United Nations Documents

DINF Web Posted on: December 19, 1997

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A/RES/43/101

75th plenary meeting

8 December 1988

Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking

Strategies for the Advancement of Women

The General Assembly,

Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular resolutions 40/108 of 13 December 1985 and 42/62 of 30 November 1987, in which, inter alia, it endorsed the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of

Women for the period up to the year 2000 and set out measures for their immediate implementation and for the overall achievement of the goals and objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

Taking into consideration Economic and Social Council resolutions 1987/18, 1987/19, 1987/20, 1987/21, 1987/22, 1987/23, 1987/24, 1987/25 and 1987/26 of 26 May 1987 and 1988/19, 1988/21, 1988/22 and 1988/29 of

26 May 1988,

Recalling the Guiding Principles for Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes in the Near Future, adopted by the Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes, held at Vienna from 7 to 15 September 1987,

Noting with concern the serious impact of the world economic situation on the programmes and plans for the advancement of women, especially in the global context,

Conscious of the important and constructive contribution to the advancement of the status of women made by the Commission on the Status of Women, the specialized agencies, the regional commissions and other organizations of the United Nations system, Member States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations,

Emphasizing once again the priority of the implementation, monitoring, review and appraisal of the Forward-looking Strategies,

Welcoming the significant progress made by the Commission at its special session in 1987 in restructuring its agenda along functional lines, developing the systematic long-term programme of work and strengthening its role and functions, and noting the outcome of the thirty-second session of the Commission, held at Vienna from 14 to 23 March 1988 and, in particular, Economic and Social Council resolutions 1988/19, 1988/21, 1988/22 and 1988/29,

Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolutions on issues relating to women,

Welcoming the designation by the Secretary-General of the advancement of women as one of the priorities of the Organization for the biennium 1988-1989,

Recognizing the need for the Commission to consider at its regular sessions the priority themes for its next five sessions, contained in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/24,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General concerning the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women;
2. Recalls resolutions 1, 2 and 4 adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women at its special session in 1987, in particular its recommendation that the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies and the status of women in general should be incorporated as one of the priorities in the introduction of the Organization's medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997;
3. Reaffirms the need for the Forward-looking Strategies to be translated immediately into concrete action by Governments, as determined by overall national priorities, as well as by the organizations of the United Nations system, the specialized agencies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations;
4. Reaffirms also the central role of the Commission in matters related to the advancement of women and calls upon it to promote the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies to the year 2000 based on the goals of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace and the subtheme "Employment, Health and Education", and urges all organizations of the United Nations system to co-operate with the Commission in this task;
5. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/19, in which, inter alia, the Council decided that the duration of the thirty-fourth session of the Commission, to be held in 1990, should be extended to ten days;
6. Reaffirms further, in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, the role of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, in particular the Division for the Advancement of Women, as the substantive secretariat of the Commission and as a focal point for matters on women, the catalysing role of the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the role of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women in the promotion of the role of women in the context of the participation of women in development;
7. Requests the relevant United Nations bodies to continue to provide focused and action-oriented input when reporting to the Commission on the priority themes;
8. Endorses the comprehensive reporting system to monitor, review and appraise the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, as outlined in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/22, which will assist Member States in identifying problems and in developing remedial measures at the national, regional and international levels, and invites Governments and the organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions and the specialized agencies, to report accordingly, through the Commission, to the Economic and Social Council;
9. Emphasizes, in the framework of the Forward-looking Strategies, the importance of the total integration of women in the development process, bearing in mind the specific and urgent needs of the developing countries, and calls upon Member States to establish specific targets at each level in order to increase the participation of women in professional and decision-making positions in their countries;
10. Emphasizes also the need to give urgent attention to redressing socio-economic inequities at the national and international levels as a necessary step towards the full realization of the goals and objectives of the Forward-looking Strategies;
11. Urges that particular attention be given by the United Nations and Governments to the situation of disabled women, and that Governments take steps to ensure the equalization of opportunities and social justice for and political participation of disabled women in each sector of society;
12. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/29, in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to convene a seminar on women and rural development, using the resources available in the Trust Fund for the Preparatory Activities of the 1985 World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women established under Council decision 1983/132;
13. Endorses also Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/21, in which the Council recommended that in updating the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, particular emphasis should be given to those factors which contribute to the deteriorating status of women in developing countries, as well as Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/49 of 26 July 1988, in which the Council called upon the Secretary-General to devote a separate section in the World Economic Survey to economic aspects of the situation of women and their contribution to economic development;
14. Requests the Commission to explore, at its thirty-third session, the possibility of holding, during the period 1990-1991, an interregional consultation on women in public life;
15. Once again calls upon the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the specialized agencies and other United Nations bodies to establish five-year targets at each level for the percentage of women in Professional and decision-making positions, in accordance with the criteria established by the General Assembly, in particular that of equitable geographical distribution, in order that a definite upward trend in the implementation of Assembly resolution 41/206 D of 11 December 1986 be registered in the number of Professional and decision-making positions held by women by 1990, and to set additional targets every five years;
16. Requests the Secretary-General to invite Governments, organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions and the specialized agencies, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to report periodically to the Economic and Social Council, through the Commission, on activities undertaken at all levels to implement the Forward-looking Strategies;
17. Also requests the Secretary-General to include in his report to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session on the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies an assessment of recent developments that are relevant to the priority themes to be considered at the following session of the Commission and to transmit to the Commission a summary of relevant views expressed by delegations during the Assembly's debate;
18. Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session on measures taken to implement the present resolution;
19. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide for the existing weekly radio programmes on women in the regular budget of the United Nations, with adequate provisions for broadcasts in different languages, and to develop the focal point for issues relating to women in the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, which, in concert with the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, should provide a more effective public information programme relating to the advancement of women;
20. Decides to consider these questions further at its forty-fourth session under the item entitled "Forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women to the year 2000".