United Nations Documents

DINF Web Posted on: December 19, 1997

A/RES/46/98

74th plenary meeting

16 December 1991

Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

The General Assembly,

Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular resolution 44/77 of 8 December 1989, in which, inter alia, it endorsed and reaffirmed the importance of 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 interrelated goals and objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

Recalling also its resolution 45/129 of 14 December 1990,

Taking into consideration the resolutions adopted by the Economic and Social Council on issues relating to women since its resolution 1987/18 of

26 May 1987,

Reaffirming its resolution 40/30 of 29 November 1985, in which it emphasized that the elderly must be considered an important and necessary element in the development process at all levels within a given society and that, consequently, elderly women should be considered contributors to as well as beneficiaries of development,

Reaffirming also its determination to encourage the full participation of women in economic, social, cultural, civil and political affairs and to promote development, cooperation and international peace,

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

Concerned that the resources available to the programme on the advancement of women of the Secretariat are insufficient to ensure adequate support to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and effective implementation of other aspects of the programme, especially the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in 1995,

Regretting that the high-level inter-regional consultation on women in public life did not take place in 1991 as scheduled,

Recognizing the advancement of women as one of the priorities of the Organization for the biennium 1990-1991,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;
2. Reaffirms paragraph 2 of section I of the recommendations and conclusions arising from the first review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, contained in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/15 of 24 May 1990, which called for an improved pace in the implementation of the Strategies in the crucial last decade of the twentieth century, since the cost to societies of failing to implement the Strategies would be high in terms of slowed economic and social development, misuse of human resources and reduced progress for society as a whole;
3. Urges Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to implement the recommendations;
4. Calls again upon Member States to give priority to policies and programmes relating to the subtheme "Employment, health and education", in particular to literacy, for the empowerment of women, especially those in the rural areas, to meet their own needs through self-reliance and the mobilization of indigenous resources, as well as to issues relating to the role of women in economic and political decision-making, population, the environment and information;
5. Reaffirms the central role of the Commission on the Status of Women in matters related to the advancement of women, and calls upon it to continue promoting 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 cooperate effectively with the Commission in this task;
6. Requests the Commission, when considering the priority theme relating to development during its thirty-sixth and subsequent sessions, to ensure its early contribution to the work of forthcoming major international conferences such as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, to be held in 1992, the World Conference on Human Rights, to be held in 1993, and the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, and to address the impact of technologies on women;
7. Also requests the Commission to give special attention to women in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, who suffer disproportionately from the effects of the global economic crisis and the heavy external debt burden, and to recommend further measures for the equalization of opportunity and for integration of these women into the development process when considering the priority theme relating to development;
8. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that appropriate staff from the secretariats of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Commission on the Status of Women participate in the preparatory process for the World Conference on Human Rights, as well as in the Conference itself, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 40/108 of 13 December 1985;
9. Endorses anew Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/12 of 24 May 1990, in which the Council recommended that a world conference on women should be held in 1995 and requested that the Commission act as the preparatory body for the world conference;
10. Requests the Commission to decide on the venue of the Fourth World Conference on Women not later than at its thirty-sixth session, in accordance with Commission decision 35/102 of 8 March 1991, bearing in mind that preference should be given to the region that has not yet hosted a world conference on women;
11. Requests the Secretary-General to appoint not later than 1992 the Secretary-General of the Conference;
12. Requests the relevant United Nations bodies to continue to provide action- oriented input when reporting to the Commission on the priority theme relating to development;
13. Notes with satisfaction the publication of The World's Women 1970-1990 through the cooperative efforts of various United Nations organizations;
14. Recommends the further development of methods of compilation and data collection in areas of concern identified by the Commission, with a view to preparing in all official languages, as a background document for the Fourth World Conference on Women, an updated edition of the publication mentioned in paragraph 13 above;
15. 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, management and decision-making positions in their countries;
16. Emphasizes once again 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;
17. Welcomes the creation of the ad hoc open-ended working group to elaborate standard rules on the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities;
18. Urges that particular attention be given by the United Nations and Governments to the situation of women with disabilities and that Governments take steps to ensure the equalization of opportunities for these women in the economic, social and political fields;
19. Takes note of the Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which provide practical means of ensuring the protection of refugee women, and which are in keeping with decisions of the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on the Status of Women on this issue;
20. Recommends that all organizations of the United Nations system include in the policy analyses of development issues, as well as in proposals for major international conferences and in development projects, the potential contribution of ageing and elderly women, as relevant;
21. Notes the relevance of the interregional consultation on women in public life to the preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women, and requests that the Commission at its thirty-sixth session make recommendations to the General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council for the convening of the consultation not later than 1993;
22. Urges the Commission, the relevant organizations of the United Nations system and Governments to give particular attention to refugee women and children and migrant women, taking into account their contribution in the social, economic and political fields and the urgent need to avoid any kind of discrimination against them;
23. Requests the Secretary-General, in formulating the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women for the period 1996-2001 and in integrating the Forward-looking Strategies into activities mandated by the General Assembly, to pay particular attention to the strengthening of national machineries for the advancement of women and to specific sectoral themes that cut across the three objectives, equality, development and peace, and include, in particular, literacy, education, health, population, the impact of technology on the environment and its effect on women and the full participation of women in decision-making;
24. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue updating the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, bearing in mind its importance, placing particular emphasis on the adverse impact of the difficult economic situation affecting the majority of developing countries, in particular on the condition of women, and giving special attention to worsening conditions for the incorporation of women into the labour force, as well as the impact of reduced expenditures for social services on women's opportunities for education, health and child care, and to submit a preliminary version of the updated World Survey on the Role of Women in Development to the Economic and Social Council, through the Commission, in 1993 and a final version in 1994;
25. Requests Governments, when presenting candidatures for vacancies in the Secretariat, in particular at the decision-making level, to give priority to women's candidatures, and requests the Secretary-General in reviewing these candidatures to give special consideration to female candidates from underrepresented and unrepresented developing countries and to assist those countries in identifying suitable women candidates to fill vacancies at the decision-making level;
26. 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;
27. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide for the existing weekly radio programmes on women in the regular budget of the United Nations, making 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 of the Secretariat, should provide a more effective public information programme relating to the advancement of women;
28. Further requests the Secretary-General to include in his report on the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session, an assessment of recent developments that are relevant to the priority themes to be considered at the subsequent session of the Commission and to transmit to the Commission a summary of relevant views expressed by delegations during the debate in the Assembly;
29. Requests the Fifth Committee, in reviewing the programme on the advancement of women contained in the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1992-1993, to ensure that established staffing levels, temporary assistance and other objects of expenditure are sufficient to ensure adequate support to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and effective implementation of other aspects of the programme, especially the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, and, if proposed resources are found to be insufficient, to determine the appropriate resource levels;
30. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session on measures taken to implement the present resolution;
31. Decides to consider the question of the forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women to the year 2000 at its forty-seventh session under the item entitled "Advancement of women".