24 May 1990

13th 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 34/180 of 18 December 1979, by which it adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Welcoming the events to mark and commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 44/73 of 8 December 1989 and Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/44 of 24 May 1989,

Noting resolution 34/6 of 8 March 1990, adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women,

Taking note of the decisions adopted at the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, on 6 February 1990,

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

Noting with satisfaction the establishment of the practice of holding a pre-sessional working group three to five days prior to the Committee session,

Recalling that the World Health Organization has announced that the theme of World AIDS Day, 1 December 1990, will be "Women and AIDS",

1. Takes note of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its ninth session;

2. 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;

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

4. Invites States parties to the Convention to make every possible effort 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;

5. 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;

6. Welcomes also, in accordance with the Committee's general recommendation No. 11, the initiatives taken to provide regional training courses on the preparation and drafting of States parties' reports for government officials, and urges the relevant organs and organizations of the United Nations to support such initiatives;

7. 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 for the Advancement of Women in those countries;

8. Acknowledges the efforts of the Secretary-General to provide secretariat staff and technical resources for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee;

9. Shares the view of the General Assembly that the Secretary-General should accord higher priority within existing resources to strengthening technical and substantive support for the Committee;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide, facilitate and encourage, within existing resources, the dissemination of public information relating to the Committee, its recommendations, the Convention and the concept of legal literacy, taking into account the Committee's own recommendations to this end;

11. Recommends that, whenever possible, meetings of the Committee be scheduled 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.