AG/RES. 1431 (XXVI-O/96)

FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON COMPLIANCE WITH RESOLUTION AG/RES. 829 (XVI-O/86), "FULL AND EQUAL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN BY THE YEAR 2000"

(Resolution adopted at the eighth plenary session, held on June 7, 1996)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the fifth report of the Secretary General on compliance with resolution AG/RES. 829 (XVI-O/86) (AG/doc.3316/96), which indicates the measures taken to increase the effective incorporation of women into the development process;

RECALLING:

Resolution AG/RES. 829 (XVI-O/86), which called for the incorporation of the strategies and goals contained in the Plan of Action of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), "Full and Equal Participation of Women by the Year 2000," in the future programming of the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system and for the establishment of appropriate mechanisms and procedures for their ongoing review and evaluation, in coordination with the Inter-American Commission of Women;

Resolution AG/RES. 933 (XVIII-O/88), which instructed the General Secretariat to include in its instruments for evaluating programs and projects appropriate indicators to measure the impact of those activities on women and on their incorporation into the development process;

Resolution AG/RES. 1061 (XX-O/90), which reiterated the need for coordinated programming that establishes appropriate mechanisms and procedures with which to evaluate the results achieved;

Resolution AG/RES. 1192 (XXII-O/92), which recommended to the Secretary General that he call upon the Inter-American Commission of Women to provide the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system with a conceptual framework to facilitate the evaluation, within their respective areas of competence, of their implementation of the strategies and the goals aimed at the full and equal participation of women by the year 2000, and urged the Secretary General to adopt measures to increase the number of women in senior-level positions in the General Secretariat; and

Resolution AG/RES. 1303 (XXIV-O/94), which asked the Secretary General to include in his next report information on the implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on Gender Issues concerning women, to continue to increase the number of women in senior-level positions in the General Secretariat, and to report thereon to the Permanent Council by including gender statistics in the "New Salary and Benefits System of the OAS" (AG/doc.3094/94);

REITERATING:

The essential importance of effectively coordinating the policies and programs for achieving the goal of full incorporation of women into national development;

That the mechanisms and procedures necessary for full incorporation, as part of the programming, strategies, and objectives for achieving full and equal participation of women by the year 2000, have not yet been established in all areas; and

The importance of incorporating women at all levels of the decision-making process, both nationally and internationally; and

CONSIDERING:

That the Task Force on Gender Issues has been working to develop an effective framework for assessment of the inclusion of gender considerations, in the programs and projects executed by the General Secretariat; and

That in 1995 women occupied 29 percent of the D-2 positions, 27 percent of the D-1 positions, and 18 percent of the P-5 positions,

RESOLVES:

1. To welcome the fifth report of the Secretary General and, in particular, to recognize the work of the Task Force on Gender Issues on the inclusion of gender issues and the Guidelines and Procedures for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Harassment, established in Executive Order No. 95-07, issued by the Secretary General in September 1995.

2. To request the Secretary General to include in his sixth report the evaluation methods and guidelines developed by the Task Force on Gender Issues.

3. To recognize the efforts of the Secretary General and the progress made by the Organization in this area, and to request that efforts along these lines be continued.