review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome of the General Assembly's twenty-third special session.

In other action today, the Commission adopted an oral decision, proposed by its Chairperson, by which it decided to postpone further consideration of the work of the Working Group on communications on the status of women, the report of the Secretary-General and the different views and proposals put forward by Member States until its fiftieth session. Among the other texts adopted this afternoon was a resolution on women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS, by which the Commission urged governments to take all necessary measures to empower women and strengthen their economic independence and to protect and promote their full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms to enable them to protect themselves from HIV infection.

The Commission also urged governments to expand access to treatment, in a progressive and sustainable manner, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic diseases and effective use of antiretroviral medication and to promote access to low-cost effective drugs and related pharmaceutical products.

By a text on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system, adopted as orally revised, the Commission expressed its concern at the remaining constraints on the full implementation of gender mainstreaming into all policies and programmes of the United Nations system, including inadequate support for and follow-up of gender equality policies and strategies, poor utilization of gender analysis, inadequate monitoring mechanisms, and a number of ongoing critical institutional constraints. A number of suggestions were made in that regard in the text.

Adopting a text on preparations for the forty-ninth session of the Commission, as orally revised, the Commission decided to focus on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly through the expanded use of interactive dialogue, and with broad-based participation of governmental delegations at the highest
level of responsibility and expertise, and of civil society and organizations within the United Nations system, bearing in mind the need to integrate a gender perspective in the implementation and review of the Millennium Declaration. The Commission further recommend that a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly be convened during the Commission's forty-ninth session to which the Commission will transfer its general debate on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the Assembly.

The Commission also adopted a text concerning its working methods and took note of a number of documents before the session.

In other matters, the Commission was informed that the following delegates had been endorsed by their respective regional groups to serve on the Working Group on Communications for the forty-ninth session of the Commission: Xiao Mei Li (China), Farah Adjalova (Azerbaijan), Connie Taracena (Guatemala) and Richard Wood (United Kingdom). A delegate from the African Group remained to be appointed.

Also, the Commission adopted its draft report of the current session,
which was introduced by the Commission's Rapporteur.

Statements were made by the various vice-chairpersons of the Commission, as well as the representatives of India, Bangladesh, Tunisia (on behalf of the African Group), Ireland (on behalf of the European Union), Argentina, Qatar (on behalf of the "Group of 77" and China), Sudan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, El Salvador (on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group), United States and Japan (on behalf of the Asian Group and JUSCANZ -? Japan, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

Background

The Commission on the Status of Women met this afternoon to take action on several draft resolutions and conclude its forty-eighth session.

By the draft resolution on women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS (document E/CN.6/2004/L.4/Rev.1), the Commission would urge governments to take all necessary measures to empower women and strengthen their economic independence and to protect and promote their full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms to enable them to protect themselves from HIV infection. It would also urge governments to expand access to treatment, in a progressive and sustainable manner, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic diseases and effective use of antiretroviral medication and to promote access to low-cost effective drugs and related
pharmaceutical products.

Further by the text, the Commission would urge governments to strengthen initiatives that would increase the capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the provision of health care and health services, including for sexual and reproductive health and through prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culturally and gender sensitive framework. It would also call on governments to intensify efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls in relation to HIV/AIDS, including through challenging stereotypes, stigmatization, discriminatory attitudes and gender inequalities and to encourage the active involvement of men and boys in this regard.

By the terms of a draft resolution on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (document E/CN.6/2004/L.6), the Commission would express its concern at the remaining constraints on the full implementation of gender mainstreaming into all policies and programmes of the United Nations system, including inadequate support for and follow-up of gender equality policies and strategies, poor utilization of gender analysis, inadequate monitoring mechanisms, and a number of ongoing critical institutional constraints.

Also, the Commission would invite all entities of the United Nations system to, among other things: increase the exchange of experiences, good practices, tools and methods in respect of gender mainstreaming; link existing gender equality policies to organizational goals; integrate gender perspectives into organizational policies and sectoral policies and strategies; increase the capacity for and better utilize gender analysis at both policy and programme levels; and require sex-disaggregation of all relevant data and the collection of gender-specific information as the basis for all policy analysis.

A draft resolution on preparations for the forty-ninth session of the Commission (document E/CN.6/2004/L.12) would have the Commission decide to focus on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly through the expanded use of
interactive dialogue, and with broad-based participation of governmental delegations at the highest level of responsibility and expertise, and of civil society and organizations within the United Nations system, bearing in mind the need to integrate a gender perspective in the implementation and review of the Millennium Declaration.

The Commission would further decide to recommend to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that it recommend to the Assembly the convening of a high-level plenary meeting of the Assembly, to which the Commission at its forty-ninth session will transfer its general debate on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the Assembly.

By the terms of a draft decision on the working methods of the Commission (document E/CN.6/2004/L.13), the Commission would decide to enhance the use at its annual sessions of interactive events that will increase the emphasis of the Commission on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the Assembly and the sharing of experiences and good practices. It would also decide to: furtherexplore options for the multi-year programme of work; explore ways to make better use of its standing agenda item on emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting the situation of women or equality between women and men; and to continue discussion of
these issues at its next session.

Regarding the item on communications concerning the status of women, the Commission had before it a draft decision (document E/CN.6/2004/L.7) by which the Economic and Social Council would decide, in order to make the communications procedure of the Commission more effective and efficient, to request the Secretary-General to renew his efforts to actively seek information and communications on the status of women received by the specialized agencies, regional commissions and other United Nations bodies, including human rights treaty bodies and special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights, together with information on action that may have been taken following the receipt of such communications, for the purpose of submitting it in his annual report on confidential and non-confidential communications to the Commission on the Status of Women.

The Commission would also decide to request him to include the relevant parts of the reports of treaty bodies and special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights in his annual report on confidential and non-confidential communications to the Commission on the Status of Women.

According to amendments to draft resolution L.7, contained in document E/CN.6/2004/L.10, the ECOSOC would decide to request the Secretary-General to renew his efforts to seek communications on the status of women received under Economic and Social Council resolution 1983/27 for the purpose of submitting them in his report on confidential and non-confidential communications to the Commission on
the Status of Women; further publicize the communications procedure of the Commission; and renew efforts to make the existing procedure for receiving and considering communications, including the standard of admissibility, more transparent and efficient and avoid duplication with work undertaken by other organs of the ECOSOC.

By a draft decision on the same issue (document E/CN.6/2004/L.11), the ECOSOC would decide that the Commission on the Status of Women postpone consideration of the future work of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women to its forty-ninth session.

The draft report of the Commission on its forty-eighth session is contained in document E/CN.6/2004/L.9.

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