131. Before the draft resolution was adopted, statements were made by the representative of the United States of America and the observer for Israel; after it was adopted, statements were made by the representatives of Lebanon, Norway and Costa Rica and the observer for the Syrian Arab Republic. The observer for Palestine also made a statement. Humanitarian assistance: mainstreaming a gender perspective 132. At the 14th meeting, on 20 March, the representative of the United States of America introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.6/1997/L.9) entitled "Humanitarian assistance: mainstreaming a gender perspective", which read as follows: "The Commission on the Status of Women, "Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the principle of equal rights of men and women, "Reaffirming that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, "Reaffirming also the equal right of women and men and girls and boys to participate fully in political and economic life, including their equal right to pursue educational, employment and other opportunities, "Reaffirming further the United Nations system-wide policy on gender equality, "Recognizing the importance of women in all phases of development and humanitarian assistance, such as education, health care and food distribution, "1. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the United Nations, including all its subsidiary bodies and agencies, designs and implements its programmes and assistance without discrimination against women, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, international human rights law, and other principles relevant to the advancement of women; "2. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all United Nations-assisted programmes are formulated in such a way as to promote the full participation of women in all aspects of those programmes, including design, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, as well as increase the number of female beneficiaries and participants; "3. Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-second session on the delivery of humanitarian assistance from a gender perspective." 133. At the 15th meeting, on 21 March, the representative of the United States of America withdrew the draft resolution. -53-