From DEBRA@oln.comlink.apc.orgTue Aug 22 02:34:43 1995 Date: Sun, 20 Aug 1995 10:08:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: USA on Beijing 2 [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## Original in: /HRNET/WOMEN ## author : DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org ## date : 20.08.95 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE May 1995: Background on the UN World Conferences on Women GLOBAL CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT BACKGROUND ON THE UN WORLD CONFERENCES ON WOMEN LEADING TO THE FOURTH UNITED NATIONS WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN: ACTION FOR EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE September 4 - 15, 1995 and the parallel NGO FORUM '95 August 30 - September 8, 1995 Beijing, China UN CONFERENCES AND NGO FORUMS A UN world conference usually involves two related events -- an official government conference and a forum for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These two events are held simultaneously or sequentially in the same city. THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE EVENTS UN government conferences and their parallel NGO Forums focus attention on a particular issue or world problem. They serve to change and advance world public opinion and policy. They are also a major opportunity for those interested in, and working on, an issue to meet, discuss the subject, exchange experiences and organize new groups or networks. The effects of world conferences can be profound and long lasting. For example, The 1985 World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women in Nairobi marked the first time the world paid attention, and governments acknowledged, the pervasive problem of violence, including domestic violence, against women. The recent UN Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio in 1992 refocused public attention at the global level on environmental issues. The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna declared women's rights to be human rights, and violations of women, such as systematic rape in times of war, as human rights violations. The conference recommended the appointment of a special rapporteur on violence against women and such a person was subsequently appointed by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. GOVERNMENT CONFERENCES These are composed of official delegations representing U.N. member or observer states. Delegates represent their government's interests, and speak for their governments, not as individuals. All nations come together as equals. All have a voice, and all have an equal vote. Preparations: The U.N. establishes the purpose, themes, date and location of the conference. The U.N. Secretary General appoints a conference secretary general who handles administration, logistics, relations with host government, and substantive concerns of the conference. A preparatory committee (PrepCom) is selected (such as the Human Rights Commission, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, etc.) to prepare the conference agenda and develop a proposed conference document. It also establishes guidelines for the role of NGOs in the conference -- their access to the formal conference and the general rules for the separate NGO Forum. Often, U.N. regional preparatory meetings and regional NGO forums are held preceding the world conference. Nations select their own delegates to the conference. The selection is made by foreign ministries and heads of government. Countries sometimes hold national meetings to discuss the conference agenda and that nation's priorities and input to the conference document. At the world conference governments exchange views on the subject matter and a document is discussed and adopted -- a plan or program of action - - that generally represents global consensus on the subject matter of the conference. During the world conference, drafting committees are often established to work out the final version of the document. Delegates from each nation participate in committee sessions. Negotiations on the conference document and on resolutions can be influenced by individual delegates or by relationships between delegates who are experts on the subject or advocates for a particular point of view. Regional groups frequently caucus to discuss and compromise issues. On the final vote on acceptance or rejection of the document each nation has one vote and usually is instructed from their capital on how to vote. By their vote, sometimes made with specified reservations, countries commit themselves to goals, standards of behavior, and actions. The conference document and resolutions may suggest new international institutions or other ways and means of dealing with the issue. FOLLOW-UP The conference document is distributed worldwide by the U.N. The document and any resolutions adopted at the conference are taken up at the U.N. General Assembly or by U.N. specialized agencies for action. The document, media attention and overall public awareness serve to change world public opinion and educate or inform the public. The document itself can serve individuals and organizations as an organizing and leveraging tool to use with governments, other institutions and international organizations. NGO FORUMS The NGO Forum is usually open to anyone interested in attending. (More commonly described as private non-profit or voluntary organizations in the United States, NGOs are non-governmental organizations.) The Forum is intended to provide a structured meeting place for persons and groups interested in the subject matter of the government conference. They are occasions for like-minded individuals as well as adversaries to come together. PREPARATIONS The Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations with U.N. consultative status (CONGO) establishes a forum planning committee made up of volunteers from organizations with consultative status and, usually, other NGOs with an interest or competence in the subject matter involved. The planning committee, with its coordinator or director, obtains a site, sets the date, establishes a forum newspaper and handles logistics. It raises funds to cover forum expenses (not including funding of workshops, seminars, exhibits, etc.), sets the program based on submissions from interested groups; organizes briefings; and produces a printed programs. Interested groups and individuals (NGOs) fill out the program. They organize workshops, seminars, and other events and apply to the coordinator for a time and space. Some groups hold a series of workshops; most just one. NGOs must finance their own events and participation. The forum takes no official action. It is primarily an information exchange, spirited debate, networking and organizing opportunity. Nevertheless, while there is no formal interchange between the forum and the delegations to the government conference, the two events can and do influence each other. The conference document, while drafted and debated in advance, is a working document that may be amended. NGO members often lobby conference delegates and can influence the final outcome. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S YEAR, 1975 In 1972 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1975 to be International Women's Year (IWY). The proclamation called for action to promote equality, the involvement of women in development efforts and the recognition of women's role in strengthening peace and promoting friendly relations among nations. The General Assembly's action came at the recommendation of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Established in 1947, the CSW prepares reports and recommendations on women's rights and status and has served as the preparatory body for the U.N. conferences on women. During 1975, the World Conference of the International Women's Year was held in Mexico City. More than 1,000 delegates, representing 133 countries, participated in the official UN conference; 75% of the delegates were women. The parallel conference for non-governmental organizations, the NGO Tribune, drew 6,000 women and involved information exchange, debate, networking, and leadership development. It came to be known as the world's largest consciousness-raising session and attracted extensive media attention. The government conference adopted a World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Women's Year. The Plan, drafted by the CSW, incorporated input from grass-roots organizations and women's groups around the world and set minimum goals, such as the eradication of illiteracy. The Plan provided a blueprint to NGOs, governments and international organizations for improving the status of women. The conference also approved a draft Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, subsequently adopted by the General Assembly in 1979. In force as of 1981 after its ratification by a required 20 states, as of March, 1995 it has been ratified by 139 countries. The United States signed it in 1980. President Clinton pledged to seek Senate approval of ratification. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted it successfully out of committee in late 1994, but it was not considered by the full Senate before adjournment. It must now be taken up in Committee again. Its ratification remains a top priority for the Administration among human rights treaties. U.N. DECADE FOR WOMEN: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE The General Assembly endorsed the Mexico City Plan of Action in December, 1975 and proclaimed 1976-1985 as the U.N. Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace. It called for a mid-decade conference in 1980 and added three sub-themes: employment, health, and education. During the first half of the decade the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the U.N. Voluntary Fund for the Decade of Women were created. Now called UNIFEM, the latter provides direct financial and technical support to low income women's groups in developing countries. The most widely quoted statistics to come out of the research conducted during the first half of the decade contained the ILO's sobering, yet galvanizing, revelations that: While women represent 50% of the world population and one-third of the official labor force, they perform nearly two-thirds of all working hours, receive only one-tenth of the world income and own less than 1% of world property. The mid-decade conference in 1980 in Copenhagen drew 1,326 delegates from 145 states. Another 8,000 women attended the NGO Forum. The Copenhagen conference adopted A World Programme of Action. It called for women's participation in politics and decision-making, and for the elimination of discrimination in law and policy. It encouraged governments and international institutions to conduct more research and to collect gender disaggragated data. The Decade for Women ended with the U.N. World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace held in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference drew 1,400 delegates from 157 nations. The NGO Forum drew an estimated 14,000, 60% of them women from developing countries. The conference adopted a plan of action for 1986 - 2000, the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. The Strategies validated the goals and objectives of the earlier Mexico City and Copenhagen documents, and indicated concrete measures to overcome obstacles to their achievement, especially in light of the worsening world economic situation that was slowing women's advancement and at times setting them back. THE FOURTH U.N. WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN AND NGO FORUM '95 In calling for a Fourth World Conference in Beijing in 1995, the General Assembly, in 1990, recognized that "the pace of implementation of the Forward Looking Strategies must be improved in the crucial last decade of the 20th century." The Platform for Action that is expected to emerge from the Fourth World Conference on Women is not intended to replace the Nairobi document but to accelerate its implementation, based on the accomplishments of the past ten years and the most stubborn or difficult obstacles to women's progress that remain. The preparatory body for all four women's conferences has been the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). At its 1993 annual session, the CSW adopted five goals for the Beijing conference: -- sharing power in private, public, political and economic life; -- full access to the means of development (education, employment and health); -- overcoming poverty; -- promoting peace and defending women's human rights; -- inspiring a new generation of women and men working together for equality. The final draft of the Platform for Action negotiated by governmental delegations at the final PrepCom in March outlines critical areas of concern and proposes objectives and actions. The critical areas as outlined in the current U.N. draft: -- the persistent and growing burden of poverty among women; -- unequal access to and inadequate educational opportunities; -- inequalities in health status and unequal access to and inadequate health care services; -- violence against women; -- effects armed or other kinds of conflicts on women; -- inequality in women's access and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies and the productive process itself; -- inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels; -- insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women; -- lack of awareness of, and commitment to, internationally and nationally recognized women's human rights; -- insufficient mobilization of mass media to promtoe women's positive contributions to society; -- lack of adequate recognition and support for women's contribution to managing natural resources and safeguarding the envirnoment; -- the girl-child The Conference itself will be the culmination of a process that has involved national and regional preparations and is intended to stimulate increased activity at all levels -- from local to global -- to improve the status of women and promote equality between men and women. The Critical Areas of Concern and Strategic Objectives and Actions contained in the Platform reflect the groundwork done at these preparatory meetings where the issues were raised and actions suggested. Five U.N. regional preparatory meetings were held in 1994. The European U.N. regional preparatory conference -- in which the United States and Canada participated -- was held in Vienna from October 17-21. It was organized by the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) based in Geneva. Non-governmental organizations held an NGO Forum in Vienna from October 13-15. For the first time at a world conference on women, the U.N. is accrediting a larger number of diverse NGOs for the Beijing conference and the regional preparatory conferences. The Secretary General of the Fourth World Conference is Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania. The Convener of the NGO Forum '95 is Supatra Masdit of Thailand; the Executive Director is Irene Santiago of the Philippines. For information on the Beijing conference: Fourth World Conference on Women 2 UN Plaza, Room 1204 New York, NY 10017 Telephone: 212 963-3104 Fax: 212 963-3463 For information and accreditation to NGO Forum '95 contact: NGO Forum Planning Committee 211 E. 43rd St., Suite 1500 New York, NY 10017 Telephone: 212 922-9267 Fax: 212 922 9269 Please note: All deadlines for application for accreditation to the governmental conference and registration to the Forum have passed. It is very important to send in the Request for Hotel form to guarantee a room in China. Hotel rooms will be assigned on a first-come, first- serve basis beginning May 31, 1995. U.S. PREPARATIONS The Honorary Chair of the U.S. delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women is the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ambassador Madeleine K. Albright, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, is chairman of the delegation; Honorable Marjorie Margolies- Mezvinsky is Deputy Chair. Other delegates who have been named are Maria Antonietta Berriozabal of San Antonio, Tx., Veronica Biggins of Atlanta, Ga., Lynn Cutler of Washington, D.C., Arthenia Joyner of Tampa, Fla., Dottie Lamm, Denver, Col., and Linda Tarr-Whelan of Washington, D.C. The United States' preparations for the world conference have included a series of meetings in the ten federal regions of the country held in 1994 under the auspices of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor in coordination with the State Department and in cooperation with local organizations. Overall coordination of U.S. preparations and immediate follow-up for the conference is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of State. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Timothy Wirth established a Conference Secretariat to coordinate preparations for the Women's Conference and the related conferences on Population and Development, held in Cairo in September, 1994 and the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in March, 1995. Theresa Loar is director of the Conference Secretariat. Secretariat staff for the Beijing conference include Mary Curtin, Kathleen Hendrix, Sharon Kotok, Jeffrey Meer, Regina Rhea and Lycia Sibilla. To add your name and organization to secretariat's mailing list, use this address: Conference Secretariat Department of State 2201 C St. NW Room 1318 Washington, D.C. 20520 Telephone: 202 647 3129 Fax: 202 647 4787 The Secretariat has been holding regular monthly briefings at OPM, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E. St. NW Meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays, June 6, July 11 and August 1 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Call the Secretariat hotline for further information: 663-3070 or, for hearing impaired, TDD number 647-3750. May, 1995 (###)