3 December 1982

Women in public life

The General Assembly,

Reaffirming the objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women:

Equality, Development and Peace,

Bearing in mind paragraphs 72 and 73 of the Programme of Action for the Second Half of the United Nations Decade for Women which call for women to be equitably represented at all levels within national governments and in international bodies,

Recalling that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women calls upon States Parties to ensure that women are given the right to participate, on equal terms with men, in the formulation and implementation of government policy and to hold public office,

Recalling further that the Convention calls on States Parties to ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations,

Recognizing that only three years remain before the end of the United Nations Decade for Women,

1. Notes with concern that women are still not represented on an equitable basis with men in decision-making positions in a majority of national and international institutions;

2. Calls upon all Member States, by the end of the United Nations Decade for Women in 1985, to make special efforts to nominate and appoint women, on an equal basis with men and, taking due account of the same professional criteria, to decision-making positions in those national and international bodies in which they are not equitably represented;

3. Calls upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations and on the executive heads of the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system, by the end of the United Nations Decade for Women in 1985, to make increased efforts to select and appoint women, in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, to decision-making positions in the Secretariat and in the organs and agencies of the United Nations system.