United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

Abstract

Preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations has been very active during the past year convening world conferences in order to redefm e its goals and strategies for international cooperation on major issues. In September 1994, delegations from many nations met in Cairo for the International Conference on Population and Development. In March 1995, Copenhagen was the venue for the World Summit for Social Development. In September 1995, Beijing will be the setting for the Fourth World Conference on the Status of Women. In preparation for the latter conference, international delegations met in New York during March and April to prepare the Platform for Action, which is to be ratified in Beijing. The draft document was prepared by the Secretariat of the Commission on the Status of Women after consultation with regional groups of the United Nations. In New York, delegations were to propose amendments to the Platform for Action so that it would be ready for ratification in Beijing. At least that was the plan. The following report will describe how political agendas, arrogance, and bickering prevented the task from being completed. Perhaps the greatest obstacle, however, was the belief that every country in the world could reach consensus on so many contentious issues-there is a better chance of the holy grail being found this year. First, for those who are not familiar with the dynamics of the United Nations, I need to sketch out the role of the major players. On one side of the floor of the UN, members of the European Union (EU) huddle together; the representative from France is their spokesperson. On the other side of the floor sits the representative from the Philippines, who is the spokesperson for the Group of 77 (077). The 077, which now actually comprises 132 members, includes almost all nations from Latin and South America, Africa, and Asia. Members of the EU and the 077 meet in their respective groups before the main assembly convenes in order to formulate a group position. On the floor of the UN, it is therefore the spokespersons of these two groups who are the most active. It is significant that while 132 diverse nations were able to meet and, in most cases, bring about a consensus on difficult issues, the United ...