24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

Elimination of discrimination against women in accordance with the aims of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

The Economic and Social Council,

Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter, is to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind, including distinction as to sex,

Affirming that women and men should participate equally in social, economic and political development, should contribute equally to such development and should share equally in improved conditions of life,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 43/100 of 8 December 1988 and Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/26 of 26 May 1988,

Noting resolution 33/3 of 6 April 1989, adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women,

Aware of the important contribution that the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women can make to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and to achieving legal and de facto equality of women and men,

Bearing in mind that 18 December 1989 marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Having considered the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its eighth session,

Noting that the Committee agreed, in examining reports, to take due account of the different cultural and socio-economic systems of States parties to the Convention,

1. Welcomes the ratification of or accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by an increasing number of Member States;

2. Urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to do so as soon as possible;

3. Urges States parties to the Convention to make all possible efforts to submit their initial implementation reports, as well as their second and subsequent periodic reports, in accordance with article 18 of the Convention and the guidelines provided by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and to co-operate fully with the Committee in the presentation of their reports;

4. Strongly supports the view of the Committee that the Secretary-General should accord higher priority within existing resources to strengthening support for the Committee;

5. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing the programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991, to take due account of article 17, paragraph 9, of the Convention in providing the Committee with the staff and facilities necessary for the effective performance of its functions in order to enable it to carry out its mandate as efficiently as other human rights treaty bodies;

6. Welcomes the efforts made by the Committee to rationalize its procedures and expedite the consideration of periodic reports and to develop procedures and guidelines for the consideration of second and subsequent periodic reports, and strongly encourages the Committee to continue those efforts;

7. Supports the proposal made by the Committee to convene a working group to meet for three to five days prior to the ninth session of the Committee to prepare issues and questions relating to the second and subsequent periodic reports of the States parties to be considered at the ninth session of the Committee, and invites the General Assembly to take the necessary action;

8. Recognizes the special relevance of the periodic reports of States parties to the Convention to the efforts of the Commission on the Status of Women to review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies in those countries;

9. Requests the Secretary-General, in view of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on 18 December 1989, to provide, facilitate and encourage, within existing resources, the dissemination of public information relating to the Committee and the Convention, taking into account all the relevant general recommendations made by the Committee at its eighth session, in particular general recommendation 10;

10. Recommends that meetings of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women be scheduled, whenever possible, to allow for the timely transmission of the results of its work to the Commission on the Status of Women, for information, the same year.