24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

Women and children under apartheid

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolution 1988/23 of 26 May 1988,

Noting the concern of women throughout the world about the continuing degradation and abuse to which African women and children are subjected daily by the white minority regime of South Africa,

Recalling that this concern was expressed in the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, which also contain proposals for various forms of assistance to be rendered to women and children inside South Africa and to those who have become refugees,

Recognizing that the inhuman exploitation and dispossession of the African people by the white minority regime is directly responsible for the appalling conditions in which African women and children live,

Also recognizing that the equality of women cannot be achieved without the success of the struggle for national liberation and self-determination of the people of South Africa against the racist regime of Pretoria,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on new developments concerning the situation of women under apartheid in South Africa and Namibia and measures of assistance to women in South Africa and Namibia,

1. Commends the tenacity and bravery of those women both inside and outside South Africa who have resisted oppression, who have been detained, tortured or killed, or whose husbands, children and relatives have been detained, tortured or killed and who, despite this, have remained steadfast in their opposition to the racist regime;

2. Acknowledges the efforts of those Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that have campaigned for and applied sanctions against the racist regime;

3. Condemns unequivocally the South African regime for the imposition of the state of emergency, the forcible separation of black families, the detention and imprisonment of women and children and the restrictions on non-violent anti-apartheid democratic organizations and individuals;

4. Urges the South African regime to accord prisoner-of-war status to captured freedom fighters, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I), adopted in 1977, and to accord all political prisoners sentenced to death, among whom are women, a fair trial based on international legal standards, and to stop the execution of political prisoners;

5. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and detainees, among whom are an increasing number of women and children;

6. Again calls upon Governments, in view of the deterioration of the situation in South Africa, to impose, as a matter of urgency, comprehensive sanctions in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women;

7. Appeals to all countries to support educational, health and social welfare programmes for women and children under apartheid;

8. Also appeals to the international community for increased assistance for women and children refugees in southern Africa;

9. Urges the international community to look into the newly developing situation of refugees and displaced persons, with a view to providing material assistance for them;

10. Urges Member States and United Nations bodies to give effect forthwith, in consultation with liberation movements, to the Forward-looking Strategies that deal with women and children under apartheid, giving particular attention to education, health, vocational training and employment opportunities and to the strengthening of the women's sections of the liberation movements;

11. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to work closely with women in the liberation movements in order to disseminate information and to ensure a proper assessment of the needs and aspirations of the women and children living under apartheid;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-fourth session a comprehensive report on the implementation and monitoring of the Forward-looking Strategies in regard to women and children under apartheid.