Annex I SUMMARIES OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON THE CRITICAL AREAS OF CONCERN A. Chairperson’s summary 1. Member States, United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations made statements during the general debate, held on 2, 3 and 6 March 1998, on agenda item 3 (c), Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women: implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical areas of concern. 2. Delegates reported on actions taken to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, including specific national action plans that had been formulated for that purpose, which in some cases were elaborated on with assistance from organizations of the United Nations system from specific countries. They underlined the importance of strengthening national and international efforts to follow up on the Beijing Conference, emphasizing that the Platform for Action had become an important frame of reference for action at the national level for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality. While priorities differed, depending on the situation in a given country, the human rights of women and the elimination of violence against women tended to be common priorities. Countries that had not formulated national plans to follow up on the Platform for Action were urged to do so by the year 2000. 3. Representatives emphasized the importance of pursuing a policy of gender mainstreaming for equality and the empowerment of women. A number reported on recently formulated gender policies and on the establishment of national mechanisms for the advancement of women, including integration of gender equality goals into development policies, such as a white paper on women’s advancement, integration of a gender perspective into a reconstruction and development plan, and gender mainstreaming in federal development plans. Others noted the establishment of monitoring and oversight mechanisms to oversee activities for the advancement of women, sometimes in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and other actors in civil society. 4. The need for development assistance from the international community for national efforts to implement the Platform for Action was underscored. 5. Several representatives emphasized the urgency of stepping up efforts to collect statistical data disaggregated by sex and on gender-specific indicators. Some reported progress in that regard, including the development by one country of a set of economic gender-equality indicators which provided benchmarks of women’s and men’s economic realities that were often overlooked. 6. A number of delegates recommended continued close cooperation between the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Rights and their secretariats. One representative called for further rationalization of the work of the Commission on the Status of Women to ensure that, in its decisions and recommendations, it addressed only the central issues. 7. Several representatives expressed views on the proposals for a high-level review in the year 2000 of the implementation of the Nairobi and Beijing strategies. Preference to convene the review as a special session in May or June in the year 2000 was expressed, and the importance of the preparatory -65-