PREPARATORY BODY FOR SPECIAL SESSION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON WOMEN 2000 CONCLUDES SECOND SESSION
Press Release
WOM/1123
PREPARATORY BODY FOR SPECIAL SESSION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON WOMEN 2000 CONCLUDES SECOND SESSION
19990319 Draft Resolution Approved Reaffirms Special Session Will Not Renegotiate Beijing Platform for ActionA draft resolution on preparations for the special session of the General Assembly on "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century" was approved by the Commission on the Status of Women this afternoon as it ended its meetings as the Preparatory Committee for the special session. The Commission is scheduled to meet again as the preparatory body in March 2000.
The special session, to be held from 5 to 9 June 2000, is meant to appraise and assess progress achieved in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action.
The draft resolution approved by the Commission today, concerning items that would be on the provisional agenda for the special session as well as documentation that would be before the session, would have the Economic and Social Council recommend it for adoption by the General Assembly.
In a statement on the continuing forty-third session of the Commission, Secretary Kate Starr Newel said the Economic and Social Council would hold informal consultations on Tuesday, 23 March, on a draft decision that would allow for a resumed one-day session. The Council would take action on that draft decision at its resumed organizational session, to be held on Thursday, 25 March. Should the Council approve the request, the Commission could meet in resumed session on Thursday, 1 April.
By the draft resolution approved today, items that would be on the provisional agenda would be: review and appraisal of progress made in the implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform;
and further action and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to implementation of the Beijing Platform.
Also by the text, documents before the special session would be on the following topics: review and appraisal of the implementation of the Platform for Action; good practices, positive actions, lessons learned, examples of the use of any qualitative indicators for measuring progress, successful strategies and promising initiatives for the implementation of the Beijing Platform; obstacles encountered and strategies for overcoming them; further action and initiatives, within the overall goals of gender equality, development and peace, to accelerate implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform beyond the year 2000.
Moreover, the Assembly would decide that the special session should have a Plenary and an Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole. It would also reaffirm that the special session would be undertaken on the basis of the Platform for Action and that the Platform would not be renegotiated.
On the modalities of participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the special session, the Assembly would decide to defer consideration of the issue until the next session of the Preparatory Committee. It would also invite the bureau of the Preparatory Committee to convene informal open-ended consultations to consider preparations for special session. The Assembly would recommend that the major share of the three-week forty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2000 be allocated to the Preparatory Committee.
Also this afternoon, the Commission adopted a document containing the draft provisional agenda and documentation for the its meetings as preparatory body for the special session.
During the five-day session as the Preparatory Committee, the Commission discussed reports of the Secretary-General on further action and initiatives that might be considered during the special session and on the initiation of the comprehensive review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Commission held two expert panel discussions on further actions and initiatives. Those discussions touched on such topics as: the changing status of women due to urbanization and globalization, partnerships between men and women in promoting gender equality, women and leadership, gender-based violence, and the necessity of overcoming the negative effects of globalization on women.
The officers of the Preparatory Committee were: Irma Engelbrecht (South Africa), Chairperson; 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
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(Canada), Vice-Chairpersons. By the end of the session, the Asian States Group had not yet submitted its candidates for the two outstanding posts of Vice-Chairpersons.
Draft Resolution on Preparations for Special Session
By the draft (to be issued as document E/CN.6/1999/PC/L.2/ Rev.1), the Preparatory Committee recommended that the Economic and Social Council approve a text for adoption by the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session according to which it would:
-- reiterate its invitation to governments that had not yet done so to prepare national action plans and reports on the implementation of the Platform for Action and underline the importance of involving relevant actors of civil society, especially NGOs, in that process;
-- invite Member States in preparing implementation plans and reports and responding to the questionnaire of the Secretary-General, to report on good practices, positive actions, lessons learned, the use of qualitative and quantitative indicators for measuring progress wherever possible, key challenges remaining in the critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action and obstacles encountered;
-- encourage all United Nations regional commissions and other intergovernmental regional organizations to carry out activities in support of preparations for the special session, including through the holding of preparatory meetings, to ensure a regional perspective on implementation and on further actions and initiatives, as well as on a vision for gender equality, development and peace in the twenty-first century and to make their reports available in the year 2000 to the Preparatory Committee;
-- encourage all entities of the United Nations system to be involved actively in preparatory activities and to participate at the highest level in the special session, including through presentation on best practices, obstacles encountered and a vision for the future to accelerate implementation of the Platform for Action and address new and emerging trends;
-- decide that the special session should have a Plenary and an Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole;
-- reaffirm that the special session would be undertaken on the basis of and with full respect for the Platform for Action and that there would be no renegotiation of the existing agreement contained therein; and
-- decide that the provisional agenda shall include the following items: "Review and appraisal of progress made in the implementation of the 12
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critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action"; and "Further action and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action".
Further by the resolution, the Assembly would request the Secretary- General to prepare in time for the next session of the Preparatory Committee in the year 2000, comprehensive reports on progress in the implementation of the Beijing Platform nationally, regionally and internationally, taking into account all relevant information and inputs available to the United Nations system, on the following topics:
-- A review and appraisal of the implementation of the Platform for Action based on national action plans, reports of the States parties to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, replies of Member States to the questionnaire, and other sources;
-- Good practices, positive actions, lessons learned, examples of the use of any qualitative indicators for measuring progress, successful strategies and promising initiatives for the implementation of the Beijing Platform;
-- Obstacles encountered and strategies for overcoming them; and
-- Further action and initiatives, within the overall goals of gender equality, development and peace, to accelerate implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform beyond the year 2000.
In addition, the Assembly would encourage the United Nations system to hold discussions with relevant actors of civil society, especially NGOs, in the exchange of views for the review and appraisal process on the implementation of the Platform for Action. It would urge Member States and observers to ensure their representation at the special session at a high political level, and call for the participation of associate members of regional economic commissions in the special session subject to the Assembly's rules of procedure.
Further by the text, the Assembly would encourage Member States to include relevant actors of civil society, especially NGOs and representatives of women's organizations, in their national preparatory processes as well as in their delegations to the Preparatory Committee and the special session. It would emphasize the important role of NGOs in implementing the Platform and the need for their involvement in the preparations for the special session, as well as the need to ensure an appropriate arrangement for their contribution to the session. The Assembly would decide that NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, as well as the NGOs that were accredited at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), may participate in
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the special session without creating a precedent for future sessions of the Assembly.
Also by the text, the Assembly would decide to defer consideration of all the modalities for the participation of NGOs in the special session until the next session of the Preparatory Committee. The bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women acting as the Preparatory Committee would be invited to convene informal open-ended consultations to consider preparations for special session. The Assembly would recommend that the major share of the three-week forty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2000 be allocated to the Preparatory Committee.
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