Future Organization and Methods of Work of the Commission on the Status of Women

E/RES/2015/6No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 19aAdvancement of women, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2007–2022

This is an older version — the most recent is E/RES/2022/4

2022E/RES/2022/4Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of WomenLatestCompare with previous version
2018E/RES/2018/8Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of WomenCompare with previous version
2015E/RES/2015/6Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of WomenCompare with previous version
2013E/RES/2013/18Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of WomenCompare with previous version
2009E/RES/2009/15Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of WomenCompare with previous version

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What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Conferences Gender Equality Non-Governmental Organizations Women's Advancement Women's Status

What does this mandate say?

31 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the primary responsibility of the Commission on the Status of Women for the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”,1 and further reaffirms its mandate and its important role in overall policymaking and in coordinating the implementation and monitoring of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,2 in which it is recognized that the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls is essential for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Affirms that the Commission will also contribute to the follow-up to the post-2015 development agenda, to be adopted at the United Nations summit to be held in September 2015, so as to accelerate the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women;

Decides that the Commission will report on the aspects relating to gender equality and the empowerment of women of the agreed main theme of the Economic and Social Council, in order to contribute to its work;

Also decides that the session of the Commission will include a ministerial segment to reaffirm and strengthen political commitment to the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as well as their human rights and to ensure high-level engagement and the visibility of the deliberations of the Commission, and that the segment will include ministerial round tables or other high-level interactive dialogues to exchange experiences, lessons learned and good practices, as well as a general discussion on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly;

Further decides that the Commission will continue to hold, on an annual basis, a general discussion that will commence during the ministerial segment on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and recommends that statements identify goals attained, achievements made and efforts under way to close gaps and meet challenges in relation to the priority theme and the review theme;

Decides that statements made during the general discussion will continue to be subject to strict time limits that will be determined prior to the session by the Bureau of the Commission and consistently applied by the Chair;

Also decides that the Commission will continue to consider one priority theme at each session, on the basis of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly and possible linkages to the post-2015 development agenda to be adopted at the summit;

Further decides that the consideration by the Commission of the priority theme shall focus on ways and means to accelerate the implementation of commitments in the context of current challenges, through not more than two interactive expert panels or other interactive dialogues to identify key policy initiatives and strategies in order to accelerate implementation on the basis of an exchange of national, regional and global experiences, lessons learned, good practices and new insights based on evidence, research and evaluation, with an emphasis on results achieved, and to strengthen dialogue and commitment for further action, and that the expert panels could include experts from Governments, the United Nations system, civil society and other stakeholder groups that work on the theme under consideration;

Decides that the outcome of the annual discussions on the priority theme shall be in the form of short and succinct agreed conclusions, negotiated by all Member States, which shall focus on action-oriented recommendations for steps and measures to close remaining gaps, meet challenges and accelerate implementation, to be taken by Governments, relevant intergovernmental bodies, mechanisms and entities of the United Nations system and other relevant stakeholders, and that the agreed conclusions shall be widely disseminated to the United Nations system and made widely available by all Member States to the public in their own countries so as to encourage follow-up action;

Also decides that the Commission will, as necessary, continue to discuss emerging issues, trends, focus areas and new approaches to questions affecting the situation of women, including equality between women and men, that require timely consideration, taking into account developments at the global and regional levels as well as planned activities within the United Nations, where increased attention to gender perspectives is required, and with attention to relevant issues on the agenda of the Council, in particular its annual main theme, as applicable;

Requests the Bureau of the Commission, prior to the session, to identify such an emerging issue, trend, focus area or new approach, in consultation with all Member States, through their regional groups, and taking into account inputs from other relevant stakeholders, for consideration by the Commission through an interactive dialogue;

Decides that the outcome of the discussion on that emerging issue, trend, focus area or new approach will be in the form of a summary by the Chair of the Commission, prepared in consultation with the regional groups, through the members of the Bureau;

Also decides that, at each session, the Commission will evaluate progress in the implementation of the agreed conclusions on a priority theme of a previous session, as its review theme, through an interactive dialogue that includes:

Member States of different regions, on a voluntary basis, presenting their lessons learned, challenges and best practices that identify means for accelerated implementation through national and regional experiences;

Ways to support and achieve accelerated implementation, including through addressing data gaps and challenges in the enhanced collection, reporting, use and analysis of data with regard to the theme, at the national, regional and global levels;

Further decides that the outcome of the discussion on the review theme will be in the form of a summary by the Chair of the Commission, prepared in consultation with the regional groups, through the members of the Bureau;

Calls upon the Commission to further enhance its catalytic role for gender mainstreaming in the United Nations system, including in support of the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda to be adopted at the summit by, inter alia, expanding its cooperation with other intergovernmental processes and functional commissions through, as appropriate, the exchange of information and transmission of the outcomes of its work, joint informal interactive events and the participation of its Chair, in consultation with the Bureau, in relevant processes;

Invites all gender-specific United Nations entities and other relevant United Nations entities, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to contribute, where appropriate, to the discussion of the Commission;

Invites the regional commissions to continue to contribute to the work of the Commission;

Decides, in view of the traditional importance of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, that, in accordance with Council resolutions 1996/6 of 22 July 1996 and 1996/31 of 25 July 1996, such organizations should be encouraged to participate, to the maximum extent possible, in the work of the Commission and in the monitoring and implementation process relating to the Fourth World Conference on Women, and requests the Secretary-General to make appropriate arrangements to ensure full utilization of existing channels of communication with non-governmental organizations in order to facilitate broad-based participation and the dissemination of information;

Also decides to strengthen existing opportunities for non-governmental organizations, in accordance with Council resolutions 1996/6 and 1996/31, to contribute to the work of the Commission, including by allocating time for them to deliver statements on themes relevant to the session, during panels and interactive dialogues and at the end of the general discussion, taking into account geographical distribution;

Notes with appreciation the continuation of the annual parliamentary meetings organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and their contribution to the discussion of the Commission, as well as the programme of side events held on the occasion of the sessions of the Commission;

Encourages all Member States to consider including in their delegations to the Commission technical experts, planning and budgeting experts and statisticians, including from ministries with expertise relevant to the themes under consideration, as well as parliamentarians, members of national human rights institutions, where they exist, and representatives of non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors, as appropriate;

Encourages the Bureau of the Commission to continue to play a proactive role in the preparations for the session, including through regular briefings and consultations with Member States;

Also encourages the Bureau of the Commission to continue to propose interactive dialogues, such as high-level events and ministerial and expert workshops that engage Member States and relevant stakeholders, so as to encourage dialogue and enhance the impact of its work;

Encourages Governments and all other stakeholders to undertake comprehensive preparations for each session of the Commission, at the national, regional and global levels, as applicable, so as to strengthen the basis for follow-up to outcomes and implementation;

Requests the Commission to continue to apply a thematic approach to its work and to adopt a multi-year programme of work to allow for predictability and adequate time for preparation; in selecting its priority theme, the Commission should take into consideration, in addition to the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, the programme of work of the Council, as well as the post-2015 development agenda to be adopted at the summit, so as to build synergies and contribute to the work of the Council system and the high-level political forum on sustainable development;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission, on an annual basis, a report on the priority theme, including conclusions and recommendations for further action;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission, on an annual basis, a report on progress made on the review theme at the national level;

Further requests the Secretary-General to include in the annual report to the Council on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system an assessment of the impact of the input of the Commission to discussions within the United Nations system;

Decides that, at the sixtieth session of the Commission, when it will decide on its future multi-year programme of work, it should further review its working methods with a view to further aligning them with the post-2015 development agenda to be adopted at the summit.

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