CSW-44 Beijing +5 PrepCom, New York, Feb-March 2000

44th Session of the Commission on
the Status of Women (Beijing +5 PrepCom)
New York, 28 February - 17 March 2000

Highlights from Tuesday, 14 March

Delegates met in Working Group I in the morning and evening to continue discussion of Section II (achievements and obstacles). Working Group II convened in the morning to continue negotiation of Section IV (actions and initiatives). Working Group I discussed paragraph 8 (achievements in the critical area of women and health), paragraph 16 (achievements on women in power and decision-making), and paragraph 17 (obstacles to women in power and decision-making). Working Group II discussed, inter alia, paragraph 53 (programme support to meet the specific needs of women for capacity building and to enhance gender mainstreaming activities). (Click here for proposed outcome document (E/CN.6/2000/L.1/Rev.1)
In the Corridors: One negotiating bloc is reportedly no longer willing to talk seriously about implementation of the Platform for Action without financial concessions from other delegations. NGOs from some of these countries are still hoping to obtain a workable document to assist their efforts back home. Meanwhile, delegates are upping the negotiating ante. Some are calling for reference to poverty in the widely bracketed chapeau to Section IV, and are unlikely to sign off. Others are proposing references to sexual orientation – one of the most hotly disputed subjects in Beijing. Are these latter delegates speaking on behalf of what some say is a growing lobbying force in their countries – including the lesbian caucus meeting during the PrepCom? Or is this a chance to set the bar high enough to force concession on other issues? Some delegates claim it would be premature to say; other participants expect sexual orientation to be folded into its usual place under "other status." Discussions are brewing about some forms of lobbying on the floor, including an impromptu prayer service in one case. Some NGOs maintain that access to the talks must remain democratic, even as they sniff out signs that there may be actors here attempting to fine-tune their strategies to stall the process.

Above: G-77 Chair Musa (Nigeria), PrepCom Chair Rose Odera (Kenya), Working Group II Chair Bhattacharjee (India), and Patricia Flor (Germany)

The Chinese delegation reviews text from the Platform for Action

Conference participants speaking in the corridors

Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Program Budget Processes within the United Nations System
This workshop was organized by the UN Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality (IACWGE).

Carolyn Hanna, Principal Officer for Gender Mainstreaming, Angela King, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, and Tony Beck, Consultant to the IACWGE

Tony Beck described the project underway to mainstream gender in the UN budget process. He said the three phases of the study include: an inventory of work going on outside the UN system; an overview of the UN system; and in depth studies of a few entities in the UN system. The Gender-Sensitive Budget Process calls for: tracking allocation and expenditures to support gender equality; measures to ensure that gender equality objectives are achieved; an oversight function; and a process that is consensual, transparent and participatory. The final results of the study will be presented at the Special Session in June.

<<Carolyn Hanna, Principal Officer for Gender Mainstreaming

>>Angela King, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women

Gender Equality in the Information Age: Women's Empowerment through Information Communication Technologies (ICTs)

This UNIFEM sponsored event was moderated by Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM

For more information, visit www.unifem.undp.org for more information on UNIFEM's activities on supporting knowledge networks for gender equality

Alexander Ntoko, Project Manager, Electronic Commerce, International Telecommunications, gave a presentation on the E-Commerce project for the Association of Women entrepreneurs (ASAFE)

<<Rosemary Kalapurakal, Information/Communication Specialist, UNIFEM, spoke on the Initiatives to support gender equality from the recent Global Knowledge II Conference, held in Malaysia from 7-10 March 2000

Patricia Faccin, Secretary, Task Force on Gender Issues, International Telecommunications Union (ITU)

ENB Summary of CSW-43
Linkages Coverage of the Fourth World Conference on Women
Linkages Coverage of CSW-43
Secretariat web site with official documents and information for NGO participants
ENB's Background Information on CSW-44
Other links (NGOs, research institutes, etc)