27 July 1993

43rd plenary meeting

Women, environment and development

The Economic and Social Council,

Taking into account General Assembly resolution 46/167 of 19 December 1991 on women, environment, population and sustainable development, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to include in the report on the effective mobilization and integration of women in development, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session, a section on the role of women in environment and sustainable development,

Recalling Commission on the Status of Women resolution 36/6 of 20 March 1992, in which the Commission, inter alia, urged Governments to adopt laws, policies and programmes to promote women's participation in the preservation of the environment, and invited the Governments of donor countries, international organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations to ensure that greater attention was given to women's contributions to environmental protection and management in their cooperation with and assistance to developing countries,

Welcoming General Assembly resolution 47/191 of 22 December 1992, in which the Assembly took note of the decision of the Secretary-General to establish a new Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, headed at the Under-Secretary-General level and called upon the Secretary-General to establish a clearly identifiable, highly qualified and competent secretariat support structure for the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development and the High-level Advisory Board, taking into account gender balance at all levels,

Welcoming the inclusion of principle 20 in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, according to which women have a vital role in environmental management and development and their full participation is therefore essential to achieving sustainable development, and the integration of gender issues into Agenda 21, including the special focus on women in chapter 24 of Agenda 21,

Noting that in Agenda 21, paragraph 24.9, it is recommended that the Secretary-General review the adequacy of all United Nations institutions in meeting development and environment objectives, consider how the environment and development programmes of each body of the United Nations system could be strengthened to implement Agenda 21, consider how to incorporate the role of women in programmes and decisions related to sustainable development, and, in particular, make recommendations to strengthen the capacities of United Nations entities with a special focus on women, such as the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women,

Noting also the recommendations and objectives proposed for Governments in Agenda 21, chapter 24, including the objective, contained in paragraph 24.2 (d), to establish by 1995 mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels to assess the implementation and impact of development and environment policies and programmes on women and to ensure their contributions and benefits,

Recognizing that the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace will provide significant opportunities for reviewing the current status of women and for establishing priorities for future action, including action in relation to environment and development,

1. Urges the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development and the High-level Advisory Board to develop appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the objectives and activities relating to the role of women in sustainable development, both as agents and as beneficiaries, in Agenda 21 are supported, the objectives are met and activities and other recommended actions are implemented and that Governments and all relevant United Nations entities monitor and report on the subject;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to include information on the subject in the section on the role of women in environment and sustainable development in his report on the effective mobilization and integration of women in development that is to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 46/167;

3. Urges Governments to take into account and to implement the recommendations contained in Agenda 21 in order to ensure the participation of women in developing, and making decisions on, policies and programmes relating to environmental management and sustainable development;

4. Requests Governments to include in their reports for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace information on the extent to which the objectives for Governments proposed in Agenda 21, chapter 24, relating to women, have been met and the activities recommended in that chapter have been implemented;

5. Agrees to review the current and planned activities of the Commission on the Status of Women in order to determine which recommendations in Agenda 21 relating to women are already being included in those activities and to consider how the others might be incorporated in future activities of the Commission, including the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women;

6. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to examine, in its discussion on the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women at its thirty-eighth session, the recommendations in Agenda 21 relating to women, with a view to:

(a) Identifying ways of facilitating implementation of the recommendations, including consideration of the role of Governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations;

(b) Considering ways in which the Commission on the Status of Women might cooperate with and provide support for the Commission on Sustainable Development in ensuring the effective integration of issues on the status of women in its programme of work.