49TH
CSW PASSES TEN RESOLUTIONS BUT FAILS TO CONCLUDE MEETING
The 49th
session of the Commission on the Status of Women ended on March 11
with delegations acting on the proposed resolutions. Some resolutions
did not achieve consensus, and needed to be put to a vote. The roll-call
voting on some of the resolutions subsequently delayed the proceedings,
so that some items on the agenda were not taken up. Chairperson Kyung-wha
Kang announced that the Commission had no more time to address the
session’s remaining business and said only: “we will see
if and when we are able to reconvene”.
The US
delegation was most vocal in its expression of opposition to any language
contained in the proposed resolutions that referred to reproductive
rights, as well as to references to the Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms Discrimination Against Women, a treaty to which
the US has not signed.
The Australian
delegation commented at the beginning of the proceedings that they
had come to the session fully expecting to reaffirm and re-commit
to implementation of BPFA, instead "We have spent a large amount
of our time tied up in drafting sessions on resolutions, ten in all,
which
has distracted us from the important task we have come to the meeeting
to achieve" Thus, they registered their protest on the proliferation
of resolutions and said that they did not want the meeting to "fall
into the trap of becoming a giant drafting committee."
Six new
resolutions were adopted: on gender mainstreaming on national policies
and programmes; on the viability of appointing a special rapporteur
on discrimination against women; on reducing demand for trafficking;
on integrating a gender perspective in post-disaster relief
especially in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami; on indigenous
women; and on women's economic advancement.
Resolutions
that had been carried over from previous CSW sessions were also adopted:
women, the girl-child and HIV/AIDS; the International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement of Women; the situation of
women and girls in Afghanistan; and the situation of and
assistance to Palestinian women.
On women,
the girl-child and HIV/AIDS: calls on governments to intensify efforts
to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls in
relation to HIV/AIDS, including through challenging stereotypes, stigmatization,
discriminatory attitudes and gender inequalities and to
encourage the active involvement of men and boys in that regard. The
resolution further urges governments to pursue the empowerment of
women to make them less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
On reducing
demand for trafficking women and girls: asks governments to adopt
or strengthen legislative or other measures to deter exploiters and
discourage the demand that fostered trafficking of women and girls
for all forms of exploitation. It further calls on governments to
“conclude bilateral, subregional, regional and international
agreements to address the problem of trafficking in persons, especially
women and girls; and to adopt specific measures aimed at reducing
demand, as appropriate, to complement the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children.” It further asks governments
to criminalise trafficking, penalise traffickers and raise public
awareness on the issue.
On considering
the advisability of having a special rapporteur on laws that discriminated
against women: the resolution urges governments to intensify their
efforts to revoke any remaining laws that discriminated on the basis
of sex and to remove gender bias in the administration of justice,
in accordance with the Beijing Platform for Action through the adoption
of all appropriate means and measures at the national, regional and
international levels. However, before adoption of this resolution,
some delegations pointed out that it may duplicate mechanisms already
in place around the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), so the matter of appointing
a special rapporteur would be taken up at the 50th CSW session in
2006.
On mainstreaming
a gender perspective into national policies and programmes: asks governments
to “ensure that gender mainstreaming was fully understood, institutionalized
and implemented; increase understanding of that process; develop and
use frameworks, guidelines and other practice tools and indicators
to accelerate gender mainstreaming; develop effective and coherent
accountability mechanisms; involve parliaments and the judiciary,
where appropriate, in monitoring progress; recognize civil society’s
role in that regard; establish or reinforce existing national machineries
for women’s advancement and provide them with the necessary human
and financial resources. “
On integrating
a gender perspective in post-disaster relief efforts, particularly
in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster: the resolution
asks government to place a gender perspective on disaster management
and disaster preparedness, as well to ensure that women had an active
role in all phases of disaster management. These aspects include services
such as food, clean water, shelter and physical security, as well
as health care, including reproductive health, psychological health
and psychosocial support and education, taking into account the particular
needs of women and girls. Moreover, it urges governments to address
“gender equality dimensions of livelihood, security, land tenure,
land rights, property and housing since they posed major challenges
to women, in particular widows, women heads of households, women with
disabilities and women who had lost family members in natural disasters.”
On the
situation of and assistance to Palestinian women: the resolution recognises
the obstacle placed by the Israeli occupation of Palestine on improving
conditions for Palestinian women's lives, and enjoins Israel as an
occupying power to comply fully with international human rights
treaties in protecting the rights of women and girls, as well as to
“facilitate the return of all refugees and displaced Palestinian
women and children to their homes and properties.”
On strengthening
of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement
of Women (INSTRAW) asking for more contributions from member states
in support of the institute, and for the INSTRAW Executive Director
to report on its programme of work for the period 2004-2007 at the
50th CSW.
On the
economic advancement of women: asks governments to provide for enabling
environments for women entrepreneurs and equal opportunities for women
in the workplace; financial services for women in savings and lending
and ownership, promote equal access for women to information and communication
technology-based economic activities and to information systems and
improved technologies. The resolution also took into account the impact
of globalisation on women's labour and the role of international financial
institutions on imposing liberalisation policies.
On indigenous
women: the full text was still unavailable at the time of the report.
On the
situation of women and girls in Afghanistan: urges the government
of Afghanistan to “fully implement the Constitution and all international
treaties to which Afghanistan was a party; ensure that legislative,
administrative and other measures support women’s and girl’s
full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms; enable the
full, equal and effective participation of women and girls in civil,
cultural, economic, political and social life throughout the country
and at all levels; and ensure that women were able to register, run
for office, campaign and vote in the upcoming national assembly elections”
Summaries
of the proceedings are available online at
<http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/english/press-releases.asp>
For those
with broadband access, video archives of the proceedings can be
viewed at <http://www.un.org/webcast/index.asp>
Aileen Familara
Isis International Manila for Asia-Pacific Women's Watch
