22. Many representatives agreed that policy-making should be based on a
realistic and integrated approach to urban development, including partnership of
the public, private and community sectors, involving both men and women.
23. One representative emphasized the importance of adequate resources. The
same representative stressed the importance of emphasizing the repercussions on
women of unilateral economic measures of a coercive nature which are, at times,
applied against developing countries for political reasons. Such measures
tended to have a broad impact on the socio-economic life of the entire
population and constituted a clear case of violence against women.
C.
Peace: measures to eradicate violence against women
in the family and society
24. Most representatives welcomed the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women, adopted by the General Assembly at its forty-eighth
session, as an important first step towards the eradication of violence against
women. They also welcomed the decision to establish the post of Special
Rapporteur on violence against women and the results of the Vienna Conference on
Human Rights, which had recognized that women’s human rights were an integral
part of human rights in general; consequently, all forms of violence against
women should be considered as serious violations of human rights and dealt with
at the main human rights forums.
25. Several representatives commented on the Vienna Declaration and Programme
of Action and commended its gender-sensitive approach to human rights. One
representative indicated that, although women’s rights were theoretically
enshrined in the universal human rights instruments, specific violations of
women’s human rights and gender-specific abuses had not been specifically
addressed by the instruments. Furthermore, it was observed that ratification of
the human rights instruments was not enough; a clear gender-sensitive approach
to their interpretation and application was necessary, since interpretation of
the principles they contained had not ensured equal protection of men’s and
women’s rights.
26. Some representatives stated that the Special Rapporteur had a primary
responsibility for the implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women and could make a substantial contribution to the
monitoring and implementation of the Declaration by properly reporting on abuse
and responding to it. Others emphasized that the Commission on the Status of
Women had an important part to play in raising awareness of the issues,
monitoring progress and encouraging positive developments until the Fourth World
Conference on Women made its recommendations on the matter.
27. Many representatives referred to the steps taken towards closer cooperation
between the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Centre for Human
Rights, indicated in the report of the Secretary-General on the follow-up to the
World Conference on Human Rights (E/CN.6/1994/11). In her statement, the
representative of the Centre for Human Rights provided an account of the
initiatives undertaken. She emphasized the need to provide better protection
for women’s human rights, to continue exploring better modalities for
coordinating the efforts of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Commission on Human
Rights.
-74-
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents