26 May 1988

15th plenary meeting

Establishment of a comprehensive reporting system to monitor,review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming the importance attached by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace to monitoring, review and appraisal as outlined in the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

Bearing in mind the guidelines set out in Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/18 of 26 May 1987, which the Secretary-General was requested to take into account in further developing and implementing the reporting system to monitor, review and appraise progress in the advancement of women,

Recalling its resolution 1987/22 of 26 May 1987, in which it decided to expand the terms of reference of the Commission on the Status of Women to include the functions of promoting the objectives of equality, development and peace, monitoring the implementation of measures for the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising progress made at the national, subregional, regional, sectoral and global levels,

Reaffirming the request made by the General Assembly, in its resolution 42/62 of 30 November 1987, that the Secretary-General invite Governments, the specialized agencies and other organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions, and other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to report periodically, through the Commission on the Status of Women, to the Economic and Social Council on the activities undertaken at all levels to implement the Forward-looking Strategies,

Reaffirming the appropriateness of a two-year cycle of system-wide monitoring of progress made in implementing the Forward-looking Strategies and a five-year cycle of longer-term review and appraisal to continue the cycles established by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women,

Recognizing that effective monitoring, review and appraisal should be conducted at the national, regional, sectoral and international levels to achieve optimal results,

Mindful of the need to avoid duplication of reporting obligations, in view of the burden that coexisting reporting systems place on Member States, especially those with limited resources, and in view of the financial stringencies facing the United Nations system,

1. Endorses the comprehensive reporting system to monitor, review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women set out in the annex to the present resolution;

2. Decides that its intergovernmental subsidiary bodies, including the regional commissions, should monitor, as necessary, the follow-up to their recommendations relating to the advancement of women;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to include the resolutions of these bodies in the report requested by the General Assembly in resolution 42/178 of 11 December 1987 and the results of this monitoring in his biennial report to the Commission on the Status of Women on monitoring the Forward-looking Strategies;

4. Also requests the Secretary-General to invite Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to report through the Commission on the Status of Women to the Economic and Social Council on monitoring, review and appraisal of progress at all levels in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies as set out in the annex to the present resolution;

5. Decides that the biennial reports of the Secretary-General on monitoring of progress made by the organizations of the United Nations system in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies should be considered by the Commission on the Status of Women in even-numbered years, beginning in 1990;

6. Also decides that, for the purpose of monitoring progress at the national level, the Secretary-General should, within existing resources, make available a summary compilation of available statistical indicators relating to the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies and submit a progress report on national reporting of statistics and indicators on women to the Commission on the Status of Women in odd-numbered years, beginning in 1989;

7. Urges the organizations of the United Nations system to incorporate in their regular work programmes, as necessary, monitoring, review and appraisal of the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies and to submit reports thereon to their governing bodies;

8. Decides that the first quinquennial report on review and appraisal of the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies will be considered by the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-fourth session, in 1990, and that subsequent reports will be considered in 1995 and 2000, so as to continue the five-year cycle of reporting established during the United Nations Decade for Women;

9. Encourages Member States to make use of the reports prepared for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other relevant international bodies in the preparation of the quinquennial review and appraisal reports, in order to minimize duplication of effort;

10. Encourages the provision of technical assistance to national machinery for the advancement of women and the sharing of support and expertise among such machineries, particularly those in developing countries, to facilitate the preparation of the national reports for the review and appraisal;

11. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to make action-oriented recommendations for the further implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies following the quinquennial review and appraisal;

12. Decides that after consideration by the Commission on the Status of Women, the monitoring, review and appraisal reports should be made available to the General Assembly so that the Assembly may be kept informed of progress in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies.

ANNEX

Comprehensive reporting system to monitor, review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

I. BIENNIAL MONITORING OF PROGRESS MADE BY THE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM

1. The Secretary-General should prepare a biennial report on monitoring of the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies by the organizations of the United Nations system, including monitoring at the regional level. The report should address the three interrelated and mutually reinforcing objectives of the Forward-looking Strategies: equality, development and peace. Each objective should be reported on separately, as appropriate.

2. An introductory commentary covering the basic strategies, relevant institutions, mandates and programmes of action employed to advance each objective should be included.

3. An account of measures taken for the implementation of the basic strategies for international and regional co-operation set out in chapter V of the Forward-looking Strategies should be included under each objective.

4. The report should contain specific information on:

(a) Measures to ensure the integration of the Forward-looking Strategies in the programmes of the organizations of the United Nations system, including measures to strengthen institutional co-ordination and focal points on the status of women;

(b) Progress made by each organization in establishing and meeting five-year targets at each level for the percentage of women in professional and decision-making positions, as called for by the General Assembly.

5. Reports should be prepared according to a standardized format.

6. In order to minimize duplication of effort, the biennial monitoring report should make use of reports prepared to meet other reporting requirements, inter alia, any other reports required under subprogramme 5A of the proposed revisions to the medium-term plan for 1984-1989 to cover the period 1990-1991, the biennial reports requested by the General Assembly in resolution 42/178 of 11 December 1987 and reports on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations Secretariat as requested by the General Assembly.

II. QUINQUENNIAL REVIEW AND APPRAISAL

7. The review and appraisal will be based on responses from Member States to a questionnaire on the progress achieved in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, including an assessment of the effectiveness of methods and programmes introduced and an account of new programmes planned as a result of the national review and appraisal.

8. The national reports should address the three interrelated and mutually reinforcing objectives of the Forward-looking Strategies: equality, development and peace. Each objective should be monitored and reported on separately.

9. Each national report should include an introductory commentary covering the basic strategies and programmes of action employed to advance each objective and a review and appraisal of their effectiveness.

10. The national reports should include, under each of the three objectives, an account of measures for the implementation of the basic strategies for international and regional co-operation set out in paragraphs 356 to 365 of the Forward-looking Strategies.

11. The questionnaires should be simple and direct and structured according to the Forward-looking Strategies.

12. The national reports should include an account of the measures taken to meet relevant international standards, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the conventions of the International Labour Organisation.

13. Non-governmental bodies should be invited to submit reports for the review and appraisal.

14. The biennial statistical reports provided by the Secretary-General to the Commission on the Status of Women for monitoring progress at the national level should be consolidated and made available to the Commission for the review and appraisal.

15. Every five years, the Commission on the Status of Women should review its conclusions on priority themes on the basis of a compilation of relevant resolutions and select priority themes for the following five-year period.

16. Reports of Member States to relevant international supervisory bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development should be made available in a consolidated form to the Commission on the Status of Women for consideration in the review and appraisal.

17. Reports prepared by the regional commissions on change in the situation of women within their region, as requested by the General Assembly in resolution 42/178 of 11 December 1987, should be made available to the Commission on the Status of Women every five years, for the review and appraisal.