The Agreed Conclusions of the 53rd Session of the CSW reaffirms the following: * Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action * The outcome documents of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly * The declaration adopted by the Commission on the 10th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. * The outcomes of the 1994 International Conference on population and Development * 1995 World Summit for Social Development * 2000 Millennium Summit * 2002 World Summit on Children * 2002 Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development * 2001 Declarations of Commitment on HIV/AIDS * 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS * ILO Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1989 (No. 156 & No. 157) * General Assembly Resolution 62/277 of 15 September 2008. * Outcome documents of the International Conference on Population and Development. * The World Summit for Social Development. * Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development. * The Cairo Plan of Action Topics Covered: HIV/AIDS * Gender inequality increases women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. With the overall expansion and feminization of the pandemic women and girls bear the disproportionate burden to care for and support those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Therefore, member states need to ensure that existing HIV/AIDS polices are reviewed to ensure they empower women and reduce their vulnerability to HIV/ AIDS. * Member states need to design and implement programmes, that educate men and boys to understand their role and responsibility in the spread of HIVAIDS and in matters related to their sexuality, reproduction, child-rearing and the promotion of equality between women and men and girls and boys and enable women and men to adopt safe sexual and reproductive behavior. * Member states need to take actions to govern the recruitment, training and retention of skilled health personnel in the prevention and treatment for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. * Member states need to strengthen, expand, improve and promote accessibility of public health care and services related to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. They also need to increase the number of professional healthcare providers in order to alleviate the current burden on women and girls who provide unpaid care services in the context of HIV/AIDS. * Member states need to increase universal access to health services, including in remote and rural areas, taking into account the challenges facing developing countries in the retention of skilled health personnel. * Member states need to scale up efforts towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010 and the goal to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 and ensure that those efforts promote gender equality. Equal Sharing of Responsibilities/ Valuing Caregiving * Member states need to ensure men and boys are actively involved in policies that aim to improve the equal sharing of responsibilities. * Member states need to take efforts to devise social and cultural strategies that acknowledge the societal and individual value of care. * Member states need to measure in quantitative and qualitative terms, unremunerated work that is outside of national accounts in order to better reflect its value and recognize the necessary measures to incorporate the value and cost of unpaid work within and between households and society at large in policies, strategies, plans and budgets across all relevant sectors. * Member states need to adopt and evaluate gender sensitive legislation and policies that promote a balance between paid work and family responsibilities. They also need to emphasize men’s equal responsibility with respect to household work. * Member states need to ensure that women and men have access to maternity, paternity, and parental leaves. * Member states need to develop and implement appropriate policies and programmes to address stereotypical attitudes and behaviors to promote the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men across the life cycle. * Member stated need to take measures to increase the participation of men in caregiving both within households and in care professions, such as information and awareness campaigns in order to promote men’s participation and responsibilities as fathers and caregivers, * Member states need to strengthen the capacity of national statistical offices to effectively collect comprehensive information on all categories of activities to inform policy development that facilitates the sharing of unpaid work between women and men; Women in Decision Making & the Labor Market * The commitment to the equal participation of women and men in public and political life is a key element to women’s and men’s equal participation in care giving. Therefore, Member states need to establish concrete goals and adopt actions and in order to enhance women’s equal participation in decision making processes and the equal division of responsibilities. * Member states need to strengthen coordination, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency in the United Nations system in the implementation of national policies for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. * Member states need to enhance the collection and dissemination of statistics on the relative participation of women and men in leadership roles in public office and in strategic economic, social and political decision-making positions, in order to promote the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men in these spheres; * Women need to enjoy the equal treatment, pay and power in the formal economy, in economic decision making, including the sharing of paid and unpaid work. The unequal division of responsibilities further embeds women’s precarious situation in the labor market. * The Commission expresses its deep concern over the negative impact of the global economic and financial crisis which could hamper progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Discrimination Against Women/Gender Inequality. * The Commission recognized that gender inequality still exists. Member states need to review, amend, or abolish all laws, regulations etc. that discriminate against women. We also need to develop strategies that eliminate gender stereotypes in all spheres of life. * Member states need to mainstream gender perspectives into all legislation, policies etc. in order to enhance international cooperation to promote gender equality and the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS. * Member states need to design and implement programmes, including awareness-raising programmes, to promote the active involvement of men and boys in eliminating gender stereotypes as well as gender inequality and gender-based violence and abuse, * Men and boys need to take responsibility and work jointly with women and girls in order to achieve the goal of gender equality. The capacity of men in bringing about change in attitudes and access to resources and decision-making are critical for the promotion of gender. |
Summary of the Agreed Conclusions from the 53rd Session of the CSW |