United Nations Documents

DINF Web Posted on: December 19, 1997

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A/RES/47/95

89th plenary meeting

16 December 1992

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 46/98 of 16 December 1991,

Taking into consideration the resolutions adopted by the Economic and Social Council on issues relating to women since the adoption of its resolution 1987/18 of 26 May 1987,

Reaffirming 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: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995,

Welcoming the completion of work on the draft declaration on the elimination of violence against women by the inter-sessional working group of the Commission on the Status of Women,

Recognizing the advancement of women as one of the priorities of the Organization for the biennium 1992-1993,

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, inadequate use 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 self-reliance of women 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 relevant bodies 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-seventh and subsequent sessions, to ensure its early contribution to the preparatory work of forthcoming major international conferences such as the World Conference on Human Rights, to be held in 1993, the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995, and the World Summit on Social Development to be held in 1995, 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. Endorses Economic and Social Council decision 1992/272 of 30 July 1992 concerning the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, in which the Council took note of Commission on the Status of Women resolution 36/8 of 20 March 1992, and expresses its appreciation to the Government of China for its offer to act as host for the Conference, to be held in Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to take into account section A, paragraph 6, of Commission resolution 36/8 when appointing the Secretary-General of the Conference;
10. Also 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;
11. Recommends the further development of methods of compilation and data collection in areas of concern identified by the Commission and urges Member States to improve and broaden collection of gender-disaggregated statistical information and make it available to the relevant bodies of the United Nations system with a view to having prepared, in all official languages, as a background document for the Fourth World Conference on Women, an updated edition of The World's Women 1970-1990: Trends and Statistics;
12. 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;
13. 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;
14. Urges the Commission to complete its work on the draft declaration on the elimination of violence against women and to submit it for information to the World Conference on Human Rights;
15. Strongly urges that particular attention be given by the relevant United Nations organizations and Governments to the special needs of women with disabilities, to elderly women and also to women in vulnerable situations such as migrant and refugee women and children;
16. Endorses the recommendation contained in section B of Commission resolution 36/8 that regional preparatory conferences should include in their agendas the issue of women in public life, as well as the request that the Secretary-General include information on women in public life in the preparation of the priority theme, "Peace: women in international decision-making", for the Commission at its thirty-ninth session in 1995;
17. Welcomes the recommendations on women, environment and development in all programme areas, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in particular chapter 24 of Agenda 21, entitled "Global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development";
18. Urges organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations to ensure active participation of women in the planning and implementation of programmes for sustainable development, and requests Governments to consider nominating women as representatives to the Commission on Sustainable Development;
19. 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 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, and to continue to assist Governments in strengthening their national machineries for the advancement of women;
20. 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, particularly on the condition of women, 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;
21. 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;
22. 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;
23. 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;
24. 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-eighth 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;
25. Recommends that the Commission on the Status of Women, as the preparatory body for the Fourth World Conference on Women, should consider at its next session the relevance of the resolutions drafted at the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, held in 1985, in order to avoid duplication of work, keeping in mind that those resolutions were neither adopted by the Conference nor considered by the General Assembly;
26. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session on measures taken to implement the present resolution;
27. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session on the state of preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women under the item entitled "Advancement of women";
28. Decides to consider the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies for the period up to the year 2000 at its forty-eighth session under the item entitled "Advancement of women".