Women's conference adopts 'Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.' (Breaking new ground ... Fourth World Conference on Women)

Acknowledging "the voices of all women everywhere" and declaring that women's rights are human lights", the Fourth World Conference on Women - one of the largest world gatherings under UN auspices - concluded in China's capital city on 15 September with the adoption of the "Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action", a comprehensive, ground-breaking plan for the international community to promote the status of women.

"My dear sisters and brothers, we have made it", declared Conference Secretary-General Gertrude Mongella, as thousands of delegates cheered after almost two weeks of difficult deliberations and sometimes acrimonious debate at the Conference in Beijing (4-15 September).

"We have managed to transcend historical and cultural complexities; we have managed to transcend socio-economic disparities and diversities; we have kept aflame our common vision and goal of equality, development and peace", said Mrs. Mongella. A revolution has begun and there is no going back."

Invited by the Platform for Action, which calls on States to respond with concrete commitments to improve the status of women, more than 100 countries and most UN organizations made formal commitments in their statements during the Conference plenary.

In addition to the Declaration and Platform for Action, these commitments constitute the major results of the Conference, most of them dealing with three areas: reform of national policies; numerical targets for the year 2000; and frameworks for international development cooperation.

Some 50,000 persons - more than two thirds of them women - came to Beijing for the Conference and related events. These included nearly 5,000 delegates from 181 Member States, 4,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and 3,200 media representatives. A parallel NGO Forum on Women'95, held from 30 August to 8 September, attracted some 30,000 participants. As Mrs. Mongella noted, this was "an all-inclusive celebration of women's work" that helped "cement the bonds and networking among women from all corners of the globe".

Progress uneven

Among its 38 provisions, the Beijing Declaration recognizes that the status of women has advanced in some important respects in the past decade, but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences for the well-being of all people.

The 189 Governments taking part in the Conference pledged to dedicate...

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