PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S SPECIAL SESSION ON REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF BEIJING OUTCOME BEGINS SECOND SESSION
Press Release
WOM/1118
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S SPECIAL SESSION ON REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF BEIJING OUTCOME BEGINS SECOND SESSION
19990315 A number of delegations this morning expressed doubts about the methodology of the preparatory process for next year's special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century", as the Commission on the Status of Women meeting as the Preparatory Committee for the event began a five-day session.The representative of Cuba said it had been only five years since Beijing, and there was, therefore, little basis for presenting new initiatives. Instead, the special session should focus on the 12 critical areas of concern which still needed to be implemented. It should also reinforce the existing objectives instead of creating new ones. The topic of new and emerging issues could be discussed at a latter time when the Beijing Platform was more fully implemented.
Reiterating that point, the representative of Pakistan said that it had been slightly less than five years since the Beijing Conference, and there were still no real national action plans. Five years was not enough to assess the full impact of an international conference. There was a need to focus on the 12 critical areas of Beijing, help governments and not get into new processes or frameworks.
In a similar vein, the representative of Algeria said that the decisions taken in Beijing had not been given full effect. The special session should, therefore, identify critical areas where there had been progress and analyse obstacles that stood in the way of implementation. Through such a pragmatic and realistic approach, it would then be possible to determine what areas required new attention and action. In that context, there should not be efforts to create new initiatives that would only impose further difficulties on States.
The representative of Germany (on behalf of the European Union and associated States) said the special session should take into account the interrelatedness of all provisions of the Beijing Platform for Action and be holistic in its approach to the five-year review. One of its goals should be to translate political will into action, and new initiatives should be
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concrete, action-oriented strategies. In that regard, the special session should produce a short political declaration that reaffirmed the Beijing Platform and identified progress made and future initiatives.
Angela King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said it should be made clear that the Committee was preparing for a special session of the Assembly rather than a global conference such as those held in Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985, and Beijing in 1995. Moreover, it had the important legacy of those conferences to build upon in planning the special session. As the Committee deliberated on other matters which needed to be agreed upon at this session, it could well take this quarter of a century's experiences into account.
Statements were also made by the representatives of the Russian Federation, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Bangladesh, India, United States, China, Sudan, Dominican Republic, Italy, Philippines, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Norway, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Egypt.
In other action, this morning the Committee elected officers. Irma Engelbrecht (South Africa) was elected Chairperson of the Committee. Christine Kapalate (United Republic of Tanzania), Rasa Ostrauskaite (Lithuania), Dubravka Simonovic (Croatia), Sonia R. Leonce (Saint Lucia), Monica Martinez (Ecuador), Patricia Flor (Germany) and Kirsten Mlacak (Canada) were elected Vice-Chairpersons.
The newly elected Chairperson then informed the Committee that informal consultations were still being conducted within the Asian Group with regard to the election of the remaining officers of the Committee. Accordingly, elections of those two officers would be postponed. The Committee also adopted its provisional agenda and approved the draft organization of work for the current session.
The Preparatory Committee will meet at 3 p.m. today to continue its deliberations.
Commission Work Programme
The Commission on the Status of Women met this morning to begin a five- day session as the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly Entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century".
Before the Commission are two reports of the Secretary-General relating to the special session. These reports are: Framework for further actions and initiatives that might be considered during the special session; and Initiation of the comprehensive review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Commission will also have before it a note by the Secretariat (document E/CN.6/1999/PC/4) transmitting the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women entitled: Progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action based on the review of reports to the Commission on the Status of Women of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The report on the Framework for further actions and initiatives that might be considered during the special session (document E/CN.6/1999/PC/2) proposes a framework for identifying further actions and initiatives to accelerate implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action in a manner that encompasses its 12 critical areas of concern. It also presents four broad themes that cut across the 12 critical areas that have emerged as issues or become more pertinent since 1995. According to the report, the Commission has been reviewing each of the 12 critical areas of concern since 1995. In doing so, it has made recommendations on concrete measures and effective instruments of public policy and planning to implement the Platform for Action. It has focused, to some extent, on more fundamental changes in institutions and in behaviour and attitudes of individuals and groups. Also, there has been an emphasis on overcoming persistent obstacles and on intensifying efforts to use a more integrated, holistic approach to the achievement of gender equality given the importance of interrelationships between different critical areas of concern, such as the human rights of women and the eradication of poverty, or women's and girls' education and health, including fertility reduction.
Instead of designing further specific actions and initiatives under each of the critical areas of concern, the present framework focuses on developing comprehensive human resource development strategies that are informed by gender considerations. It emphasizes the need for structural and systemic changes in institutions, legal frameworks, resource allocations and attitudes to realize long-term benefits. Recognizing that the present generation of women and girls remains subject to discrimination and disadvantage, the framework also addresses the need for positive actions and remedial measures of support and empowerment. In addition, it takes into consideration the importance of the full participation of all relevant actors.
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In this context, actions and initiatives to achieve gender equality in the 12 critical areas of concern may fall into essentially five functional categories or types of actions. Those categories are: actions aimed at demonstrating political will and commitment to creating an enabling environment to implement the Platform; actions aimed at capacity-building for the advancement of women and gender mainstreaming; actions to ensure accountability for implementing strategies and actions in the Platform for Action; actions to establish cooperation and partnership for implementing the Platform; and actions to support women and girls currently subject to discrimination and disadvantage.
The report states that each of the 12 critical areas of concern contains examples of actions that fall into the five functional categories, albeit to different degrees. Actions in each category can be undertaken by a variety of actors, in the public and/or private sector, and at different levels of government. The framework recognizes that depending on progress achieved, some countries may need to place particular emphasis on some functional categories of action over others to achieve gender equality. The five categories are described in further detail in the report.
The present report discusses four proposed cross-cutting themes for further actions and initiatives. If endorsed, these themes could be further developed and considered by the Commission, including in a multi-year work programme for 2001-2005. Together with further actions and initiatives in the five functional categories, actions on these four themes are expected to facilitate accelerated implementation of the Platform and the realization of the goal of gender equality. The four themes are: globalization and the economic empowerment of women, especially poor women; women, science and technology and the new information age; women's leadership; and human security and social protection.
In its recommendations, the report states that the Commission, acting as the preparatory committee at its present session, may wish to endorse the proposed framework, and provide further guidance on the sub-categories for actions proposed under each functional category. It might also wish to endorse the four cross-cutting themes as the basis for the development of the outlook beyond 2000, and a vision for gender equality in the next millennium, and provide further guidance on the format and approach to be taken under each theme.
The Commission may also wish to request the Secretary-General to proceed with the preparation of proposals for further actions and initiatives under each functional category, taking into consideration views and examples provided at the present session, as well as relevant information collected in the review and appraisal process, the report continues. It may also wish to request the Secretary-General to proceed with the elaboration of a more detailed analysis of the various components of the cross-cutting themes and to provide suggestions for relevant actions and initiatives, taking into consideration the links with the Platform for Action.
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Finally, the Commission may wish to request the Secretary-General to submit his proposals in a report to the Commission acting as the preparatory committee at its third session, as the basis for further discussion and for submission to the General Assembly at its special session.
In the report on initiation of the comprehensive review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (document E/CN.6/1999/PC/3), the Secretary-General states that the present report sets out a framework for the review and identifies the various sources of information which the Secretariat will draw on to provide a comprehensive assessment of achievements and of remaining gaps in implementation since 1995.
In preparation for the 2000 special session, there are a number of activities in addition to the preparation of the next system-wide plan that are currently under way or planned and that should contribute useful information and analysis for reviewing progress in implementing the Platform for Action. These include regional activities, national-level reporting, and the preparation of various other reports and reviews, including reports in connection with the five-year reviews of the implementation of the results of other global United Nations conferences held since 1990.
A growing number of governments are preparing reports on the implementation and/or evaluation of their national action plans prepared after the Beijing Conference. In this connection, the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Secretariat, after consulting with the regional commissions, prepared a questionnaire for governments on the implementation of the Platform for Action. The questionnaire was sent to the Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York in mid-November 1998. It contained questions to elicit primarily qualitative information on the implementation of the Platform for Action. The questionnaire was designed to serve as a guide to Member States in reporting on implementation. The deadline for submitting the replies to the questionnaire on review and appraisal is 30 April 1999.
Drawing from the sources and activities outlined above, the review and appraisal will supply information on an analysis of trends in the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in the decade of the 1990s and the implications of these trends for achieving the goals and objectives of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action. New developments at the international level that are influencing implementation, such as globalization, human insecurity (both economic and personal) and the changing role of the State, will be examined.
The second part of the review and appraisal report will broadly assess major achievements and other developments at the regional and national levels in implementing the strategies in the 12 critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action. The factors that inhibit or constrain implementation will be analysed. The priority given to the design and implementation of
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policies and measures to achieve gender equality will be examined. Ways in which the enabling environment for gender equality is being ensured at the national level will be considered, for example, through gender mainstreaming, strengthening the legal framework for protecting women's human rights, and the use of temporary special measures/affirmative action.
The second part of the report will also examine how the various strategies and actions in the critical areas of concern are being operationalized at the country level, including through capacity-building and mainstreaming gender in operational activities. The attention given to gender issues in national budgets and resource allocations by sector will be considered, based on information received in response to the questionnaire on the Beijing follow-up. Progress in establishing structures and mechanisms to institutionalize follow-up to the Platform for Action will also be examined, with particular emphasis on accountability.
In relation to each critical area of concern in the Platform for Action, the review and appraisal will highlight good practices employed to overcome obstacles to women's advancement and enjoyment of their human rights, and will highlight new or innovative approaches, policies, programmes and projects to illustrate approaches to implementation. Where targets or benchmarks have been set, these will be assessed in relation to targets in the Platform for Action, on the one hand, and in relation to the extent of implementation of targets in the time period under review, on the other.
Obstacles and constraints encountered in implementing the strategies in the critical areas of concern will be discussed and lessons learned described, based on experiences of governments, the United Nations system and other actors. Examples of accountability mechanisms and experiences in using them will be examined. Human and financial resources, and the benchmarks for assessing progress will be discussed to serve as a basis for further actions and initiatives.
The note by the Secretariat on progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action based on the review of reports to the Commission on the Status of Women of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (document E/CN/6/1999/PC/4) states that the centrality of the Convention to women's advancement and the achievement of equality is underlined in critical area I of the Platform for Action (Human rights of women), which sets, as its first strategic objective, the promotion and protection of the human rights of women through the implementation of all human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Commission on the Status of Women has the primary mandate for monitoring the implementation of the Platform for Action. However, the Platform makes clear that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
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against Women also has an important role in this regard. The Platform specifically invites States parties to the Convention to include information on measures taken to implement the Platform when reporting under article 18 of the Convention, in order to facilitate the Committee's effective monitoring of women's ability to enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Convention.
The reports considered by the Committee since the adoption of the Platform for Action have presented a richly detailed picture of the situation of women worldwide. The Committee has been provided with opportunities to assess progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action and identify areas requiring further action. In addition, the Committee has made specific suggestions to accelerate implementation.
Progress, challenges and specific recommendations towards accelerated implementation are considered in the following areas: temporary special measures and affirmative action measures; law reform; measures to address stereotypical attitudes; human rights education; data disaggregated by sex; high-level national machinery; measures towards the implementation of gender equality in employment; poverty eradication strategies; measures to address various forms of violence against women; trafficking in, exploitation of and prostitution of women; and health.
According to the note, the creation of high-level national machinery with adequate financial and human resources responsible for defining and coordinating a policy for the advancement of women is regarded by the Committee as crucial for implementation. Where States parties have existing national machinery, the Committee has frequently requested that its status be upgraded and its decision-making capacity enhanced.
Among its recommendations, the Committee has urged the close monitoring of the impact of the privatization of social services on health care for women, and has recommended the review of laws containing punitive measures relating to abortion and other laws concerning sexual and reproductive health. Also, it has urged the introduction of gender-sensitive reproductive and sexual health education, information and counselling, and the integration of reproductive and sexual health services, including family planning, into primary health care. Training for health personnel with regard to women's rights is also advocated. Measures to ensure accessibility to affordable and safe contraception, particularly for poor and rural women, are also recommended. Intensive programmes to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, including information, particularly aimed at young girls and boys and women in prostitution, are regarded as critical by the Committee.
Statements
ANGELA KING, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said the special session of the General
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Assembly, entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century", would take place just 14 months from today, from 5 to 9 June 2000. The Commission on the Status of Women had been designated as the Preparatory Committee for the session and was scheduled to meet again in March 2000 to complete the work which would be advanced this week. The special session would be the third five-year review since the adoption of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the year 2000, adopted in 1985. Consequently, there was a useful baseline for assessing progress in achieving gender equality.
She said that one objective of the special session was to review and appraise progress in implementing the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies. All efforts would be made to provide a comprehensive review of the implementation, through an overview of trends in achieving gender equality in the 1990s and an assessment of major achievements in the 12 critical areas of concern, with a focus on good practices encountered in overcoming obstacles to women's advancement.
The second objective of the special session was to identify further actions and initiatives for achieving gender equality in the next millennium, she added. In that connection, the Secretary-General (in his report contained in document E/CN.6/1999/PC/2) had proposed a framework for identifying further actions and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to implementing the 12 critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). That report was meant to provoke discussion and to help clarify the direction and content of the five-year review. It was also designed to stimulate thinking on the focus for preparations between now and the next session of the Preparatory Committee. That period was crucial for the preparations since little time would remain after the final preparatory meeting to explore topics and finalize concepts and proposals.
She stressed that the deliberations at this session were extremely important in order to set in motion a collection and analysis of experiences and information on which the next meeting may build, and to provide a sound base on which the further proposals, action and initiatives could be drawn up. A further major challenge at the current session were organizational matters and particularly the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which had played such a definitive role in the four women's conferences and in the global conferences of the 1990s.
It should be made clear that the Preparatory Committee was preparing for a special session of the General Assembly rather than a global conference like the ones previously held in Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985, and Beijing in 1995. Moreover, it had that important legacy of those conferences to build upon in planning the special session. As the Preparatory Committee deliberates on other matters which need to be agreed upon at this session -- such as the structure, agenda, documentation and participation in
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the special session -- it may well take this quarter of a century's experiences into account.
VALENTINA MATVIENTKO, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, said further intensification of international cooperation in support of plans and programmes for advancement of women in countries with economies in transition was one of the provisions of the Beijing Platform for Action. Judging from past experience, the support provided by the United Nations funds and programmes went mainly to projects aimed at the elimination of violence against women and the prevention of their trafficking for sexual exploitation. Such problems were indeed very pressing in the countries with economies in transition. However, the United Nations should also work to provide for the creation of new jobs for women, development of women's business skills and the promotion of women to the decision-making level in politics and the economy.
She said that, therefore, the international assistance should be, first of all, aimed at the implementation of targets set by governments in their national plans for action. The Government of the Russian Federation did its utmost to alleviate the social costs of the transitional process on women. Women there accounted for half of the economically active population and their potential was an enormous resource which could be used to overcome economic challenges. Women should be helped to adjust themselves to the market environment and their efforts should be guided in the most efficient way. That was exactly where her country was counting on fruitful cooperation with the international community.
SHEILA REGHER (Canada) said it was important to look at the types of action that needed to be undertaken, stressing the importance of reaffirming the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action in determining what was to be achieved. She also emphasized the importance of cross-cutting themes in implementing all such actions.
FRANÇOISE KAUGJHIS-OFFOUMOU (Côte d'Ivoire) said that in approaching the third millennium, national and international communities must change their behaviour vis-à-vis women. She suggested that good governance should be added to the list of topics presented earlier by Ms. King. In the context of good governance, power must be legitimate. Women, as well as men, must be in a position to be familiar with the rules of law. Elaboration of rules must, therefore, be secured so that women could participate in political life. There must be a strengthened partnership between States and women. Equality meant equality in law and dignity. Steps must be taken in every State to give women the same levels of responsibility and posts as men.
MARION THIELENHAUS (Germany), spoke on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Iceland and Liechtenstein. She said the special session should take into account the interrelatedness of all provisions of the
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Beijing Platform for Action, and there should be a holistic approach to the five-year review. The review process should also make use of all available information sources.
One of the goals of the special session was to determine ways to translate political will into action, she said. The session should also address capacity- building, economic empowerment, and engagement with civil society. Another goal was to identify challenges in the future. Any new initiatives presented should be concrete action-oriented strategies. In that regard, the special session should produce a short political declaration reaffirming the Beijing Platform, identifying progress made and future initiatives. There should be a concrete outcome of the special session.
RODOLFO REYES RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said his delegation had some doubts about the current methodology of the preparatory process for the special session. There had only been five years since Beijing, and there was little basis for presenting new initiatives. Instead, the special session should focus on the 12 critical areas of concern which still needed to be implemented. The special session should reinforce the existing objectives instead of creating new ones. The topic of new and emerging issues could be discussed at a latter time when the Beijing Platform was more fully implemented.
DEENA HUQ (Bangladesh) said her country was optimistic about its efforts to improve the status of women and march forward on gender development, equality and peace in the next century. The United Nations should act as a watch dog to monitor initiatives taken in different countries.
DALILA SAMAH (Algeria) said that efforts should be made to return to women the rights they had been deprived of for so many years. The decisions taken in Beijing had not been given full effect. The special session should identify critical areas where progress had been achieved and analyse the nature of the obstacles that stand in the way of implementation. It was through such a pragmatic and realistic approach that it would be possible to determine what areas required new attention and action. In that context, there should not be efforts to create new initiatives that would only pose further difficulties on States.
GAUTAM MUKHOPADHAYA (India) said that while some of the issues were emergent and not cross-cutting, they were nevertheless very important. Moreover, whether functional categories or cross-cutting themes were being considered, there were still two important issues. Those were poverty and women's empowerment in achieving equality, development and peace. Those two considerations should always be borne in mind in any discussion of functional categories and cross-cutting themes.
LINDA TARR-WHELAN (United States) said she felt that the framework suggested by the Secretary-General strongly re-emphasized a human rights-based
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holistic approach. Since Beijing, the Commission had always returned to certain key areas, including: political will, capacity-building, accountability and special assistance to women, girls and the disadvantaged. There was need, therefore, for further implementation of the Beijing commitments and further discussion and refinement. She stressed the importance of non-governmental organization's engagement and looked forward to discussing the role of those bodies.
ZOU XIZOQIAO (China) said since September 1995, various governments, the international community and NGOs had attempted to take many measures to implement the Beijing Platform for Action. However, because of historic, cultural and religious backgrounds and socio-economic development constraints, efforts to achieve the strategic objectives of Nairobi and Beijing still had a long way to go. The advancement of women and gender equality in both developing and developed countries had encountered various difficulties and obstacles. At the special session, there should be a serious analysis of the opportunities and experiences over the last five years. That would help to identify the obstacles to the implementation of various plans and strategies.
MUNAWAR SAEED BHATTI (Pakistan) said it was just less than five years since Beijing. There were, however, still no real national action plans. Five years was not enough to assess the full impact of an international conference. There was a need to focus on the 12 critical areas of Beijing, help governments and not get into new processes or enter into new frameworks.
KHADIGA HAMAD (Sudan) said that the Sudanese national plan for women was in keeping with the ambitions of women in rural areas and in the cities. The national plan was intended to enable women to reach their potential, in spite of war and conflicts. Her country was attempting to provide the material and technical resources needed to help women, and it hoped that its efforts would be supported by the international community.
GLADYS GUTIERREZ (Dominican Republic) said the special session should focus on the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform, instead of opening up new issues.
MARIA PAOLA AZZARIO (Italy) said, in her country, there had been a major meeting on science and technology in regard to women. Italy had been working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in that regard. Such efforts were meant to be of assistance to Mediterranean women and women all over the world so they could approach the next millennium with equality and peace.
AMELOU BENITEZ-REYES (Philippines) said the framework for the special session could be divided into two parts. The first part would consist of only
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the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform; the second part would include new trends and factors. Her delegation would also support the creation of a common fund to address the impact of crises on women.
DUDUZLE KHOZA (South Africa) said the issue of linkages and inter- relatedness between the 12 critical areas of concern should be stressed in the special session. Her country was conducting a gender audit which had detected certain gaps in the implementation of the Beijing Platform.
CLAIRE NYANGANG (Cameroon) said that, at the current stage, the evaluation of the Beijing Platform should be on the 12 critical areas of concern. However, she wanted to know how discussions would take into account the initiatives and efforts that were currently going on regionally. There were a number of meetings and conferences going on in the African region and that should be taken into account in New York.
MOLLY ANIM-ADDO (Ghana) said one of main conditions for improving the status of women was the existence of peace and security. Without peace, women could not achieve their potential. Women's role in leadership positions was also important and that should be addressed within the context of the special session.
SUSAN ECKEY (Norway) said the empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming were of particular concern to her delegation, and those should be issues addressed in the special session.
MA YOUNG-SAM (Republic of Korea) said the review process should emphasize the commitment of governments to the Beijing Platform; however, it should not renegotiate those commitments. The special session should also address cooperation between United Nations funds and programmes concentrating on avoiding duplication and overlapping. There should also be further discussion on cross-cutting themes.
Ms. ACERNER (Turkey) cited the importance of the five functional categories and the four cross-cutting themes. Her delegation believed in the involvement of civil society and implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. It also stressed that cultural contexts and institutional building for gender equality were important emerging points that should be brought to the consideration of the Committee.
NADA DRAZ (Egypt) said it was important to concentrate on the 12 critical areas agreed upon in Beijing. In that regard, there should be a review of obstacles with a view to overcoming them.
Ms. KING, responding to questions, said the Division for the Advancement of Women had been taking careful note of occurrences in the various regions. Regional plans had been taken into account in the Beijing Platform for Action.
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The Division was also working very closely with regional commissions. There had been collaboration with those commissions on questionnaires and regional concerns and responses would be reflected in them. Copies of responses from Member States of various regions would be sent to the relevant regional commissions so that they could be made aware of their concerns.
She said all regional commissions, with the exception of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), had held a series of preparatory meetings, and future meetings were also scheduled. In addition, future initiatives on globalization had emanated from the Member States of the Asian region. There was a steady stream of ideas and initiatives from all sides, she added.
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