E/1999/27 E/CN.6/1999/10 Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan 35. At the 13th meeting, on 11 March, the representative of the United States of America, on behalf of Argentina,35 Australia,35 Austria,35 Belgium, Bulgaria,35 Canada,35 Chile, Denmark,35 the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 35 Finland, 35 France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, 35 Ireland,35 Israel,35 Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan,35 Lithuania, Luxembourg, 35 the Netherlands, 35 New Zealand,35 Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, 35 the Republic of Moldova, 35 Romania, 35 Slovakia, South Africa,35 Spain,35 Sweden, 35 Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan” (E/CN.6/1999/L.7). Subsequently, Costa Rica,35 Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, 35 Cyprus, Czech Republic, 35 Hungary, 35 Iceland, 35 Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines,35 Poland and Slovenia 35 joined in sponsoring the draft resolution. 36. At the 17th meeting, on 1 April, the representative of the United States of America orally revised operative paragraph 8 of the draft resolution as a result of informal consultations by inserting the words “within Afghanistan” after the words “into all United Nations programmes”. 37. At the same meeting, Colombia, Georgia, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, Nepal, the Russian Federation and Venezuela joined in sponsoring the draft resolution, as orally revised. 38. Following a statement by the representative of Germany (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union and associated countries, as well as Cyprus, Iceland and Liechtenstein), the Commission approved the draft resolution, as orally revised, and recommended it to the Economic and Social Council for adoption (see chap. I, sect. B, draft resolution I). Women and mental health, with emphasis on special groups 39. At the 13th meeting, on 11 March, the observer for the Philippines,35 on behalf of Chile, Ecuador,35 Georgia,35 Ghana, Guatemala, 35 Indonesia, 35 Kenya, 35 Namibia, 35 Panama, 35 Peru, the Philippines,35 Senegal, Thailand, Venezuela 35 and Zambia, 35 introduced a draft resolution entitled “Women and mental health, with emphasis on special groups” (E/CN.6/1999/L.8), and orally revised it. Subsequently, Botswana,35 Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda and Ukraine35 joined in sponsoring the draft resolution, which read as follows: “The Commission on the Status of Women, “Reaffirming the commitments made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women36 that women have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, “Recalling that the Platform for Action, in the critical area on women and health,37 included women’s mental health on the agenda for women’s empowerment, by asserting that health was a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being; women had the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; health and well-being eluded the majority of women; and one of the major barriers for women to the achievement of the highest attainable standard of health was gender-based inequality, 36 37 See Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13). Ibid., chap. I, resolution 1, annex II, para. 89. 35