UN Economic and Social Council Resolution 1997/2: Agreed Conclusions

The Economic and Social Council takes note with appreciation of the report of the
Secretary-General on the coordination of United Nations system activities for
mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the United
Nations system (E/1997/66).

States unanimously agreed at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at

Beijing in 1995, that it was essential to design, implement and monitor, with the full
participation of women, effective, efficient and mutually reinforcing gender-sensitive
policies and programmes, including development policies and programmes at all
levels, to foster the empowerment and advancement of women. In order to ensure
effective implementation of the strategic objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action,
the United Nations system should promote an active and visible policy of
mainstreaming a gender perspective.

In recognition of the fact that a gender perspective has not yet been fully integrated
into the mainstream of United Nations activities, the Council wishes to promote a
coordinated and coherent policy of gender mainstreaming by further clarifying the
concept of mainstreaming and the central principles associated with it as well as by
addressing specific recommendations to all actors within the United Nations system.

I. CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

A. Definition of the concept of gender mainstreaming

Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for

women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or
programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's as well
as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political,
economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and
inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.

B. Principles for mainstreaming a gender perspective in the United Nations system

Issues across all areas of activity should be defined in such a manner that gender
differences can be diagnosed - that is, an assumption of gender-neutrality should not
be made.

Responsibility for translating gender mainstreaming into practice is system-wide and

rests at the highest levels. Accountability for outcomes needs to be monitored
constantly.

Gender mainstreaming also requires that every effort be made to broaden women's
participation at all levels of decision-making.

Gender mainstreaming must be institutionalized through concrete steps,

mechanisms and processes in all parts of the United Nations system.

Gender mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific
policies and programmes or positive legislation, nor does it substitute for gender
units or focal points.

Clear political will and the allocation of adequate and, if need be, additional human
and financial resources for gender mainstreaming from all available funding sources
are important for the successful translation of the concept into practice.

II. SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN THE

UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM

The Economic and Social Council highlights the importance of undertaking

immediate and concrete steps to mainstream a gender perspective, including the
implementation of the present recommendations as a matter of urgency and at the
latest by the time of the five-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2000.

A. The intergovernmental process of the United Nations

The Council encourages the General Assembly to direct all of its committees and
bodies and draw the attention of other bodies of the United Nations system to the
need to mainstream a gender perspective systematically into all areas of their work,
in particular in such areas as macroeconomic questions, operational activities for
development, poverty eradication, human rights, humanitarian assistance,
budgeting, disarmament, peace and security, and legal and political matters, taking
full advantage of the outcome of the work of the Commission on the Status of
Women.

All bodies that deal with programme and budgetary matters, including the Committee
for Programme and Coordination, should ensure that all programmes visibly
mainstream a gender perspective.

Other intergovernmental bodies with similar responsibilities in the United Nations

system - for instance, the governing bodies of the United Nations Development
Programme/United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children's
Fund, the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
the specialized agencies - are encouraged to monitor the way in which the
concerned agencies, funds and programmes implement gender mainstreaming in
their respective medium-term plans and programme budgets, including at the field
level.

The Council will take steps to strengthen its harmonization and coordination of the
work programmes of the functional commissions, as well as the interaction between
the Council, the functional commissions and other subsidiary bodies, to accelerate
gender mainstreaming. To this end, the Council entrusts its bureau with establishing
or strengthening a dialogue with the chairpersons and bureaux of those bodies, as
well as a dialogue between them, with the active support of the chairperson and
bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The Council calls upon all of its functional commissions and subsidiary bodies to
mainstream a gender perspective in their work, and in this regard:

(a) To adopt, as a first step, an explicit decision on mainstreaming a gender

perspective in their work;

(b) To make maximum use of the agreed conclusions of the Commission on the
Status of Women on the 12 critical areas of concern when monitoring
implementation of global conferences with regard to related topics at the national
and international levels;
(c) To take into account the work of the Commission on the Status of Women and
the Commission on Human Rights in the area of enjoyment of human rights by
women.

The Commission on the Status of Women is urged:

(a) To provide suggestions to other functional commissions and the Council on

gender mainstreaming;

(b) To use the work of other functional commissions as it relates to the 12 critical
areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action - for example, in 1998, that of the
Commission on Human Rights and, in 1999, that of the Commission on Population
and Development - in dealing with priority themes.

Regional commissions are requested to assume a catalytic role in exchanging

experiences and best practices as well as promoting cooperation in gender
mainstreaming on a regional level.

The secretariat is requested to present issues and approaches in a gender-sensitive

manner when preparing reports so as to provide the intergovernmental machinery
with an analytical basis for gender-responsive policy formulation and to ensure that
the intergovernmental machinery is made aware of the decisions and
recommendations of other relevant bodies in relation to gender mainstreaming.

Under an item entitled 'Integrated follow-up of major United Nations conferences',

the Council will monitor annually the way in which its functional commissions and
subsidiary bodies mainstream a gender perspective on the basis of the report on the
follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women.

B. Institutional requirements for gender mainstreaming in all policies and

programmes

The Council welcomes the Secretary-General's commitment to mainstreaming a

gender perspective and encourages him to demand accountability from senior
managers for gender mainstreaming; in this regard, the Special Adviser on Gender
Issues and Advancement of Women is encouraged to continue to fulfil her important
role.

In the ongoing reform process within the United Nations system, inter alia, in the
work of the executive committees, the systemic integration of a gender perspective
should be ensured.

The Council encourages the efforts of the Administrative Committee on Coordination

(ACC) to develop a mission statement on gender mainstreaming and trusts that such
a statement will send a clear and concrete message to the system and will be
applicable system-wide.

The heads of the specialized agencies are encouraged to establish accountability of

senior managers for gender mainstreaming.

All entities of the United Nations system, making full use of the expertise and support
of gender units or focal points - the Division for the Advancement of Women of the
Secretariat, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW) and the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality -
should institutionalize mainstreaming of a gender perspective at all levels through
specific steps, including:

(a) The adoption of gender mainstreaming policies and the formulation of specific
mainstreaming strategies for sectoral areas;

(b) The use of institutional directives rather than discretionary guidelines for gender
mainstreaming,

(c) The improvement of tools for gender mainstreaming, such as gender analysis,
the use of data disaggregated by sex and age and sector-specific gender surveys,
as well as gender-sensitive studies, guidelines and checklists for programming;
(d) The establishment of instruments and mechanisms for monitoring and
evaluation, such as gender-impact analysis methodologies;

(e) The creation of accountability mechanisms for gender mainstreaming.

United Nations funds and programmes and specialized agencies should ensure that,
on the basis of gender analysis, gender concerns are addressed in all planning
activities when setting priorities, allocating resources and identifying actions and
activities. The funds, programmes and agencies should also be requested to include
an assessment of the steps taken to translate gender mainstreaming into country
programmes and projects in their reports to the Council at its operational activities
segment.

All entities of the United Nations system should institute mechanisms for gender
mainstreaming in their planning and programming, for example, through participation
of gender specialists in these processes.

Administrative procedures should be adapted to include accountability mechanisms,

ensuring that a gender analysis has been conducted and its results reflected in the
respective activity.

The Council will assess the extent to which a gender perspective is being applied
through institutional directives for planning and programming, in preparation of the
comprehensive review of the system-wide medium-term plan for the advancement of
women, 1996-2001.

The Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, the Division for the
Advancement of Women, INSTRAW and UNIFEM, in their advocacy and advisory
roles, should better coordinate their support and catalytic activities for gender
mainstreaming and should identify and develop joint activities and work plans in
appropriate areas.

The annual reports of INSTRAW and UNIFEM should be made available to the
Commission on the Status of Women for information.

C. The role of gender units and focal points in gender mainstreaming

The location, seniority level, resources and participation of gender units/focal points
in all policy-making and programming processes and support at the most senior
management and decision-making levels are also crucial in translating the gender
mainstreaming mandate into practical reality. The role of such gender specialists in
all areas, including the economic and social fields, human rights and the political,
humanitarian, peace and security areas, should be strengthened.

The responsibilities of gender units and focal points should include:

(a) Support for the development of gender-sensitive policies and programme

strategies;

(b) Advice and support of staff in applying a gender perspective, in particular in the
follow-up to United Nations conferences;

(c) Development of tools and methodologies for gender mainstreaming;

(d) Collection and dissemination of information on gender issues and on best

practices;

(e) Assistance in monitoring and evaluating progress in gender mainstreaming in

policy, programme and budgetary terms.

At the field level, United Nations gender units and focal points should:

(a) Provide guidance to the entities of the United Nations system on gender
mainstreaming in the integrated follow-up to conferences across different sectoral
areas;

(b) In this regard, network with national machinery for the advancement of women
and with all non-governmental organizations, in particular women's non-
governmental organizations.

D. Capacity-building for gender mainstreaming

To enhance system-wide gender sensitivity and gender expertise through training as

a priority for gender mainstreaming, all entities of the United Nations system should:

(a) Integrate a gender perspective into all training programmes;

(b) Provide continuous gender training for all staff, including those at the highest
levels;
(c) Provide special training for gender experts to enhance their skills;

(d) Ensure that specialized gender expertise is available to them;

(e) Coordinate their training efforts through a system-wide evaluation of the impact
of gender-training.

The relevant agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system should
consider making arrangements and, if necessary, drawing up additional protocols to
existing memoranda of understanding in order to mainstream a gender perspective
in inter-agency partnerships and in cooperation agreements with intergovernmental
organizations.

To strengthen capacities for the collection, evaluation and exchange of gender-

related information, a coordinated, system-wide effort under the leadership of the
main coordinators for specific areas is needed for the development and systematic
usage of, inter alia:

(a) Gender-disaggregated statistics and indicators;

(b) Proposals for treaty bodies and States on how to use statistics, including
gender-disaggregated data, in reporting on and monitoring all relevant treaties in
order to integrate a gender perspective;

(c) Non-numerical indicators to monitor gender mainstreaming;

(d) Electronic networks for information exchange on gender mainstreaming, such as

Women Watch;

(e) Gender-sensitive public information activities and materials in all thematic areas.

Gender balance is another central goal. It is recommended that the General

Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women be regularly provided with
statistics on the number and percentage of women at all levels throughout the whole
United Nations system. The Council reaffirms the goal of a 50/50 gender distribution
by the year 2000 within the United Nations system, especially at the D-l level and
above, with full respect for the principle of equitable geographical distribution, in
conformity with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, also taking into
account the lack of representation or the under-representation of certain countries.
The ACC Consultative Committee on Administrative Questions and the International
Civil Service Commission should monitor progress in staffing policies aimed at
achieving gender balance.

Capacity-building also requires the collection and sharing of best practices and
lessons learned within the United Nations system and at the national level, including
successful national initiatives:

(a) The Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality is encouraged to

develop a standardized format for documenting and assessing gender-
mainstreaming experiences in all areas of work, such as social and economic
development, macroeconomic questions, operational activities for development,
poverty eradication, human rights, humanitarian assistance, budgeting,
disarmament, peace and security, and legal and political matters,
including training and capacity-building;

(b) The practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against

Women, in cooperating and collaborating with other treaty-monitoring bodies, should
serve as a good example of the mainstreaming of a gender perspective throughout
the United Nations system;

(c) At the field level, United Nations operational entities, with support from gender
experts and coordinated by inter-agency committees, should develop and share
memoranda of understanding on gender equality goals in programme development
and project implementation.

The Division for the Advancement of Women, acting as the secretariat of the
Commission on the Status of Women, should play an especially active role in
generating new ideas, proposing practical suggestions and promoting constructive
implementation of gender mainstreaming.

Capacity-building further requires recognizing the importance of working with

national commissions, national institutions for the advancement of women and non-
governmental organizations, in particular women's non-governmental organizations,
and developing partnerships with them.
Accountability structures for gender mainstreaming need to be introduced or
strengthened through institutional mechanisms and management culture. In this
regard, the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality is encouraged:

(a) To prepare a catalogue of accountability measures, including performance

indicators, to monitor and evaluate progress in gender mainstreaming on both the
programmatic and resource side;

(b) To establish a baseline for gender mainstreaming performance by identifying a

number of core indicators to be used in all departments and entities;

(c) To report regularly thereon, inter alia, to the Commission on the Status of
Women.

E. Gender mainstreaming in the integrated follow-up to global United Nations

conferences

In order to facilitate gender mainstreaming in the integrated follow- up, review and
appraisal of global United Nations conferences, the Council urges all entities of the
United Nations system to:

(a) Apply a gender perspective to all conference follow-up and, where appropriate,
adjust their implementation activities accordingly, including through targeted,
women-specific projects;

(b) To utilize gender analysis effectively to identify the differential impact of

implementation on women and men and to guide implementation towards gender
equality.

The resident coordinator should play a primary role in developing a coherent

approach to gender mainstreaming in United Nations activities on conference follow-
up at the field level, inter alia, through country strategy notes where these exist.
Close cooperation between the resident coordinator, UNIFEM regional programme
advisers, UNDP gender focal points and other United Nations agencies, funds and
programmes should be ensured.

All United Nations gender experts/focal points at the field level, including the
UNIFEM regional programme advisers, should:
(a) Establish a policy dialogue within sectoral areas to identify areas of commonality
and complementarity between the critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing
Platform for Action and the results of other United Nations conferences;

(b) Facilitate linkages between national machineries for the advancement of women
and all non-governmental organizations, in particular women's non-governmental
organizations, and the institutions and processes engaged in implementation of
United Nations conferences.

Enhanced interaction among the Division for the Advancement of Women,

INSTRAW, UNIFEM and national machineries for the advancement of women, such
as national commissions, national institutions and all non-governmental
organizations, in particular women's non-governmental organizations and relevant
research institutes, should be pursued.

As adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its 33rd meeting, on 18 July
1997. The Agreed Conclusions are contained in "Report of the Economic and Social
Council for 1997", A/52/3/Rev.