24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

Preparations for the session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 1990 to review and appraise progress in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolution 1988/19 of 26 May 1988, in which it decided to extend the duration of the thirty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, to be held in 1990, in order that the Commission might review and appraise progress in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,

Concerned about the urgent need to implement the above-mentioned resolution, taking into account the provisional agenda outlined in the annex to the resolution,

Emphasizing the importance of a successful review and appraisal in order to increase the pace of implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies,

1. Decides that a comprehensive report on the progress achieved and obstacles encountered in implementing the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women in the first five years should be submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women at its extended session in 1990;

2. Further decides that draft conclusions and recommendations arising from the review and appraisal should also be submitted and that they should include measures to overcome the obstacles that should be addressed immediately if the pace of implementation of the Strategies is to be increased;

3. Urges that in order to provide guidance in the formulation of draft recommendations and conclusions, information on the preliminary results of the review and appraisal, which will ultimately be included in the comprehensive report, be made available to an open-ended group of Member States meeting on an informal basis in New York during the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly at the time of the debate on the advancement of women;

4. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing the comprehensive report and draft conclusions and recommendations, to use the documents listed in the annex to Council resolution 1988/22 of 26 May 1988, especially the first regular update of the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development;

5. Urges the Secretary-General to contact national machineries for the advancement of women that have not yet responded to the questionnaire to do so immediately in order to obtain representative responses to the questionnaire, and if possible to arrange for diagnostic missions to be sent on request to selected countries to provide assistance in the preparation of responses;

6. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to consider the documentation prepared by the Secretary-General in plenary meeting and to convene a committee of the whole to provide the final text of the recommendations.