From DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.orgMon Sep  4 09:28:23 1995
Date: Sat, 02 Sep 1995 12:20:00 +0100
From: Debra Guzman <DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org>
Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org
To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org
Subject: CODEHUCA: Beijing 2 ingles

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## 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.