Resolution 39/2. Release of women and children who have been taken hostage in armed conflicts and imprisoned* The Commission on the Status of Women, Recognizing the fact that the main objective of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, adopted by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women, 1/ was to promote the achievement of equality, development and peace, Expressing grave concern at the continuation of armed conflicts in many regions throughout the world and at the human suffering and humanitarian emergencies they have caused, Emphasizing that all forms of violence against women and children in the areas of armed conflict, including capturing them as hostages, seriously contravene international humanitarian law, Expressing its strong belief that the rapid and unconditional release of women and children who have been taken hostage in areas of armed conflict will promote the implementation of the noble goals of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women before the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995; 1. Urges all parties to conflicts to release all women and children who have been taken hostage in areas of armed conflict, before the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women; 2. Requests the Secretary-General and all relevant international agencies to use all their potentialities to facilitate the release of all women and children taken hostage in the areas of armed conflict; 3. Also requests the Secretary-General to inform the Fourth World Conference on Women on the situation concerning the release of women and children who have been taken hostage in areas of armed conflict and to submit a report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fortieth session, on the implementation of the present resolution. Resolution 39/3. Integration of women in the Middle East peace process* The Commission on the Status of Women, Recalling its resolution 38/1 of 18 March 1994, Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/88 of 16 December 1994 on the Middle East peace process, Recalling further the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 10/ adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in June 1993, Stressing that the achievement of a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict will constitute a significant contribution to the * For the discussion, see chap. IV. -13-