26 May 1988

15th plenary meeting

Programme planning and activities to advance the status of women

The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming the high priority that Member States attach to activities to advance the status of women,

Welcoming the priority given by the Secretary-General to the advancement of women in the programme budget for the biennium 1988-1989,

Noting the important roles played by the Commission on the Status of Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in achieving the global equality of women,

Concerned that activities to advance the status of women should not suffer disproportionately from the impact of restructuring and retrenchment measures,

Stressing the need to ensure that budgetary resources allocated to activities for the advancement of women are commensurate with the priorities of Governments,

Referring to the reports of the Secretary-General on programme planning matters pertaining to the status of women,

I. MEDIUM-TERM PLANNING MATTERS 1. Reiterates the recommendation made by the Commission on the Status of Women that the Secretary-General should identify the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the status of women in general as a global priority in the introduction to the next medium-term plan;

2. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his proposals for the next medium-term plan, to formulate a separate major programme on the advancement of women, which should include the four existing or proposed subprogrammes relating to women of the global social development issues programme and incorporate the intersectoral presentation of activities called for by the General Assembly in resolution 40/108 of 13 December 1985;

II. PROGRAMME BUDGET MATTERS 1. Decides that the Secretary-General's proposed programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991 and subsequent programme budgets should provide for full funding from the regular budget for the implementation of all aspects of legislative mandates for the advancement of women;

2. Further decides that the Trust Fund for the Preparatory Activities of the 1985 World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women, established by the Secretary-General pursuant to Economic and Social Council decision 1983/132 of 26 May 1983, should be continued on an interim basis for the biennium 1988-1989 as a special trust fund for the monitoring and review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, for the purpose of facilitating global exchange of information, enhancing the preparation of the work of the Commission on the Status of Women regarding priority themes, and disseminating the results of its discussions on those themes and on monitoring and review and appraisal to a wider audience, in conformity with paragraph 1 above;

3. Recommends that the Trust Fund be maintained in close and continuous relationship with other United Nations organs, in particular the United Nations Development Fund for Women, with a view to avoiding duplication;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the future of the Trust Fund to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-third session;

5. Reiterates the recommendation made by the Commission that the Secretary-General should accord the highest priority in the programme budget for the biennium 1988-1989 to the programme elements concerned with policy development in support of the Commission and include activities to that effect in the subprogramme on the participation of women in promoting international peace and co-operation;

6. Reaffirms the view of the Commission on the Status of Women on the level of resources necessary to implement its mandates effectively and efficiently expressed in its submission to the Special Commission of the Economic and Social Council on the In-depth Study of the United Nations Intergovernmental Structure and Functions in the Economic and Social Fields;

7. Recommends that the Branch for the Advancement of Women be renamed the Division for the Advancement of Women, such a change to be carried out without financial implications.