The General Assembly,
Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular resolution 44/77 of 8 December 1989, in which, inter alia, it endorsed and reaffirmed the importance of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women for the period up to the year 2000 and set out measures for their immediate implementation and for the overall achievement of the interrelated goals and objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace,
Recalling also its resolutions 46/98 of 16 December 1991 and 47/95 of 16 December 1992,
Taking into consideration the resolutions adopted by the Economic and Social Council on issues relating to women since the adoption of its resolution 1987/18 of 26 May 1987,
Reaffirming its determination to encourage the full participation of women in economic, social, cultural, civil and political affairs and to promote development, cooperation and international peace,
Conscious of the important and constructive contribution to the improvement of the status of women made by the Commission on the Status of Women, the specialized agencies, the regional commissions and other organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations concerned,
Concerned that the resources available in the Secretariat to the programme on the advancement of women are insufficient to ensure adequate support to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and effective implementation of other aspects of the programme, especially the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995,
Taking into account Commission on the Status of Women resolutions 36/8 of 20 March 1992 and 37/7 of 25 March 1993 on the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women,
Bearing in mind the important role non-governmental organizations play in all activities for the advancement of women and the fact that some of them, especially those from developing countries, do not enjoy consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,
Noting with satisfaction that the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women have entered a substantive stage, that the relevant United Nations bodies, China, as the host country, and other countries all attach great importance to the preparation of the Conference and that the various preparatory activities are being conducted in an in-depth and comprehensive manner,
Considering that 1994 will be a year of crucial importance to the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, that the Commission on the Status of Women will convene an inter-sessional working group to deliberate the content of the Platform for Action and that the five regional commissions will convene their respective regional preparatory meetings for the Conference,
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;
2. Reaffirms section I, paragraph 2, of the recommendations and conclusions arising from the first review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, contained in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/15 of 24 May 1990, which called for an improved pace in the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies in the crucial last decade of the twentieth century, since the cost to societies of failing to implement the Forward- looking Strategies would be high in terms of slowed economic and social development, misuse of human resources and reduced progress for society as a whole;
3. Urges Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to implement the recommendations;
4. Calls again upon Member States to give priority to policies and programmes relating to the subtheme "Employment, health and education", in particular to literacy, for self-reliance of women and the mobilization of indigenous resources, as well as to issues relating to the role of women in economic and political decision-making, population, the environment, information and science and technology;
5. Reaffirms the central role of the Commission on the Status of Women in matters related to the advancement of women, and calls upon it to continue promoting the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies to the year 2000, based on the goals of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace and the subtheme "Employment, health and education", and urges all relevant bodies of the United Nations system to cooperate effectively with the Commission in this task;
6. Requests the Commission, when considering the priority theme relating to development during its thirty-eighth and subsequent sessions, to ensure its early contribution to the preparatory work for forthcoming major international conferences such as the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995, and the World Summit for Social Development, to be held in 1995, and to address the impact of technologies on women;
7. Also requests the Commission to give special attention to women in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, who suffer disproportionately from the effects of the global economic crisis and the heavy external debt burden, and to recommend further measures for the equalization of opportunity and for the integration of the roles and perspective of women, as well as their needs, concerns and aspirations, into the entire development process when considering the priority theme of development;
8. Emphasizes, in the framework of the Forward-looking Strategies, the importance of the total integration of women of all ages in the development process, bearing in mind the specific and urgent needs of the developing countries, and calls upon Member States to establish specific targets at each level in order to increase the participation of women in professional, management and decision-making positions in their countries;
9. Emphasizes once again the need to give urgent attention to redressing socio-economic inequities at the national and international levels as a necessary step towards the full realization of the goals and objectives of the Forward-looking Strategies through meeting the practical and strategic needs of women;
10. Strongly urges that particular attention be given by the competent United Nations organizations and Governments to the special needs of women with disabilities, elderly women and also women in vulnerable situations such as migrant and refugee women and children;
11. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the improvement of the situation of women in rural areas and urges the international community and the competent United Nations bodies and organs to place more emphasis on the sharp increase in the incidence of poverty among rural women;
12. Welcomes the recommendations adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development on women, environment and development in all programme areas, in particular those set out in chapter 24 of Agenda 21, entitled "Global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development";
13. Urges organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations to ensure active participation of women in the planning and implementation of programmes for sustainable development, and requests Governments, in the context of General Assembly resolution 47/191 of 22 December 1992, to consider nominating women as representatives to the Commission on Sustainable Development;
14. Requests the Secretary-General, in formulating the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women for the period 1996-2001 and in integrating the Forward-looking Strategies into activities mandated by the General Assembly, to pay particular attention to specific sectoral themes that cut across the three objectives, equality, development and peace, and include, in particular, literacy, education, health, population, the impact of technology on the environment and its effect on women and the full participation of women in decision-making, and to continue to assist Governments in strengthening their national machineries for the advancement of women;
15. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue updating the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, bearing in mind its importance, placing particular emphasis on the adverse impact of the difficult economic situation affecting the majority of developing countries, particularly on the condition of women, giving special attention to worsening conditions for the incorporation of women into the labour force, as well as the impact of reduced expenditures for social services on opportunities available to women for education, health and child care, and to submit a final version of the preliminary version of the updated World Survey on the Role of Women in Development to the Economic and Social Council, through the Commission on the Status of Women, in 1994;
16. Requests Governments, when presenting candidatures for vacancies in the Secretariat, in particular at the decision-making level, to give priority to candidatures of women, and requests the Secretary-General in reviewing those candidatures to give special consideration to female candidates from underrepresented and unrepresented developing countries;
17. Requests the Secretary-General to invite Governments, organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions and the specialized agencies, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to report periodically to the Economic and Social Council, through the Commission, on activities undertaken at all levels to implement the Forward-looking Strategies;
18. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide for the existing weekly radio programmes on women in the regular budget of the United Nations, making adequate provisions for broadcasts in different languages, and to develop the focal point for issues relating to women in the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, which, in concert with the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, should provide a more effective public information programme relating to the advancement of women;
19. Further requests the Secretary-General to include in his report on the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session, an assessment of recent developments that are relevant to the priority themes to be considered at the subsequent session of the Commission and to transmit to the Commission a summary of relevant views expressed by delegations during the debate in the Assembly;
20. Requests the Commission to examine the implications of the World Conference on Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the Conference for its central role in matters related to the rights of women within the United Nations system and to report to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994;
21. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report for the Commission, for consideration at its thirty-eighth session, on steps to be taken by the Division for the Advancement of Women, in cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specifically the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat, to ensure that relevant human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, such as treaty-monitoring bodies, rapporteurs and working groups, regularly address violations of the rights of women, including gender-specific abuses;
22. Recognizes that the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, proclaimed in General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993, is essential to the attainment of full respect for the rights of women and is an important contribution to efforts aimed at achieving the objectives of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the year 2000;
23. Requests the Secretary-General to lend support to the convening of the regional preparatory meetings so as to lay a good foundation for the Fourth World Conference on Women;
24. Also requests the Secretary-General to give more support, from within existing resources, to the Division for the Advancement of Women, acting as secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women, by providing sufficient financial and human resources and giving wide publicity to the Conference and its preparatory activities;
25. Appeals to countries to compile their national reports in earnest and to forward them in time, both to their respective regional commissions and to the secretariat of the Conference;
26. Invites the Secretary-General to play a more active role in appealing to countries to contribute to the Trust Fund for the Fourth World Conference on Women, in order to finance additional activities of the preparatory process and the Conference itself, in particular the participation of least developed countries in the Conference and its preparatory meetings;
27. Recommends the further development of methods of compilation and data collection in areas of concern identified by the Commission on the Status of Women and urges Member States to improve and broaden collection of gender- desegregated statistical information and make it available to the relevant bodies of the United Nations system with a view to preparing, in all official languages, as a background document for the Fourth World Conference on Women, an updated edition of The World's Women 1970-1990: Trends and Statistics;
28. Endorses the recommendation contained in Commission on the Status of Women resolution 36/8 of 20 March 1992 that regional preparatory conferences should include in their agendas the issue of women in public life, as well as the request for the Secretary-General to include information on the decision-making position of women in public life and in the fields of science and technology in the preparation of the priority theme on peace: "Women in international decision-making", for the Commission at its thirty-ninth session, in 1995;
29. Requests the Secretary-General to make available for the Fourth World Conference on Women reports and decisions of the World Conference on Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development and the World Summit for Social Development;
30. Decides, taking into account Commission on the Status of Women resolution 37/7 of 25 March 1993, to adopt the modalities for the participation in and contribution to the Fourth World Conference on Women and its preparatory process by the non-governmental organizations, particularly those from the developing countries, set out in the annex to the present resolution;
31. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report for the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in 1995, on the extent to which gender concerns have been included in the activities of the relevant human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, such as treaty-monitoring bodies, rapporteurs and working groups;
32. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on measures taken to implement the present resolution.
85th plenary meeting,
20 December 1993
Non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council that express the wish to attend the Conference and the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women, acting as its preparatory body, will be accredited for participation. Others wishing to be accredited may apply to the Conference secretariat for that purpose in accordance with the following requirements:
(a) The secretariat of the Fourth World Conference on Women will be responsible for the receipt and preliminary evaluation, in accordance with the provisions set out below, of requests from non-governmental organizations for accreditation to the Conference and the Commission on the Status of Women acting as preparatory body;
(b) All such applications must be accompanied by information on the competence of the organization and on its relevance to the work of the preparatory body, indicating the particular areas of the preparations for the Conference to which such competence and relevance pertain, and should include the following:
(i) The purposes of the organization;
(ii) Information on its programmes and activities in areas relevant to the Conference and on the country or countries in which those programmes and activities are carried out;
(iii) Confirmation of its activities at the national and/or the international level;
(iv) Copies of its annual reports, with financial statements and a list of members of the governing body and their country of nationality;
(v) A description of its membership, indicating the total number of members of the governing body and their country of nationality;
(c) Non-governmental organizations seeking accreditation will be asked to confirm their interest in the goals and objectives of the Conference;
(d) In cases where the Conference secretariat believes, on the basis of the information provided in accordance with the present document, that an organization has established its competence and relevance to the work of the Commission on the Status of Women acting as preparatory body, it will recommend to the Commission that the organization be accredited. In cases where the Conference secretariat does not recommend the granting of accreditation, it will make such information available to members of the Commission at least one week prior to the start of each session;
(e) The Commission on the Status of Women will decide on all proposals for accreditation within twenty-four hours of the recommendations of the Conference secretariat having been taken up by the Commission in plenary session. Should a decision not be taken within that period, interim accreditation will be accorded until such time as a decision is taken;
(f) A non-governmental organization that has been granted accreditation to attend one session of the Commission on the Status of Women acting as preparatory body may attend all future sessions and the Conference;
(g) In recognition of the intergovernmental nature of the Fourth World Conference on Women, non-governmental organizations will have no negotiating role in the work of the Conference and its preparatory process;
(h) Relevant non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council may be given the opportunity briefly to address the Commission on the Status of Women acting as preparatory body in plenary meeting and its subsidiary bodies. Other relevant non-governmental organizations may also ask to speak briefly at such meetings. If the number of requests is too large, the Commission will request that non-governmental organizations form themselves into constituencies, with each constituency speaking through one spokesperson. Any oral intervention by a non-governmental organization should, in accordance with usual United Nations practice, be made at the discretion of the Chairman and with the consent of the Commission;
(i) Relevant non-governmental organizations may, at their own expense, make written presentations in the official languages of the United Nations during the preparatory process, as they deem appropriate. Those written presentations will not be issued as official documents unless they are in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Conference. .
