COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTY-THIRD SESSION

1 April 1999

Press Release
WOM/1124

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTY-THIRD SESSION

19990401 Agreed Conclusions on Women and Health, Institutional Mechanisms, Resolutions on Women and Girls in Afghanistan, Women and Mental Health Adopted

The Commission on the Status of Women concluded its forty-third session this morning by adopting four texts including agreed conclusions on women and health that requested Governments, the United Nations system and civil society to ensure universal access to quality, comprehensive and affordable health care to women.

The Commission's session, which was scheduled to end on 12 March, was resumed today in order to take action on remaining texts. During an early morning meeting on 13 March, the Commission requested the Economic and Social Council to continue its session for one more day in order to complete its work. The Council authorized today's meeting when it resumed its organizational session on 25 March.

By other provisions of the agreed conclusions on women and health, the Commission requested Governments, the United Nations system and civil society to also integrate sexual, reproductive and mental health services within the primary health care system and design and implement programmes, with the full involvement of young people, to educate and inform them on sexual and reproductive health issues. In order to bridge the gap between commitments and implementation, they should formulate policies favourable to investments in women's health and intensify efforts to meet the targets identified in the Beijing Platform for Action, which was adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women.

Also by the text, those entities were requested to educate women and men, particularly young people, with a view to encouraging men to accept their responsibilities in matters related to sexuality, reproduction and child-rearing and to promoting equal relationships between women and men. They should also take measures to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation, and other harmful traditional and customary practices affecting the health of women and girls, since such practices constitute a definite form

of violence against women and girls and a serious form of violation of their human rights.

Governments and other bodies were also asked to increase efforts directed towards poverty eradication by assessing the impact of broader macroeconomic policies on the feminization of poverty and on women's health, and address the health needs of those vulnerable throughout their life span. They should adopt preventive and promotional health policies at an early stage in order to prevent health problems and dependence of older women and enable them to lead independent and healthy lives.

By the terms of the agreed conclusions on institutional mechanisms, the Commission recommended that Governments provide continued strong political commitment to supporting the strengthening of national machineries and the advancement of women. They should also ensure adequate and sustainable financial and human resources to national machineries and other institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women through national budgets. Governments were also requested to ensure that mainstreaming a gender perspective is fully understood, institutionalized and implemented.

Also by the text, the United Nations was requested to, among other things, ensure that individual managers are held accountable for implementing the strategic plan of action for the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (1995-2000). Heads of departments and offices should also develop gender action plans which establish concrete strategies to ensure that the appointment and promotion of women will not be less than 50 per cent, until the goal of 50/50 gender distribution is met.

In order to elaborate a systematic and comprehensive approach to information on unremunerated work, the text goes on, the Division of the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat should prepare and circulate among all States a detailed and well-structured questionnaire seeking inputs on developments in measuring and valuing unremunerated work and on policies and programmes as well as laws that recognize and address such work.

In one of two resolutions approved without a vote today, the Commission called for the urgent implementation of the health objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action and other relevant international agreements with the integration of mental health as a priority issue. The Commission requested Governments to include in their national policies and/or plans of action for women specific measures addressing the mental health needs of women and girls, especially the need for psychosocial care and counselling services. It also called upon Governments to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in mental health care and to provide access to appropriate treatment that is responsive to women's mental health needs at all ages.

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Recommended to the Economic and Social Council for adoption, a draft resolution on women in Afghanistan approved today by the Commission requested that the Council condemn the grave violations of the human rights of women and girls, including all forms of discrimination and violence against them, in all areas of Afghanistan, particularly those under Taliban control. The Council would also condemn the Taliban's denial of women's access to health care and the systematic violation of the human rights of women, including the denial of access to education and employment, freedom of movement, and from intimidation, harassment and violence. The Council would urge the Taliban and other Afghan parties to recognize, protect, promote and act in accordance with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.

Addressing the Commission, Chairperson Patricia Flor (Germany) said she would have liked to have made her closing statement on 12 March. Nevertheless she was happy that the agreed conclusions had been adopted today by consensus.

In a statement on the situation of women in Afghanistan, the representative of Germany, on behalf of the European Union and associated countries, said his delegation appreciated the initiative to put the topic on the agenda. The situation in Afghanistan had not improved and in fact was deteriorating further. Moreover, the issue no longer attracted the necessary public attention. He hoped the strong voice of the Commission would be heard and that such efforts would fully restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Commission also adopted its report for the session and the draft provisional agenda for its next session.

Angela King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, said the draft provisional agenda contained the topics for discussion at the Commission's forty-fourth session. Included in those topics were: review of mainstreaming in organizations of the United Nations system; emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting the situation of women or equality between women and men; implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical areas of concern; and the comprehensive review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action.

By other draft texts during the session, the Commission took the following actions:

-- Called for an effective response to violent acts against civilian women and children in areas of armed conflict;

-- Urged governments to take all necessary measures to strengthen women's economic independence and to protect and promote their human rights

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and fundamental freedoms in order to allow them to better protect themselves from HIV infection;

-- Demanded that Israel comply fully with the provisions and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments in order to protect the rights of the Palestinian women and their families;

Also during its session, the Commission also approved a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The protocol would give women the right to complain to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women about violations of the Convention by their Governments. It would provide for better enforcement of women's rights and enable the Committee to conduct inquiries into serious or systematic abuses of women's human rights in countries that are party to the protocol. In addition, it would provide an avenue for women to obtain remedies for breaches of their human rights.

As the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 special session of the General Assembly, the Commission approved one draft resolution concerning items that would be on the session's provisional agenda as well as documentation that would be before the session.

A summary of action by the Commission follows.

Action by Commission

The Commission approved a resolution recommending a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women for adoption by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, and also approved the text of the revised draft optional protocol.

By the draft resolution (E/CN.6/1999/WG/L.3), among other provisions, the Assembly would stress that States parties to the protocol should undertake to respect the rights and procedures provided by it and cooperate with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women at all stages of its proceedings under the protocol. It would stress that in fulfilment of its mandate as well as its functions under the protocol, the Committee should continue to be guided by the principles of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity. The Committee would be requested to hold meetings to exercise its function under the protocol after its entry into force, in addition to its meetings held under Article 20 of the Convention. The Secretary-General would be requested to provide the staff and facilities necessary for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee under the protocol after its entry into force, and to include information on the status of the protocol in her or his regular reports to the Assembly on the status of the Convention.

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The draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women submitted by the Open-Ended Working Group is contained in document E/CN.6/1999/WG/L.2.

Under its provisions, the States parties to the protocol would recognize the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to receive and consider communications submitted by or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals, under the jurisdiction of a State party, claiming to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set forth in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by that State Party. Communications shall be in writing and shall not be anonymous.

Further, the Committee would receive no communication if it concerns a State party to the Convention that is not a party to the Protocol. The Committee shall not consider a communication unless it has ascertained that all available domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless the application of such remedies is unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief.

The Committee shall declare a communication inadmissible where: the same matter has already been examined by the Committee or has been or is being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement; it is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention; it is manifestly ill-founded or not sufficiently substantiated; it is an abuse of the right to submit a communication; the facts that are the subject of the communication occurred prior to the entry into force of the protocol for the State party concerned, unless those facts continued after that date.

After examining a communication, the Committee would transmit its views on it, together with its recommendations, if any, to the parties concerned. The State party would give due consideration to the views of the Committee, together with its recommendations, if any, and shall submit to the Committee, within six months, a written response, including information on any action taken in the light of the views and recommendations of the Committee. The Committee may invite the State party to submit further information about any measures it has taken in response to its views or recommendations.

Taking into account any observations that may have been submitted by the State party concerned as well as any other reliable information available to it, the Committee may designate one or more of its members to conduct an inquiry and to report urgently to it. Where warranted and with the consent of the State party, the inquiry may include a visit to its territory. Moreover, a State party shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that individuals under its jurisdiction are not subjected to ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of communicating with the Committee pursuant to the protocol.

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The protocol would enter into force three months after the date of the deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession. No reservations to the protocol would be permitted.

Any State party may propose an amendment to the protocol and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States parties present and voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly for approval. Such amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the Assembly and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States parties to the protocol in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.

In revised agreed conclusions on women and health (document E/CN.6/1999/L.2/Rev.1), the Commission proposed a number of measures in order to accelerate the implementation of the strategic objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action. Governments, the United Nations system and civil society were asked to:

-- Ensure universal access, on a basis of equality between women and men, to quality, comprehensive and affordable health care and health services and information by women throughout the life cycle;

-- Formulate policies favourable to investments in women's health and intensify efforts to meet the targets identified in the Platform for Action;

-- Integrate sexual, reproductive and mental health services, with emphasis on preventive measures, within the primary health-care system to respond to the broad health needs of women and men, in a life-cycle approach;

-- Design and implement programmes, with the full involvement of young people, to educate and inform them on sexual and reproductive health issues, taking into account the rights of the child to access to information, privacy, confidentiality, respect and informed consent, and the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents and legal guardians;

-- Allocate adequate resources to put in place the necessary measures which ensure that quality health services are accessible to those women throughout their life cycle who are living in poverty, are disadvantaged or socially excluded;

-- Increase efforts directed towards poverty eradication, by assessing the impact of broader macroeconomic policies on the feminization of poverty and on women's health;

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-- Adopt preventive and promotional health policies at an early stage in order to prevent health problems and dependence of older women and enable them to lead independent and healthy lives;

-- Ensure that special attention is given to supporting women with disabilities, and empower them to lead independent and healthy lives;

-- Address the need for appropriate screening services for women, within the context of national health priorities;

-- Encourage women to practise regular sport and recreational activities which have a positive impact on women's health, well-being and fitness throughout the whole life cycle, and ensure that women enjoy equal opportunities to practise sport, use sport facilities and take part in competitions;

-- Promote and support breastfeeding unless it is medically contra-indicated, as well as implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative;

-- Support scientific research into and the development of safe, affordable, effective and easily-accessible female-controlled methods of family planning, including dual methods such as microbicides and female condoms that protect against both sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS and prevent pregnancy;

-- Support the development and widespread use of male contraceptive methods;

-- Educate women and men, particularly young people, with a view to encouraging men to accept their responsibilities in matters related to sexuality, reproduction and child-rearing and to promoting equal relationships between women and men;

-- Enhance women's ability and knowledge, and empower them to make informed choices, to prevent unwanted pregnancies;

-- Work with the media and other sectors to encourage the development of positive attitudes about major transitions in women's and girls' reproductive lives, such as the onset of menstruation and menopause, and provide appropriate support, for women undergoing those transitions;

-- Eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation, and other harmful traditional and customary practices affecting the health of women and girls, since such practices constitute a definite form of violence against women and girls and a serious form of violation of their human rights;

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-- Take all necessary measures to prevent all harmful practices such as early marriages, forced marriages and threats to women's right to life;

-- Support public education and advocacy and secure the highest level of political commitment to the prevention of and research into sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, their care, treatment and the mitigation of their impact, including through the provision of social services and support, together with poverty alleviation;

-- Increase prevention measures to reduce the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic worldwide and sexually transmitted diseases among the groups most heavily at risk, in particular young people;

-- Enact laws and take measures to eliminate sexual violence against women and girls, which is one of the causes of HIV/AIDS infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, and review and enact laws and combat practices, as appropriate, that may contribute to women's susceptibility to those infections;

-- Eliminate the stigmatization and social exclusion that surround HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious diseases such as leprosy and filariasis;

-- Increase the preventive, as well as the therapeutic, measures against tuberculosis and malaria, and accelerate the research into the development of a vaccine against malaria;

-- Educate, counsel and encourage men and women infected with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases to inform their partners to help protect them from infection, and ensure that the spread of those diseases is curtailed;

-- Make available gender-sensitive and age-sensitive mental health services and counselling, as necessary, with particular attention to the treatment of psychiatric illness and trauma throughout the life cycle;

-- Develop effective preventive and remedial health services to provide appropriate counselling and treatment for mental disorders related to stress, depression, powerlessness, marginalization and trauma;

-- Support research and dissemination of information on gender differences in the causes and effects of the use and abuse of substances, including narcotic drugs and alcohol, and develop effective gender-sensitive approaches to prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, including those specifically designed for pregnant women;

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-- Design, implement and strengthen prevention programmes aimed at reducing tobacco use by women and girls; investigate the exploitation and targeting of young women by the tobacco industry; support action to prohibit tobacco advertising and access by minors to tobacco products; and support smoke-free spaces, gender-sensitive cessation programmes, and product labelling to warn of the dangers of tobacco use, noting the Tobacco Free Initiative proposed by the WHO in July 1998;

-- Promote equitable sharing of household and family responsibilities between women and men, and provide social support systems, where appropriate, to help women who, as a result of their multiple roles in the family, often may suffer from fatigue and stress;

-- Support research on the relationship between women's and girls' physical and mental health, self-esteem and the extent to which women of all ages are valued in their societies to address issues such as substance abuse and eating disorders;

-- Protect the health of women workers in all sectors, including agricultural and domestic household workers, through effective environmental and occupational health policies for gender-sensitive work environments, free from sexual harassment and discrimination, which are safe and ergonomically designed to prevent occupational hazards;

-- Take specific measures to protect the health of women workers who are pregnant or have recently given birth or are breast-feeding from harmful environmental and occupational hazards, and their children;

-- Provide full and accurate information about environmental health risks to the public, in particular to women, and take steps to ensure access to clean water, adequate sanitation and clean air.

-- Improve the collection, use and dissemination of data disaggregated by sex and age, and develop collection methodologies that capture the differences between women's and men's life experiences;

-- Ensure participation of women at all levels in the planning, implementation and evaluation of health programmes;

-- Mainstream a gender perspective into the curricula as well as the training of all health care and service providers in order to ensure high-quality health services for women;

-- In order to ensure that women's rights are addressed, the curricula of health care providers should include relevant human rights topics to strengthen medical ethics and ensure that girls and women are treated with respect and dignity;

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-- Increase education and research among health service providers and users to address the unnecessary medicalization of women's health conditions;

-- Ensure, where indicated, that clinical trials of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other medical products include women with their full knowledge and consent and ensure that the resulting data is analyzed for sex and gender differences;

-- Collect data concerning scientific and legal developments on human genome and related genetic research and their implications for women's health and women's rights in general and disseminate such information and results of studies conducted in accordance with accepted ethical standards;

-- Develop strategies designed to seek to reduce occupational concentration by gender to eliminate gender-based pay inequality;

-- Assure a strong political commitment by the international community to implement strengthened international cooperation for development and to mobilize domestic and international finance resources from all sources for development and the provision of health services for women;

-- Promote progress in regard to external debt relief which, with improvement in the terms of trade, could help generate resources, both public and private, to expand and upgrade health services, with special attention to the physical and mental health of women;

-- Encourage concerted efforts, through enhanced cooperation and coordination to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the benefits of globalization and interdependence, to, among other issues, enhance the provision of health care services in developing countries, especially for women; and

-- In the framework of international cooperation encourage sound macroeconomic policies and institutions to support the provision of health care services for women.

By the revised agreed conclusions on institutional mechanisms (document E/CN.6/1999/L.3/Rev.1), the Commission proposed a number of measures to accelerate the implementation of the strategic objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action in regard to that topic. It recommended that Governments take the following actions:

-- Provide continued strong political commitment to supporting the strengthening of national machineries and the advancement of women;

-- Ensure that national machineries are placed at the highest possible level of government and all institutional mechanisms for the advancement of

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women are invested with the authority needed to fulfil their mandated roles and responsibilities;

-- Provide adequate and sustainable financial and human resources to national machineries and other institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women through national budgets;

-- Ensure that mainstreaming a gender perspective is fully understood, institutionalized and implemented, by among other, promoting awareness and understanding of the Platform for Action;

-- Ensure that senior management in each ministry or agency takes responsibility for fulfilling gender equality commitments and integrating a gender perspective in all activities, and that appropriate assistance from gender experts or gender focal points is available;

-- Promote capacity-building including gender training for both women and men in government ministries so as to be more responsive to the needs and interests of women and gender equality;

-- Promote and ensure accountability and transparency of government through effective monitoring mechanisms and tools such as gender-disaggregated statistics, gender budgeting, gender auditing and gender impact assessment;

-- Continuously improve the gathering and disaggregation of data and the development of statistics and indicators in all critical areas of the Platform for Action for use in analysis, policy development and planning;

-- Give visibility to the relationship between remunerated and unremunerated work and its importance to gender analysis;

-- Recognize and acknowledge that unremunerated work by women in, for example agriculture, food production, natural resources management, caring for dependants and household and voluntary work, is a considerable contribution to society:

-- Make visible the unequal distribution between women and men of remunerated and unremunerated work in order to promote changes;

-- Assess the real value of unremunerated work and accurately reflect it in satellite or other official accounts that are separate from, but consistent with core national accounts;

-- Strengthen the relations among civil society, all governmental agencies and national machineries;

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-- Ensure that the needs, rights and interests of all women, including those who are not members of organizations, and live in poverty in rural and urban areas, are identified and mainstreamed into policy and programme development;

-- Respect the involvement of non-governmental organizations in assisting Governments in the implementation of regional, national and international commitments through advocacy and raising awareness of gender equality issues;

-- Coordinate or consult with non-governmental organizations and civil society in national and international activities including elaborating national action plans, preparing reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and implementing the Platform for Action;

-- Ensure transparency through open and participatory dialogue and the promotion of balanced participation of women and men in all areas of decision-making;

-- Create clear anti-discrimination regulations with adequate mechanisms, including a proper legal framework for addressing violations;

-- Initiate, where necessary, gender equality legislation and create or strengthen, where appropriate, independent bodies, such as the ombudsperson and equal opportunity commission, with responsibility and authority for promoting and ensuring compliance with gender equality legislation;

-- Involve parliaments and, wherever appropriate, the judiciary in monitoring progress in gender mainstreaming and strengthening gender-related aspects of all government reporting.

The Commission recommended that national machineries and other institutional mechanisms take the following actions:

-- Design, promote the implementation of, execute, monitor, evaluate and mobilize support for policies that promote the advancement of women and advocate gender equality and promote public debate;

-- Act as catalysts for gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes and not necessarily as agents for policy implementation;

-- Promote research and dissemination of research findings and information on women and gender equality, including disparities of income and workload between women and men and, where appropriate, among women;

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-- Ensure the ongoing training on gender issues, at all levels, of the personnel of the national machineries to promote programme and policy sustainability;

-- Develop policies to recruit technical staff with expertise in gender equality issues;

-- Recognize civil society as an important source of support and legitimacy and therefore create and strengthen the relationship with civil society through regular consultations with non-governmental organizations, the research community, social partners and other concerned groups;

-- Establish partnerships, liaise and consult with women's organizations, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, the media and other agencies on national and international policies relating to women and gender and inform them of the international commitments of their Governments;

-- Engage the media in dialogue aimed at re-examining gender stereotypes and negative portrayal of both women and men;

-- Create and strengthen collaborative relationships with the private sector, including through initiating advocacy dialogue and advising private companies to address the issues affecting women in the paid labour force, and set up ways and means to promote equality of women and men.

The Commission also proposed that the international community, including the United Nations system, should take the following actions:

-- Ensure that individual managers are held accountable for implementing the strategic plan of action for the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (1995-2000) within their areas of responsibility, and that heads of departments and offices develop gender action plans which establish concrete strategies for the achievement of gender balance in individual departments and offices, with full respect for the principle of equitable geographical distribution, so as to ensure, as far as possible, that the appointment and promotion of women will not be less than 50 per cent, until the goal of 50/50 gender distribution is met;

-- Request the Administrative Committee on Coordination's (ACC) Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality to continue its work to implement the Beijing Platform for Action and to promote the integration of a gender perspective in the implementation and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits;

-- Support the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, including through support for the important activities of the United Nations

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Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) in the fulfilment of their respective mandates;

-- Support national Governments in their efforts to strengthen national mechanisms through official development assistance (ODA) and other appropriate assistance;

-- Document and publish "good practices", and provide logistical support and ensure equal access to information technology wherever appropriate; in this regard, the offices of United Nations resident coordinators, in particular the women in development programmes and gender units, should play a critical role;

-- Encourage multilateral development institutions, bilateral donors, and international non-governmental organizations to make available methodology already developed on the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data measurement and valuation of unwaged work and to provide technical assistance and other resources, including financial resources as appropriate, to developing countries and countries with economies in transition;

-- In order to elaborate a systematic and comprehensive approach to information on unremunerated work, the Division of the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat should prepare and circulate among all States a detailed and well-structured questionnaire, which should seek inputs on developments in measuring and valuing unremunerated work and on policies and programmes as well as laws that recognize and address such work;

-- Request the Division for the Advancement of Women to expand the Directory of National Machineries, by including, for example, mandates, number of staff, e-mail addresses, fax numbers and working-level contacts, so that this comprehensive information can facilitate better communication among national machineries around the world.

A draft resolution on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan (document E/CN.6/1999/L.7), which the Commission recommended to the Economic and Social Council for adoption, would have the Council condemn the grave violations of the human rights of women and girls, including all forms of discrimination and violence against them, in all areas of Afghanistan, particularly those under Taliban control. It would also condemn the Taliban's denial of women's access to health care and the systematic violation of the human rights of women, including the denial of access to education and employment, freedom of movement, and from intimidation, harassment and violence. The Council would urge the Taliban and other Afghan parties to recognize, protect, promote and act in accordance with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion, in

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accordance with international human rights instruments, and to respect international humanitarian law.

Further, the Council would urge all Afghan parties, in particular the Taliban, to end all human rights violations against women and girls and to take urgent measures to ensure: the repeal of all legislative and other measures that discriminate against women; the effective participation of women in civil, cultural, economic, political and social life; respect for the equal right of women to work and their reintegration in employment; the equal right of women and girls to education without discrimination, the reopening of schools and the admission of women and girls to all levels of education; respect for the right of women to security of person and that those responsible for physical attacks on women are brought to justice; respect for freedom of movement for women; and respect for women's and girls' equal access to health care.

The Council would also urge States to continue to give special attention to the promotion and protection of human rights of women in Afghanistan and to mainstream a gender perspective into all aspects of their policies and actions related to Afghanistan. It would ask the Secretary-General, as well, to ensure that all United Nations activities in Afghanistan are carried out according to the principle of non-discrimination against women and girls and that a gender perspective and special attention to the human rights of women and girls are fully incorporated into the work of the civil affairs unit established within the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan.

The Council would stress the importance of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan giving special attention to the human rights of women and girls and fully incorporating a gender perspective in his work. It would appeal to States and the international community to implement the recommendations of the inter-agency gender mission to Afghanistan under the leadership of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. It would urge all Afghan factions, in particular the Taliban, to ensure the safety and protection of all United Nations and humanitarian workers in Afghanistan and to allow them, regardless of gender, to carry out their work unhindered.

The text in its draft form was sponsored by Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela.

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By a text on women and mental health, with emphasis on special groups (document E/CN.6/1999/L.8/Rev.1), the Commission called for the urgent implementation of the health objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action and other relevant international agreements with the integration of mental health as a priority issue.

Governments were requested to include in their national policies and/or plans of action for women specific measures that address the mental health needs of women and girls, especially the need for psychosocial care and counselling services. They were also called upon to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in mental health care, where it exists, and to provide access to appropriate treatment that is responsive to women's mental health needs at all ages.

In addition, Governments were invited to develop and implement public awareness campaigns on mental health and education focusing on women and girls who are most in need of psychological support. They were also invited to provide or enhance mental health education and both pre-service and in-service training to primary health care workers, social service professionals, teachers and other educators, and community workers. Non-governmental organizations, private funding institutions and individual donors were encouraged to organize and support assistance programmes and missions tailored to the needs of areas where psychological/psychiatric problems are prevalent among the population, in particular among poor urban and rural women.

Relevant United Nations bodies were requested to address and support the mental health needs of women and girls through various measures and projects. The World Health Organization (WHO) was invited to, through extrabudgetary resources, develop and disseminate a training manual designed to provide health care workers and others with the appropriate skills for assisting women and girls who are experiencing problems and mental disorders as a result of trauma, all forms of discrimination, exploitation, abuse and oppression.

The Secretary-General was urged to organize regional expert group meetings with a view to developing gender- and age-disaggregated and gender-sensitive psychosocial and mental health situation analyses and indicators as bases for determining progress in women's and girls' emotional well-being and mental health. Non-governmental organizations, funding sources and the private sector were invited, in coordination with the national authorities concerned, to support and develop a programme that will bring a wide range of expertise to the training of local community workers, teachers and primary health care staff and to provide appropriate interventions for stress-related disorders to girls and women in crisis.

Also by the resolution, the Commission decided to include in the framework of the review process for the special session of the General Assembly to appraise and assess progress achieved in implementation of the

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Beijing Platform for Action the emerging issue of the mental health of girls and women, so that further initiatives and action can be undertaken. The Secretary-General was requested to bring the resolution to the attention of the relevant bodies of the United Nations.

In its draft form, the text was sponsored by Botswana, Chile, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zambia.

The Commission also adopted a resolution on release of women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts (E.CN.6/1999/L.5). Under its provisions, it condemned violent acts in contravention of international humanitarian law against civilian women and children in areas of armed conflict, and called for an effective response to such acts, including the immediate release of such women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts.

Also by the text, the Commission strongly urged all parties to armed conflicts to respect fully the norms of international humanitarian law in armed conflict and to take all necessary measures for the protection of those women and children and for their immediate release. It urged all parties to conflicts to provide unimpeded access to specialized humanitarian assistance for those women and children.

The Secretary-General and all relevant international organizations were requested to use their capabilities and efforts to facilitate the release of those women and children and to prepare, taking into account the information provided by States and relevant international organizations, a report on the implementation of the text, for submission to the Commission's forty-fourth session.

In its draft form the text was sponsored by Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Iran, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

By a resolution on women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) (E/CN.6/1999/L.6), the Commission urged governments to take all necessary measures to strengthen women's economic independence and to protect and promote their human rights and fundamental freedoms in order to allow them to better protect themselves from HIV infection. It emphasized that the advancement and empowerment of women is critical to increasing the ability of women and young girls to protect themselves from HIV infection. It would stress that every effort should be made by governments, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and

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programmes, intergovernmental agencies and non-governmental organizations to place combating HIV/AIDS as a priority on the development agenda and to implement effective prevention strategies and programmes, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including women and young girls.

The Commission called upon the international community to intensify its support of national efforts against HIV/AIDS, particularly in favour of women and young girls, in the worst-hit regions of Africa and where the epidemic is severely setting back national development gains. It urged governments to take steps to: create an environment that promotes compassion and support for those infected with HIV; provide the legal framework that will protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS; enable those who are vulnerable to have access to appropriate voluntary counselling services; and encourage efforts to reduce discrimination and stigmatization. Governments, with the assistance of relevant United Nations bodies and others, were also urged to create an environment and conditions that will take care of and support children orphaned by AIDS.

Governments were further urged to adopt a long-term, timely, coherent and integrated AIDS prevention policy and to support women's groups and community organizations in changing harmful traditions and practices affecting the health of women and girls and to take steps to eliminate all forms of violence against women. The Commission encouraged accelerated research on vaccine development and intensified additional research on promotion of the female condom, microbicides and other options that offer women more control for the protection of their reproductive and sexual health. It requested governments to ensure that condoms and care for sexually transmitted diseases are available in places accessible and affordable to women while ensuring their privacy.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and its co-sponsors were urged to intensify their efforts in assisting governments to determine the best policies and programmes to prevent women and young girls from becoming infected with HIV/AIDS. The Joint Programme and its co-sponsors, bilateral and multilateral donors, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations were requested to give urgent and priority attention to the situation of women and girls in Africa. The Commission invited relevant entities of the United Nations system, including agencies, funds and programmes, to mainstream gender policies and programmes integrating HIV/AIDS activities, and invited the Secretary-General to report to the forty-fourth session of the Commission on the implementation of the text.

In its draft form, the text was sponsored by Norway, Thailand and Zambia.

A draft resolution on Palestinian women (E/CN.6/1999/L.9), recommended to the Economic and Social Council for adoption, would have the Council stress

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its support for the Middle East peace process and the need for speedy and full implementation of the agreements already reached between the parties. It would demand that Israel, the occupying Power, comply fully with the provisions and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the regulations annexed to The Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, in order to protect the rights of the Palestinian women and their families. It would call upon 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.

Also by the text, Member States, financial organizations of the United Nation system, non-governmental organizations and other relevant institutions would be urged to intensify their efforts to provide financial and technical assistance to Palestinian women for the creation of projects responding to their needs, especially during the transitional period. It would also request the Commission to continue to monitor and take action with regard to the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, and the Beijing Platform for Action.

The draft, which was sponsored by Bolivia, Côte d'Ivoire, Guyana (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China), Norway and Uganda, was approved by a vote of 33 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 4 abstentions (Bolivia, Côte d'Ivoire, Norway, Uganda).

Also recommended for adoption by the Council was a draft resolution on the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women, 2002-2005 (E/CN.6/1999/L.10). It would have the Council invite the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), to formulate the plan for 2002-2005 in two phases -- a first phase consisting of an assessment of activities undertaken by the United Nations system and of obstacles encountered and lessons learned from the present plan and the system-wide process of its implementation; and the second phase consisting of a new plan that reflects the growing emphasis on action and delivery. The Council would also decide that the assessment should be submitted to the Council through the Commission on the Status of Women in the year 2000 and that the new plan for 2002-2005 should be submitted to the Council through the Commission in 2001.

Also recommended for adoption by the Council was a draft decision draft decision on enabling the Commission on the Status of Women to continue to carry out its mandate (E/CN.6/1999/L.11). By that draft, the Economic and Social Council would decide that the Commission should hold its annual 10-day sessions in accordance with its resolution 1987/21 of 26 May 1987.

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Action by Commission as Preparatory Committee

A draft resolution (E/CN.6/1999/PC/L.2/Rev.1) approved by 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 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".

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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 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

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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.

Highlights of Session

During its forty-third session, the Commission on the Status of Women held 17 meetings and approved 10 texts, including the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, with provisions concerning a complaints procedure and an inquiry mechanism.

Speaking after the approval of the protocol, Aloisia Worgetter (Austria), Chairperson of the Working Group that drafted it, said that "women will have an effective instrument in their hands to fight discrimination". After four years of gruelling negotiations, the protocol had finally been adopted by consensus. She was convinced that the Commission, the Council and the Assembly would be guided by the spirit of consensus of the Working Group.

During the discussion on "national machineries for the advancement of women", an expert panellist said the main functions of such machineries should be policy development, coordination, monitoring and leadership. National mechanisms should work as catalysts rather than as implementers, she said. They also needed to get support from key government officials and leaders of civil society. Another expert stressed the need for national machineries to be accountable to their constituencies -- women's groups, academics and activists. During a general discussion on the topic, delegates stressed the need for data analysis and adequate funding in the development of institutional mechanisms.

The need for Governments to allocate specific resources in national budgets to help institutions for women was stressed. Discussions also centred on the importance of unpaid work -- such as child care and house work. Governments needed to collect more data on the issue and understand its role in society, it was emphasized. A speaker suggested that tax breaks could be offered to those doing unpaid work.

A panel was also held on the topic of "women and health". The need to mainstream a gender perspective into national health care systems was stressed by experts. One expert said there was a need to correct gender biases in the health field and that required fundamental changes in behaviour on everyone's part. Success in implementing a gender perspective only came when leaders at the highest levels put their energies into change. Countries needed to design

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health policies and programmes which required understanding by all actors involved, not just the health experts.

On the topic of violence against women, Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said that most countries had failed to address that issue and its impact on the spread of AIDS. While the scale of violence against women and girls was frightening, so was the spread of HIV/AIDS among those who were assaulted. Male violence against women may be illegal, but it was still considered an acceptable part of life in many societies. It was sometimes seen as acceptable by their victims as well.

Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said maternal mortality was a serious problem which had too often been neglected by the Governments. There were many issues which impacted on the reproductive health and rights of women and girls. The first was pre- natal sex selection and poor nutritional status, which resulted in high infant mortality rates, especially among girls. That was exacerbated by a lack of educational and employment opportunities and oppressive traditions that limited them to reproductive roles only -- such as early marriages and early and extended births -- without choices in whom or when to marry.

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said the issue of women's health could not be considered in isolation. Men, fathers, brothers, husbands and sons were important. Women lived in a complex social context, and gender roles and relations were embedded within that context. In order to improve the health of women, there was a need to annualize the determinants of women's health status in the reality of their lives.

Also discussed during the session was the situation of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). Yakin Erturk, the former Director of the Institute, told the Commission that, unless funds became immediately available, INSTRAW would no longer be financially functional beyond August. The critical financial situation that began in 1992 had become an institutional crisis that threatened the existence of the Institute. If the contributions for 1999 were not realized, the implementation of its 1998-1999 biennial work programme would be seriously jeopardized.

Speaking on the same topic, Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that Member States of the United Nations needed to decide if INSTRAW was a priority and some resolution of the matter should be determined in the current year. Resolution of the issue should not be delayed until the Economic and Social Council meeting in July -- immediate support was needed.

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Also during the session, the Commission held five meetings in its role as the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 Special Session of the General Assembly entitled: "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century". 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.

During a Preparatory Committee panel discussion, one panellist said that the struggle for gender equality was not a women's struggle against men, but one for justice and human rights. While the problem of inequality could be attributed to men and masculinity, efforts aimed at promoting equality must include men -- not blame or demonize them. Another panellist noted that a major obstacle to the implementation of the Platform for Action was the relative absence of proper monitoring mechanisms and methodologies. In national plans for implementing the Platform, very few had set actual targets. So far, in all regional and global attempts at monitoring implementation reports were simply descriptions of actions taken. There was need to put more effort into developing and systematically using proper indicators. Another panellist stressed that globalism's negative effects had hurt women, as well as men. Women were still the main victims of structural adjustment policies with women's unemployment estimated at being 10 to 40 per cent greater than men's.

Officers, Membership

The officers of the Commission on the Status of Women are: Patricia Flor (Germany), Chairperson; Karam Fadi Habib (Lebanon), Marcel Maria Nicodemus (Brazil), Nonhlanhla P.L. Tsabedze (Swaziland) and Zuzana Vranova (Slovakia), Vice-Chairpersons.

The officers of the Preparatory Committee are: 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 (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.

The 45 members of the Commission on the Status of Women are elected for four-year terms on the following basis: 13 from African States; 11 from Asian States; four from Eastern European States; nine from Latin America and the Caribbean States; and eight from Western European and Other States.

The 1999 membership of the Commission is as follows: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.

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