A/RES/60/230 GA

United Nations A/RES/60/230 General Assembly Distr.: General 23 March 2006 Sixtieth session Agenda item 64 05-50140 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 23 December 2005 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/60/503)] 60/230. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 58/145 of 22 December 2003 and its previous resolutions on the elimination of discrimination against women, Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter, is to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind, including distinction as to sex, Reiterating the need to intensify efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women throughout the world, Affirming that women and men should participate equally in social, economic and political development, should contribute equally to such development and should share equally in improved conditions of life, Recalling the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, 1 in which the Conference reaffirmed that the human rights of women and the girl child were an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights, Acknowledging the need for a comprehensive and integrated approach to the promotion and protection of the human rights of women, which includes the integration of the human rights of women into the mainstream of United Nations activities system-wide, Reaffirming the commitments made in the political declaration 2 and the outcome document 3 of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, in particular paragraphs 68 (c) and (d) concerning the Convention on the _______________ 1 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III. 2 Resolution S-23/2, annex. 3 Resolution S-23/3, annex. A/RES/60/230 2 Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 4 and the Optional Protocol thereto,5 Welcoming the declaration of the Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women,6 in which the Commission recognizes that the implementation of the Beijing Declaration7 and Platform for Action8 and the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention are mutually reinforcing in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, Recalling that, in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,9 Heads of State and Government resolved to implement the Convention, Recognizing that the equal enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms will promote the realization of the rights of the child, bearing in mind the special needs of girls, and acknowledging the mutual reinforcement of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child10 and the Optional Protocols thereto,11 Noting that 18 December 2004 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption by the General Assembly of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and welcoming the statement of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to commemorate the occasion,12 Bearing in mind the recommendation of the Committee that national reports should contain information on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in accordance with paragraph 323 of the Platform, Having considered the reports of the Committee on its thirtieth and thirty- first13 and thirty-second and thirty-third14 sessions, Expressing concern at the great number of reports that are overdue (one hundred and eighty-seven), in particular initial reports, which constitutes an obstacle to the full implementation of the Convention, 1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;15 _______________ 4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378. 5 Ibid., vol. 2131, No. 20378. 6 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum (E/2005/27 and Corr.1), chap. I, sect. A; see also Economic and Social Council decision 2005/232. 7 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex I. 8 Ibid., annex II. 9 See resolution 55/2. 10 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531. 11 Ibid., vol. 2171, No. 27531; and ibid., vol. 2173, No. 27531. 12 CEDAW/C/2005/I/4, annex III. 13 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/59/38). 14 Ibid., Sixtieth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/60/38). 15 A/60/206. A/RES/60/230 3 2. Also welcomes the growing number of States parties to the Convention,4 which now stands at one hundred and eighty, while expressing disappointment that universal ratification of the Convention was not achieved by 2000, and urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to do so; 3. Further welcomes the rapidly growing number of States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention,5 which now stands at seventy-four, and urges other States parties to the Convention to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the Optional Protocol; 4. Urges States parties to comply fully with their obligations under the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto and to take into consideration the concluding comments as well as the general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; 5. Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system, within their mandates, as well as Governments and intergovernmental and non- governmental organizations, in particular women’s organizations, as appropriate, to strengthen assistance to States parties, upon their request, in implementing the Convention; 6. Notes that some States parties have modified their reservations, expresses satisfaction that some reservations have been withdrawn, and urges States parties to limit the extent of any reservations that they lodge to the Convention, to formulate any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible, to ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention, to review their reservations regularly with a view to withdrawing them and to withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention; 7. Welcomes the adoption by the Committee of revised reporting guidelines,16 and urges States parties to adhere to the revised guidelines, in particular with regard to the content and length of reports; 8. Recalls the great number of overdue reports, in particular initial reports, and urges States parties to the Convention to make every possible effort to submit their reports on the implementation of the Convention in a timely manner, in accordance with article 18 thereof; 9. Also recalls its resolution 50/202 of 22 December 1995, in which it took note with approval of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, which has yet to enter into force; 10. Strongly urges States parties to the Convention to take appropriate measures so that acceptance of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention by a two-thirds majority of States parties can be reached as soon as possible and the amendment can enter into force; 11. Expresses its appreciation for the efforts made by the Committee to improve the efficiency of its working methods, in particular the measures introduced following the informal meeting held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from 5 to 7 May 2004,13 and encourages the Committee to enhance its activities in this regard, bearing in mind the need to increase the effectiveness of the work of the Committee; _______________ 16 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/57/38), part two, annex. A/RES/60/230 4 12. Notes decision 33/I of the Committee,14 in which it requests an extension of its meeting time; 13. Also notes that in the three years since the holding of the exceptional session, in August 2002, a new backlog of reports of States parties has accumulated; 14. Decides to authorize the Committee to hold three annual sessions of three weeks each, with a one-week pre-sessional working group for each session, effective from January 2006 as a temporary measure, and to continue to authorize two annual sessions of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention; 15. Also decides to authorize the Committee to meet on an exceptional and temporary basis in 2006 and 2007 for up to seven days in parallel working groups during its third (July/August) annual session in 2006 and its first (January) and third (July/August) annual sessions in 2007, taking due account of equitable geographical distribution, for the purpose of considering reports of States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention; 16. Urges the Committee to evaluate progress, and decides to assess the situation with regard to the Committee’s meeting time after two years, also taking into account the wider context of treaty body reform; 17. Encourages the Secretariat to extend further technical assistance to States parties, upon their request, to strengthen their capacity in the preparation of reports, in particular initial reports, and invites Governments to contribute to those efforts; 18. Invites States parties to make use of the technical assistance provided by the Secretariat to facilitate the preparation of reports, in particular initial reports; 19. Encourages the continued participation of members of the Committee in inter-committee meetings and meetings of persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies, including those on methods of work relating to the State reporting system; 20. Encourages the Committee, within its mandate, to continue to contribute to the efforts to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the treaty bodies; 21. Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 54/4 of 6 October 1999, to provide the resources, including staff and facilities, necessary for the effective functioning of the Committee within its full mandate, taking into account in particular the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention; 22. Urges Governments, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to disseminate the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto; 23. Encourages States parties to disseminate the concluding comments adopted in relation to the consideration of their reports, as well as the general recommendations of the Committee; 24. Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system to continue to build women’s knowledge and understanding of and capacity to utilize human rights instruments, in particular the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto; 25. Urges the specialized agencies, at the invitation of the Committee, to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities; A/RES/60/230 5 26. Welcomes the contribution of non-governmental organizations to the work of the Committee; 27. Invites the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to address the General Assembly at its sixty-first and sixty-second sessions under the item on the advancement of women; 28. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session a report on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the implementation of the present resolution. 69th plenary meeting 23 December 2005

UN Project. “A/RES/60/230.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/A-RES-60-230/. Accessed .

Copy citation