COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTIETH SESSION IN NEW YORK

22 March 1996

Press Release
WOM/918

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTIETH SESSION IN NEW YORK

19960322 Dialogues Held with Panels of Experts on Poverty, Women and Media, Child and Dependent Care, Areas of 'Critical Concern' at Beijing Conference

The Commission on the Status of Women today, adopting a series of resolutions and "agreed conclusions" as it ended its fortieth session, called for both governments and the private sector to bring a gender perspective to all polices and programmes dealing with poverty, child care and the media. The Commission, which began its current session on 11 March, said women's concerns must be mainstreamed to deal with the impact of economic and social changes on families, eradicate poverty and counter sexism and violence in an increasingly global media.

In other action today, the Commission approved a resolution on Palestinian women by a vote of 36 in favour, to one against (United States) with seven abstentions (Australia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Lebanon, Norway, Slovakia, Russian Federation). The text, to be submitted to the Economic and Social Council for adoption, demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with international human rights norms to protect the rights of Palestinian women and their families. (For details of the vote, see annex.)

The Commission also adopted several resolutions today. One, on woman migrant workers, called for Governments to address the root causes that encouraged trafficking in women and girls for prostitution, commercialized sex and forced marriage.

In a resolution on woman migrant workers, the Commission called for the Centre for Human Rights to set up a mechanism to help them assert their human rights. It also called on countries to explore measures to prevent the victimization of women migrant workers by sexual traffickers and to adopt and/or implement legislation to eliminate violence against women, including migrant workers.

Resolutions were also adopted on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women and the working group elaborating a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

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By the terms of another text, the Commission recommended that the proposed 1996-2001 medium-term plan for the advancement of women monitor progress in implementing the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). The Commission also adopted its report, as well as the report of the working group on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Work of Commission

Meeting for the first time since the landmark 1995 Beijing Women's Conference, the Commission adopted and held a dialogue with three panels of experts as part of an innovative approach to its work. Experts, delegates and representatives of non-governmental organizations spoke on poverty, women and the media and child and dependent care, including the sharing of responsibilities between men and women -- all identified as areas of critical concern at Beijing. The resolutions and "agreed conclusions" came out of the dialogues and contain a number of proposals to help implement the Platform. They will be submitted to the Economic and Social Council for consideration at its next substantive session.

Poverty

The Commission stressed that women's empowerment and autonomy were essential for eradicating poverty. Their full and equal participation in decision-making at all levels was an integral part of that process. It urged governments to fulfil their commitments in the Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, to address the feminization of poverty and to mainstream a gender perspective in all poverty eradication programmes.

Legislation and administrative reforms must be enacted to give women the right to inheritance and land ownership, to credit, and to natural resources and technology, the Commission said. It also emphasized the need to promote women's participation in employment and self-employment and to ensure that they had economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-bearing, widowhood, disability and old age.

Women and Media

In its "agreed conclusions" on women and the media, the Commission reconfirmed the importance of free expression and noted that it had debated women's full enjoyment of such expression, equal access to the media, balanced and diverse portrayals of women, and media information aimed at eliminating violence against women. It said that human rights instruments must be applied in a way which took into account the systematic and systemic nature of discrimination against women.

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The Commission urged non-coercive self-regulation and voluntary guidelines to eliminate gender-biased programming and encourage non- stereotypical gender images. It said governments should raise awareness of the media's role in promoting non-stereotyped images of women and men and in eliminating violent images. Media professionals should be encouraged to exchange information on voluntary guidelines for a gender-balanced portrayal of women and men. It also encouraged women's equal participation in management, programming, education and training, including through affirmative action and equal opportunity policies, so as to achieve gender balance in the media.

Non-governmental organizations played an important role in media education, research, consumer advocacy and monitoring, said the Commission. It encouraged media networks to commit to gender equality and urged governments to review existing media policies to integrate a gender perspective. It also called for the strengthening of women's role in global communications networks and a reduction of barriers to their involvement in global information technologies.

Child and Dependent Care

In another set of "agreed conclusions" the Commission stressed that, as women and men were both responsible for families, governments should promote men's participation in domestic work and child care. The social and economic importance of unremunerated work should be recognized and laws adopted which embodied the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

The Commission urged legal reforms to prohibit gender discrimination, promote maternity and parental leave, and enable women and men to reconcile their family and professional lives through the introduction of flexi-time. Family support programmes should be based on equal sharing of responsibilities. Governments and international financial institutions should take into account the growing need for day-care nurseries, to facilitate the training of mothers and their entry into paid employment.

The Commission called for research on changing attitudes towards the reconciliation of family and professional life, compilation of data on unremunerated work, exchange of information on different alimony payment systems and time-use surveys of unremunerated work of women and men. It recommended that the Economic and Social Counsel and United Nations take into account child and dependant care, sharing of family responsibilities and unpaid work as integral parts of the concept of gender equality.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on the Status of Women met this afternoon to take action on the remaining drafts before it, and to adopt the report of the session.

A draft resolution on the traffic in women and girls (document E/CN.6/1996/L.5) would call for such measures as: ratification or enforcement of conventions on trafficking in persons and slavery; concerted law enforcement action aimed at dismantling trafficking networks; and the enactment of legislation aimed at preventing sex tourism and trafficking, with special emphasis on the protection of young women and children.

Other proposed measures in the text call for addressing the root factors that encourage the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution and other forms of commercialized sex, and for allocating resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to heal the victims of trafficking. Governments would be called upon to prevent the misuse by traffickers of tourism and advanced information technology, including cyberspace. The Commission would also encourage the holding of an international conference on trafficking.

That text is sponsored by Fiji, Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines and Thailand.

A draft resolution on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (document E/CN.6/1996/L.6) would have the Commission recognize the important role the Institute must play in implementing the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women and stress the need for it to further develop active and close cooperation with the specialized agencies and related United Nations organizations and other institutions. It would commend the Institute's efforts to address all levels of poverty which hampered women's advancement.

A draft on violence against women migrant workers (document E/CN.6/1996/L.7) would have the Commission call for the establishment of a mechanism under the aegis of the Centre for Human Rights to be funded from within-existing resources that would continually study the situation of migrant workers; disseminate information on them; train them to assert their human rights; make recommendations; serve as a forum for the exchange of views; and organize seminars. States would be called upon to explore the possibility of adopting measures to prevent the victimization of women migrant workers by sexual traffickers and to penalize those traffickers. They would also be called upon to adopt and/or implement legislation aimed at eliminating violence against women, including migrant workers.

That text is sponsored by Fiji, Ghana, Israel and the Philippines.

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A draft sponsored by Costa Rica, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, on women and the media (document E/CN.6/1996/L.8/Rev.1) would have the Commission condemn the murders, violence and terrorism against women journalists, particularly in Algeria, because of their sex and profession. It would appeal to the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the international community to join in combating terrorism and all forms of intolerance and violence. The Commission would pay a warm tribute to all women who, with courage, sacrifice and determination, contributed through the media to improving the status of women.

A draft on Palestinian Women (document E/CN.6/1996/L.9) is recommended for adoption by the Economic and Social Council. It would have the Council demand that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with the provisions and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Hague Conventions and the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Persons in Time of War, in order to protect the rights of Palestinian women and their families. It would also call on Israel to facilitate the return of all refugees and displaced Palestinian women and children to their homes and properties in the occupied Palestinian territory, in compliance with relevant United Nations resolutions.

The Council would urge Member States, international financial organizations of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations and other institutions to intensify financial and technical assistance for projects which responded to the needs of Palestinian women, especially during the transition period. It would ask the Commission to monitor and act on the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, particularly paragraph 260 on Palestinian women and children and the Beijing Platform. The Secretary-General would be asked to continue reviewing the situation and assist Palestinian women and report to the Commission on the resolutions implementation.

The draft was sponsored by Costa Rica, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

By the terms of a draft submitted by the Commission Chairman, the Commission would request the Secretary-General to invite members of the international community to submit additional views on a possible optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (document E/CN.6/1996/L.11). He would be requested to synthesize those views in a report to the Commission's next session, and to provide that session with another report comparing existing communications and inquiry procedures and practices under international human rights instruments.

Annexed to the text is a draft decision recommended for adoption by the Economic and Social Council. Under its terms, the Council would renew the

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mandate of the open-ended working group on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

A Chairman's draft resolution on the implementation of strategic objectives and action in critical areas of concern: poverty (document E/CN.6/1996/L.14) would have the Commission recognize the role of women in the eradication of poverty and stress the need for their full and equal participation in policies aimed at empowering women to be partners in development.

The Commission would stress that female empowerment and autonomy are essential to poverty eradication and that their participation in decision- making is an integral part of that process. The Commission would urge all governments to fulfil their commitments in the Platform for Action developed at the Fourth World Conference on Women and in the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, to address the feminization of poverty and to mainstream a gender perspective in all poverty eradication programmes.

The Commission would call for legislation and administrative reforms to give women the right to inheritance and land ownership, to credit, and to natural resources and technology. It would also emphasize the need to promote the participation of women in decision-making at all levels, in employment and self-employment and to ensure that women have economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-bearing, widowhood, disability and old age.

The Commission would also call on governments to reduce excessive military spending in order to increase resources for social and economic development. The Commission would recommend that the secretariats of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, mainstream the gender perspective to achieve equality between men and women. It would stress the need to integrate a gender perspective into follow-ups to major United Nations conferences and summits.

A draft resolution proposed by Italy, on behalf of the European Union, on comments on the proposed system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women, 1996-2001 (document E/CN.6/1996/L.15) would have the Commission recommend that the plan serve as a monitoring tool for system-wide progress in implementing the Platform for Action, and that the Economic and Social Council undertake a mid-term review of the plan and of progress in mainstreaming a gender perspective in United Nations system activities.

The Commission would recommend that the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and the proposed Inter-Agency Committee on Advancement and Employment of Women use the plan as a basis for monitoring United Nations system activities for the advancement and empowerment of women. It would

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recommend that the Economic and Social Council request the Secretary-General to report on the plan's progress through the Commission at its forty-second session.

By the draft, the Commission would also urge the Secretary-General to implement the decision taken by the General Assembly at its fiftieth session to strengthen the capacity of the Division on the Advancement of Women. It would emphasize the need to provide resources for the follow-up of the Platform for Action in the current revision of the biennial programme budget.

The Commission would also recommend that the Economic and Social Council request the formulation of a new system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women to cover the period 2002-2005, and that the Secretary- General, in his capacity as Chairman of the ACC, submit the new draft plan to the Council at its substantive session of the year 2000 in order to influence the medium-term plans.

Annexed to the draft are the comments of the Commission on the proposed system-wide plan for 1996-2001. Specific comments focus on women and poverty, education and training of women, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy, women in power and decision- making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment, the girl child, and institutional arrangements.

A draft set of agreed conclusions submitted by the Vice-Chairperson on women and the media (document E/CN.6/1996/L.16) would have the Commission note that gender stereotyping in advertising and the media is one of the factors of inequality that influences attitudes towards equality between women and men. The Commission would reconfirm the importance it attached to free expression and note that it had debated women's full enjoyment of such expression, equal access to the media, balanced and diverse portrayals of women in the media, and media information aimed at eliminating violence against women. The Commission would state that human rights instruments must be applied in such a way as to take into consideration the systematic and systemic nature of discrimination against women that gender analysis has clearly indicated.

Urging the use of non-coercive self-regulation and voluntary guidelines to eliminate gender-biased programming and the presentation of non- stereotypical gender images, the Commission would state that governments should take initiatives to raise the awareness of the role of the media in promoting non-stereotyped images of women and men, as well as in eliminating media presentations which generate violence.

The Commission would encourage the media to take part in discussions on the exchange of information and sharing of best practices on voluntary guidelines on a gender-balanced portrayal of women and men. It would also

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encourage women's equal participation in management, programming, education, and training, including through positive action and equal opportunity policies, with the goal of achieving gender balance in all areas and at all levels of media work.

The Commission would also stress the importance of media education for women and of the role of civil society in influencing media content and stereotyped portrayals. The Commission would state that international exchanges on media education could benefit legislators, national broadcasting authorities and media professionals.

The Commission would call for an enabling environment for women's media and would recognize the role of non-governmental organizations in media education, research, consumer advocacy and monitoring. It would encourage media networks to commit to gender equality, and would call on governments to review existing media policies with a view to integrating a gender perspective. The Commission would call for the strengthening of the role of women in global communications networks and a reduction of barriers to women's involvement in global information technologies.

A draft set of agreed conclusions, submitted by the Chairperson, on child and dependant care, including sharing of responsibilities between men and women (document E/CN.6/1996/L.17) would have the Commission state that governments should promote the participation of men in family responsibilities, including domestic work and child care. It would call for recognition of the social and economic importance of unremunerated work and for the adoption of laws embodying the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

The Commission would urge legal reforms which prohibit all forms of gender discrimination, promote maternity and parental leave, enable women and men to reconcile their family and professional lives through the introduction of flexi-time, eliminate gender inequality in remuneration, work toward ratification of or accession to human rights treaties, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, encourage the adoption of International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards of equality in remuneration, encourage the participation of women in negotiating working conditions, and take into account the time spent by working men and women in child and dependant care.

The Commission would urge the reconciliation of family and professional life through definition of family support programmes based on the principle of equal sharing of family responsibilities. Governments and international financial institutions would be encouraged to take into account the growing need for day-care nurseries, in order to facilitate the training of mothers and their entry into paid employment.

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The Commission would call for research into changing attitudes with regard to reconciliation of family and professional life, compilation of data on unremunerated work, exchange of information on different alimony payment systems, and time-use surveys of unremunerated work of women and men. The Commission would recommend to the Economic and Social Council that United Nations strategies promote gender equality and take fully into account child and dependant care, sharing of family work and responsibilities and unremunerated work as integral parts of the concept of gender equality.

Action on Draft Resolutions

The Commission resumed its consideration of the draft on traffic in women and girls.

The representative of the Philippines announced Zambia had joined in sponsoring the text. She then introduced oral amendments to the draft, including one by which the Commission would call upon all governments to take measures to prevent the misuse and exploitation by traffickers of such economic activities as the development of tourism and the export of labour. A reference in the original version of that provision to advanced information technology, including cyberspace, was deleted.

Ethiopia joined in sponsoring the draft.

The Commission then adopted the resolution on traffic in women and girls, as orally revised, without a vote.

Next, the Commission took up the draft resolution on the implementation of the strategic objectives and action in the critical area of concern of poverty.

The representative of Canada introduced oral amendments to the draft. By one, the Commission would urge all governments, the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, and civil society, to implement the Platform for Action in its entirety. A provision concerning the health needs of women was clarified to include access to safe drinking water. Concerning the contribution of women to the economy, an amendment specified that it was through both their remunerated and unremunerated work. A new provision called for the development of gender-based methodologies and the conduct of research to address the contribution of women to the economy, the feminization of poverty, and the economic and social impact of debt and structural adjustment programmes in developing countries.

After deciding to waive rule 52 of the Rules of Procedure, which requires 24 hours before action can be taken on a new proposal, the Commission adopted the resolution without a vote.

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The representative of Libya said the implementation of the Platform for Action was subject to all of the reservations and objections that his country had put on record in the report of the Beijing Conference. The right to inheritance was guaranteed to women, but the division of inheritance could depend on legal and cultural systems.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, the representative of Costa Rica withdrew an earlier draft on poverty (document E/CN.6/1996/L.10).

The representative of Iran said he had joined the consensus on the resolution on poverty, but wished to express its reservations on certain provisions. With respect to the issue of inheritance, Iran interpreted references in the Platform for Action in accordance with the principles of Islam.

The representative of Guatemala said the resolution's reference to implementation of the Platform for Action must be interpreted in light of reservations put forward in Beijing. At that time, Guatemala had asserted its reservations on provisions concerning reproductive health and the family.

The Commission took up the draft on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

The representative of Costa Rica orally revised the text to bring it in line with the language in the Platform for Action.

Turkey joined in sponsoring the draft.

The Commission adopted the resolution on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, as orally revised.

The Commission took up the draft on violence against migrant women workers.

The representative of the Philippines announced that Costa Rica had joined in sponsoring the text. She then introduced oral revisions to the text, one of which made reference to the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concerning violence. Another revision, concerning text on legislation aimed at eliminating violence, aimed to bring the text in line with the language of the Platform for Action.

The following countries joined as sponsors: Dominican Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.

The resolution was then adopted without a vote, as orally revised.

Next, the draft on women and the media was taken up.

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The United States, Nepal and Turkey joined in sponsoring the text.

The representative of Costa Rica announced that Italy and France had also joined in sponsoring the text. She said that the word "extremist" should be removed as an adjective modifying "violence and terrorism".

The resolution on women and the media was adopted without a vote.

Next, the draft on Palestinian women was taken up.

The representative of Syria said the draft should have dealt with the question of peace, as had been the case with relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly.

The representative of Israel said he did not intend to recount the whole history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but did wish to assert that the peace process had made tremendous progress recently. Agreement had been reached on self-rule, Israeli soldiers had withdrawn from parts of the occupied territory, and elections had been held to the Palestinian Council. Five women had been elected to that Council. "Political draft resolutions will not serve them in promoting equality in the society in which they live." The draft represented an attempt to exploit the Commission for an agenda which had nothing to do with the status of women. "I can assure you that regardless of the draft resolution, Israeli and Palestinian women will continue to dream, hope and work together", he said.

The representative of the United States said a number of elements in draft warranted support. Palestinian women must be protected, and their courage was saluted by the United States. Despite such positive elements, the United States would vote against the draft, which was flawed in a number of areas and should not have been placed before the Commission in the first place. The draft also contained provisions which addressed final status issues, and, therefore, the United States would vote against it. "Although we vote no, allow me to reiterate my Government's support for several of the concepts in it."

The resolution on Palestinian women was adopted by a vote of 36 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 7 abstentions (Australia, Guinea- Bissau, Mali, Lebanon, Norway, Slovak Republic, Russian Federation). (For details of the voting, see Annex.)

Speaking after the vote, the representative of Australia said it was important not to prejudge the outcome of ongoing talks which would deal with some subjects addressed in the resolution.

The representative of Norway shared the concern of Palestinian women and their families and that concern had been reflected in the assistance provided

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to them. The resolution did not fully reflect the new political realities that had come about as a result of the peace process. Thus, Norway had abstained on the draft.

The representative of Iran said he had voted in favour of the resolution. However, he had reservations on those parts of the text which might be construed as recognition of Israel.

The representative of Libya said he had voted in favour of the draft, but had reservations relating to certain provisions in the text. A just and lasting peace in the Middle East could only be achieved through the establishment of a State on the territory of Palestine where both Israelis and Palestinians lived in peace, as had been the case in South Africa. The resolution did not reflect that position.

The observer for Palestine expressed gratitude to the Group of 77 and China for sponsoring the resolution and for their continuous support for the women of Palestine. She further expressed gratitude to others who had supported the resolution, as well as disappointment at those who had abstained on the text. The situation in Palestine was degrading further because of the oppressive practices of the Israeli Government. The reports of the Secretary- General had failed to adequately monitor the situation of Palestinian women as mandated by the Commission. It was hoped that future reports would fulfil their legislative mandates.

She said the Palestinian Authority was committed to the agreements it had reached with Israel, but wished to assert that the peace process was not an end in itself, but rather a means to the establishment of a Palestinian State with its capital in Jerusalem. Until that objective was reached, the Commission should continue to support the women of Palestine.

The draft on agreed conclusions on women and the media were then taken up.

The representative of Canada introduced revisions to the draft which made reference to disseminating information on activities aimed to advance the status of women through the Internet.

The agreed conclusions on women and the media were then adopted without a vote.

Waiving Rule 52 of the Rules of Procedure, which calls for the full translation of drafts one day prior to their adoption, the Commission then took up the draft on agreed conclusions on child and dependent care.

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Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the representative of Italy said the draft should be entitled "agreed conclusions" and not "agreed conclusions and recommendations", and proposed a revision to that effect.

The representative of Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, expressed satisfaction that the text had taken account of the Group's concerns regarding day care for poor women. She requested that the text regarding economic and social changes make specific reference to demographic changes, given the fact that the ageing of the population greatly affected the lives of many women.

The orally revised agreed conclusions were then adopted without a vote.

The draft on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was then taken up.

The Commission Secretary, KATE NEWALL, read an oral revision to the text by which the open-ended working group would take account of reports to be submitted on the draft optional protocol pursuant to the draft resolution. Concerning programme budget implications, she said that in light of the General Assembly's decision that savings of $103.9 million were to be achieved in the programme budget, it was not possible to modify the calendar of conferences to accommodate additional meetings of the open-ended working group to elaborate the draft optional protocol, the cost of which was estimated at $161,000.

The Commission then adopted the resolution on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as orally revised.

The representative of the United Kingdom recalled that at the Fourth World Conference on Women, her country had made a commitment to withdraw many of its reservations to the Convention. As of today, it had withdrawn most of those reservations. The United Kingdom also intended to ratify the amendment to the Convention which would allow the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women adequate meeting time to consider the backlog of reports before it.

The draft on the medium-term plan was then taken up.

The representative of the Philippines introduced oral revisions to the text. One revision deleted a provision emphasizing the need to provide the necessary resources for the comprehensive follow-up of the Platform for Action in the current revision of the programme budget. In its place, the draft would call for the formulation of policies and the reallocation of resources, without prejudice to development programmes. It also would state that

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mobilization of additional resources, both public and private, including resources from innovative sources of funding, may also be necessary.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, the representative of Costa Rica expressed regret that the documents on which the draft was based had been issued late. The members of the Group reserved the right to return to the issues raised in the draft's annex.

Again, waiving Rule 52 of the Rules of Procedure, the Commission adopted the orally revised resolution on the medium-term plan without a vote.

The representative of the Sudan said the medium-term plan should be adopted and implemented. Unfortunately, many of the controversial portions of the Platform for Action had been brought to the table in negotiating the resolution. The Sudan's understanding was that the medium-term plan should be implemented by States in accordance with their national legislation.

Officers; Membership

The Commission Chairman was Sharon Brennen-Haylock (Bahamas). Karin Stoltenberg (Norway) and Ljudmila Boskova (Bulgaria) were Vice-Chairmen, and Sweeya Santipitaks (Thailand) was the Rapporteur.

The 45 members of the Commission on the Status of Women are: Algeria, Angola, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Namibia, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Sudan, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia and United States.

(annex follows)

13

ANNEX

Vote on Palestinian Women

The draft resolution on Palestinian Women (document E/CN.6/1996/L.9) was approved by a recorded vote of 36 in favour to 1 against, with 7 abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Algeria, Angola, Austria, Bahamas, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Sudan, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia.

Against: United States.

Abstaining: Australia, Guinea-Bissau, Lebanon, Mali, Norway, Russian Federation, Slovakia.

Absent: Kenya.

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