26 May 1988

15th plenary meeting

Updating of the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development in the light of the deterioration in the status of women in the developing countries

The Economic and Social Council,

Considering that, in compliance with resolution 1986/64 of 23 July 1986, the Secretary-General has submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women, at its thirty-second session, a first draft of the updated World Survey on the Role of Women in Development,

Taking into account the fact that the preliminary assessments of that survey and of other studies prepared by specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system point to a deterioration in the status of women in developing countries, which is apparent in worsening working conditions, reduction in income, declining or stagnating health services and access to education,

Considering that this deterioration, which is in marked contrast to expectations for an improvement in the status of women, makes it difficult to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women and is becoming an obstacle to the effective implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

Reaffirming the need to examine in depth the role of women in development, in particular the situation of women in developing countries and the problems hindering their advancement,

1. Recommends that the updating of the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development give particular emphasis to those factors that contribute to the deteriorating status of women in developing countries, namely:

(a) The economic crisis, including the problem of external debt servicing, which has resulted in the worsening of working conditions, particularly in low-paid employment and the informal sector of the economy;

(b) The long-term effects of the inability of certain sectors of the economy to absorb adequately female labour;

(c) The decline in women's income, particularly in agricultural regions;

(d) The gap that evidently exists between male and female income levels;

(e) The long-term effects of the decline in the level of education, nutrition and health that is evident in a large number of developing countries as a result of adjustment policies;

2. Further recommends that when preparing the updated survey, the Secretary-General make a special effort to adopt approaches that strike a balance between traditional viewpoints on adjustment policies and more innovative approaches that take into account the social cost to women of adjustments arising from, among other things, debt servicing;

3. Considers that the updated survey should devote attention to alternative policies for managing the problem of external indebtedness in developing countries, which might in turn help eliminate the current obstacles to the achievement of the objectives of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women.