Serving the UN system and NGO community for 22 years

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held its 41st session at UN headquarters in New York from 10-21 March 1997. The commission, which followed a timetable for considering the 12 critical areas of concern outlined in the Fourth World Conference on Women's Platform for Action, focused on and roviewed four of them. The areas, which are interrelated and interdependent, are education and training of women, women and the economy, women in power and decision making, and women and the environment. The commission used an interactive panel and dialogue session format to follow up on emerging issues defined in a series of recent expert group meetings. It was able to reach consensus on "agreed conclusions" for each of the four thematic areas of concern.

The conclusions, which seek to define the scope of identified problems, contain recommendations for governments, civil society and the UN and its specialized agencies on possible measures to address such problems.

The chairperson of the 41st CSW was Sharon Brennen-Haylock (Bahamas). Vice-chairpersons were Zakia Amara Bouaziz (Tunisia), Karin Stoltenberg (Norway) and Ljudmila Boskova (Bulgaria). Sweeya Santipitkas (Thailand) served as rapporteur. Ms. Brennen-Haylock stated that the format had enabled governments to arrive at a variety of concrete suggestions to move the platform forward in each area. The commission's vice-chairs, each of whom moderated a panel discussion, also expressed support for the format and noted that statements were more candid than those of the usual general debate. The agreed conclusions that emerged during the process will the forwarded for adoption to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which meets in Geneva from 30 June-25 July 1997.

Also meeting during the 41st session of the commission was the second round of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Aloisia Woergetter (Austria) served as chairperson of the working group.

Participating countries agreed on the need for a communications procedure for individual complaints, as well as an enquiry procedure that would give the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women access to a state party in a situation of gross and systematic violation of human rights. The Open-Ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional Protocol to the CEDAW will continue its work during the 42nd and 43rd sessions of the CSW, contingent on approval of the requisite funding by the next session of the UN General Assembly.

BUREAU/COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN MEMBERS FOR 1997

The 45 members of the commission are elected to four-year terms on the following basis: 13 from African states, 11 from Asian states, four from Eastern European states, nine from Latin American and Caribbean states, and eight from Western European and other states.

The 1997 membership of the commission is: Angola, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom and United States.

Agreed Conclusions

Women and the Economy The commission stated that economic policies and structural adjustment programmes, including liberalization policies encompassing privatization, financial and trade policies, should be formulated and monitored in a gender-sensitive way with input from the women most impacted by those policies. Governments were urged to enhance the capacity of women to influence and to make economic decisions as paid workers, managers, employers, elected officials, members of NGOs and unions, producers, household managers and consumers. Governments were also advised to ensure that women's rights, particularly those of rural women and women living in poverty, are promoted through equal access to economic resources, including land, property rights, right to inheritance, and credit and traditional savings schemes, such as women's banks and cooperatives.

Over initial objections raised by the European Union (EU), NGOs successfully advocated for the incorporation of language stating that women's unpaid work should be measured and valued. The International Women Count Network highlighted the fact that such language is in line with the language of the Beijing platform for action, as well as the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies. The network coordinated a massive effort whereby women from all over the EU region sent faxes to their governments expressing concern over their position on this issue.

Women and the Environment

Agreed conclusions on women and the environment refer to the need to mainstream gender concerns throughout UN approaches to the environment, particularly during the UN General Assembly (GA) Special Session review of Agenda 21, to take place in June 1997. This was reaffirmed by NGOs and representatives of the UN and its specialized agencies attending an Earth Councilsponsored meeting held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) during the CSW. The meeting was held to identify areas of concern for discussion at the Agenda 21 review. NGOs at the CSW advocated for language in the final text that highlights the need for the GA Special Session review of Agenda 21 to recognize women not only as a "major group," but as actors working together with men toward the goal of a sustainable society.

A key subject of debate at the CSW was a provision in the women and environment section related to inheritance rights of women. According to the chair, contention was due to the different legal interpretations of "equal access to inheritance" versus "equal right to inheritance." The Beijing platform for action makes references to equal access to inheritance, and many delegations at CSW found "right to inheritance" unacceptable. Some countries wanted to retain the exact Beijing language, although a number of others insisted that there be specific reference to the stage of implementation of the original language. The commission, after breaking into "informal informal consultations" several times, finally reached consensus. Informal informal consultations take place when the chair disbands formal negotiations in order to allow governments to caucus on their own or to meet in small informal groups. When the agreed language was read out during the formal session, it contained the wording "in the process of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, it is recognized that, women should be accorded full and equal rights to own land and other properties, inter alia, through inheritance." However, on Zambia's insistence debate was reopened, since the words "it is recognized" had not been agreed to in the informal informal consultations. The words were deleted "in the spirit of compromise," and the consensus language adopted. Governments were urged to continue to take the necessary steps to ensure women's equal access to, and control over, natural resources, land and other forms of property, credit, information and new technologies.

Women in Power and Decision Making

Under the terms of the agreed conclusions, the commission recommended the establishment of training programmes in campaigns, fund-raising and parliamentary procedures to encourage the election of women to public office. Governments were asked to support research, including a gender-impact assessment of electoral systems, and identify measures that would counter the under-representation of women in decision making and reverse the downward trend of women in parliaments worldwide. The commission also focused on the need of governments, institutions and NGOs to actively facilitate women's participation at all levels of power and decision making, including programmes to encourage the participation of women at the grassroots level, the use of quotas to ensure women's participation in formal political institutions, and programmes to prepare the girl-child for participation in decision-making structures. The SecretaryGeneral was encouraged to appoint a woman to the proposed new position of Deputy Secretary-General of the UN. In addition, human rights NGOs advocated for the appointment of a woman as High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Education and Training of Women

The agreed conclusions recommend that governments, international bodies, donors and NGOs make special efforts to achieve the benchmarks set in the Beijing platform for action for universal access to basic education, and to provide assistance for the implementation of those goals. The commission also said it is necessary to mobilize additional funds to enable girls and women, and boys and men, on an equal basis, to complete their education. Also incorporated into the agreed conclusions were references to promoting life-long learning for women, and recommendations to governments to include reference to educational programmes in their national action plans, as agreed in the platform for action. Donor governments were recommended to commit 0.7% of their gross national product to official development assistance, with 20% spent on social development programmes that integrate gender, including education.

Key recommendations on the issue of education and training also emerged at the panel discussion and NGOsponsored forums held during the CSW. These included the promotion of information technology to produce literacy and post-literacy education materials relevant to women in local communities, and means for creating effective links between formal and non-formal education sectors.

Other Actions Taken

In addition to the agreed conclusions, the commission adopted eight resolutions and two decisions. Expressing serious concern about the unabating traffic in women and girl children, the commission called upon governments to take appropriate measures to prevent misuse by traffickers of economic activities such as the development of tourism and the export of labour; to criminalize trafficking in women and girls in all its forms; and to condemn and penalize offenders involved, including intermediaries, whether their offense was committed in their own or in a foreign country. The resolution calls on governments to allocate resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to rehabilitate victims of trafficking into society. The resolution also calls for speeding up implementation of the platform for action by governments of countries of origin, transit and destination, and regional and international organizations, by considering the ratification and enforcement of international conventions on trafficking in persons and on slavery. Finally, it calls on governments to take appropriate measures to address the root factors that encourage trafficking for prostitution and other forms of commercialized sex, forced marriages and forced labour.

Under the terms of a resolution concerning violence against women migrant workers, the commission encouraged member states to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. A resolution on the release of women and children taken hostage in armed conflicts condemned violent acts in contravention of international humanitarian law against civilian women and children in areas of armed conflict, and it called for an effective response to such acts, including the immediate release of women and children taken hostage and/or imprisoned in armed conflicts.

A resolution on older women, human rights and development recommended that the commission ensure that the contributions and needs of women of all ages, including those of older women, are taken into account in its deliberations, and that the preparations for the International Year of Older Persons include a gender perspective.

By a vote of 38, with one against (the United States) and three abstentions (Congo, Lebanon and Norway), the commission approved and submitted to ECOSOC a resolution on Palestinian women. The resolution reaffirms that the Israeli occupation remains a major obstacle for Palestinian women with regard to their advancement, selfreliance and integration in the development planning of their society. It stresses the commission's support for the Middle East peace process and the need for full implementation of the agreements already reached between the parties. Under the terms of the resolution, the council would call upon Israel to facilitate the return of all refugees and displaced Palestinian women and children to their homes and properties in the occupied Palestinian territory, in compliance with relevant UN resolutions.

The commission also adopted a resolution on "mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the UN system." The text, which will be included in the commission's report as the chairperson's text, recognizes that gender focal points are essential to the success of such a programme, and it calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to "ensure that the equal status of all human rights of all women and girl children are integrated in UN system-wide activities."

A text submitted by the chairperson on the follow up to the agreed conclusions 1996/1 of ECOSOC was also adopted. Under its terms, the commission welcomed the agreed conclusions on the coordination of the UN system activities for poverty eradication and informed the council of the measures it will adopt in order to implement those conclusions. Considerable lobbying by women's human rights NGOs ensured references to the integration of a gender perspective into human rights activities and programmes, including preparations for the five-year review of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and the commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights next year.

The commission also considered the Secretary-General's report on mainstreaming a gender perspective within the UN system. The report states that the second session of the Inter-agency Standing Committee on Women and Gender Equality of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), which met in New York from 5-6 March 1997, has identified performance indicators and developed tools for mainstreaming and monitoring the platform for action and the system wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women (1996-2001). The system wide medium-term plan, which incorporates comprehensive and integrated mainstreaming as a major goal, contains indicative plans for joint activities and cooperation by the United Nations system as a whole. Linkages and partnerships with networks of nongovernmental organizations and exchange of substantive information, as well as support for non-governmental organization involvement in follow up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, will be enhanced and strengthened.

A decision taken by the commission recommended that ECOSOC ensure that there is no overlap in the future between the sessions of the functional commissions engaged in follow up to UN conferences. A second decision took note of the proposed programme of work of the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) for the biennium 1998-1999 and stated that sufficient resources should be made available to DAW so that it can effectively provide substantive support to the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women.

Draft Optional Protocol to the CEDAW

A major breakthrough that took place during the CSW was the agreement to include an inquiry procedure in the draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This would enable the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to request states parties to the protocol to explain and remedy complaints about serious violations of women's rights. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is the treaty monitoring body for the CEDAW. It examines compliance with the convention's provisions by states parties and is composed of 23 independent experts. The chair of the Working Group, Aloisia Woergetter (Austria), noted that a large majority of participating governments were in favour of the optional protocol and an immense momentum had been created. She described this as "remarkable," and observed that such support had not been considered possible in the past. She said she hoped that the working group would finish its work by next year, which is a symbolic year for human rights since it will mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the first five year review of the outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights.

NGOs lobbied strenuously during the session. Twelve NGOs and one inter-governmental organization, the Council of Europe, contributed suggestions for substantive amendments and legal rationales for the establishment of the inquiry procedure. Women in Law and Development (Africa), the International Human Rights Law Group (USA) and Stree Adhar Kendra (India) were among the NGOs that intervened with comments during the session.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is the basic legal framework for the human rights of women. The convention is acceded to or ratified by 156 nations and signed by others. It represents the commitment of the international community to this framework, both as a means of identifying persistent forms of discrimination against women and inequality, and as a guide to steps designed to abolish practices and traditions detrimental to the enjoyment of women's rights. The monitoring mechanism set out in article 18 of the convention plays a critical role in implementation by states parties of the obligations set out in the treaty. In addition, the communications mechanism of the CSW provides useful information on the effects of gender discrimination on the lives of women. At the close of the CSW, Angela King, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, pointed out that while both these mechanisms are invaluable, "experience provided by existing individual petition procedures shows that they contribute significantly to the implementation of human rights standards." She said the optional protocol would introduce the right of petition, and it is for this purpose that the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna called on the CSW and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to examine the possibility of introducing the right of petition through the preparation of an optional protocol to the convention. Governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women further pledged to support the process toward the formulation of a petition protocol, so that it could enter into force as soon as possible.

The commission considered the report of the SecretaryGeneral on a comparative summary of existing communication and inquiry procedures and practices under international human rights instruments, and under the Charter of the UN (E/CN.6/1997/4). The report addresses concerns over the issue of possible overlap or duplication between any optional protocol and other existing human rights mechanisms. It says that rather than overlapping with, or duplicating other UN human rights procedures, an optional protocol to the convention would be a welcome addition to the existing implementation mechanisms that exist within the UN system. The report also states that an optional protocol would provide a clear benchmark of the international community's commitment to the enforcement of genderspecific human rights standards. The report, which contains the views of 21 governments, one intergovernmental organization and 12 NGOs, expresses support for the speedy conclusion of the work on the optional protocol, its subsequent adoption, and its entry into force. These views point to the fact that the existence of the protocol will not only put the convention on an equal footing with other human rights instruments, but it will also lead to an enhanced understanding of the obligations of the convention and provide assistance to states parties as they seek to apply these at the national level.

The UN has four major human rights treaties that provide for the competence of the supervisory body to receive and consider communications alleging violations of protected rights. They are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in its first Optional Protocol; article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; article 22 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and article 77 of the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Beyond these mechanisms, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Rights under specific procedures are authorized to appoint working groups from among their members to consider communications attesting to injustice and discriminatory practices against women. However, the chair of the working group noted that out of hundreds of complaints the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has dealt with so far, only ten complaints have concerned equality between men and women. All other human rights instruments that have foreseen complaint procedures have not dealt with violations of women's rights. In her opinion this showed that women do not appear to have access to other human rights instruments.

At the conclusion of the session, the chairperson reported that the protocol will contain both an inquiry procedure, which would allow the committee to investigate systemic abuses of states' obligations to protect women from discrimination, and an individual complaint procedure. The working group has not yet agreed on whether there will be a complaints procedure for organizations such as NGOs, or whether there will be an option that is similar to a classaction suit as a substitute for the optional protocol's complaint procedure. Differences centred around the nature of the organizations, and whether they would include political groups, trade unions, or those dealing solely with gender-based violence. The right of organizations to complain received strong support from the Philippines, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy, among others.

Under the terms of a resolution adopted by the commission, the mandate of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Elaboration of a Draft Optional Protocol to the CEDAW was renewed so that it can continue its work during the 42nd and 43rd sessions of the CSW. The commission also adopted the report of the working group on its work during the justconcluded session. Under its terms, the Secretary-General is requested to submit to the CSW's 42nd session a report containing an annotated comparison of the draft optional protocol and the proposed amendments thereto with the provisions of existing international human rights instruments.

Panel sessions held during the first week of the 41st session provided a forum for an exchange of views among governments, UN experts and NGOs on emerging issues, successful strategies, and areas of continuing concern in each thematic area. They also discussed possible ways to move forward the implementation of the Beijing platform for action. The sharing of perspectives and subsequent recommendations enhanced government discussions and contributed to the agreed conclusions and resolutions adopted during the 41st commission.

The strategic objectives discussed by the panel on Women and Environment, facilitated by the chair of the CSW and convened on 11 March 1997, were to: involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels; integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development; and strengthen or establish mechanisms at national, regional and international levels to assess the impact of development and environmental policies on women. During the discussions, participants stressed the importance of avoiding a simplistic view of women as victims or saviours of the environment. They also acknowledged the need to empower women to incorporate sound environmental practices into their activities, and apply a gender perspective in the allocation of funds for the environment, and the importance of equal access to resources. The panel concluded that effective implementation of gender-sensitive policies in the environment sector requires development of quantitative and qualitative indicators, review of legislation and reallocation of resources, and commitment at all levels of decision making. Participants included government nominees Sirpa Peitikainen (Finland), Economist and former Minister of Environment; Dr. Christina Amoako-Nuama (Ghana), Minister for Environment, Science and Technology; expert group meeting representative Rachel Kyte (UK), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Brussels; NGO representative Khawar Mumtaz, Coordinator, Shirkat Gab Women's Resource Centre (Pakistan); and UN system expert Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development.

The panel on Women and the Economy, facilitated by commission vice-chair Karin Stoltenberg, was convened on 11 March 1997. Speakers stressed that antidiscrimination laws, changes in corporate practices and introduction of teaching aids for gender equality would go a long way in promoting women's access to economic decision making. They also said that cuts in basic services tend to affect women the most, and structural adjustment programmer should be gendersensitive. The panel noted that economic policies are not gender neutral, and it is wrong to consider them so. The panel underscored the need to improve women's ability to make household economic decisions, put a value on women's unpaid work, ensure equal pay for work of equal value, and raise the status of part-time work. Participants included government nominees Mihye Roh (-Republic of Korea), Vice President of the Korean Women's Development Institute; Ambassador Akmaral Kh. Arystanbekova (Kazakhstan); expert group meeting representative Donna Dillon Manning (USA), Vice President of New Ventures, Catalyst; NGO representative Mamounata Cissé (Burkina Faso), General Secretary of the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres; and UN system expert Lin Leam Lim, Labour Market Policies Branch, International Labour Office (ILO).

The panel on Women in Power and Decision Making, moderated by commission vice-chair Ljudmila Boskova, was convened on 12 March. Participants reconfirmed that stereotypes, tradition and strong competition within political parties represent some of the main barriers to women's participation in decision making. They stressed the need for a legal procedure to surmount such barriers, as well as adopting an equal gender status law and a parity threshold. They said such a threshold would mandate that there would be no less than 30%-40% and no more than 60%-70% of either sex in elected positions. Panel speakers, while warning of the dangers of sweeping generalizations about women and peace, said governments should encourage women leaders to enter the processes of good offices, mediation and decision making. Efforts to enhance women's role in early-warning initiatives, and the necessity of creating links between women in leadership positions and women at the grassroots level, were also underscored. Participants included government nominees Billie Miller (Barbados), Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism and International Transport; Professor Zofia Kuratowska (Poland), Deputy Speaker, Senate; Paloma Duran y Lalguna (Spain), Professor at the Faculty of Legal Sciences, Jaume I University; expert group meeting representative Eugenia Piza Lopez (Mexico) of International Alert; NGO representative Faiza Kefi, member of the Tunisian National Assembly and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians.

A panel on Education and Training of Women, facilitated by commission Vice-Chair Zakia Amara Bouaziz was convened on 14 March. Speakers discussing the feminization of unemployment noted that the trend could be avoided by educating women to adapt to new conditions in the labour market, and providing special services for women with children of pre-school age and/or with handicapped children. Some of the factors identified by the panel as responsible for the high dropout rate of girls from school included early marriage, pregnancy, sexual harassment and a heavy work load at home. Speakers suggested the provision of free basic education and scholarships as some of the means to counter high drop-out rates. Participants included Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko (Russian Federation) Director of the Foreign Ministry Department for Links with the Subjects of Federation, Parliament, Public and Political Organizations; Irene de la Caridad Rivera Ferreiro (Cuba), Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education; expert group meeting representative Swarna Jayaweera (Sri Lanka), Coordinator, Centre for Women's Research; NGO representative Celia Eccher (Uruguay), International Council for Adult Education; and UN system expert Aicha Bah Diallo, Director of Basic Education at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Division for the Advancement of Women, which serves as the secretariat for the commission, in cooperation with other relevant agencies, also convened expert group meetings in advance of the 41st session on each of the critical areas of concern. The meeting focused on issues that had not previously received specific attention, or that required further exploration in the light of the Beijing platform for action. The Women and Education Expert Group, which met from 2-6 December 1996 in Turin (Italy), focused on vocational training and lifelong learning. The Expert Group on Women and the Economy, held from 11-15 November 1996 in Boston (USA) discussed three categories of the economically-active female population: women as employees, women as entrepreneurs, and women as economic decision makers. Participants noted that women are virtually absent from economic decision making, including the formulation of policies for poverty eradication, structural adjustment programmes, and loans and grants. The Expert Group on Women's Roles in Power and DecisionMaking, held from 7-11 October 1996 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), highlighted the "glass ceiling" for women in government administration, as well as the on-going relegation of women to the more "social" ministries. The Expert Group on Women and the Environment, which met from 18-22 November 1996 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) focused on the links between population, environment and sustainable development from a gender perspective. Participants emphasized the role of women as actors in relation to environmental issues, and the need to increase women's participation in decision making.

NGOs attended meetings of the commission and the parallel working group on the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the CEDAW. In addition to NGOs in consultative/roster status, special arrangements were made allowing NGOs accredited to the Fourth World Conference on Women to be eligible to attend the 41st session. NGOs were also permitted to attend informal consultations, subject to the availability of seating. NGOs with consultative status were able to submit short written statements for distribution through the secretary of the commission, and three to five speaking slots were made available for NGOs to participate in panel dialogues. (Preference was given to those speaking on behalf of a number of organizations or a caucus.) A small conference room at headquarters was reserved for NGOs to hold caucuses and workshops, and computers were set up for their use.

More than 300 NGOs contributed to the commission's work through panel discussions, lobbying governments and participating in caucus meetings and dialogues. Evening dialogues co-sponsored by DAW and some NGOs provided government delegates and NGOs with the opportunity to hear and exchange views in a less formal environment.

An international group of human rights NGOs convened an informational meeting on 14 March on women's rights and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that the court effectively redresses international human rights violations, particularly crimes against women. Efforts to raise concerns about how violations of women's rights will be condemned, investigated and prosecuted by the court were discussed; the violations include rape, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy and other sexual violence. The National Council for Research on Women, in cooperation with DAW and the International Women's Tribune Centre, convened a dialogue on 13 March on Women, Education and Training. Participants discussed how to bring a critical mass of women into educational leadership positions; successful examples of governments and NGOs investing in lifelong learning opportunities for women and girls; progress being made in the development of non-gender-biased curricula and teaching materials; and strategies for expanding access for women and girls to education and opportunities in science and technology.

The Women's Linkage Caucus met twice during the proceedings to coordinate NGO advocacy efforts and propose amendments to texts under discussion in all four of the UN commissions, which were meeting simultaneously. They are the Commission on Population and Development, Commission for Social Development, an intercessional meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development, and the CSW. The caucus also worked to highlight the need to integrate gender into all the UN commissions, including the upcoming UN General Assembly Special Session to review implementation of Agenda 21.

The Women's Linkage Caucus called on members of the Commission on the Status of Women to act as a strong "women's lobby" to influence the process and substance of every UN conference follow-up process at the local national and international levels, so that gender mainstreaming and gender balance become a reality. The caucus asked the CSW to begin by requesting heads of state and UN member states to make a series of commitments at the GA special session, including commitments to:

- recognize women not only as a "major group" of the Rio Agenda 21, but also as significant agents for local and global change, so that compartmentalized approaches give way to genuine integration of gender in sustainable development;

- expand efforts to eliminate negative effects on developing countries by reconciling WTO rule-making and global trade practices with the post-Rio agenda;

- work for international codes of conduct for corporations, especially to enforce compliance with ILO agreements, protect the rights of workers in developing countries and prevent gender-based and economic exploitation of labour by transnational corporations;

- support an international negotiation process on new financial. instruments, such as a tax on speculative capital transactions, to reduce market instability and generate resources for social sectors;

- address the impact of globalization and privatization on achieving the goal of universal access to water by the year 2000 and initiate an intergovernmental plan to overcome the obstacles to reach this important goal in the Beijing platform for action and other UN conference agreements; and

- make a major debt cancellation announcement at the special session.

The Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) convened a dialogue on 10 March between representatives of the UN, governments and NGOs on Women's Perspectives on the Environment and Sustainable Development, in the context of the UN's fifth-year review of the Earth Summit. After the dialogue, WEDO launched a survey of governments on national action plans to implement the Beijing platform. The survey entitled Promise Kept, Promise Broken? received 102 responses from around the world, including three regional responses for the KU, the Caribbean Community and the Commonwealth Nations. The survey found that in the 17 months since the Beijing conference, 65 nations, or one-third of UN member states, have drawn up actual plans, while 18 others have prepared drafts. Respondents from NGOs in 53 countries said their governments are moving forward in drafting national action plans, and seven are stalled by adverse economic conditions or lack of implementation mechanisms and/or resources. Eight countries were reported to lack a plan altogether with no steps being taken to draft one, and five were reported to have taken "regressive steps." Members of the CSW bureau, who praised the survey during the commission meeting, noted that only 25 governments have submitted their strategies or action plans for implementation of the Beijing results to the secretariat in compliance with GA resolution 50/203 of 22 December 1995. A preliminary analysis of completed and draft national plans received by the UN secretariat found that few covered all the critical areas of concern. The DAW reports that the national plans tend to focus on a select number of areas or issues; they are most often poverty, participation in decision making, education, economy, health, violence and human rights. Few provide the specific benchmarks and timetables that were part of the Beijing platform, although some governments have designated priorities. Most plans provide for a combination of legislative actions, including reform of discriminatory laws, as well as targeted projects in specific areas for particular groups of women or in particular geographic areas. Several plans indicate that resources to carry out the Beijing platform will be increased or sought in future national budgets.

Contact: Women's Environment and Development Organization, 355 Lexington Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/973 0325, fax +1212/973 0335, e-mail <[email protected]>.

During the Fourth World Conference on Women, NGOs from around the world established a global campaign to monitor the World Bank's progress in meeting the goals of the Beijing platform for action and the commitment to transforming the bank to meet women's needs. The campaign has four primary goals: increase the participation of grassroots women in economic policy making; institutionalize a gender perspective in the bank's policies and programmes; increase bank investments in women's health services, education, agriculture, land ownership, employment and financial services to ensure greater access to control over these key resources by the poor, especially women; and increase the number and racial and ethnic diversity of women in senior management positions within the bank.

The campaign is working to build knowledge and skills within the women's movement to understand the role of international financial institutions and to advocate on macroeconomic issues through popular education and media drives; build coalitions with existing NGO alliances and campaigns to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated into ongoing NGO advocacy efforts on the bank; monitor bank projects and policies to determine their impacts on women, particularly poor women; lobby officials from the bank incountry and at bank headquarters in Washington DC, including the bank's recently-established NGO External Gender Consultative Group; propose concrete alternatives for sustainable, equitable development that challenges gender bias in bank-promoted policies; and link grassroots women's groups, NGOs and researchers working on bank reform and other international macro-economic issues worldwide.

The campaign is now forming an international steering committee, with the majority of its members to be made up of organizations from borrower countries. Organizers hope that the campaign will be in a position to raise the necessary resources to hold regional and/or international strategy and coordination meetings, and to support on-going work of the national and regional campaign chapters.

Contact: in North America, Lydia Williams, OXFAM America, 87 Mozart Street, Boston MA 02130, USA, fax + 1202/783 8 739; in Caribbean, Hazel Brown, Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), telephone +809/627 5792; in Africa, Yassin Fall, Association of African Women for Research and Development, BP 3304, Dakar, Senegal, telephone/fax +221/202462; in Latin America, Laura Frade, National Coordination of Women's NGOs in Mexico, telephone/fax +52-145/60078. To receive economic literacy materials in English, French or Spanish, contact WEDO (see above), fax: + 1-212/9 73 0335.

The Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) have pooled efforts and resources to create a joint space on the Internet on the advancement and empowerment of women. "WomenWatch," a gateway to UN information and data on women worldwide and an electronic forum on global women's issues, was launched on International Women's Day, 8 March 1997, as part of the follow up to the Beijing conference. The site provides up-todate information on UN work on behalf of women, and on the global agenda for improving their status. It is designed as a contribution to the outreach programmes of its collaborating partners to expand networking and streamline access to information, as recommended by tine' Beijing Platform for Action.

The Internet site is accessible through the World Wide Web at http.//www.un.org/womenwatch and by e-mail <[email protected]> and the gopher <gopher://gopher.un.org>. The new web sites for DAW (http.//www.un.org/dpcsd/daw), UNIFEM (http://www.unifem.undp.org) and INSTRAW (http.//www.un.org/instraw) will be linked through Women Watch.

The Commission on the Status of Women was created in 1946 as a subsidiary body of ECOSOC with the aim of supporting the equality goals of the UN Charter. The commission first met in 1947 with 15 members and has been expanded to include 45 members; each is elected to fouryear terms. It monitors the situation of women worldwide; promotes women's rights in all societies; makes recommendations on issues affecting women; and suggests policy goals for UN member states. The commission, which is empowered to receive complaints on violations of the rights of individual women or groups of women, formulates guidelines on actions to improve women's status in the economic, political and social fields. It is currently the central monitoring body of implementation of the platform for action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing (China) in 1995.

The platform reaffirms that the human rights of women and the girl child are inalienable, integral and an indivisible part of universal human rights. It reviews progress since the 1985 World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the UN Decade for Women, which adopted the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2000. The platform also establishes the priority actions to be carried out over the next five years, and it identifies 12 critical areas of concern in depth: poverty, education, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economic structures, power sharing and.decision making, mechanisms to promote the advancement of women, human rights, the media, the environment, and the girl child.

The 1998 thematic issues before the commission, in accordance with the multi-year work programme, will be: violence against women, women and armed conflict, human rights of women, and the girl child. The 1999 thematic issues will be women and health, and institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women.

CONTACTS

UN Division for the Advancement of Women Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD)

2 UN Plaza

New York, NY 10017

USA

Telephone +1-212/963 8034.

Fax +1-212/963 3463

E-mail address <[email protected]>

For copies of the Secretary-General's report on thematic issues before the commission (E/CN.6/1997/3), which contains recommendations made by the expert groups, contact NGLS, Room FF346, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 3125, fax +1-212/963 8712, email <[email protected]>.

The E&D File is produced by the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) for NGOs and others interested in the institutions, policies and activities of the UN system and is not an official record. For more information or additional copies contact NGLS, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, fax +41-22/788 7366, e-mail <[email protected]> or NGLS, Room FF346, United Nations, New York NY 1001 7, USA, fax +1-212/963 8712, e-mail <[email protected]>.

Printed on recycled paper