United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Shawwal 13- Dhu al Qa'dah 1415/ March 15-April 4, 1995 New York City, New York

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 ...