Sixty-third session Third Committee Agenda item 56 (a) Advancement of women: advancement of women Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Monaco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of): revised draft resolution Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 61/143 of 19 December 2006 and 62/133 of 18 December 2007, and all its previous resolutions on the elimination of violence against women, Reaffirming the obligation of all States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and reaffirming also that discrimination on the basis of sex is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other international human rights instruments, and that its elimination is an integral part of efforts towards the elimination of all forms of violence against women, Reaffirming also the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, and the declaration adopted at the forty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Reaffirming further the international commitments in the field of social development and to gender equality and the advancement of women made at the World Conference on Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development and the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, as well as those made in the United Nations Millennium Declaration and at the 2005 World Summit, and noting the attention paid to the elimination of all forms of violence against indigenous women in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/295 of 13 September 2007, Recalling the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as the recognition by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide or torture, Recalling also Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and welcoming the adoption of Council resolution 1820 (2008) of 19 June 2008 on women and peace and security, Deeply concerned about the pervasiveness of violence against women and girls in all its different forms and manifestations worldwide, and reiterating the need to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls throughout the world, Recognizing that violence against women is rooted in historically unequal power relations between men and women and that all forms of violence against women seriously violate and impair or nullify the enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and constitute a major impediment to the ability of women to make use of their capabilities, Recognizing also that women’s poverty and lack of empowerment, as well as their marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social policies and from the benefits of sustainable development, can place them at increased risk of violence, and that violence against women impedes the social and economic development of communities and States, as well as the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, Recognizing further that the empowerment of women, by ensuring their full representation and full and equal participation at all levels of decision-making, is important in eliminating violence against women and girls, Acknowledging the need to address violence against women holistically, including through the recognition of linkages between violence against women and other issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty eradication, food security, peace and security, humanitarian assistance, health and crime prevention, Expressing its appreciation for the high number of activities undertaken by States to eliminate all forms of violence against women, such as by enacting or amending legislation relating to acts of violence against women and adopting comprehensive national action plans to combat such violence, Recognizing the important role of civil society, in particular women’s organizations, in the efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, 1. Stresses that “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life; 2. Recognizes that violence against women and girls persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development, peace and the internationally agreed development goals, in particular the Millennium Development Goals; 3. Expresses concern about the continued level of impunity for acts of violence against women worldwide; 4. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the elimination of rape and other forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, including in conflict and related situations; 5. Welcomes also the efforts and important contributions at the local, national, regional and international levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in particular the second thematic report on violence against women, its causes and consequences submitted by the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council in 2008; 6. Recognizes the important role of the family in preventing and combating violence against women and girls and the need to support its capacity to prevent and combat violence against women; 7. Welcomes the launch of the Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women, “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, supported, inter alia, by the advocacy campaign of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, “Say NO to violence against women” and the United Nations inter-agency initiative “Stop Rape Now: United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict”, and stresses the need to ensure that concrete follow-up activities will be undertaken by the United Nations system to intensify action to end violence against women, in close consultation with existing system-wide activities on violence against women, and requests the Secretary-General to identify, announce and report on the basis of the expected results of his campaign; 8. Strongly condemns all acts of violence against women and girls, whether these acts are perpetrated by the State, by private persons or by non-State actors, and calls for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State; 9. Stresses that it is important that States strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;2 10. Stresses also that States have the obligation to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against women and girls and to provide protection to the victims, and that failure to do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms; 11. Urges States to end impunity for violence against women, by investigating, prosecuting with due process, and punishing all perpetrators, by ensuring that women have equal protection of the law and equal access to justice and by holding up to public scrutiny and eliminating those attitudes that foster, justify or tolerate all forms of violence against women and girls; 12. Reaffirms that the persistence of armed conflict in various parts of the world is a major impediment to the elimination of all forms of violence against women and, bearing in mind that armed and other types of conflict, terrorism and hostage-taking still persist in many parts of the world and that aggression, foreign occupation and ethnic and other types of conflict are an ongoing reality affecting women and men in nearly every region, calls upon all States and the international community to place particular focus on and give priority attention and increased assistance to the plight and suffering of women and girls living in such situations and to ensure that where violence is committed against women and girls, all perpetrators of such violence are duly investigated and, as appropriate, prosecuted and punished in order to end impunity, while stressing the need to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law; 13. Stresses the need for the exclusion of killing and maiming of women and girls, as prohibited under international law, and sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes; 14. Stresses also that States should take measures to ensure that all officials responsible for implementing policies and programmes aimed at preventing violence against women, protecting and assisting the victims, and investigating and punishing violence against women, receive proper training to sensitize them to the different and specific needs of women, in particular women who have been subject to violence, so that women are not re-victimized when seeking justice and redress; 15. Stresses further that States should take all possible measures to empower women and inform them of their rights in seeking redress through mechanisms of justice, inform everyone of women’s rights and of the existing penalties for violating those rights, and engage men and boys as well as families as agents of change in preventing and condemning violence against women; 16. Urges States to continue to develop their national strategy and a more systematic, comprehensive, multisectoral and sustained approach aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against women, including through achieving gender equality and empowerment of women, and by using best practices to end impunity and a culture of tolerance towards violence against women, inter alia in the fields of legislation, prevention, law enforcement, victim assistance and rehabilitation, such as: (a) Establishing, in partnership with all relevant stakeholders, a comprehensive integrated national plan dedicated to combating violence against women in all its aspects, which includes data collection and analysis, prevention and protection measures, as well as national information campaigns using resources to eliminate in the media gender stereotypes that lead to violence against women and girls; (b) Reviewing and, where appropriate, revising, amending or abolishing all laws, regulations, policies, practices and customs that discriminate against women or have a discriminatory impact on women, and ensuring that provisions of multiple legal systems, where they exist, comply with international human rights obligations, commitments and principles, including the principle of non-discrimination; (c) Evaluating and assessing the impact of current legislation, rules and procedures regarding violence against women, including the reasons for low reporting, and, where necessary, reinforcing criminal law and procedure relating to all forms of violence against women and, where necessary, incorporating into law measures aimed at preventing violence against women; (d) Ensuring that there is sufficient knowledge, including expertise in effective legal approaches to eliminate violence against women, awareness and coordination in the legal system and, to that end, where appropriate, appointing a focal point in the legal system for cases of violence against women; (e) Ensuring the systematic collection and analysis of data to monitor all forms of violence against women, while ensuring and maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the victims, including with the involvement of national statistical offices and, where appropriate, in partnership with other actors; (f) Establishing appropriate national mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating implementation of national measures, including national action plans, taken to eliminate violence against women and girls, including through the use of national indicators; (g) Providing adequate financial support for the implementation of national action plans to end violence against women and other relevant activities; (h) Allocating adequate resources to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality and to prevent and redress all forms and manifestations of violence against women; (i) Adopting all appropriate measures, especially in the field of education, to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women and to eliminate prejudices, customary practices and all other practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes and on stereotyped roles for men and women; (j) Empowering women, in particular women living in poverty, through, inter alia, social and economic policies that guarantee them full and equal access to all levels of quality education and training and to affordable and adequate public and social services, as well as equal access to financial resources and full and equal rights to own land and other property, and to take further appropriate measures to address the increasing rate of homelessness or inadequate housing for women in order to reduce their vulnerability to violence; (k) Treating all forms of violence against women and girls as a criminal offence, punishable by law, and ensuring penalties commensurate with the severity of the crimes and sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress, as appropriate, the wrongs caused to women who are subjected to violence; (l) Taking effective measures to avoid that the victim’s consent becomes an impediment to bringing perpetrators of violence against women to justice, while ensuring that appropriate safeguards to protect the victim are in place; (m) Ensuring that effective legal assistance is available to all female victims of violence so that they can make informed decisions regarding, inter alia, legal proceedings and issues related to family law, and also ensuring that victims have access to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered, including through the adoption of national legislation where necessary; (n) Ensuring that all relevant public officials coordinate effectively in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of all forms of violence against women, and provide protection and support to victims; (o) Developing or improving and disseminating specialized training programmes, including practical tools and good practices guidelines on how to identify, prevent and deal with cases of violence against women and on how to assist victims, for police officers, the judiciary, health workers, law enforcement personnel and other relevant public authorities; (p) Strengthening national health and social infrastructure to reinforce measures to promote women’s equal access to public health and address the health consequences of all forms of violence against women, including by providing support to victims; (q) Establishing or supporting integrated centres through which shelter, legal, health, psychological, counselling and other services are provided to victims of all forms of violence against women, and where such centres are not yet feasible, promoting collaboration and coordination among agencies, in order to make remedies more accessible and to facilitate the physical, psychological and social recovery of victims, and ensuring that victims have access to such services; (r) Ensuring adequate and comprehensive rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of violence into society; (s) Ensuring that the prison system and probation services provide appropriate rehabilitation programmes for perpetrators, as a preventive tool to avoid recidivism; (t) Supporting and engaging in partnerships with non-governmental organizations, in particular women’s organizations, and other relevant actors and the private sector to end violence against women; 17. Calls upon the international community, including the United Nations system and, as appropriate, regional and subregional organizations, to support national efforts to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality in order to enhance national efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls, including, upon request, in the development and implementation of national action plans on the elimination of violence against women and girls, through, inter alia, and taking into account national priorities, official development assistance and other appropriate assistance, such as facilitating the sharing of guidelines, methodologies and best practices; 18. Stresses the contribution of the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc international criminal tribunals in ending impunity through ensuring accountability and punishing perpetrators of violence against women, and urges States to consider ratifying or acceding as a matter of priority to the Rome Statute,7 which entered into force on 1 July 2002; 19. Welcomes the steps taken by several United Nations bodies to discuss, within their respective mandates, the question of violence against women in all its forms and manifestations, and encourages all relevant bodies to continue to address this issue in their future efforts and work programmes; 20. Reiterates its request to the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality to consider ways and means to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women as a system-wide funding mechanism for preventing and redressing all forms of violence against women and girls, and in this regard stresses the importance of new and increased contributions from all States to the Fund in order to achieve the target set by the United Nations Development Fund for Women; 21. Calls upon all United Nations bodies, entities, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies and invites the Bretton Woods institutions to intensify their efforts at all levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and to better coordinate their work, inter alia through the Task Force on Violence against Women of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality; 22. Requests the Secretary-General to submit: (a) To the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, a report with information provided by the United Nations bodies, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies on their follow-up activities to implement General Assembly resolutions 61/143, 62/133 and the present resolution, including on their assistance to States in their efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women; (b) To the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, a report with information provided by States on their follow-up activities to implement the present resolution; 23. Also requests the Secretary-General to present an oral report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-third session with information provided by the United Nations bodies, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies on recent follow-up activities to implement resolution 61/143 and resolution 62/133, including on the progress made on enhancing the effectiveness of the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women as a system-wide United Nations mechanism and on the progress of the Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women, and urges United Nations bodies, entities, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies to contribute promptly to that report; 24. Decides to continue the consideration of this question at its sixty-fourth session under the item on advancement of women. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378. See resolution 48/104. Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex. See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum (E/2005/27 and Corr.1), chap. I, sect. A; see also Economic and Social Council decision 2005/232. See resolution 55/2. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, No. 38544. A/63/214. A/63/216. A/HRC/7/6. __________________ __________________  sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/C.3/63/L.12/Rev.1 sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/C.3/63/L.12/Rev.1 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 08-58625 \* MERGEFORMAT 8 \* MERGEFORMAT 7 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 08-58625 United Nations A/C.3/63/L.12/Rev.1 General Assembly Distr.: Limited 4 November 2008 Original: English jobn \* MERGEFORMAT 08-58625 (E) 051108 Barcode \* MERGEFORMAT *0858625*