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 Friday, 17 March
PrepCom suspended its work and resumed on Monday, 8 May. (Visit our coverage of the Informal Consultations at http://enb.iisd.org/4wcw/csw44/informals.html )

Closing Plenary

Yakin Ertürk, Director, Division for the Advancement of Women, Angela King, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, and Rose Odera, PrepCom Chair

On the final day of the PrepCom, Chair Rose Odera opened the final Plenary. Delegates adopted the Draft Political Declaration (E/CN.6/2000/PC/L.5) and the draft provisional agenda and organizational matters for the 23rd Special Session of the GA (E/CN.6/2000/PC/L.6). Delegates also adopted documents related to: the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing PFA (E/CN.6/2000/PC/2/Corr.2); emerging issues containing additional material for further actions and initiatives for the preparation of the outlook beyond the year 2000 (E/CN.6/2000/PC/4); and the results of regional meetings held in preparation for the Special Session of the GA. Chair Odera presented, and delegates adopted, a draft decision on intersessional informal meetings to be held in order to finalize work on the outcome document and to adopt the PrepCom report. The draft decision proposes these meetings be held at the UN Headquarters on: April 20, May 8, 9, 11, and May 30-June 2, 2000. Some delegations expressed concern that experts from capitals and NGO representatives would be unable to attend these meetings, unless the intersessionals are held immediately prior to the Special Session in June. Chair Odera noted these dates were subject to change but were possibly the only ones available according to UN conference services. Closing statements were made and Chair Odera gaveled the PrepCom to a close at 5:00pm.

Angela King, Special Adviser to the Secretary-general on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, said this had been an arduous process but noted the CSW Secretariat had allowed for a very positive outcome. She hoped that in future assignments, delegates would remember the PrepCom's achievements and the collaborative efforts among groups.

Summary Report

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Chair Odera (pictured at rightwith Kate Newell, Secretary of the Commission, said it was "painfully clear" that the work had not been completed.

PrepCom Chair Rose Odera being interviewed (center) and with Yakin Ertürk, DAW (right)

Angela King speaks with ENB writer Gretchen Sidhu regarding the outcomes of this PrepCom

Portugal, speaking on behalf of the EU

In closing, the EU, said The EU stressed its willingness to cooperate toward a strong, forward-looking outcome document. She underscored the importance of NGO participation in helping to devise future strategies and achieve gender equality, but regretted NGO operation was challenged by groups trying to prevent ideas from being freely expressed. She remarked core UN values include tolerance and freedom of expression and said governments had a responsibility to insure the free and active participation of NGOs.

<<Nigeria, for the G-77/China, said the Group was looking forward to working hard to reach the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action.

>>Canada reiterated the importance of NGO participation

Delegates line up in order to obtain documents for the final Plenary session. NGOs fill the galleys (below).

Venezuela, Cuba and the Dominican Republic announce their signature of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (below: Dominican Republic and Cuba)

Photos from the Working Groups' final sessions at the PrepCom

G-77China (left) and JUSCANZ (right) consulting in Working Group I

Working Group II Chair Bhattacharjee

Delegates await the final session of Working Group II

ENB team: Tonya Barnes, Violette Lacloche, Wendy Jackson and Gretchen Sidhu

UN Inter-Agency Collection of Good Practices in Gender Mainstreaming and Implementing the Beijing Platform for Action
This good practices database is a project of the Interagency Committee on Women and Gender Equality (IACWGE), coordinated by UNIFEM and with the participation of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and HABITAT. The IACWGE Good Practices Task Force guided the development of criteria for good practices, the scope of the collection, and the development of the database. More than 20 UN organizations have contributed. The collection of good practices has been created as a resource for organizations that are committed to implementing programs to support gender equality and are interested in learning from the experiences of others. It has been developed to: demonstrate the diverse ways that UN organizations are implementing the mandate to achieve gender equality; and encourage replication and adaptation of good practices across regions and organizations. The good practices are aimed at three distinct sets of audiences: the UN Resident Coordinator system; UN management and staff; and external audiences, such as governments.

This collection is now on a prototype database and will be launched at the Special Session in June. For more information email unifem@undp.org to the attention of Jessica Humphries.

<<Jessica Humphries runs through the Good Practices Database

>>Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM

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)