27 July 1988

39th plenary meeting

System-wide co-ordination of activities to advance the status of women and to integrate women in development

A CO-ORDINATING ROLE OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The Economic and Social Council,

Convinced that it must play a more forceful and dynamic role in reviewing and co-ordinating all activities of the United Nations system relevant to women's issues,

Referring to the reports of the Secretary-General and the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination on co-ordination matters pertaining to the status of women,

Considers that the central substantive co-ordinating role of the Commission on the Status of Women in advancing the status of women and integrating women in development has three distinct aspects:

(a) Intergovernmental co-operation, which relates to action taken by the United Nations central, regional and sectoral intergovernmental bodies to achieve a coherent and complementary approach to implementing the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women within the United Nations;

(b) Inter-agency co-ordination, which relates to measures taken by organizations of the United Nations system to co-ordinate the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies;

(c) Legislative linkage, which relates to action taken by the Commission on the Status of Women to link the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies to all relevant United Nations intergovernmental decisions and other international strategies and plans and programmes of action.

B INTERGOVERNMENTAL CO-OPERATION TO INTEGRATE WOMEN EFFECTIVELY IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES

The Economic and Social Council,

Bearing in mind its resolutions 1986/65 of 23 July 1986 and 1987/65 of 8 July 1987,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 42/178 of 11 December 1987,

Emphasizing the central role of the Commission on the Status of Women in promoting co-operation among intergovernmental bodies to integrate women fully in economic development programmes and activities,

1. Considers that intergovernmental co-operation in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women would be considerably strengthened if each of the United Nations intergovernmental bodies concerned were to include in its agenda an item on activities for the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies within its field of competence, in particular activities concerned with monitoring, technical co-operation, institutional co-ordination, research and policy analysis, the participation of women in decision-making, and public information, and transmit its report on that agenda item to the Commission on the Status of Women;

2. Decides that the reports requested in Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/65 and decision 1987/182 of 8 July 1987 should first be submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-third session for consideration and then to the Council at its second regular session of 1989;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the measures taken in 1986, 1987 and 1988:

(a) To ensure coherent implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies by central, regional and sectoral intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations;

(b) To harmonize the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies with all relevant United Nations intergovernmental decisions and other international strategies and plans and programmes of action;

4. Further requests that the reports referred to in paragraph 2 above be consolidated in a single report structured according to the three aspects of co-ordination defined in resolution A above;

5. Recommends that, in the light of the importance of the overall co-ordination of United Nations activities, particularly between the units of the Secretariat in New York and Vienna, provision continue to be made for the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs to maintain liaison in New York.

C INTER-AGENCY CO-ORDINATION IN IMPLEMENTING THE NAIROBI FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1985/46 of 31 May 1985, 1986/71 of 23 July 1986 and 1987/86 of 8 July 1987 concerning the preparation of the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development and the cross-organizational programme analysis of activities related to the advancement of women,

Concerned that many provisions of Commission on the Status of Women resolution 1987/5 of 16 January 1987 relating to the preparation of the final draft of the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development are as yet unimplemented,

1. Stresses that the cross-organizational programme analysis to be submitted to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination in 1989 should present a comprehensive factual picture of the United Nations system's mandates and activities related to the advancement of women, attempt a comprehensive diagnosis of co-ordination problems and suggest remedial action;

2. Recommends that the activities analysed should include programme activities at the programme element level, technical co-operation projects and regular programmes of technical assistance, grant-based development assistance, and funding by international development-financing institutions;

3. Decides that the legislative mandates to be analysed should include international instruments, intergovernmental resolutions and decisions, other legislative instructions, directives and guidelines, and international strategies, plans and programmes of action relating to the status of women that are still in force;

4. Further decides that the directions given by the Commission on the Status of Women in its resolution 1987/5 and the annex thereto, for the preparation of the final draft of the system-wide medium-term plan for women and development should be fully implemented.

D LEGISLATIVE LINKAGE AS A MEANS OF CO-ORDINATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NAIROBI FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling paragraph 320 of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in which it is stated that specific appropriate attention should be paid to the advancement of women in the preparation of new instruments and strategies,

Welcoming the decision of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office at its 238th session to place on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 1989 the question "Night work", as defined in Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89) and other relevant conventions,

Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure that specific action is taken to integrate the concerns of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women into the activities mandated by the General Assembly in the following resolutions: resolution 42/104 of 7 December 1987 on the International Literacy Year, resolution 42/106 of 7 December 1987 on the International Conference on the Plight of Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons in Southern Africa, resolution 42/163 of 8 December 1987 on the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990, resolution 42/177 of 11 December 1987 on the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, resolution 42/186 of 11 December 1987 on the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond, resolution 42/187 of 11 December 1987 on the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, and resolution 42/193 of 11 December 1987 on the preparation of

the international development strategy for the fourth United Nations development decade.