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PREPARATIONS FOR THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ENTITLED " WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ENTITLED " WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

"The ECOSOC recommends to the GA the adoption of the following draft resolution at its 54^th session

" The General Assembly…

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 52/100, 52/231 and 53/120, and ECOSOC resolution 1996/6;

Taking note of the reports of the SG on Review and Appraisal (E/CN.6/1999/PC/3) and on Further Actions and Initiatives (E/CN.6/1999/PC/2);

Taking note with appreciation of the report of CEDAW on implementation of the Platform for Action by the States Parties to the Convention (E/CN.6/1999/PC/4);

OP 1 Reiterates its invitation to Governments that have not yet done so to prepare national action plans and reports on the implementation of the Platform for Action and underlines the importance of involving relevant actors of civil society especially non-governmental organizations;

OP 2 Invites Member States in preparing implementation plans and reports and responding to the questionnaire of the Secretary-General, to report on good practices, positive actions, lessons learned, the use of qualitative and quantitative indicators for measuring progress wherever possible, key challenges remaining in the critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action and obstacles encountered;

OP 3 Encourages all of the United Nations Regional Commissions and other inter-governmental regional organizations to carry out activities in support of the preparations for the Special Session, inter alia through holding preparatory meetings, to ensure a regional perspective on implementation and on further actions and initiatives, as well as on a vision for gender equality, development and peace in the twenty first century, and to make their reports available in the year 2000 to the Commission on the Status of Women acting as preparatory committee;

OP 4 Encourages all entities of the United Nations system, including the specialized agencies, funds and programmes, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to be involved actively in preparatory activities and to participate at the highest level in the Special Session, including through presentations on best practices, obstacles encountered and a vision for the future to accelerate implementation of the Platform for Action and address new and emerging trends;

OP 5 Decides that the Special Session should have a Plenary and an Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole;

OP 6 Reaffirms that the Special Session will be undertaken on the basis of and with full respect for the Platform for Action and that there will be no renegotiation of the existing agreements contained therein;

OP 7 Decides that the provisional agenda shall include the following items:

OP 8 Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, in time for the next session of the PrepCom in the year 2000, comprehensive reports on progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action nationally, regionally and internationally, taking into account all relevant information and inputs available to the United Nations system, on the following:

OP 9: Requests the Secretary-General to make available all necessary documentation in a timely manner for the Special Session keeping in mind General Assembly resolutions 52/231 and 53/120;

OP 10 Encourages the UN system to continue to hold discussions with relevant actors of civil society, especially NGOs, in the exchange of views for the review and appraisal process on the implementation of the Platform for Action, including wherever available the use of electronic networking;

OP 11 Urges Member States and observers to ensure their representation at the Special Session at a high political level;

OP 12 Confirms that the Special Session will be open to the participation of all States Members of the United Nations, members of the specialized agencies and observers, in accordance with the established practice of the General Assembly (see op46, GA res 52/100);

OP 13 Calls for the participation of associate members of regional economic commissions in the Special Session for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, subject to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, and in the preparatory process thereof, in the same capacity of observer that held for their participation in the 1995 global conference;

OP 14 Encourages Member States to include relevant actors of civil society, especially NGOs and representatives of women’s organizations in their national preparatory processes as well as on their delegations to the Preparatory Committee and the Special Session;

OP 15: Emphasizes the important role of NGOs in implementing the Platform for Action and the need for their active involvement in the preparations for the special session, as well as the need to ensure appropriate arrangements for their contributions to the special session;

OP 16: Decides that NGOs in consultative status with the ECOSOC as well as the NGOs that were accredited to the Fourth World Conference on Women may participate in the Special Session without creating a precedent for future sessions of the General Assembly (see GA res 53/120, para.46);

OP 17 : Decides to defer consideration of all the modalities for participation of NGOs in the Special Session until its next PrepCom session;

OP 18: Invites the Bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women acting as the preparatory committee to convene informal open-ended consultations as appropriate to consider preparations for the Special Session;

OP 19: Recommends that the major share of the three week 44^th session of the CSW in March 2000 be allocated to the Commission acting as the Preparatory Committee.