be made to provide funds for such meetings from the regular budgets of the Branch for the Advancement of Women and other concerned units of the United Nations system. Another representative stated that the results of such meetings assisted the Commission in identifying not only what action should be taken but also how and by whom such action should be carried out. A. ~quality: national machinery for monitoring and improving the status of women 160. In introducing the priority theme, the Director of the Branch for the Advancement of Women noted that the documentation was largely the result of the interregional Seminar on National Machinery for Monitoring and Improving the Status of Women, held in Vienna (Austria) from 28 September to 2 October 1987. The issue -84-concerned the tools by which equality could be achieved and the type of national machinery for the advancement of women that should be developed in individual countries, taking into account the considerable variation among countries in their organizational structure, reflecting divergent political, social and economic systems and histories. She stressed that wherever the national machinery was located, it should be closely linked to political decision-making, in particular that concerned with broad social and economic policies and with the allocation of public resources. Such machinery should function as an efficient network at both the country and global levels and make effective use of information. She referred to the Seminar on Information Systems for the Advancement of Women for National Machinery, held in Vienna in January 1988, with financial assistance from the Government of Japan, the report of which had been made available as a background paper to the current session (Background paper 6). The Director suggested that the Commission might wish to provide guidance to Governments on principles to be 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the advancement of women, specifically the national machinery for monitoring and improving their status, and the importance of effective information systems. It seems to focus on the social and economic aspects of women's advancement, rather than purely economic or environmental issues.

**Category**
Education, Employment, Humanitarian aid and relief