27 July 1993

43rd plenary meeting

Improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling Articles 1 and 101 of the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling also Article 8 of the Charter, which provides that the United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs,

Recalling further the relevant paragraphs of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, especially paragraphs 79, 306, 315, 356 and 358,

Recalling the relevant resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies that have continued to focus on this area since the adoption of Assembly resolution 2715 (XXV) of 15 December 1970, in which the question of the employment of women in the Professional category was first addressed,

Noting with concern that the goal of a 30 per cent participation rate of women in posts subject to geographical distribution by the end of 1990 was not achieved,

Noting also with concern that the participation rate of women in posts at the D-1 level and above remains unreasonably low, although some welcome improvements have been made in the form of recent appointments by the Secretary-General,

Aware that a comprehensive policy aimed at preventing and combating sexual harassment should be an integral part of personnel policy,

Commending the Secretary-General for his administrative instruction containing procedures for dealing with cases of sexual harassment,

Recalling the goal set by the General Assembly in resolutions 45/125 of 14 December 1990, 45/239 C of 21 December 1990, 46/100 of 16 December 1991 and 47/93 of 16 December 1992 of a 35 per cent overall participation rate of women in posts subject to geographical distribution by 1995,

Recalling also the goal set in General Assembly resolution 45/239 C of a 25 per cent participation rate of women in posts at the D-1 level and above by 1995,

Bearing in mind that a visible commitment by the Secretary-General, especially during the continuing restructuring phase, is essential to the achievement of the targets set by the General Assembly,

Welcoming the commitment of the Secretary-General, expressed in his statement to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly on 6 November 1992 to bringing the gender balance in policy-level positions as close to 50:50 as possible, and his commitment, expressed in his message on the occasion of International Women's Day, to ensuring that the number of women in Professional posts in the Secretariat reflected the world population as a whole by the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations in 1995,

Welcoming also the evaluation and analysis of the main obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat contained in the report of the Secretary-General,

Welcoming further the action programme of the Secretary-General designed to remove the obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat,

Welcoming the development by the Secretary-General of a plan of action for 1993 and 1994 to improve the status of women in the Secretariat by 1995,

1. Urges the Secretary-General to implement fully the action programme designed to remove the obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, and notes that his visible commitment is essential to the achievement of the targets set by the General Assembly;

2. Also urges the Secretary-General to further examine existing work practices within the United Nations system with a view to increasing flexibility so as to remove direct or indirect discrimination against staff members with family responsibilities, including further consideration of such issues as job-sharing, flexible working hours, child-care arrangements, career break schemes and access to training;

3. Further urges the Secretary-General, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to accord greater priority to the recruitment and promotion of women in posts subject to geographical distribution, particularly in senior policy-level and decision-making posts, in order to achieve the goals set in resolutions 45/125, 45/239 C, 46/100 and 47/93 of an overall participation rate of 35 per cent by 1995 and 25 per cent in posts at the D-1 level and above by 1995;

4. Strongly urges the Secretary-General to make further use of the opportunity offered by the United Nations reorganization process to promote more women into senior-level positions;

5. Urges the Secretary-General, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to increase the number of women employed in the Secretariat from developing countries, particularly those that are unrepresented or underrepresented, and from other countries that have a low representation of women;

6. Strongly encourages Member States to support the efforts of the United Nations and the specialized agencies to increase the percentage of women in Professional posts, especially at the D-1 level and above, by identifying and submitting more women candidates, encouraging women to apply for vacant posts and creating national rosters of women candidates;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, within existing resources, to ensure that adequate machinery, with the authority of enforcement and the responsibility of accountability, including a senior-level official devoted to the implementation of the action programme and the recommendations in the report on obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, is maintained and strengthened during the course of the programme for the period 1991-1995;

8. Also requests the Secretary-General to further develop comprehensive policy measures aimed at the prevention of sexual harassment in the Secretariat;

9. Further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that a progress report containing, inter alia, policy measures aimed at the prevention of sexual harassment in the Secretariat is submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-eighth session and to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session and to ensure that it is issued in accordance with the six-weeks' rule for the circulation of documentation.