World Conference on Women, 1995

The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China.

Background 

The founding United Nations charter (1945) included a provision for equality between men and women (chapter III, article 8). Subsequently, from 1945 to 1975 various female officials within the United Nations and leaders of women's movements on the global stage attempted to turn these principles into action. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution (resolution 3010) that 1975 should be International Women's Year. In December 1975, the UN General Assembly passed a further resolution (resolution 31/136) that 1976–1985 should be the "Decade of Women".

First World Conference on Women, Mexico City, 1975 

In conjunction with International Women's Year, the first world conference on women was held in Mexico City in 1975. It resulted in the Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace.

Second World Conference on Women, Copenhagen, 1980 

The second world conference on women was held in Copenhagen in 1980. The conference agreed that the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was an important milestone. The Copenhagen conference also acknowledged the gap between rights being secured for women and women's ability to exercise those rights. It was also agreed that it was action on the three areas of: equal access to education; employment opportunities; and adequate health care services are essential to achieve the goals set out in Mexico.

Third World Conference on Women, Nairobi, 1985 

The third world conference on women was held in Nairobi in 1985. The Nairobi conference set out areas by which progress in women's equality could be measured: constitutional and legal measures; equality in social participation; equality in political participation; and decision-making. The conference also acknowledged that women need to participate in all areas of human activity, not just those areas that relate to gender.

Preceding the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995 

Delegates had prepared a Declaration and Platform for Action aimed at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women.

In fallout from pre-conference meetings, the Holy See publicly disagreed with positions outlined by the United States and other nations concerning abortion, reproductive rights, and other sensitive issues. The following eight points are included in reproductive health:
1. Safemotherhood
2. Child and infant health
3. Family planning
4. sexual diseases
5. Reproductive health problems of elderly women
6. Control and the treatment of the problem caused by abortion.
7. Preventive and treatment of infertility/reproductive 
8. Adolescence health.

Secretary-general 
Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania was the secretary-general of the conference.

Keynote address 
Aung San Suu Kyi delivered the keynote address at the conference.

Other speeches 

Hillary Clinton, at the time the First Lady of the United States, gave the speech Women's Rights Are Human Rights at the conference on 5 September 1995. That speech is considered to be influential in the women's rights movement, and in 2013 Clinton led a review of how women's rights have changed since her 1995 speech. The 1995 speech was listed as No. 35 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century (listed by rank).

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, MC (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997) more commonly known as Mother Teresa, gave a speech at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Teresa stated "Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving."

Many other speeches were also given at the conference, on behalf of governments, the United Nations and inter-governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

Beverly Palesa Ditsie is the first African lesbian woman to make a statement arguing for the rights of LGBT, especially lesbians, on 13th of December 1995 to address the United Nations about LGBT rights.

Outcomes

Beijing Declaration

Beijing Platform for Action 
A summary of the Beijing Platform for Action is given below:

Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women 
A major result of the conference was the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women, signed at the NGO Forum in the Indigenous Women's Tent. This document seeks, in part, to reconcile the tension felt by Aboriginal women activists between (primarily white) feminism and Aboriginal movements dominated by men. It was a significant step forward towards Indigenous women's rights and a significant victory for Indigenous feminism practice.

The 50-point declaration provides rationale and a clear call to action for governments navigating Aboriginal issues across the globe. The demands in the document are "that all governments and international non-governmental and governmental organizations recognize the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, and enshrine the historical, political, social, cultural, economic, and religious rights of the Indigenous peoples in their constitutions and legal systems." From that premise, the declaration goes on to specify areas for action including self-determination; development, education and health; human rights violations and violence against Indigenous women; intellectual and cultural heritage; and political participation.

The document addresses the unique problems Aboriginal women suffer in addition to those suffered by Aboriginal men, which include erosion of culture (and gender roles therein), loss of traditional land, and compromised identity and status in the spaces they inhabit.

As its bases, the declaration cites the "UN Declaration of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous peoples, the Draft Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous peoples, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, and the Copenhagen Social Summit Declaration."

Commemoration
In 2014 UN Women began its commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women with the Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture It! campaign, also called the Beijing+20 campaign.

In 2019, UN Women launched the Generation Equality Campaign and Generation Equality Forum to "tackle the unfinished business of empowering women through a new groundbreaking, multi-generational campaign, Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future."  Also called Beijing +25, the campaign and forum are being organized in collaboration with members of civil society, and are meant to serve as the planning events, along with the 64th Session of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), in the lead up to a UN General Assembly high-level meeting in New York on September 23, 2020. In 2019, at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, governments agreed to present their commitments and planned activities to bring about gender equality by 2030 at a one day session during the 74th session in 2020. The demands of the Generation Equality Campaign include "equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women and girls, health-care services that respond to their needs, and their equal participation in political life and decision-making in all areas of life." The Generation Equality Forum is being convened by UN Women, and co-chaired by Mexico and France. The Forum will begin in Mexico City, May 7-8, 2020 and will conclude in Paris, France from 7-10 of July, 2020. Discussions and reviews of progress on the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) will also take place at the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York, on March 9-20, 2020.

Documentary
In 2015 a documentary called "MAKERS: Once And For All", about the Fourth World Conference on Women, premiered.

References

External links
 

Category:Diplomatic conferences in China
Category:Women's conferences
Category:United Nations conferences
Category:1995 in women's history
Category:1995 conferences
Category:1995 in international relations
Category:1990s in Beijing
Category:20th-century diplomatic conferences
Category:Reproductive rights
Category:Women's rights
Category:Women's rights in China
Category:China and the United Nations