22 August 2012: A report from the UN Secretary-General (UNSG), “Measures taken and progress achieved in follow-up to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly,” dated 26 July 2012, has been posted online ahead of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
The report recommends: greater inclusion of gender perspectives in UN intergovernmental processes, especially in the areas of disarmament, peace and security; and the adoption of gender equality and the empowerment of women as goals for the post-2015 development framework.
Based on an analysis of documents from the UNGA, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UNSG, the report finds that a gender perspective is reflected in over a quarter of ECOSOC resolutions and resolutions by its functional commissions, apart from those of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). It highlights that reports of the UNSG and resolutions related to social, economic and political matters tend to reflect a gender perspective, while UNGA work relating to disarmament, international security, administrative and budgetary issues and international legal matters are less likely to do so.
The report highlights that the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) includes a recommitment to the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) as important components of “the normative framework of sustainable development.” It also notes specific references to gender equality issues in recent multilateral processes, namely: the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, including in the guidelines of the Green Climate Fund (GCF); and the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Doha, Qatar, in April 2012.
The report recommends to the UNGA that the goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment feature prominently in the post-2015 development framework. [Publication: Measures Taken and Progress Achieved in Follow-up to the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Outcome of the Twenty-third Special Session of the General Assembly: Report of the Secretary-General (A/67/185)]