23 May 1986

19th plenary meeting

Participation of women in promoting international peace and co-operation

The Economic and Social Council,

Recognizing the necessity of the full participation of women in all activities related to the decision-making process at all levels, including those related to lasting peace and international co-operation,

Affirming the need for equal participation of women in the decision-making process, including that related to peace, disarmament and security at national, regional and international levels, including the United Nations system,

Referring to the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and to General Assembly resolutions 37/63 of 3 December 1982, by which the Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the Participation of Women in Promoting International Peace and Co-operation, and 39/124 of 14 December 1984, in which it requested the Commission on the Status of Women to consider what measures might be necessary to implement the Declaration,

Bearing in mind that the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, held at Nairobi from 15 to 26 July 1985, in adopting the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, emphasized that the main principles and directions formulated in the Declaration for women's activities aimed at strengthening peace should be put into practice,

Taking note with satisfaction of General Assembly resolution 40/102 of 13 December 1985, in which the Assembly, inter alia, requested the Commission on the Status of Women to consider measures which might be necessary to implement the Declaration in the context of the Forward-looking Strategies for the period to the year 2000,

Reaffirming Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/20 of 24 May 1984 on the future work of the Commission on the Status of Women, in which the Council recommended, inter alia, that the Commission at its thirty-first session, as a contribution to the International Year of Peace, should consider recommendations for concrete proposals to ensure the full participation of women in the establishment of conditions conducive to the maintenance of peace and to the elimination of inequality and poverty,

1. Urges the Commission on the Status of Women to consider the question of the implementation of the Declaration on the Participation of Women in Promoting International Peace and Co-operation in the context of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in order to elaborate action-oriented recommendations aimed at the increased participation of women in all spheres of life, including that of the promotion of peace;

2. Calls upon Member States to take practical institutional, educational and organizational measures to facilitate women's participation on an equal footing with men in the decision-making process, including that related to peace, disarmament negotiations and the solution of conflicts, and to inform the Secretary-General of their activities undertaken at all levels to implement the Declaration as a contribution to the International Year of Peace;

3. Invites Member States and the Secretary-General to support increased participation of women in all United Nations bodies, including those dealing with peace, disarmament and international negotiations;

4. Urges the Secretary-General to continue to take adequate steps to give wide publicity to the Declaration and to report to the General Assembly at its forty-second session.