31 May 1985

26th plenary meeting

Women and development

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1982/50 of 28 July 1982 and 1983/78 of 29 July 1983, as well as its decision 1984/101 of 10 February 1984, by which it decided to review the question of women and development at its first regular session of 1985,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General reviewing the issue of women and development in the medium-term plans of the organizations of the United Nations system,

Confirming the importance of the objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,

Convinced of the importance of integrating women fully into all aspects of the development process both as agents and as beneficiaries,

Recognizing the need for greater coherence and efficiency of the policies and programmes related to women and development of the organizations of the United Nations system,

Bearing in mind its resolution 1984/12 of 24 May 1984, pursuant to which the Commission on the Status of Women, at its thirty-first session, will review the ways in which the needs and concerns of women can be integrated into all planning and programme activities of the United Nations system,

1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General reviewing the issue of women and development in the medium-term plans of the organizations of the United Nations system, and the recommendations contained therein, as a first step towards a coherent approach by the organizations of the United Nations system to policies and programmes related to women and development;

2. Urges all United Nations bodies, including the regional commissions, and the specialized agencies which have not yet done so to develop and implement comprehensive policies for women and development and to incorporate them into their medium-term plans, statements of objectives, programmes and other major policy statements;

3. Requests the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, to take the initiative in formulating a system-wide medium-term plan for women and development, taking into account the priorities recommended by the Council, recommendations of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, to be held at Nairobi from 15 to 26 July 1985, and the relevant decisions of the respective governing bodies of the organizations of the United Nations system, to be submitted, through the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-first session, to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-sixth session and to the Council at its second regular session of 1986;

4. Recommends that future medium-term plans of the United Nations and the specialized agencies should contain intersectoral presentations of the various programmes dealing with issues of concern to women and that revisions of current plans should be considered in the light of the results of the Nairobi Conference;

5. Also recommends that in formulating programmes and projects it should explicitly be indicated where women constitute a significant proportion of the intended beneficiaries;

6. Invites the Commission on the Status of Women, beginning in 1986, to review regularly the priorities and strategies for the advancement of women of the organizations of the United Nations system and to report biennially to the Council on progress made system-wide in their implementation;

7. Requests the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination to undertake in 1989 a cross-organizational programme analysis in order to review systematically the activities for and resources allocated to the advancement of women, and requests the Secretary-General to submit the proposed general framework and approach of that cross-organizational programme analysis for comment to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-second session;

8. Decides to transmit the report of the Secretary-General to the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace for its consideration in formulating forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women at the international and regional levels;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council at its regular sessions of 1986 on the implementation of the present resolution.