(h) UN CONFERENCES ON WOMEN

INTRODUCTION
UN took gender concem as the integration of women rights in very beginning.

ESTABLISHMENT
UN institute ECOSOC was established. The member states of UN were 51 in 1951. Out of 51
only 13 allowed women to right of equal vote and right to hold public office.

OBJECTIVES OF COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW)

Political rights
Economical rights
Civil rights
e Social and educational rights
In June 1946, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to ensure the empowerment of women and gender
equality (E/RES/2/11, 21 June 1946), and to provide recommendations to the Council on the obstacles
relating women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and education fields.
Over the years, the CSW has organized different conferences in order to assert and improve the
rights of women. So far, four world conferences on women have taken place. The conferences have
sought to unite the international community behind a set of common objectives with-an effective plan
of action for the advancement of women everywhere, in all spheres of public and private life.

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 The Commission on the Status of Women has been Ichl)(ll
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ible‘:(())l
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ng oo ;I;“ "
Kl ( ferences on women in Mexico (1975),
BT, frarv gthe opast decad
Copenhagen (1 ‘” ) iewed propress [y,
mt)‘;\ ;)“h()u e, the Commi
gssion
issi has 5 .wyh(c.
mnlul,;
alticil
system ‘Xl. o
reviewe o jress iye
‘“ I‘ : 1\1:1 on of the 12g eritical areas of concern identificd
cmentatio
in ”"“. L:JII ! tl o”n' ik
. X . ) . i, I
annual
““P“l““‘ sessioions,
ns, and hasR adopt ed :
actio e
n-oriented recom mendations, in the [ ¢ o,
to facilitate increased implementation at all levels. it e DB el ik,
issi.
g N > < Commission acted
cted as as the the Ad-hoe Preparatorfory y Lommi
Con lteo fo s and chalign " '
‘“‘L( l Assem bly (Beiji
the (_d:.l‘i new recommendationsng+5). The outcome identificd persistent g:](a]s i X nmi“mu: 5 g
D for action to ensure full imiplenientation
provid edo ST
, e for inidlenientati o 19'> Cor
NS mad
My,
in Bejing in l‘)‘)b;d —

FIRsT WORLD CONFERENCE (A GLOBAL DIALOGUE IS OPENED), 1975

Outline
e Introduction
* Major concerns and issues
¢ Establishment of new divisions and branch
es under UN
® Overall description
Introduction,

¢ Discrimination against wo
men
* Ensuring full gender equali
ty
* Participation of women in de
velopment
® - Social and economic
integration for women
Increased contribution of
women in global peace
¢ The attention of global
community to be drawn
effective strategies and to develop the future-ori
plans of action for adya
ncement of women
ented goals,
Establishment of New
Divisions
UN established two divisi
ons:

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 * INSTRAW (International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women).
* UNIFEM (Unitad Nations Development Fund fop Women)
Objectives
* Rescarch
e Trining
.
01“"““i“_“’“‘ndn'itics in the area of women develo
pment
Overall Description
It ‘w;)s.thc largest intemational forum iy which women themselve part
s icipated. Out of 133
states, 130 were headed by women. Women also organized NGO forums at that time. It was stressed
W 1es to t0 make
on countries make policies
policies for
for w women
omen. 15
Eastern states were more concerned on peace but western
states were more concemned on the role of women in devel
opment
SecoND WORLD CONFERENCE (THE REVIEW PROCESS BEGINS), 1985
Outline
e Introduction
e Adaption of CEDAW
e Major concerns
e Overall description
Introduction
There was a general consensus that significant progress had been made as representatives of 145
member-states met in Copenhagen in 1980 for the second world conference on women to review and
appraise the 1975 World Plan of Action. Governments and the international community had made
strides toward achieving the targets set out in Mexico City five years earlier.
An important milestone had been the adoption by the General Assembly in December 1979 of
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, one of the most
powerful instruments for women's equality. The Convention, which has been termed "the bill of rights
for women", now legally binds 165 States, which have become States parties and obligates them to
report within one year of ratification, and subsequently every four years, on the steps they have taken
to remove obstacles they face in implementing the Convention. An Optional Protocol to the
Convention, enabling women victims of sex discrimination to submit complaints to an international
treaty body, was opened for signature on Human Rights Day, December 10, 1999. Upon its entry into
force, it will put the Convention on an equal footing with other international human rights, instruments
having individual complaints procedures.
Despite the progress made, the Copenhagen Conference recognized that signs of disparity were
beginning to emerge between rights secured and women's ability to exercise these rights. To address
this concern, the Conference pinpointed three areas where specific, highly focused action was
essential if the broad goals of equality, development and peace, identified by the Mexico City
Conference, were to be reached. These three areas were equal access to education, employment
Opportunities, and adequate health care services.

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 The deliberations at the Copenhagen Conference took place in the shadow of politic,
ofp al tensigy,
e of them carried over from the Mexico City Conference. Nevertheless, the Con lclrcnc‘\ Came l(\\‘
‘s:f;:c with the adoption of a Programme of Action, albeit not by consensus, which cited 3 Vatiery
"
factors for {hL-‘dxscrc‘pam.)
i cy between
‘een legal rig
legal rights and women's ability to exercise these rights, incly.khng
adoption of CEDAW.

Adoption of CEDAW
An important milestone has been the adoption of CEDAW. It stand
s for Conventjg,
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Wome
n. It is the most powerful instrume
o
women equality. One hundred and sixty five signatory all
over the world took part in it. The co
U oy
which signatures CEDAW is responsible for implemen umry
tation of this.
Major Concerns
¢ Involvement of men in improving women's
role in society
* Political participation and rights for women
* Addressing women's need in planning
¢ Women in decision making
Extending the facility and services related to wom
en at nati onal level
* Day care services
¢ Credit services
¢ Provision of financial services of women
* _ Education and awareness among women

SOME FURTHER CONCERN

In the conference Copenhagen programme
of action was introduced. List of activiti
* Ensure women's ownership es are:
¢ Control of property \

* Right to inheritance
¢ Child custody
¢ Elimination of stereotype attitudes
towards women
OVERALL DESCRIPTION
To address women related con
cerns, the Copenhagen Progra
other things, stronger national measures mme of Action called for, amo
to ensure women's owners ng
as improvements in women's rig hip and control of property, as well
hts to inheritance, child custody,
the Conference also urged an and loss of nationality. Delegates
end to stereotyped attitudes towards ¥
women,
THIRD WORLD CONFERENCE (T
HE BIRTH OF GLoBAL FEMINIsm
), 1990
Outline
s Introduction
¢ Sharing experiences and report
s

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 o Narobi forward looking strategies and concerns
o Overall Description

Introduction
The UN's Third erWorl d N
ars of W ork on gend cmpo S/(: ;‘:; fi?C/ c\ :;K} Vgls cn in Nq1r0b1 represented t.hc culmination of ten
" ies and 15,000 NGO repr & ed by approximately 1,400 official delegates from 157

en andp (llc scvm mwcs ‘ the conference aime d to evaluate the progress made durineg
Deca de for Wom
e " antial progress had be evnse~ a new course of actio n for the advancement of women. Whil
subs Narisipanis en ma.de in the last ten years, it was clear that there was still a great deal to
nce against women, which they felt
be dot:)et- been piven \t\;lere espegauy vocal on the subject of viole
hadfn - neegded . Gf attention it deserved. At the same time, many others belicved that the
n in peace and
con Tremem “mitiati o focus on finding ways to strengthen the role of wome rences aside and
devel op:l | ives. .At the Nairobi conference, participants set their diffe
awarde eq:‘a. Cofs‘deratlon to these interrelated and mutually reinforcing goals.
by the conference, provides a blueprint for
aion’r\lxl:til azl(;ggl t::xaf—l}?gkmg Sh_'ategies, adc.;pted nce
thr nk the prom otio n and maintenance of peace to the eradication of viole
act s
aga\n§t VYOm?vfl oughout the l?road spectrum of society. The document urges member-state to take
imination against womeh, and tailor
CO@“‘““"““ “}d legal steps to eliminate all forms of discr
ts to promote peace and
national strategies to facilitate the participation of women in effor
dations for gender empowerment in
development. At the same time, it contains specific recommen
regard to health, education and employment.
the acute differences
‘The greatest achievement of the Nairobi conference is that, despite
on ground on all the issues
dividing the 157 member-states, representatives were able to find a comm
egies.
addressed and unanimously adopt the Nairobi Forward looking Strat

Forward looking Strategies

Three basic measures of categories were
A strategy was made on previous experiences.
The main points are:
identified in this forward-looking strategy.
o Constitutional and legal steps.
o Equality in social participation.
and decision making.
o Equality in political participation
on and Concerns
Further Recommendati
o Employment
e Health
services
o Education and'social
o Industry and science
and environment
o Communication

Overall Description in 1985, the UN revealed to

memberstates.
fer enc e hel d in Nai rob i
At the Third Wo
rld Con
the jmp rov eme nts and par tic ipants were asked to fn
from
a nu mb er of women bene fited nt and equality could be achieved. Three sectors iden
on ly peace, develop
me
that
areas to ensure
A
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 - A ol ticioa tionion and
'
Nairobi include equality in socia cqualit‘lly
y inin popolitical
parti cipat f.qqu : ‘l‘l“parti
o cipat
‘Ii;l ion
o and d“—}:»
.. lo
making. The conference further recognized the necessity of women to participate scussiony d
areas and not only on gender equality.

FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE (LEGACY OF SUCCESS), 1995

Outline
e Introduction
e Establishment of BPFA
e The platform for action and its 12 arcas
® The role of NGOs were recognized and appreciated
e Overall Description

Introduction
This conference was held in 1995 in Beijing. It is known as "Legacy of
Success". One hung
and eighty nine governments and states participated. 17,000 partic
ipants, 6,000 government delegay
4,000 representatives of NGOs and 4,000 representati
ves of media were present.
Establishment of BPFA
189 countries signatures on adoption which is know
n as "BPFA" stand for Beijing Platform f
Action. The Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action were adopted by consensus
15, 1995. The Declaration embodies on Septemby
the commitment of the international
advancement of women and to the community to (hy
implementation of the Platform for
perspective is reflected in all policies Action, ensuring that a gend,
and programes at the national, regi
The Platform for Action sets out onal and international level
measures for national and internationa
women over the five years until l action for the advancement
2000,

12 Areas of Platform
for Action
* Women and Poverty
¢ Education and Traini
ng of Women
¢ Women and Health
* Violence against Wo
men
* Women and A, Co
nflict
* Women and the Ec
onomy
* Women and the
Power ang Decisi
* Women and the Me on Making
ch anism fo
* Women ang the r Advancement
Right, s for Huma
n

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 e Women and the Mc
dia
e Women and the Enyiro
nment
e Women and the Girl Ch
ild
The Role of NGOs
i
Four thousand i with
-ard 10 equali . NGOs representatives were there. They were recognized as change makers
regard (o equality, violence and discrimination
Overall Description
The overridin
addressed in the Pli[;:essage of t.he Fourth World Conference on Women was that the issues
practices perpetuate inerm fOr Acno_n are global and universal. Deeply entrenched attitudes and
life, in all
parts of the world Acc;l:da'hty agd discrimination against women, in public and private
priori ties at all levels, ingly, lmplementation‘ requires changes in values, attitudes, practices and

betweg::flggf:fg‘;;tfl@?fiid a clear commitment to international norms and standards of equality

g pa;'t o um.easurc-:s to protelct and promote th'e human. rights of women an.d girl-
iowels sat e 2eoricnted mvers'al 1_1uman nghts_ must underlie all action; and that institutions at
B ¢ reoriente to expedite implementation. Governments and the UN agreed to promote
the "mainstreaming" of a gender perspective in policies and programmes.
Follow-up Conferences
e Beijing Rcvieyv Conferencet5: After five years in 2002, 23rd session on UN General
Assembly achievements were seen on the regional and national point.
in 2010.
o Beijing Review Conference +10: 49th session on Commission of Status of Women
In this conference BPFA was implemented.
o Beijing Review Conference +15: It was the 15th anniversary of Beijing conference. The
agendas discussed in this conference were
o Including grass root women
o Experience sharing
Achievement of millennium development
o
Confer ence +20: The Beijing +20 Regional Review Meeting was held on
Beijing Review
Palais des Nations in Geneva. The meeting addressed key areas of progress
November 6-7, 2014 at the m for Action in the UNECE member-
of the Beijing Platfor
and challenges in the implementation in gender equality. ar.ld thc cn}powcrment' of
as long-te rm trends
states. It focused on such issues eliminating v191ence ag?\r:t
s represe ntation and leadership in decision. making, sary (; tlz
women, women'
legisla tion and gender justice. As‘ it marked the. 20-year anniver
women, anti-discriminatory
and Platfor m for Action, the meeting was }?n f);t)po;ir: ?/hcn
adoption of the Beijing Declara tion g
s over the last two decades and discuss how to
highlight key achievements and setback
gender equality in the post-2015 development agenda.