From DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.orgMon Sep 4 09:28:23 1995 Date: Sat, 02 Sep 1995 12:20:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: CODEHUCA: Beijing 2 ingles [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 : codehuca@nicarao.apc.org ## date : 31.08.95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today FIRE (Feminist International Radio Endeavour) transmiting from Beijing, China reported on the inauguration ceremonies of the NGO's Women Forum. The event began today with varied activi- ties, in Hairou and Beijing including workshops, expositions, dances and conferences among others. The inauguration ceremony was described as "magestic", acclaimed by many women as "better than many Olympic games ceremonies". Thousands of children, boys and girls participated in the opening ceremony. 36,000 thousand women from around the world had the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful and well planned event. "It was impres- sive, very impressive to watch as 8,000 peace doves flew to the skies. Approximately 5,000 boys and girls danced, showing the varied chinese cultures,the famous chinese opera was there too". Different expositions are already in place. A great deal of in- formation is available in a series of tents where women from all regions are displaying information, sharing their experiences and exchanging resources. There are also book displays where women authors are highlighted. In the Latin American exposition, Cen- tral America and Costa Rica have a space and are participating in this exchange. Language is an obstacle but translation is being arranged for the daily panels and forums. In these meetings, several issues will be the focus of discussion and analysis, among others, the global forces which contribute to the deteriorating living conditions of women will be addressed. Also addressed will be an analysis of the strength of the Women's Movement and its proposed strategies for the official Conference. Their goals are to ensure incorpo- ration of the proposals of women in the Official Action Platform of the United Nations, which will be finalized in this conferen- ce. The official Conference is to begin on September 4, continuing until September the 15th. It will overlap with four days of the NGO's forum, between the 4th and the 8th of September. The Conference's discussion topics are: "Development, Peace and Equality" while the NGO's Forum is adressing 12 topics: Politics and Economy; Environment; Humankind Peace and Security; Human Rights; Political Governance; Education, Health, Arts and Cultu- re; Religion; Science and Technology; Media and Communications Technology. The issue of poverty is of great importance and interest for Latin American women. Several workshops and discussion panels on this issue will take place in the days that follow. Simmilar attention is given to economics and political issues. Citizenship and the political rights of women are emphasized by Latin and Caribbean women, with particular regard to democracy and the participation of women in national and political decision making processes. The democratic rights of women continues to be a high priority issue. On the other hand, women have made clear that establishing "prio- rities" doesn't imply the development of hiearchies. In fact, when women address economic issues, they are also adressing the issue of feminization of poverty. The approach is wholistic and prevents the isolation of political issues from economic, social and cultural issues with a gender perspectives. This integrative perspective is being applied in all discussions, conferences and forums, in order to create effective strategies for addressing the needs of women. In the Official Conference two new agenda topics introduced by the Women's Movement are being considered. The first topic con- cerns "the girls" of the world. The acknowledgement of this topic is an important achievment since girls have systematically been ignored in national and international forums and disc- ussions. Even in the International Children's Conference held in 1990, in which the International Child Convention was approved, the specific situation of girls in the world was not directly adressed. The second topic concerns Communications, which was not a part of the Nairobi conference. Women in the media are participating significantly in the present conference. Not only are women journalists and reporters covering the events of the conference, they are also providing a medium for all women to raise their voices and demand recognition of proposed strategies in the Offi- cial Action Platform of the United Nations.