United Nations Documents

DINF Web Posted on: December 19, 1997

A/RES/42/62

85th plenary meeting

30 November 1987

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 41/111 of 4 December 1986, 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,

Taking note of 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 Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies,

Welcoming the significant progress made by the Commission on the Status of Women at its special session in 1987 in restructuring its agenda along functional lines, developing a systematic long-term programme of work, strengthening and rationalizing its role and functions and mobilizing the resources of the United Nations system as a whole towards the advancement of women by integrating this objective into the programme planning and budgeting processes of the Organization,

Welcoming also the designation by the Secretary-General of the advancement of women as one of two priorities for the next biennium of the Organization,

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

1. Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General concerning the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women;
2. Takes note also of resolutions 1, 2 and 4 adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women at its 1987 session, in particular its recommendation that the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies and the status of women in general should be incorporated as a global priority for the period 1990-1995 in the introduction of the Organization's next medium-term plan;
3. 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. 4. Reaffirms also the central role of the Commission on the Status of Women in matters related to the advancement of women and calls upon the Commission 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. 5. Reaffirms further, in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, the role of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations Office at Vienna, in particular the Branch for the Advancement of Women, as the substantive secretariat of the Commission on the Status of Women 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;
6. 6. Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/21, in which the Council, inter alia, decided that the Commission on the Status of Women, commencing with its thirty-second session, should meet annually until the year 2000, with a long-term programme of work that would allow sufficient preparation for each session;
7. 7. Endorses also Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/24, in particular the annex thereto containing the priority themes for the next five sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women, which should be considered at regular sessions of the Commission under an agenda item entitled "Priority themes", notwithstanding world conferences and preparatory meetings or any process of review and appraisal that might take place;
8. 8. Requests the relevant United Nations bodies to provide focused and action-oriented input when reporting to the Commission on the priority themes;
9. 9. Reaffirms the need for the United Nations to develop an integrated reporting system with the Commission on the Status of Women at its centre and, building upon existing information and resources, to monitor the review and appraisal of progress in the advancement of women, based on clear and relevant statistical and other measurable indicators which will assist Member States in identifying problems and in developing remedial measures, at the national, regional and international levels;
10. 10. Encourages the Special Commission of the Economic and Social Council on the In-depth Study of the United Nations Intergovernmental Structure and Functions in the Economic and Social Fields to take into consideration the unique multidisciplinary and cross-organizational mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women, which is of particular importance in co-ordinating the efforts of the United Nations in the economic and social fields towards the advancement of women;
11. 11. Emphasizes, in the framework of the Forward-looking Strategies, the importance of the total integration of women in the development process, having 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;
12. 12. 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;
13. 13. 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 for, social justice for and political participation of disabled women in each sector of society;
14. 14. 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;
15. 15. Requests the Secretary-General to extend the term of the Co-ordinator for the Improvement of the Status of Women in the Secretariat of the United Nations for a satisfactory period to ensure that the action programme, in which, inter alia, it is recommended that the situation ofwomen in the Secretariat be improved, will continue to be implemented;
16. 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, through the Commission on the Status of Women, to the Economic and Social Council on activities undertaken at all levels to implement the Forward-looking Strategies;
17. 17. Also requests the Secretary-General to include in his report to the General Assembly at its forty-third 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 subsequent session of the Commission on the Status of Women and to transmit to the Commission a summary of relevant views expressed by delegations during the Assembly's debate;
18. 18. Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-third session on measures taken to implement the present resolution;
19. 19. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide in the regular budget of the United Nations for the existing weekly radio programmes on women, 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. 20. Decides to consider these questions further at its forty-third session under the item entitled "Forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women to the year 2000".