'Women Go Global'--new CD-ROM makes its debut.

• Author: Currier, Nuchhi
• Position: Passing By

A new CD-ROM, entitled "Women Go Global" and produced by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, has made its debut. The interactive, multimedia production provides a graphic account of the legitimization process of the global feminist movement by the United Nations. lust as the Organization's efforts in placing women's issues at the forefront of its agenda gather momentum and garner greater success, an authoritative source of information relating to those issues becomes essential.

The audio/video presentation highlights major themes of the international women's movement unfolding alongside United Nations international conferences and treatises. The same women's conferences in world capitals are shown running concurrently with major congresses of international non-governmental organizations. There are the voices of women from the North, emphasizing legal forms of discrimination and equality commingling with those from their sisters in the South, stressing women's roles in economic and social development.

Then there are the two divergent approaches to women and development: the equity approach, highlighting the negative impact of economic growth for women linked to their subordination; and the poverty approach, which argues that gender inequality promotes economic inefficiencies and perpetuates poverty. All these strands come together in the end to speak with one compelling voice.

The opening screen allows the viewer options to either pick the history of the international women's movement or look at UN conferences related to women's issues. Any of the five time-periods, between 1945 and 2000, leads to a chronological view of the combined histories of the United Nations and the feminist movement on gender equality.

Each of these sections has a short slide/film option and includes text, music, taped speeches and other recorded footage.

Since women have long been silent in demanding their...