26 May 1987

14th plenary meeting

Long-term programme of work of the Commission on the Status of Women to the year 2000

The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming the central role of the Commission on the Status of Women in promoting and monitoring the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 40/108 of 13 December 1985,

Bearing in mind the responsibilities of the Commission as the competent intergovernmental body on matters concerning the status of women, especially with regard to its function of policy development,

Aware of the continued importance of the interrelatedness of the objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women - equality, development and peace - and the subtheme - employment, health and education,

Mindful of the importance of adopting a co-ordinated and integrated approach to the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies by the United Nations system, whereby recommendations of the Commission would take into account the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development and relate to medium-term plans,

Reaffirming its resolution 1982/50 of 28 July 1982 on the revitalization of the Economic and Social Council, especially as it relates to the subsidiary bodies of the Council, particularly paragraph 4 of the annex thereto, in which the Council called for the streamlining of documentation and programmes of work in order to enable its subsidiary bodies to perform effectively the functions entrusted to them,

1. Endorses the priority themes for the next five sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women set out in the annex to the present resolution; the themes should be considered at regular sessions of the Commission under an agenda item entitled "Priority themes", notwithstanding world conferences and preparatory meetings or any process of review and appraisal that might take place; the first set of priority themes should be considered by the Commission at its thirty-second session;

2. Decides that the work of the Commission in relation to the priority themes should be closely related to the relevant provisions of the Forward-looking Strategies and of other policy documents, the programmes elaborated in the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development and the relevant chapters of the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies and lasting improvement in the situation of women;

the recommendations of the Commission should be addressed, at the national level, primarily to Governments, but also to non-governmental organizations -

in particular women's groups - and research institutions, and, at the regional and international levels, to intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and research institutions;

3. Agrees that in the discussion of the priority themes, appropriate emphasis should be placed on issues of women and development, in recognition of the number and complexity of subject areas addressed in chapter II of the Forward-looking Strategies and in the programmes of the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development;

4. Recommends, as part of the regular programme of work of the United Nations Secretariat in areas related to the advancement of women, in particular that of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, when regular budget or extrabudgetary resources are available, the convening of expert group meetings, as required by the Commission, to assist in the preparation of the work of the Commission on priority themes; the expert groups should be composed of an appropriate number of specialists, taking into account equitable geographical distribution and the involvement of non-governmental organizations, in the field or fields of study addressed under specific priority themes in order to prepare an analysis and preliminary proposals to assist the Commission in making informed, practical and action-oriented policy recommendations; each expert group meeting should be structured like the Expert Group Meeting on Violence in the Family, held at Vienna from 8 to 12 December 1986, and should be timed so as

to permit the results of the meeting to be made available to Member States in advance of sessions of the Commission;

5. Recommends that every effort be made to avoid duplication in the collection of data and production of documentation for expert group meetings and for sessions of the Commission, and that the documentation include, where possible, an indication of the extent of major research undertaken or planned in the fields of study addressed under a particular priority theme;

6. Invites the Commission, at each session, when considering the provisional agenda for its next session, to identify and develop the specific work programme required to prepare for the in-depth consideration of the priority themes scheduled for that session.

Annex

PRIORITY THEMES FOR THE THIRTY-SECOND TO THIRTY-SIXTH SESSIONS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

At each session, the Commission shall deal with three themes, one under each of the three objectives - equality, development and peace - in the order in which they are listed.

A. Equality

1. National machinery for monitoring and improving the status of women.

2. Equality in economic and social participation.

3. Equality in political participation and decision-making.

4. Vulnerable women, including migrant women.

5. Elimination of de jure and de facto discrimination against women.

B. Development

1. Problems of rural women, including food, water resources, agricultural technology, rural employment, transportation and environment.

2. Women and education, eradication of illiteracy, employment, health and social services, including population issues and child care.

3. Negative effects of the international economic situation on the improvement of the status of women.

4. National, regional and international machinery for the effective integration of women in the development process, including non-governmental organizations.

5. Integration of women in the process of development.

C. Peace

1. Access to information, education for peace, and efforts to eradicate violence against women within the family and society.

2. Full participation of women in the construction of their countries and in the creation of just social and political systems.

3. Women in areas affected by armed conflicts, foreign intervention, alien and colonial domination, foreign occupation and threats to peace.

4. Refugee and displaced women and children.

5. Equal participation in all efforts to promote international co-operation, peace and disarmament.