23 May 1986

19th plenary meeting

National machinery to promote the advancement of women

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 3275 (XXIX) of 10 December 1974, 31/136 of 16 December 1976 and 33/186 of 29 January 1979, in which the Assembly recommended that Member States establish appropriate national machinery to accelerate the integration of women in all spheres of national life,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolutions 1978/26 of 5 May 1978 and 1980/35 of 2 May 1980, concerning the important role of machinery at the national governmental level in the implementation of the objectives and goals of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace and in the attainment of national priorities for the advancement of women,

Stressing the need, expressed in General Assembly resolution 40/108 of 13 December 1985, for Governments to allocate adequate resources and to take effective appropriate measures to implement the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women as a matter of high priority, including the establishment or reinforcement, as appropriate, of national machineries to promote the advancement of women, and to monitor the implementation of the Strategies with a view to ensuring the full integration of women in the political, economic, social and cultural life of their countries,

Taking note of paragraph 106 of the Forward-looking Strategies, in which it is stated that appropriate national machinery is lacking or, where it exists, lacking in the resources, focus, responsibilty and authority to be effective, which is a serious obstacle to the effective integration of women in the development process,

1. Requests the Secretary-General to convene, subject to the availability of financial resources, an interregional seminar, including heads of national machineries, to examine the question of national machineries and to make recommendations for consideration by the Commission on the Status of Women with a view to strengthening that essential mechanism for the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women at national, regional and international levels;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a document for the seminar on the basis of information provided by Member States and others concerned on the current status of national machineries to promote the advancement of women, to identify issues for discussion and to develop for that purpose a number of case studies;

3. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit a report for in-depth consideration by Member States at the 1988 session of the Commission on the Status of Women, based on information obtained from Member States and others concerned, on the proposals of the seminar, and on the basis of experience gained during the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, and to propose guidelines for national machinery to promote the advancement of women and ways to ensure effective implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies;

4. Invites the Secretary-General, in preparing the above-mentioned report, to draw upon all relevant information, including reports of States members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.