UN Commission on the Status of Women 2006 – Conclusions
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: March 12, 2006
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Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
Commission on the Status of Women
Fiftieth Session
15th Meeting (PM)
COMMISSION ON
THE STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FIFTIETH SESSION;ADOPTS AGREED
CONCLUSIONS ON DECISION-MAKING, DEVELOPMENTAlso
Recommends Priority Themes for 2007-2009;Chair Praises
Session’s Spirit of Dialogue, Consensus, FlexibilityThe Commission on the Status of
Women this afternoon concluded its fiftieth session by adopting its agreed
conclusions, and recommending its priority themes for the period 2007-2009,
for adoption by the Economic and Social Council.For 2007, the priority theme
would be: “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence
against the girl child”; for 2008, “Financing for gender equality and the
empowerment of women”; and for 2009, “The equal sharing of responsibilities
between women and men, including caregiving in the
context of HIV/AIDS”. The themes are based on the Beijing Platform for
Action and the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the
General Assembly.Unanimously approving a draft
resolution on its future organization and methods of work, as orally revised,
the Commission also recommended to the Economic and Social Council that annual
panel discussions would take place on the means of accelerating implementation
of previous commitments, with regard to the priority theme. The
Commission would also continue to discuss emerging issues, trends and new
approaches to gender equality issues.Among other issues, the text
addresses the forthcoming discussion, during the fifty-third session, of the
possibility of conducting, in 2010, a review and appraisal of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third
special session of the General Assembly.Also adopted without a vote,
were the two texts containing agreed conclusions of the Commission on
promoting equal participation of women in decision-making processes at all
levels, and enhancing participation of women in development.By the first of those texts, as
orally revised, the Commission, while recognizing that some progress in
women’s participation in decision-making at all levels has been achieved,
expressed concern at the serious and persistent obstacles, “which are many and
varied in nature”, that still hinder the advancement of women and their
participation in decision-making, including feminization of poverty, lack of
equal access to health, education, training and employment, armed conflict and
lack of security.In the second text, as orally
revised, the Commission elaborated on the measures needed to create an
enabling environment “for achieving gender equality and the advancement of
women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields
of education, health and work”, through such actions as promotion and
protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, mainstreaming of a
gender perspective, promotion of full participation and empowerment of women,
and enhanced international cooperation.In closing remarks, the
Commission’s Chairperson Carmen María Gallardo ( El
Salvador) said that, during two weeks of intensive work, delegations had shown
a strong political will to advance the status of women, and a spirit of
dialogue, consensus and flexibility. The session had concluded at a
historic time, as yesterday, the creation of the Human Rights Council had been
approved. The Commission hoped to inform that Council, as it had done to
the Human Rights Commission.She highlighted the high-level
panel on the gender perspective in international migration and the
International Women’s Day, and paid tribute to all women who, throughout the
Commission’s 50-year existence, had made inspired contributions to its
work.The representatives of the
United States, New Zealand (also on behalf of Canada and Norway), Egypt,
Syria, the Sudan, Japan and Venezuela spoke in explanation of position on the
agreed conclusions.In further action, the
Commission appointed Jiakun Guo ( China), Jennifer Feller ( Mexico) and Janne Jokinen ( Finland) to the
Working Group on Communications of the Commission at the fifty-first
session. It also adopted its report on the fiftieth session, introduced
by its Rapporteur Dicky Komar ( Indonesia), as well as the provisional agenda, as
orally revised, for its fifty-first session.Background
The Commission on the Status of
Women was expected to conclude its fiftieth session this afternoon by
approving one draft resolution, to be adopted by the Economic and Social
Council, and adopting two draft agreed conclusions.By a draft resolution on the
future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of
Women (document E/CN.6/2006/L.8), the Economic and Social Council would
decide that, from its fifty-first session, the Commission would consider one
priority theme at each session, based on the Beijing Platform for Action and
the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly.For 2007, the priority theme
would be “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against
the girl child”; for 2008, “Financing for gender equality and the empowerment
of women”, and for 2009, “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women
and men, including caregiving in the context of
HIV/AIDS”.The Council would further decide
that, each year, the Commission would discuss ways and means to accelerate
implementation of the previous commitments made with regard to the priority
theme, through two interactive expert panels. The Commission would also
continue to discuss emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues
affecting the situation of women, or equality between women and men.In view of the traditional
importance of non-governmental organizations in the advancement of women, the
Council would decide that such organizations should be encouraged to
participate in the work of the Commission. The regional commissions
would be invited to continue to contribute to the work of the
Commission.By further provisions, the
Council would also decidethat the Commission, at its fifty-third session,
would discuss the possibility of conducting, in 2010, a review and appraisal
of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the
twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in 2010.Contained in two drafts are the
Commission’s agreed conclusions submitted by the Chairperson at the conclusion
of the session.Contained in document
E/CN.6/2006/L.9 are the Commission’s comments on equal participation of
women and men in decision-making processes at all levels, where it
reaffirms the emphasis on women’s role and active participation in such
international instruments as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, as
well as the outcome of international conferences and meetings, including the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the document adopted at the
twenty-third special session of the General Assembly on women.While recognizing that some
progress in women’s participation in decision-making at all levels has been
achieved since the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Commission expresses
concern at the serious and persistent obstacles, “which are many and varied in
nature”, that still hinder the advancement of women and their participation in
decision-making, including the feminization of poverty; a lack of equal access
to health, education, training and employment; armed conflict; and lack of
security.The text underlines the
importance of women’s empowerment and effective participation, as critical
tools to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence, and recognizes that
elimination of such violence enables women to participate equally in
decision-making. The Commission further expresses concern about the lack
of sufficient information and sex-disaggregated data, at all levels.According to the draft, the
Commission reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and
resolution of conflicts, and in peacebuilding. Gender equality,
development and peace are key issues for the promotion of women, and new
efforts are needed, by all actors, to create an enabling environment in
decision-making. Among other things, the Commission also reaffirms the
urgent goal of achieving 50/50 gender distribution in the United Nations
system, especially at senior and policymaking levels, with full respect for
the principle of equitable geographical distribution.Among numerous actions that the
Commission recommends for Governments, international, regional and civil
society organizations, and all other players, are measures to ensure women’s
right to vote, to review existing legislation, to establish concrete goals,
targets and benchmarks, and to take innovative steps to build a critical mass
of women leaders, executives and managers. Also suggested in the text
are alternative approaches and changes in institutional structures and
practices; greater involvement of marginalized women and measures to counter
the barriers that they face; incorporation of gender perspectives in
development policies and programmes; promotion of international cooperation;
creation of education and employment opportunities; access to microcredit; elimination of gender gaps in health and
wages; and networking and mentoring among women leaders and girls.The draft also addresses such
issues as exchange of best practices, involvement of men and boys in promoting
gender equality, elimination of gender stereotypes, fair and balanced coverage
of male and female candidates, introduction of quotas, promotion of women
through training programmes and recruitment drives, and research, monitoring
and evaluation of women’s participation in decision-making, at all
levels.Contained in document
E/CN.6/2006/L.10 are the Commission’s agreed conclusions on women’s
enhanced participation in development: an enabling environment for achieving
gender equality and the advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields of education, health and
work.Emphasizing the need to ensure
women’s full integration and participation as both agents and beneficiaries in
the development process, the Commission elaborates on the measures to create
an enabling environment for the advancement of women, through such actions as
promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
mainstreaming of gender perspectives, promotion of full participation and
empowerment of women, and enhanced international cooperation. In that
connection, the Commission reaffirms that full and effective implementation of
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is an essential contribution
to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those
contained in the Millennium Declaration.According to the text,
investment in the development of women and girls has a multiplier effect, in
particular on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth, in all
sectors of the economy, especially in key areas, such as agriculture, industry
and services. Among the main challenges to the creation of an enabling
environment, the Commission lists insufficient coherence and coordination
between development and gender equality policies and strategies; insufficient
time-bound targets; multiple forms of discriminatory practices; persistent
stereotypes; unequal access to benefits, opportunities and training;
insufficient national mechanisms; armed conflicts; and insufficient political
will and resources.Stressing that, to address such
challenges, a systematic, comprehensive and multisectoral approach is needed, the Commission urges
Governments and all other players to incorporate gender perspectives into all
the processes and mechanisms relating to national development strategies,
fully utilizing existing gender equality policies and strategies.Among other numerous actions, it
also advocates elaboration and implementation of comprehensive
gender-sensitive poverty-eradication strategies; development of effective
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; close cooperation between central
authorities and local governments; introduction of targeted measures to
prevent all forms of violence against women and girls; promotion of equal
property and land rights; elimination of discrimination and sexual
exploitation of female refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced
persons; mobilization of adequate funding for gender-sensitive development
policies and programmes; and efforts to enhance trade opportunities for
developing countries, in order to improve the economic situation of
women.Underlining that each country
has the primary responsibility for its own sustainable development and poverty
eradication, the Commission urgesGovernments to ensure that women, especially
poor women in developing countries, benefit from the pursuit of effective,
equitable, development-oriented and durable solutions to the external debt and
debt-servicing problems of developing countries, including the option of
official development assistance and debt cancellation, and calls for continued
international cooperation in that regard.The text also addresses the need
for the international community, the United Nations system, relevant regional
and international organizations, and the private sector and civil society to
provide assistance to Governments, at their request, in building institutional
capacity, and provide the necessary financial resources to assist them in
their efforts. Multilateral donors, international financial institutions
and regional banks are urged to support national efforts to ensure that a
higher proportion of resources reach women, in particular in rural and remote
areas.Action on the
DraftsAs the Commission took up its
draft agreed conclusions on women’s enhanced participation in development
(E/CN.6/2006/L.10), a representative of the Secretariat introduced a
correction to the text, saying that it had been submitted on behalf of the
Chair.The draft was then approved
without a vote.Speaking in explanation of
position after the action on the set of agreed conclusions on enhanced
participation of women in development, the representative of the United
States said that she was pleased to join the consensus and reiterated her
country’s commitment to the empowerment of women and their enjoyment of all
human rights. Her Government had devoted substantial resources to
programmes and activities to eliminate violence against women, increase access
to health care, education and economic opportunities, empower women in
conflict situations, provide protection and assistance to refugee women and
internally displaced persons, increase women’s political participation, and
ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice.The agreed conclusions
reaffirmed the Beijing Declaration and Programme of Action, and expressed
important political goals that her delegation endorsed. She reaffirmed
those goals, based on several understandings. She understood that those
documents constituted an important policy framework that did not create
international legal rights or legally binding obligations of States under
international law. During the 2005 meeting of the Commission on the
Status of Women, there had been international consensus that the Beijing
documents created no new international rights, including a right to abortion,
and the Commission’s Chairperson had confirmed that understanding.
Reaffirmation of the Beijing goals and commitments did not constitute a
change in the position of the United States, with respect to treaties it had
not ratified.The United States fully
supported the principle of voluntary choice regarding maternal and child
health and family planning, she continued. It had stated clearly, on
many occasions, consistent with the International Conference on Population and
Development, that it did not recognize abortion as a method of family
planning, nor supported abortion in its reproductive health assistance.
There was no international consensus that the terms “reproductive health
services” and “reproductive rights” did not include abortion, nor constituted
support, endorsement, or promotion of abortion or the use of abortifacients. The United States understood that
reference to the International Conference on Population and Development and
the Beijing outcome, as well as the use of the phrase “reproductive health”,
did not create any rights, and could not be interpreted to constitute support,
endorsement, or promotion of abortion. Supporting the treatment of women
who suffered injuries or illnesses caused by legal or illegal abortion,
including post-abortion care, the United States did not place such treatment
among abortion-related services.She emphasized the value of
comprehensive prevention strategies to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.
That approach employed population-specific interventions, which
highlighted abstinence for youth and unmarried persons, including delay of
sexual debut, mutual faithfulness and partner reduction for sexually active
adults, as well as correct and consistent use of condoms by those whose
behaviour placed them at risk for transmitting or getting infected with HIV.
She supported interventions that were informed by, and responsive to,
local needs, epidemiology and distinctive social and cultural patterns, as
well as coordinated with HIV\AIDS strategies of host Governments.It was also essential to
recognize the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and other persons
legally responsible for adolescents to provide appropriate direction and
guidance on sexual and reproductive matters, education and other aspects of
children’s lives, she said.Turning to another topic, she
added that paragraph 12 (d) encouraged Governments and other bodies “to
initiate positive steps to promote equal pay for equal work or work of equal
value”. The United States accepted equal pay for equal work, but had
concerns about work of equal value. There were no internationally agreed
criteria to decide whether a particular form of work was of equal value to
another.The representative of New
Zealand, also speaking on behalf of Canada and Norway, joined the
consensus on the text, but was disappointed that there had not been an
opportunity to develop a text that fully addressed the issues of health,
education and work, and the connections between them, for women in
development, because of time and other constraints. Protecting and
promoting women’s right to education, work and health, including sexual and
reproductive health and rights, was essential to the empowerment and
advancement of women and girls. The conclusions should reflect the
important relationship between education and health, in particular in
responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and promoting sexual and reproductive
health. She hoped that the new working methods would provide such a
framework. The issues treated by the conclusions were too important to
treat partially.The representative of
Japan said it would have done better to address the issues based on the
stronger text originally prepared by the facilitator. She hoped that the
Commission would better manage its workload in the future.As the Commission then turned to
the draft on equal participation of men and women in decision-making at all
levels (E/CN.6/2006/L.9), a representative of the Secretariat introduced a
correction to the English version of the text.Prior to action on the text, the
representative of Venezuela also introduced a correction to the Spanish
version of the draft, saying that it contained a reference to the Outcome
Document of the 2005 World Summit, but her delegation did not recognize that
document as valid. The same mistake was contained in both English and
Spanish versions of draft resolution E/CN.6/2006/L.10. When the texts
were negotiated in informal consultations, it had been agreed not to include
reference to that document.A member of the Bureau confirmed
that the reference to the document had been dropped during consultations.
A representative of the Secretariat said that all language versions of
the agreed conclusions would be concordant and amended accordingly.The draft was then adopted
without a vote, as orally amended.Speaking in explanation of
position after the adoption of both texts, the representative of Egypt
said that his delegation would have preferred to see reference to the
situation of women under occupation in both texts. However, it was his
understanding that foreign occupation was covered by reference to armed
conflicts in both texts, and armed conflict and lack of security in one of
them.Syria’s representative
said that the Commission had adopted agreed conclusions to strengthen the
participation of women in development and decision-making at all levels, and
stressed the important role of the United Nations in implementing strategic
objectives and measures in the areas relating to women. More initiatives
were needed, particularly in the light of the negative developments that
seriously undermined the Charter and international legitimacy. The
threats included foreign intervention. Her delegation had been flexible
in the negotiations. There was only one delegation that had refused to
accept mention of the situation of women under foreign occupation, and she
profoundly regretted that the agreed conclusions did not contain any
paragraphs on eliminating all obstacles to the effective participation in
development and decisions for women under occupation.The representative of United
States said that her former statement also applied to the current text.The representative of the
Sudan said his delegation had participated in the negotiations on the
conclusions in a spirit of cooperation, openness and dialogue, because it
wished to strengthen the role of women in all areas. Although agreement
had been reached, there were still obstacles to the participation of women in
development and decision-making, one of which was foreign occupation, as it
limited women’s participation in the fields of development and decision-making
at all levels. Although agreement on highlighting the issue had nearly
been reached, one single delegation refused to join that consensus.Future Methods of
WorkThe Commission’s Vice-chairman
TOM WOODROFFE ( United Kingdom) introduced the draft resolution on the
future organization and methods of work of the Commission, contained in
document E/CN.6./2006/L.8.The Commission then approved the
text, as orally revised, by consensus.The Commission then turned to
its provisional agenda for the next session, and its Secretary added several
documents to the list contained in that draft (E/CN.6/2006/L.7).The Commission then approved the
draft without a vote, as orally revised.Turning to the appointment of
members of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women for the
fifty-first session, the Commission then appointed Jiakun Guo from China, Jennifer
Feller from Mexico and Janne Jokinen from Finland, as members of that Group. The
appointment of the remaining members of the Group was deferred to the next
session of the Commission, with the understanding that, upon the nomination by
their respective regional groups, the nominees would be permitted to
participate fully in the proceedings of the Working Group, which is to convene
prior to the start of the fifty-first session.Adoption of
ReportVice-Chairman-cum-Rapporteur
DICKY KOMAR ( Indonesia) introduced the Commission’s report on its
fiftieth session, contained in document E/CN.6/2006/L.6.The Commission then adopted the
draft report and entrusted the Rapporteur with its finalization.Closing Remarks
In closing remarks, the
Commission’s Chairperson, CARMEN MRIA GALLARDO ( El Salvador) said
that, during two weeks of intensive work, delegations had shown a strong
political will to advance the status of women, and a spirit of dialogue,
consensus and flexibility. The session had concluded at a historic time,
as yesterday, the creation of the Human Rights Council had been
approved. The Commission hoped to inform that Council, as it had done to
the Human Rights Commission. She thanked the members of the Bureau, the
Secretariat, in particular the Division for the Advancement of Women, and
non-governmental organizations, and expressed the hoped that the gender
perspective could remain a pressing issue in the United Nations. She
also thanked all the women who, through their inspiring work, had contributed
to the work of the Commission over the past 50 years.She said the Commission’s work
over the past two weeks had lead to the adoption of important decisions,
including the two agreed conclusions. The resolution on the future
methods of work would strengthen the work of the Commission and would provide
a clear view of the items to be considered over the next three years.This year’s high-level panel on the gender perspective in
international migration had been of particular importance. The Chair’s
summary of the substantive debate would be submitted to the General Assembly
at the occasion of the high-level dialogue on international migration and
development, in September 2006. She highlighted the active participation
of women at this year’s International Women’s Day. On that day, the
Secretary-General had underlined the importance of redoubling efforts towards
gender equality.
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