The General Assembly,
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, 315, 356 and 358,
Recalling its resolution 2715 (XXV) of 15 December 1970, in which it first addressed the question of the employment of women in the Professional category, and all relevant resolutions that have continued to focus on this area since then,
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,
Recalling the goal set in its resolutions 45/125 of 14 December 1990, 45/239 C of 21 December 1990 and 46/100 of 16 December 1991 of a 35 per cent overall participation rate of women in posts subject to geographical distribution by 1995,
Recalling also the goal set in resolution 45/239 C of a 25 per cent participation rate of women in posts at the D-1 level and above by 1995,
Deeply concerned that there are now no women at the under-secretary-general level and only one at the assistant secretary-general level in the Secretariat,
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 evaluation and analysis of the main obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat as contained in the report of the Secretary-General,
Welcoming also the action programme outlined in the report of the Secretary-General, designed to overcome the obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat,
1. Urges the Secretary-General to implement the action programme outlined in his report, designed to overcome the obstacles to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat, noting that his visible commitment is essential to the achievement of the targets set by the General Assembly;
2. Also 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 and 46/100 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;
3. Further urges the Secretary-General to use the opportunity offered by the United Nations reorganization process and the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development to promote more women into senior-level positions;
4. Urges the Secretary-General to increase the number of women employed in the Secretariat from developing countries and other countries that have a low representation of women;
5. 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 to be shared with the Secretariat, specialized agencies and regional commissions;
6. 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 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;
7. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that a progress report is given to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-seventh session, and to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session.
89th plenary meeting
16 December 1992
