rights mechanisms of the United Nations, and most representatives welcomed the idea of appointing a special rapporteur on violence against women as an important step in building on the draft declaration on violence against women. A few representatives pointed to the urgent need to protect women’s rights in situations of civil strife and to prevent human rights abuses against women in times of armed conflict. 20. In accordance with the Economic and Social Council resolution 1992/20 on the advancement of women and human rights, in which the Commission on the Status of Women was requested to establish, during its thirty-seventh session, an open-ended working group to consider its contributions to the World Conference, two working group meetings were held and, as a result, a resolution on the World Conference on Human Rights was drafted. Communications concerning the status of women 21. On 17 March 1993, a list of confidential communications concerning the status of women (S.W. Communications List No. 27) was distributed in a sealed envelope to the representatives of each State member of the Commission. 22. At its 5th meeting, on 19 March 1993, the Commission appointed a Working Group on Communications concerning the Status of Women. The Working Group held two closed meetings. 23. Many representatives took the view that the communication procedure needed to be further strengthened and suggested informal discussions on ways of making the existing procedure more transparent and efficient. Specialized agencies were encouraged to provide the Commission with information that was relevant to the issue of discrimination against women. One representative observed that the procedure would be enhanced by the adoption of the draft declaration on the elimination of violence against women. 24. On 24 March, the representative of Chile, on behalf of the members of the Working Group, introduced the report of the Working Group in a closed meeting of the Commission. At the subsequent meeting, the Commission decided to adopt the report of the Working Group as orally revised, and to include it in its entirety in the report of the Commission. 25. The report of the Working Group read as follows: "The Working Group on Communications concerning the Status of Women was guided in its deliberations by the mandate given in resolution 1983/27 of 26 May 1983 of the Economic and Social Council. "The Working Group had before it all communications received by the Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations Office at Vienna, as well as those that had been extracted from the confidential list of communications concerning human rights received by the Division from the Centre for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva and those received from United Nations bodies and specialized agencies. "The Working Group noted that among the five communications received directly by the Division for the Advancement of Women there was a diversity of alleged cases relating to de facto and de jure discrimination against women in various areas, including aspects of everyday life, specifically discrimination in marital relations, prohibition of the right of association and participation in public life, restriction of the freedom of movement, lack of economic opportunities leading to prostitution and inequality in social security rights. -61-