The Commission on the Status of Women will meet from 28 February to 2 March and then from 3 to 17 March as the preparatory committee for the special session of the General Assembly in June entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century". The Commission will follow up the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 and undertake a comprehensive review of the Conference's outcome; the preparatory committee will focus on preparations aimed at finalizing texts for submission to the special session.

It will be the third and final meeting of the preparatory committee before the high-level plenary review of the Beijing Conference. At the conclusion of its second session on 19 March 1999, members approved a provisional agenda which would have the Assembly review and appraise progress made in the implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform and identify further action and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to its implementation.

The Commission is the central intergovernmental body within the United Nations charged with formulating policies to achieve equality between women and men. Created in 1946 as a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, the Commission makes recommendations to the Council on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the field of women's rights. Following the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Commission was charged with monitoring implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is an agenda for women's empowerment.

Under a multi-year programme of work covering 1996 to 2000, the Commission focused on the 12 critical areas of concern adopted at the Beijing Conference, which include women and poverty; women and armed conflict; and the human rights of women. Consideration of strategic objectives and actions has involved such issues as the education and training of women, violence against women, and women and health. The current session will focus on a comprehensive five-year review and appraisal of the Action Platform, as well as an examination of emerging issues affecting women or gender equality.

As part of the follow-up to the Beijing Conference, the Commission will review the following topics: mainstreaming a gender perspective in the United Nations system, including mainstreaming women's human rights; Palestinian women; women and children hostages in armed conflicts; women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS; the status of women in the Secretariat; violence against women; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; a system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women; and the "1999 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development".

At a panel discussion on 1 March, emerging issues will be addressed within the context of the social, political, economic and cultural aspects of globalization and their implications for gender relations. A second panel on 6 March is expected to highlight strategies for addressing those issues. The panel, which will include experts from governments, civil society, and the United Nations system and take into account equitable geographical and gender distribution and the involvement of non-governmental organizations, is expected to assist the preparatory committee in gathering additional material on further actions and initiatives for the preparation of the outcome of the special session.

Also during the regular session, members are expected to hear an oral report by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality on progress made by the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality to aid system-wide coordination of related efforts.

For the follow-up and comprehensive review of the Beijing Platform, the Commission will have before it the following reports of the Secretary-General: follow-up and implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (document E/CN.6/2000/2); assessment of the implementation of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of women, 1996-2001 (document E/CN.6/2000/3); and the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (document E/CN.6/2000/8-E/CN.4/2000/_).

The report of the Secretary-General on follow-up to and implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (document E/CN.6/2000/2) emphasizes recent efforts undertaken by the Secretariat in support of mainstreaming a gender perspective and follow-up activities, including those undertaken by non-governmental organizations. The report also contains the Secretary-General's response to a resolution inviting him to address the issue of women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS. Also included in an addendum is the joint work plan for the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS, the report concludes that it is crucial to identify, promote and apply "best practices" in reducing risk and vulnerability. It highlights the innovative pilot project co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on gender-focused responses to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS. Launched in six countries, the project seeks to strengthen the capacity of women's organizations to recognize the infection as a critical gender issue and address it through a variety of initiatives. Also cited is the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in reinforcing the capacity of local facilitators to raise awareness and identify ways of transferring gender-sensitive health messages to illiterate and semi- literate people. The report further states that a gender-based response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic requires continued efforts, coordination and commitment over the long term, at all levels within the framework of the United Nations system strategic plan for HIV/AIDS for 2001 to 2005. In addition, highest priority should be given to the new International Partnership against AIDS in Africa, launched in January 1999 by UNAIDS, since more than half of the current HIV/AIDS global infections are found there. Strategies should focus on improving women's control over their reproductive health and promoting access to voluntary testing and counselling for women and men, female-controlled methods of prevention, and measures to decrease mother-to-child transmission of the infection.

In the area of mainstreaming a gender perspective in the Secretariat, the report draws attention to a project launched in June 1999 by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations/Lessons Learned Unit on mainstreaming a gender perspective in multidimensional peacekeeping operations. Also noted is the active involvement of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women in the work of the Afghanistan Support Group and her continued support for the work of the Gender Adviser to the United Nations system in Afghanistan. Information on the current situation in that country and its implications for the activities of the United Nations system there are regularly shared with the Inter-agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, the report states.

Also before the Commission will be the Secretary-General's report on the medium-term plan for the advancement of women, 1996 to 2001 (document E/CN.6/2000/3), which summarizes information provided by entities of the United Nations system on their efforts to implement the system-wide plan. The report highlights institutional, financial, and coordination aspects of implementation, as well as remaining obstacles. An annex contains information about the activities undertaken by United Nations entities in the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform of Action, as follows: women and poverty; education and training of women; women and health; violence against women; women and armed conflict; women and the economy; women in power and decision-making; institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; human rights of women; women and the media; women and the environment; and the girl child.

Also according to the report, the responses of the United Nations entities highlighted a number of obstacles to the implementation of the Action Platform and the system-wide medium-term plan. Those include: gaps between global concepts and their translation into practical country-level strategies to achieve gender equality; failure to perceive issues such as poverty and HIV/AIDS as having gender dimensions; lack of staff capacity and confidence to incorporate gender concerns; and social and traditional environments that might be hostile to notions of gender equality. Poverty, the negative impact of globalization, and the persistence of stereotypical attitudes towards the role of women and girls had presented particular challenges, as had the lack of integration between economic and social policies.

The report of the Secretary-General on the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (document E/CN.6/2000/8-E/CN.4/2000/_) assesses the implementation of the 1999 work plan, submits the plan for 2000, and transmits the report of a workshop on gender integration into the human rights system held from 26 to 28 May 1999.

Among the activities undertaken by the Division and the Office of the High Commissioner was an exchange of information on the question of trafficking in women and girls, which contributed to a United Nations study on the criminal aspects of trafficking in human beings. The 2000 plan emphasizes support for the work of human rights treaty bodies and selected special mechanisms. The 1999 workshop adopted a series of recommendations aimed at focusing attention on women's human rights and gender equality in the framework of general human rights instruments and mechanisms.

The Commission will also have before it a (series of) letter(s) from the President of the Economic and Social Council to the Commission Chairperson (document E/CN.6/2000/7) drawing attention to the relevant 1999 Council resolutions and decisions for follow-up.

Preparations for Special Session

In resolution 52/100, the General Assembly decided to convene in the year 2000 a high-level plenary review 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, and to consider further action and initiatives. The Assembly later decided that the preparatory work for its special session would be carried out by the Commission at its forty-third and forty-fourth sessions and that those sessions would be extended by five days each to complete the preparations.

Among the highlights of the forthcoming preparatory session is a general debate on preparations for the special session and a panel discussion and dialogue on an "Outlook on gender equality, development and peace beyond the year 2000", which is scheduled for 6 March.

The preparatory committee will have before it the following reports of the Secretary-General: implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action on the basis of national reports, taking into account the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (document E/CN.6/2000/PC/2); the inclusion of women's interests and gender mainstreaming issues and the allocation of related resources in United Nations programmes (document E/CN.6/2000/PC/3); and emerging issues containing additional material on further actions and initiatives for the preparation of the outlook beyond the year 2000 (document E/CN.6/2000/PC/4).

Also before the committee will be a note by the Secretary-General containing a summary of the on-line working groups on the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action (document E/CN.6/2000/PC/CRP.1).

Membership

The 45 members of the Commission on the Status of Women are elected for four-year terms on the following basis: 13 from African States; 11 from Asian States; four from Eastern European States; nine from Latin America and the Caribbean States; and eight from Western European and Other States.

The 2000 membership of the Commission is as follows: Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States.

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