Background
The
year 2000 has marked the fifth anniversary of the UN Fourth
World Conference on Women. The Conference, held in Beijing,
China, was the largest UN conference ever. Delegates from
189 governments and 2,600 NGOs participated; more than
30,000 women and men attended the parallel NGO forum.
189 countries endorsed the Beijing
Platform for Action, which calls upon governements
to take action in the 12 critical areas of concern.
The
Mandate:The
General Assembly, in resolution 52/231,
decided to convene, from 5-9 June 2000, a Special Session
to appraise and assess the progress achieved in the implementation
of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement
of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, five
years after its adoption. The Assembly also decided that
it would consider further actions and initiatives during
the Special Session. It established the format for the
preparatory process, and designated the Commission on
the Status of Women as the preparatory committee for the
review.
The
Commission on the Status of Women acting as the Preparatory
Committee (PrepCom):
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), acting as
the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Special Session
of the General Assembly has met three times to prepare
for the Special Session: during the 42nd session of the
CSW in March 1998, the 43rd session of the CSW in March
1999, and in March 2000.
The PrepCom adopted an "enabling"
resolution which sets out the framework for the review,
including actions to be undertaken by Governments, UN
Regional Commissions,the United Nations System and NGOs.
The PrepCom decided that the items on the provisional
agenda of the Special Session would have been: -review
and appraisal of progress made in the implementation of
the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform;
-further action and initiatives for overcoming obstacles
to implementation of the Beijing Platform.
It agreed that documents before the special session would
have been on the following topics: -review
and appraisal of the implementation of the Platform for
Action; -good
practices, positive actions, lessons learned, examples
of the use of any qualitative indicators for measuring
progress, successful strategies and promising initiatives
for the implementation of the Beijing Platform;-obstacles
encountered and strategies for overcoming them; -further
action and initiatives, within the overall goals of gender
equality, development and peace, to accelerate implementation
of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform
beyond the year 2000.
It
decided that the special session would have been undertaken
on the basis of the Beijing Platform for Action and that
the Platform would not be renegotiated. The
modalities of participation of NGOs in the special session
were taken into consideration at the third session of
the Preparatory Committee.
Review of the Twelve Critical Areas of Concern
of the Beijing Platform for Action:
From
1996 through 2000, the main focus of work of the Commission
on the Status of Women has been follow-up to the Fourth
World Conference on Women and implementation of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action. The Commision
has been considering all of the strategic objectives and
actions in the critical areas of concern since 1996, either
through the item on implementation or through examination
of an emerging issue:
1996
- Women
and poverty
- Women
and the media
1997
1998
1999
2000
- Comprehensive
quinquennial review and appraisal of the implementation
of the Platform for Action
- Emerging
issues
Post
Beijing+5 Programme of Work (2001 - 2006):
2001
- Women,
the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)
- Gender
and all forms of discrimination, in particular racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
2002
- Eradicating
poverty, including through the empowerment of women
throughout their life cycle in a globalizing world
- Environmental
management and mitigation of natural disasters: a
gender perspective
2003
- Participation
and access of women to the media, and information
and communication technologies and their impact on
and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment
of women
- Women's
human rights and elimination of all forms of violence
against women and girls as defined in the Beijing
Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the
special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women
2000: gender equality, development and peace for the
twenty-first century"
2004
- The
role of men and boys in achieving gender equality
- Women's
equal participation in conflict prevention, management
and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building
2005
- Review
of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for
Action and the outcome documents of the special session
of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender
equality, development and peace for the twenty-first
century"
- Current
challenges and forward looking strategies for the
advancement and empowerment of women and girls
2006
- Enhanced
participation of women and development: an enabling
environment for achieving gender equality and the
advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia,
the fields of education, health and work.
- Equal
participation of women and men in decision-making
processes at all levels.
