Dear colleagues,

In March 2005, the UN Commission on the Status of Women will hold a special session for the ten-year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action. In line with the role assigned to them by the General Assembly, the UN regional commissions are providing contributions to the global 10-year review, by organizing a Preparatory Meetings to take place during the last quarter of 2004.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) that covers also Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, will be organizing a Regional Forum for Beijing +10 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, on 14-15 December 2004. The Forum will focus on three areas of concern covered by the Beijing Platform for Action, which are of particular relevance for the UNECE region: (i) women and economy (employability, gender budgets, social protection); (ii) institutional mechanisms to promote gender equality; and (iii) trafficking in the context of migratory movements. The main objectives of the meeting will be to: (1)  Support the implementation of the Beijing commitments at national level through the provision of a regional platform for the assessment of progress; (2) Identify gaps and remaining challenges; (3) Exchange good practices to facilitate the process of policy convergence based on successful experiences; and (4) Contribute to the global 10-year Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. For more details, please find attached the Information Note and the preliminary programme of the Beijing +10 meeting.

As in the previous meetings of its kind, the European networks of women NGOs are expected to be actively involved in the work of the Forum. Prior to it, they will be organizing their own meeting on 12-13 December, in coordination with the NGO Working Group for Women in the UNECE region, a Geneva based platform established in 1993.  The attached Note includes the information on NGO participation in the inter-governmental meeting. Please kindly note that the procedure for accreditation for NGOs without the ECOSOC status and those who did not participate in the Beijing +5 will be placed on www.unece.org/oes/gender. The web will be soon available in Russian too.


The preparations are expected to be shared among the regional organizations with specific expertise and experience in the areas addressed. During Beijing +5 review, UNDP played instrumental role helping to organize national delegations and bringing participants to the meeting, recommending NGOs for accreditation at the inter-governmental meeting, but also providing substantive contribution in organizing side -event(s). I would appreciate if this time we could also coordinate the efforts, and together with UNDP COs see how we could best contribute to the process. I would be looking forward to receiving your feedback.
With kind regards, Dono


    Dono Abdurazakova, Gender Advisor
    UNDP, Europe and the CIS
    Bratislava Regional Centre
    Grosslingova 35, 81109 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
    Tel:  +421 2 59337 314
    Fax: + 421 2 59337 450
    Cellular: + 421 908 729848
    dono.abdurazakova@undp.org
    www.undp.sk <http://www.undp.sk/>  gender.undp.sk <http://gender.undp.sk/>