Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
- Author: UN General Assembly (43rd sess. : 1988-1989)
- Document source:
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Date:
8 December 1988
The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter, is to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind, including distinction as to sex,
Affirming that women and men should participate equally in social, economic and political development, should contribute equally to such development and should share equally in improved conditions of life,
Recalling its resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979, by which it adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
Recalling also its previous resolutions on the Convention, in particular resolution 42/60 of 30 November 1987, as well as Economic and Social Council resolutions 1988/26 of 26 May 1988 and 1988/48 of 27 May 1988,
Taking note of the decisions taken on 7 and 8 March 1988 at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention,
Aware of the important contribution that the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women can make to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and to achieving legal and de facto equality between women and men,
Noting the emphasis placed by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace on ratification of and accession to the Convention,
Having considered the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its seventh session,
Noting that the Committee agreed, in examining reports, to take due account of the different cultural and socio-economic systems of States parties to the Convention,
1. Takes note with concern of the declining rate of ratification of or accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by Member States;
2. Urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to do so as soon as possible;
3. Emphasizes the importance of the strictest compliance by States parties with their obligations under the Convention;
4. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention and requests him to submit annually to the General Assembly a report on the status of the Convention;
5. Takes note of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its seventh session;
6. Urges States parties to make all possible efforts to submit their initial reports on the implementation of the Convention in accordance with article 18 thereof and with the guidelines of the Committee;
7. Takes note of the general recommendations adopted by the Committee pursuant to its discussion at its seventh session on ways and means of implementing article 21 of the Convention;
8. Takes note with concern of the account by the Committee of the present constraints within which it operates and of the problems it has encountered as a result of its lack of resources;
9. Welcomes the efforts made by the Committee to rationalize its procedures and expedite the consideration of periodic reports and to develop procedures and guidelines for the consideration of second reports, and strongly encourages the Committee to continue its endeavours to those ends;
10. Decides to keep under review the Committee's request for additional meeting time;
11. Requests the Secretary-General to make available within existing resources the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance by the Committee of its functions;
12. Reaffirms that, to this end, the resources of the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat should be reinforced through various means, including redeployment, without prejudice to the current allocation of resources to the United Nations Office at Vienna;
13. Also requests the Secretary-General, in preparing the programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991, to take due account of article 17, paragraph 9, of the Convention in providing the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance by the Committee of its functions in order to enable it to carry out its mandate as efficiently as other human rights treaty bodies;
14. Requests the Committee to continue to take into account considerations of cost and effectiveness, as well as other relevant matters, when determining where it will meet;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Committee with an assessment of the costs of holding meetings at the United Nations Office at Vienna and at United Nations Headquarters in New York based on full servicing of the Committee, including attendance by relevant professional staff from the Division for the Advancement of Women, legal staff expert in human rights treaty implementation and adequate secretarial staff, and to transmit this information to the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1989;
16. Requests the Secretary-General, within existing resources and drawing, in particular, on funds available to the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, to provide, facilitate and encourage public information activities relating to the Committee and the Convention, giving priority to the dissemination of the Convention in the official languages of the United Nations;
17. Also requests the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the Committee to the Commission on the Status of Women for information;
18. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, and to transmit the report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-fourth session.
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