Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) Review Process

Resource Speaker: Lan Carreon-Mercado
Communications Program Manager, Isis Manila

MAIN POINTS OF THE PRESENTATION / INPUT

Last March, the Division on the Advancement of Women(DAW) issued guidelines for the BPFA Review Process. These guidelines were provided to make it easier for governments to monitor the implimentation of the BPFA in their countries. There are five focus areas and cross-cutting themes in the DAW framework. They are:

Five Focus Areas:

• Political will and commitment to create an enabling environment for the implementation of the BPFA
• Capacity-building for advancement of women and gender mainstreaming
• Accountability for, and assessment of, implementation of the strategies and actions in the BPFA
• Cooperation and partnership for implementing the BPFA
• Assistance to women and girls currently subject to discrimination and disadvantage

These focus areas are the issues that governments have to consider in order to fully adress the BPFA's 12 critical areas of concern.

Cross-Cutting Themes:

• Globalization and the economic empowerment of women, especially poor women
• Women, science and technology and the new information age
• Women's leadership
• Human security and social protection

Cross-cutting themes are equivalent to emerging issues.

Another framework for the review of the BPFA implementation is the questionnaire sent out to governments by the United Nations Secretary General. State parties were given one month to respond to the questionnaire.

Government and UN Review Process

National government level review will be conducted by the national machineries in coordination with the country representatives to the CSW. Governments are already using the DAW Guidelines and the Secretary General's questionnaire.

At the international level, the UN will hold a Special Session at the General Assembly Meeting in June 2000. During the Special Session, the Secretary General will present a report on the BPFA Implementation. Aside from the questionnaire, the Secretary General will base his report on governments' national action plans, the entire UN system (including regional meetings), and (possibly) from discussions of civil society, including on-line forums and discussions.

The CSW Meeting in 2000 will serve as the preparatory committee for the Special Session. During the Special Session, "Committee of the Whole" will be organized by the CSW in which NGOs and gov't parties will work together. The "Bureau of the Commission" organizes the Special Session. Members of the bureau will be elected from the CSW and the General Assembly.

NGO Participation in the Review

There is a need for NGO participation and input in the review process. One of the issues NGOs have to consider is which framework they will use for their own review process. NGOs must have a say in deciding which issues should be focused on in the review because there are some issues that are not being covered in the DAW guidelines (Women in Media & Indigenous Women. for example).

Thus, NGOs are calling for an open-ended process -- one that is open to other issues and not only issues covered in the various official frameworks/guidelines/processes.

The NGO process is happening at various levels. At the international level, CONGO (Committee of NGOs with Consultative Status with ESCAP) coordinates the NGO participation.

At the regional and sub-regional levels, NGOs are represented by regional organizations and caucuses.  The Asian Caucus has decided on four principles that wouls guide its participation in the regional review process:

• High level of participation -- feedback from women's groups in the regio
• Inclusion -- addresses the dynamics of civil society internal politics
• Independence -- of the national, sub-regional levels of the process.
• Integration -- recognizes the need to putting together all the sub-regional report to come up with a regional alterntive report, which have to remain faithful to the sub-regional processes.