Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

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 43/100 of 8 December 1988, and taking note of Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/44 of 24 May 1989,

Recalling further 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 the ratification of and accession to the Convention,

Bearing in mind that 18 December 1989 marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention,

Having considered the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its eighth 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.         Welcomes the ratification of or accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by an increasing number of 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 and requests him to submit annually to the General Assembly a report on the status of the Convention;

5.         Takes note also of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its eighth session;

6.         Endorses general recommendation No. 10 of the Committee, made at its eighth session, on activities to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, including the request that its report on the achievements of States parties and obstacles encountered by them in implementing the Convention be regularly updated, and requests that sufficient resources be provided for that purpose;

7.         Urges States parties to the Convention to make all possible efforts to submit their initial as well as second and subsequent reports on the implementation of the Convention, in accordance with article 18 thereof and with the guidelines of the Committee, and to co-operate fully with the Committee in the presentation of the reports;

8.         Recognizes the special relevance of the periodic reports of States parties to the Convention to the efforts of the Commission on the Status of Women to review and appraise the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women in those countries;

9.         Strongly supports the view of the Committee that the Secretary-General should accord higher priority to strengthening support for the Committee;

10.       Endorses the proposal made by the Committee that a working group be convened to meet for three to five days prior to the ninth session of the Committee to prepare issues and questions relating to the second and subsequent periodic reports of the States parties to be considered at the ninth session of the Committee, and invites the Secretary-General to take the necessary action towards that end;

11.       Strongly encourages the Committee to enhance its efforts to rationalize its procedures and expedite the consideration of periodic reports and to develop procedures and guidelines for the consideration of second reports;

12.       Takes note of the proposals of the Secretary-General for full funding of the Committee and requests that the programme budget for 1990-1991 provide for attendance at all the Committee's meetings by relevant professional staff from the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, legal staff expert in human rights treaty implementation and adequate secretarial staff, and for the necessary facilities for the effective functioning of the Committee in order to enable it to carry out its mandate as efficiently as other human rights treaty bodies;

13.       Welcomes the steps already taken by the Secretary-General and requests him, in view of the observance of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on 18 December 1989, to facilitate and encourage, within existing resources, the dissemination of information relating to the Convention and the Committee, taking into account all the relevant general recommendations made by the Committee at its eighth session, in particular general recommendation No. 10;

14.       Requests the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the Committee to the Commission on the Status of Women for information;

15.       Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth 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-fifth session.