COMMISSION TO THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Background

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. It is the principal global policy-making body. Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

The Commission was established by ECOSOC in 21 June 1946 with the aim to prepare recommendations and reports to the Council on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission also makes recommendations to the Council on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the field of women's rights. 

As part of efforts to increase its focus on national-level implementation, the Commission will return to themes in two to three years time to review the implementation of the policy recommendations adopted and to identify remaining gaps and challenges.

The work in the Commission will be guided by two reports of the Secretary-General on the theme, one which will identify and discuss key issues in financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women and suggest policy recommendations; and a second which will provide an overview of mainstreaming efforts related to financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women at national level. .

In the context of its new working methods, the Commission will begin its consideration of issue of financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women through three interactive activities

·               roundtable for high-level participants from capitals (at the level of ministers, deputy-ministers and principal secretaries)

·               an interactive expert panel of technical experts to identify key policy initiatives in order to accelerate the implementation of previous commitments

·               an interactive expert panel on capacity-building on mainstreaming on the theme

Following the interactive events in the first week of the Commission, Member States negotiated new policy recommendations (Agreed Conclusions) which are to accelerate implementation of existing commitments, including those in the Beijing Platform for Action

52^ND SESSION

25 FEBRUARY-7 MARCH 2008

Priority Theme:

Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women

As decided in the revision of its working methods and programme of work in 2006 (ECOSOC 2006/9), during the 52nd session the Commission considered a priority theme and an emerging issue. In addition, the Commission also reviewed implementation of the agreed conclusions (recommendations) on a theme considered at an earlier session.

Emerging Issue:

Gender perspectives on climate change

The emerging issue was considered through an interactive expert panel. Five to six experts on the chosen theme provided information and insights based on experience from research and analysis, policy development and programme planning, implementation and monitoring. A brief discussion guide was provided in advance by the Division for the Advancement of Women.

Review Theme:

Women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution in post-conflict peace building

The review of the agreed conclusions on “Women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace building”, adopted by the Commission at its 48th session in 2004, took the form of an interactive dialogue. Discussion was initiated by initial interventions by keynote speakers. A brief discussion guide was provided in advance by the Division for the Advancement of Women

Indicators on Violence against Women

This workshop is in response to the General Assembly resolution 61/143, on “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women”. The Commission organised a joint workshop with the Statistics Commission to consider the development of indicators on violence against women during the first week of the Commission.

Week One: 25-29 February 2008

• Official opening
• Interactive events: on priority theme (3); the review theme (1); and the emerging issue (1)
• General Discussion where representatives of Member States make national statements and a number of UN entities and NGOs also have the opportunity to make statements.
• Bureau-sponsored joint workshop with the Statistics Commission on indicators for violence against women (lunch-time event)
• Parallel event on the priority theme for the 53rd session in 2009 (lunch-time event)

Week Two: 3-7 March 2008.

• Negotiation of agreed conclusions
• Work on the communications procedure
• Adoption of resolutions and decisions
• Other work

Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Overview of the Agreed Conclusions

The agreed conclusions, adopted in the form of a resolution (document E/CN.6/2008/L.8),

The Commission on the Status of Women wrapped up its fifty-second session adopting wide-ranging agreed conclusions on “financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment”. 

The Commission’s concrete recommendations, among others, urges Governments to integrate a gender perspective -- and increase women’s participation -- in the design, implementation and monitoring of economic plans and strategies, in a co-ordinated manner and across all policy areas, including in national development, social protection and poverty reduction.

Key Issues identified to be considered by Governments:

·           raising awareness about investing in women and girls as a vital component towards achieving sustainable development for all

·           providing an important input to the preparations for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to review implementation of the 2002 Monterrey Consensus, to be held in Doha, Qatar, next November

·           providing a significant step forward in advancing the global policy agenda on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. 

·           encouraging scaling up investment in gender equality and women’s empowerment through mainstreaming a gender perspective in resource allocation,

·           ensuring the necessary resources for targeted activities for gender equality and the document  recommended ways for ensuring resource allocation in economic policy and public finance management, specifically noting that national plans for gender equality should be costed and their implementation adequately resourced.

·           detailing the role of national machineries for the advancement of women and of relevant governmental entities in financing gender equality.

·           draws out actions for strengthening institutional frameworks, accountability mechanisms, and capacity-building in order to systematically incorporate gender perspectives into budgetary policies and processes at all levels.  

·           recommends actions to strengthen the knowledge base, tools and methods for measuring progress in financing gender equality and gender-sensitive analysis of macroeconomic policies.

·           conclusions recommend that the differential impact of trade policies on women and men be addressed, and that the focus and impact of development assistance specifically targeting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls be strengthened.

Positive Responses

The representative of Slovenia, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that her delegation attached great importance to achieving the goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment.  The European Union was convinced that the remaining obstacles and challenges in full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action needed to be overcome in a holistic manner, as well as through national efforts towards the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment.  The European Union also attached great importance to the work of civil society and women’s organizations around the world.  The delegation, therefore, regretted that their crucial gender equality work had not been rightly reflected in the agreed conclusions, she said.

Chile’s representative agreed that the text should have perhaps been more concise, but understood that it had been a work of consensus.  Her delegation was pleased that the text contained language on decent work for women, as well as on the impact of climate change on women, which was a particularly important issue to Chile.  Among the topics that should have received more attention, the Chilean delegation would have preferred stronger language on the participation of civil society and the private sector.

Negative Responses:

Speaking in explanation of position, the representative of Iran said that, since his delegation was not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it would dissociate itself from those sections of the text that referenced that instrument and its monitoring body.  He added that, in Iran, promotion of women’s status was a priority and, to that end, national policies in socio-economic areas were being implemented on the basis of gender justice and family protection, which his delegation believed should receive due attention at the international level.   Iran intended to pursue that issue at a later stage.

The representative of the United States said that her delegation assumed that references to the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Convention and its Optional Protocol, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, applied only to those States party to the instruments.  Further, the term “right to development” meant that each individual should enjoy the right to develop his or her own intellectual or other capacities to the maximum extent possible, through the exercise of the full range of civil and political rights.  The United States remained strongly committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, but believed that creating new definitions for expanding the scope of those previously-agreed Goals “will not help us maintain consensus”, she said.

She went on to say that neither the United States nor the General Assembly had agreed to the creation by the Secretariat of a new Millennium target on reproductive health.  Her delegation’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals was based on the understanding that there was an international consensus that “reproductive health” did not include abortion.  On language calling for reducing excessive military expenditures, the United States did not accept that there was or should be a direct connection between such expenditures and development funding.

Finally, she stressed that, by adopting such a long text, the Commission had abdicated its responsibility to prioritise.  The United States would have preferred to see a concise and focused outcome document that could have given clear guidance and direction to the United Nations and its Member States on how to move towards the goal of improving financing for women’s empowerment.

Women’s Equal Participation in Conflict Prevention, Management and Conflict Resolution in Post-Conflict Peace Building

Key Issues Identified

·                     Participants confirmed that attention to gender equality issues and women’s full and effective participation in peace processes and peacebuilding was crucial in the promotion of gender equality, as well as in ensuring the sustainable and effective reconstruction of political, social, economic and legal structures in countries emerging from conflict.

·                     Peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts were windows of opportunity for accelerating the elimination of discrimination and violence against women

·                     Participants called for intensified efforts to integrate gender perspectives at every stage of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, including resource mobilization and allocation, human resources development, research and data collection, communication strategies, knowledge management, capacity-building, and monitoring and evaluation efforts at local, national and international levels.

·                     More secure funding was needed for gender equality issues in post-conflict reconstruction, including for institution-building, legal reform, women’s economic empowerment and basic services, and to bridge the gap between reconstruction interventions and development cooperation. Participants called for increased resources to strengthen women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding, including increased core budgets, innovative funding measures and adequate funding for gender equality expertise, including in relevant departments of the Secretariat.