The Fourth World Conference on Women
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Chapter 1. Resolution 1. Annex II - The Beijing Platform for Action
IV. Strategic Objectives and Actions
H. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
Strategic objective H.1.
Strategic objective H.2.
Strategic objective H.3.
196. National machineries for the advancement of women have been
established in almost every Member State to, inter alia, design, promote the
implementation of, execute, monitor, evaluate, advocate and mobilize support for policies
that promote the advancement of women. National machineries are diverse in form and uneven
in their effectiveness, and in some cases have declined. Often marginalized in national
government structures, these mechanisms are frequently hampered by unclear mandates, lack
of adequate staff, training, data and sufficient resources, and insufficient support from
national political leadership.
197. At the regional and international levels, mechanisms and institutions
to promote the advancement of women as an integral part of mainstream political, economic,
social and cultural development, and of initiatives on development and human rights,
encounter similar problems emanating from a lack of commitment at the highest levels.
198. Successive international conferences have underscored the need to
take gender factors into account in policy and programme planning. However, in many
instances this has not been done.
199. Regional bodies concerned with the advancement of women have been
strengthened, together with international machinery, such as the Commission on the Status
of Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. However,
the limited resources available continue to impede full implementation of their mandates.
200. Methodologies for conducting gender-based analysis in policies and
programmes and for dealing with the differential effects of policies on women and men have
been developed in many organizations and are available for application but are often not
being applied or are not being applied consistently.
201. A national machinery for the advancement of women is the central
policy- coordinating unit inside government. Its main task is to support government- wide
mainstreaming of a gender-equality perspective in all policy areas. The necessary
conditions for an effective functioning of such national machineries include:
(a) Location at the highest possible level in the Government, falling under the
responsibility of a Cabinet minister;
(b) Institutional mechanisms or processes that facilitate, as appropriate, decentralized
planning, implementation and monitoring with a view to involving non-governmental
organizations and community organizations from the grass-roots upwards;
(c) Sufficient resources in terms of budget and professional capacity;
(d) Opportunity to influence development of all government policies. 202. In addressing
the issue of mechanisms for promoting the advancement of women, Governments and other
actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective
in all policies and programmes so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of
the effects on women and men, respectively.
Create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental
bodies Actions to be taken
203. By Governments:
(a) Ensure that responsibility for the advancement of women is vested in the highest
possible level of government; in many cases, this could be at the level of a Cabinet
minister;
(b) Based on a strong political commitment, create a national machinery, where it does not
exist, and strengthen, as appropriate, existing national machineries, for the advancement
of women at the highest possible level of government; it should have clearly defined
mandates and authority; critical elements would be adequate resources and the ability and
competence to influence policy and formulate and review legislation; among other things,
it should perform policy analysis, undertake advocacy, communication, coordination and
monitoring of implementation;
(c) Provide staff training in designing and analysing data from a gender perspective;
(d) Establish procedures to allow the machinery to gather information on government-wide
policy issues at an early stage and continuously use it in the policy development and
review process within the Government;
(e) Report, on a regular basis, to legislative bodies on the progress of efforts, as
appropriate, to mainstream gender concerns, taking into account the implementation of the
Platform for Action;
(f) Encourage and promote the active involvement of the broad and diverse range of
institutional actors in the public, private and voluntary sectors to work for equality
between women and men.
Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies,
programmes and projects Actions to be taken
204. By Governments:
(a) Seek to ensure that before policy decisions are taken, an analysis of their impact on
women and men, respectively, is carried out;
(b) Regularly review national policies, programmes and projects, as well as their
implementation, evaluating the impact of employment and income policies in order to
guarantee that women are direct beneficiaries of development and that their full
contribution to development, both remunerated and unremunerated, is considered in economic
policy and planning;
(c) Promote national strategies and aims on equality between women and men in order to
eliminate obstacles to the exercise of women's rights and eradicate all forms of
discrimination against women;
(d) Work with members of legislative bodies, as appropriate, to promote a gender
perspective in all legislation and policies;
(e) Give all ministries the mandate to review policies and programmes from a gender
perspective and in the light of the Platform for Action; locate the responsibility for the
implementation of that mandate at the highest possible level; establish and/or strengthen
an inter-ministerial coordination structure to carry out this mandate, to monitor progress
and to network with relevant machineries.
205. By national machinery:
(a) Facilitate the formulation and implementation of government policies on equality
between women and men, develop appropriate strategies and methodologies, and promote
coordination and cooperation within the central Government in order to ensure
mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all policy-making processes;
(b) Promote and establish cooperative relationships with relevant branches of government,
centres for women's studies and research, academic and educational institutions, the
private sector, the media, non-governmental organizations, especially women's
organizations, and all other actors of civil society;
(c) Undertake activities focusing on legal reform with regard, inter alia, to the family,
conditions of employment, social security, income tax, equal opportunity in education,
positive measures to promote the advancement of women, and the perception of attitudes and
a culture favourable to equality, as well as promote a gender perspective in legal policy
and programming reforms;
(d) Promote the increased participation of women as both active agents and beneficiaries
of the development process, which would result in an improvement in the quality of life
for all;
(e) Establish direct links with national, regional and international bodies dealing with
the advancement of women;
(f) Provide training and advisory assistance to government agencies in order to integrate
a gender perspective in their policies and programmes.
Generate and disseminate gender- disaggregated data and information
for planning and evaluation Actions to be taken
206. By national, regional and international statistical services and
relevant governmental and United Nations agencies, in cooperation with research and
documentation organizations, in their respective areas of responsibility:
(a) Ensure that statistics related to individuals are collected, compiled, analysed and
presented by sex and age and reflect problems, issues and questions related to women and
men in society;
(b) Collect, compile, analyse and present on a regular basis data disaggregated by age,
sex, socio-economic and other relevant indicators, including number of dependants, for
utilization in policy and programme planning and implementation;
(c) Involve centres for women's studies and research organizations in developing and
testing appropriate indicators and research methodologies to strengthen gender analysis,
as well as in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the goals of the Platform
for Action;
(d) Designate or appoint staff to strengthen gender-statistics programmes and ensure
coordination, monitoring and linkage to all fields of statistical work, and prepare output
that integrates statistics from the various subject areas;
(e) Improve data collection on the full contribution of women and men to the economy,
including their participation in the informal sector(s);
(f) Develop a more comprehensive knowledge of all forms of work and employment by:
(i) Improving data collection on the unremunerated work which is already included in the
United Nations System of National Accounts, such as in agriculture, particularly
subsistence agriculture, and other types of non-market production activities;
(ii) Improving measurements that at present underestimate women's unemployment and
underemployment in the labour market;
(iii) Developing methods, in the appropriate forums, for assessing the value, in
quantitative terms, of unremunerated work that is outside national accounts, such as
caring for dependants and preparing food, for possible reflection in satellite or other
official accounts that may be produced separately from but are consistent with core
national accounts, with a view to recognizing the economic contribution of women and
making visible the unequal distribution of remunerated and unremunerated work between
women and men;
(g) Develop an international classification of activities for time-use statistics that is
sensitive to the differences between women and men in remunerated and unremunerated work,
and collect data disaggregated by sex. At the national level, subject to national
constraints:
(i) Conduct regular time-use studies to measure, in quantitative terms, unremunerated
work, including recording those activities that are performed simultaneously with
remunerated or other unremunerated activities;
(ii) Measure, in quantitative terms, unremunerated work that is outside national accounts
and work to improve methods to assess and accurately reflect its value in satellite or
other official accounts that are separate from but consistent with core national accounts;
(h) Improve concepts and methods of data collection on the measurement of poverty among
women and men, including their access to resources;
(i) Strengthen vital statistical systems and incorporate gender analysis into publications
and research; give priority to gender differences in research design and in data
collection and analysis in order to improve data on morbidity; and improve data collection
on access to health services, including access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive
health services, maternal care and family planning, with special priority for adolescent
mothers and for elder care;
(j) Develop improved gender-disaggregated and age-specific data on the victims and
perpetrators of all forms of violence against women, such as domestic violence, sexual
harassment, rape, incest and sexual abuse, and trafficking in women and girls, as well as
on violence by agents of the State;
(k) Improve concepts and methods of data collection on the participation of women and men
with disabilities, including their access to resources.
207. By Governments:
(a) Ensure the regular production of a statistical publication on gender that presents and
interprets topical data on women and men in a form suitable for a wide range of
non-technical users;
(b) Ensure that producers and users of statistics in each country regularly review the
adequacy of the official statistical system and its coverage of gender issues, and prepare
a plan for needed improvements, where necessary;
(c) Develop and encourage the development of quantitative and qualitative studies by
research organizations, trade unions, employers, the private sector and non-governmental
organizations on the sharing of power and influence in society, including the number of
women and men in senior decision-making positions in both the public and private sectors;
(d) Use more gender-sensitive data in the formulation of policy and implementation of
programmes and projects.
208. By the United Nations:
(a) Promote the development of methods to find better ways to collect, collate and analyse
data that may relate to the human rights of women, including violence against women, for
use by all relevant United Nations bodies;
(b) Promote the further development of statistical methods to improve data that relate to
women in economic, social, cultural and political development;
(c) Prepare a new issue of The World's Women at regular five-year intervals and distribute
it widely;
(d) Assist countries, upon request, in the development of gender policies and programmes;
(e) Ensure that the relevant reports, data and publications of the Statistical Division of
the United Nations Secretariat and the International Research and Training Institute for
the Advancement of Women on progress at the national and international levels are
transmitted to the Commission on the Status of Women in a regular and coordinated fashion.
209. By multilateral development institutions and bilateral donors:
Encourage and support the development of national capacity in developing countries and in
countries with economies in transition by providing resources and technical assistance so
that countries can fully measure the work done by women and men, including both
remunerated and unremunerated work, and, where appropriate, use satellite or other
official accounts for unremunerated work.
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