Promoting a United Nations 5th World Conference on Women

For debate in the Standing Committee — see Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure

Doc. 10643

6 July 2005

Promoting a United Nations 5^th World Conference on Women

Report

Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Rapporteuse: Mrs Lydie Err, Luxembourg, Socialist Group

Summary

The last United Nations World Conference on Women took place in Beijing 10 years ago, in 1995. The Platform for Action adopted on this occasion was a landmark document marking the transition from the concept of the advancement of women to that of promoting equality between the sexes.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation of women in the world today is depressing and in some areas even worse than in 1995. The backlash against women’s rights and gender equality has taken many forms. Few governments have lived up to their commitments made in Beijing – there has not only been a lack of implementation of the Platform for Action but also a lack of political will to change the status quo.

This is not the right moment to give in to “gender equality fatigue” and complacency and to give up on the Beijing Platform for Action and its important goals. While a renewed vigour in the implementation of the Platform remains, of course, highly desirable, it should not be overlooked that by now, ten years after the last World Conference on Women, many new challenges have emerged which were not covered in 1995. To be effectively combated, such challenges as the rise in violence against women (especially gender-based and domestic violence) and the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to women and girls, require a concerted world-wide effort and new political impetus which only a new World Conference on Women can bring about.

The Parliamentary Assembly should thus recommend to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to promote a United Nations Fifth World Conference on Women, to take place no later than the year 2010, and to organise a preparatory European regional conference no later than the year 2007.

I. Draft recommendation

§ 1. On 4 March 2005, the United Nations (UN) commemorated 30 years of its efforts to promote gender equality. In fact, the first World Conference on Women (WCW) was held in Mexico in 1975, and marked the start of the “UN Decade for Women”. However, it was not until 1995, when the fourth WCW was held in Beijing, that the issue of gender equality became a high-profile issue for the UN. The Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in Beijing marked the transition from the concept of the advancement of women to that of promoting equality between the sexes, something which requires the participation of both women and men, and of society as a whole. Accordingly, the Beijing Platform for Action required governments, the international community and civil society to take strategic action in twelve critical areas.

§ 2. Unfortunately, already the 5-year review process held in New York in 2000, the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, showed that governments were lagging behind in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The 10-year review process held in New York in March 2005, downgraded to a technical evaluation within the framework of the 49^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, made clear that there was not only a lack of implementation but also a lack of political will to change this status quo.

§ 3. The Parliamentary Assembly considers that this is not the right moment to give in to “gender equality fatigue” and complacency and to give up on the Beijing Platform for Action and its important goals. The reality of the situation of women in the world today is depressing and in some areas even worse than in 1995. The backlash against women’s rights and gender equality has taken many forms:

§ 3.1. a surge in domestic violence and gender-based violence in general, including egregious violations of women’s human rights through so-called honour crimes, female genital mutilation, trafficking, forced marriages, “gynocide” and other such abominable practices;

§ 3.2. the targeted victimisation of many women and girls in armed conflicts;

§ 3.3. a reluctance (if not downright refusal) to allow women to adequately participate in decision making, be it in the political and economic spheres or even in the family;

§ 3.4. a reinforced tendency to stereotype gender roles to the detriment of women’s liberty to freely choose how to lead their lives;

§ 3.5. gender preferences for boys (and ensuing neglect of the girl-child) with increasingly worrying demographic implications in some countries;

§ 3.6. a bitter debate on reproductive health issues, especially abortion.

§ 4. While a renewed vigour in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action may help to combat some of these ills, it should not be overlooked that by now, ten years after the last WCW, many new challenges have emerged which were not covered in 1995. These challenges range from the rising impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women over women’s access to new information technology to trafficking in human beings and the targeted victimisation of women in armed conflict. To be effectively combated, these international challenges require a concerted world-wide effort and new political impetus.

§ 5. The Assembly considers that only a new WCW can bring about the required world-wide effort and political impetus, and that the organisation of such a Conference is, in fact, overdue. However, a renegotiation of the Beijing decisions needs to be precluded: the 5^th WCW should be called to deal exclusively with the new and emerging challenges to women’s rights and gender equality.

§ 6. Some of the topics the fifth WCW should deal with are:

§ 6.1. violence against women, especially gender-based and domestic violence, including trafficking in women and girls, forced marriages, so-called honour crimes, “gynocide”, female genital mutilation and rape;

§ 6.2. protection against governments which violate or do not adequately protect the human rights of women;

§ 6.3. HIV/AIDS, in particular the spread of the epidemic to women and girls;

§ 6.4. women’s access to decision making in all spheres, including in conflict prevention and resolution;

§ 6.5. stereotyped gender roles and gender preferences, leading to discrimination against women and neglect of the girl-child;

§ 6.6. protection against media organisations which treat women as merchandise;

§ 6.7. women’s access to information and communications technologies and their impact on women's day-to-day lives.

§ 7. The Assembly thus recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

§ 7.1. promote a United Nations Fifth World Conference on Women which should not reopen the Beijing Platform for Action for debate, to take place no later than the year 2010;

§ 7.2. invite the governments of the Council of Europe member states to support this initiative;

§ 7.3. organise a preparatory European regional conference no later than the year 2007.

§ 8. Moreover, the Assembly encourages its members to take appropriate action in national parliaments in order to promote the holding of such a conference.

II. Explanatory memorandum by the Rapporteuse, Mrs Err

A. Introduction

1. The difficult situation in which women find themselves has been condemned ever since the First World Conference on Women (WCW) was held, in 1975, but progress has been slow, despite another three conferences that followed. When preparations began for the most recent review process (“Beijing + 10”, in March 2005) in respect of the fourth conference (held in Beijing in 1995), and in view of the impetus given by the previous conferences, it was legitimate to wonder whether a fifth conference would be appropriate. I therefore tabled a motion for a recommendation on “promoting a United Nations Fifth World Conference on Women”, which was referred to our Committee for report. I presented a first outline report to the Committee in December 2004, and attended part of the review conference held in New York at the beginning of March 2005, as well as the IPU parliamentary event organised on the occasion on “Beyond Beijing : towards gender equality in politics”.

B. The international history of the gender equality issue

2. Although some European countries set up national machinery in the sixties for the advancement of women or equality between women and men, it was mainly during the seventies, and especially after 1975, the date of the first WCW, that the existence and role of such machinery began to take on a national and international profile in Europe.

3. Worldwide, the international community has played a crucial role in this respect. The first step was the holding in Mexico City of the first WCW, in 1975, which had been declared International Women's Year. The UN Decade for Women (1975-1985) and the second and third conferences, held in Copenhagen in 1980 and in Nairobi in 1985, were marked by some progress. At the third WCW, in 1985, forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women were laid down with a view to improving the situation of women and making it acceptable by the year 2000.

4. It can nevertheless be said that it was mainly in 1995, when the fourth conference was held ("Action for Equality, Development and Peace") that the issue of equality between women and men took on a significant profile. The conference was held by the United Nations in Beijing between 4 and 15 September 1995, and was attended by the representatives of 198 governments, UN bodies, international institutions and intergovernmental organisations. They came together to take stock of women's situation and they set targets to be reached with a view to improvements by the year 2000. The decisions taken, along with the reservations expressed by certain states, are in the Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in Beijing.

5. The Platform for Action contains 285 paragraphs, covering the general situation of women in the world, the objectives set and the means of action proposed to use to reach these. It defined the national and international measures to be taken over the next five years for the advancement of women. It draws on the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It calls on governments, the international community and civil society, including non-governmental organisations, to take strategic action in twelve critical areas of concern¹. The Declaration reaffirms the need and the will to act to promote equality between women and men. It reflects the international community's commitment to implementation of the Platform for Action, while ensuring that a gender-specific perspective is taken of all regional, national and international policies and programmes. It contains 38 paragraphs summarising the decisions included in the Platform for Action.

6. The content of these documents reflects a major step forward in that, at international level, it was not until this conference that the transition was made from the concept of the advancement of women to that of promoting equality between the sexes, something which requires the participation of both women and men, and of society as a whole.

7. The subjects covered by the Platform for Action were assessed at the 23rd Special Session of the UN General Assembly, in June 2000, entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century", a session commonly referred to as "Beijing + 5". On that occasion, governments decided to review the implementation of the Platform for Action in 2005, in other words "Beijing + 10". As no world conference had been planned, the Commission on the Status of Women carried out a technical evaluation of the progress made in implementing the Platform for Action, at its 49th session, in New York in March 2005². This session was an ordinary high-level session³, with the chairperson then forwarding its study to the 60th session of the UN General Assembly.

C. “Beijing+10”: a review of the tenth anniversary of the 4th^WCW8.

8. The downgrading of the level of discussion at “Beijing +10” to a technical meeting within the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women was lamented by many, especially by NGOs. One cannot avoid the feeling that securing equality between women and men and ensuring the respect of women’s human rights has slipped to the bottom of the agenda not only of the UN as an international organisation, but of governments and parliaments – indeed of whole societies the world over. The Beijing Platform for Action has been implemented to a certain extent by some governments (few and far between, in fact, although Europe is amongst the most progressive regions in this respect) – and only haltingly, grudgingly or not at all by other governments⁴. In general, one gets the impression that, as far as the world’s governments are concerned, “their heart is not in it”.

9. Why this sudden reluctance to effectively promote gender equality and protect women from what are – in many cases – egregious human rights violations? In the last decade, there has been a general backlash against feminism and women’s rights, due both to the rise of religious fundamentalism and to a general malaise amongst the male population who feel that their position in society, their prerogatives of power (whether in politics, business or indeed the family) are under threat. This backlash has taken many forms: a surge in domestic violence and gender-based violence in general, a reluctance (if not downright refusal) to put into place electoral rules which would guarantee a better political participation of women, such as electoral quotas or zipper-systems, and a reinforced tendency to stereotype gender roles to the detriment of women’s liberty to freely choose how to lead their lives. A bitter debate surrounding reproductive health issues, especially abortion, has further soured the atmosphere, as has the victimisation of many women in conflict zones around the world in the last decade, from Bosnia to Darfur.

10. Many progressive governments, and even many NGOs, thus seem to have concluded that it is better “not to rock the boat” in the current negative atmosphere, and to stick to the Beijing Platform for Action as the best document they are likely to get. The former UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King, talked of “gender equality fatigue” and “complacency”⁵. While I would, of course, agree that the Beijing Platform for Action must be regarded as an “acquis” not open to renegotiation, I think it is a fallacy to tacitly accept the backlash against gender equality and try to hold still until the storm is over: the storm is never going to be over. In fact, it may still get much worse. Progressive governments and NGOs need to take a stand and fight for gender equality and women’s rights – in particular now, ten years after the last WCW, when so many new challenges have emerged which require a concerted world-wide effort, from the HIV/AIDS epidemic over access to new information technology to trafficking in human beings and the targeted victimisation of women in armed conflict.

11. Reaffirming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, which was the outcome of the “Beijing+10” review in New York this March⁶, thus seems insufficient. Even welcoming the progress made thus far towards achieving gender equality, stressing that challenges and obstacles remain in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and, in this regard, pledging to undertake further action to ensure their full and accelerated implementation⁷ is not enough. The declaration’s call for action (addressed, inter alia to international and regional organisations) was rather muted, if not exactly anodyne⁸. While Beijing was certainly not “betrayed” at the 49^th session of the CSW, as one NGO termed a report in the run-up to the meeting, Beijing was not exactly pushed forward either.

D. The need for another WCW: a way of promoting gender equality

12. It seems that the impact of the Beijing conference is now noticeably declining, justifying the emergence of a strong political will to give new impetus. Most NGOs observe that the UN has gradually disengaged itself from the "Beijing + 5" and "Beijing + 10" review process. Some NGOs were also afraid that the 2005 review will be carried out in correlation with the review of the UN Millennium Development Goals, which have made education central to women's issues. But education is not the only instrument which women need.

13. Above all, there is a need for another conference because new problems have arisen following the Beijing conference. This idea is gaining support amongst NGOs and politicians alike – I received much applause when I proposed the holding of another WCW in 2010 during the IPU parliamentary meeting in March. It is inconceivable that the Beijing Platform for Action, with its 12 areas for action, might suffice to deal once and for all with our society's complex problems relating to women. New instruments need to be created to protect women and to halt any sliding backwards.

14. Firstly, a strong political will needs to be demonstrated, and not just a willingness. This will needs to be strong because the aim is to bring about a profound structural and cultural change. Secondly, it quite clearly has to be admitted that the achievement of gender equality is not simply a matter of social justice or fairness to women: it is a question of democracy and human rights and plays a vital role in sustainable human development.

15. The United Nations offers an appropriate setting for this kind of event, for reasons of both size and subject. The UN system can also play its part in follow-up action. The Beijing Platform for Action, for instance, frequently points up the central role that the UN must play, not only in monitoring application thereof, but also in facilitating implementation in many areas, thanks to its own programmes and policies.

16. It is of course legitimate to wonder about the expediency of a world conference. Some people take the view that major UN conferences are merely a wordy waste of time and money. World leaders and policy-makers, in contrast, generally take the view that such events are an excellent investment, and can even mark a major turning point as we map out our common future⁹. World conferences have a long-term impact, since they involve governments, local and regional authorities and NGOs in the effort to deal with a major global challenge, they lay down international standards and directives to guide national policies, they both provide a framework for the consideration of new proposals and foster consensus, and they start a process during which governments make commitments and submit periodical reports to the UN on their activities.

17. In general terms, world conferences involve a number of commitments. They offer member states a place where they can come together to adopt joint action to deal with the problems common to all. But one of the vital functions of the longer-term conference process is to highlight the progress made by each nation through an examination of its political plans and national commitments. In particular, a great many countries, aware that their efforts will be scrutinised and that they will have an opportunity to draw the international community's attention to their efforts to promote women's cause, promise to take specific action. Over a hundred countries made commitments in Beijing. These national commitments are an intrinsic part of the follow-up, providing the UN, governments, NGOs and society as a whole with the criteria needed to assess the progress made towards gender equality.

18. What is more, the need for another conference was felt as early as the year 2000. At the January 2000 session of UNECE, it emerged that the European NGOs were in favour of a 5^th WCW in 2005, the only way they thought likely to achieve progress towards gender equality¹⁰. In 2001, the Women’s World Summit Foundation (an NGO) also came out in favour of holding a 5th conference in 2005, with the main aim of evaluating the progress made in application of the Beijing Platform and in "Beijing + 5"¹¹. WIDE took the same view at the 2000 special session¹². In July 2003, at a forum in Geneva, a majority of NGOs was against the reopening and renegotiation of the Platform for Action, and in favour of awaiting a better time to hold a WCW. They had noticed a dangerous tendency to confuse "Beijing + 10" with “Millennium + 5”¹³. WIDE held a forum to consider whether a high-level conference on women should be held in 2005, where it weighed up the pros and cons¹⁴. At this forum, the wish of numerous organisations (including the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, NGO Committee on the Status of Women, European Women's Lobby, Women’s Environment and Development Organisation, and the Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice) to promote another WCW emerged. At the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), in March 2004, these NGOs expressed their general desire for a 5th UN conference, which could be held between 2007 and 2010. The idea gained further support amongst NGOs during the 49^th session of the CSW. A few ideas were also put forward about the possibility of women organising their own world conference on women's events¹⁵.

E. The content of the 5th WCW

19. In view of the geopolitical developments of recent years (fundamentalism, neo-liberal globalisation, militarism, patriarchy), a legitimate fear has emerged of a renegotiation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action¹⁶. Furthermore, account also has to be taken of the failure to comply with the Beijing obligations, and even of a general sliding backwards, condemned by many NGOs since 2000. Women still produce two-thirds of the riches of the world, but hold only 1% of those riches; women receive only 10% of available resources, and 75% are amongst the most poor¹⁷.

20. It is, in fact, hard to underestimate the negative effects of the backlash against women’s rights and equality. Already in 1990 – and again in 2002 – , Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen pointed out that more than 100 million women are “missing” worldwide¹⁸. This demographic phenomenon can only be explained, in Sen’s view, through inequality and neglect leading to the excess mortality of women and girls. A strong gender preference for boys in many regions, such as in South Asia, West Asia, China and North Africa, leads to abortion of female foetuses, infanticide and/or abandonment of newborn girls, and neglect of girls and women (e.g. poorer health-care, less education, less food) throughout their lives. In countries where men and women receive similar care and attention, the ratio of women to men is about 1.05 (mostly because of biological advantages that women have over men in resisting disease). The ratio in the afore-mentioned regions with strong preferences for men and boys, however, stands at 0.94, i.e. there is a shortfall of about 11 percent of women – which translates into hundreds of million women “missing” – girls and women not born or dying early. The French author and editor Antoinette Fouque calls this phenomenon “gynocide”¹⁹.

21. It is agreed that the Beijing Platform for Action was a great victory for women worldwide. Consequently, virtually all the NGOs²⁰, among them the International Alliance of Women, do not want this progress to be jeopardised. When NGOs met in March 2004, they particularly agreed that they would not want negotiations about texts on which all had reached agreement. The way of avoiding any kind of misunderstanding was therefore to call for an entirely new conference, the 5^th WCW, to deal with new subjects. This would therefore have to have a new title unconnected with the Beijing conference, referring to new topics for discussion and involving the making of new commitments by governments - in addition, of course, to the obligations stemming from Beijing.

22. As we have seen, while education is of course vital, it is not enough on its own to develop women's participation. Women's needs in terms of protection and progress are numerous.

I would suggest the following subjects – although there are, others, of course:

- violence against women, especially gender-based and domestic violence, including trafficking in women and girls, forced marriages, so-called honour crimes, “gynocide”, female genital mutilation and rape;

- protection against governments which violate or do not adequately protect the human rights of women;

- HIV/AIDS, in particular the spread of the epidemic to women and girls;

- women’s access to decision-making in all spheres, including in conflict prevention and resolution;

- stereotyped gender roles and gender preferences, leading to discrimination against women and neglect of the girl-child;

- protection against the media organisations which treat women as merchandise;

- women’s access to information and communications technologies, and their impact on women's day-to-day lives.

23. These subjects would substantially be a matter of consensus. In a recent speech²¹, therefore, although she did not call for another conference, the Director of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women emphasised that many of the goals set at the WCW had not been achieved: violence against women continued, and was even increasing, women were under-represented in decision-making processes, and access to reproductive health services was difficult for them. She condemned the fact that women were disproportionately affected by poverty. She also pointed out that new challenges had emerged in recent years and needed to be addressed, relating to, for instance, HIV/AIDS, globalisation, trafficking and information and communications technologies.

24. Along the same lines, the Executive Director of UNIFEM, addressing the UN General Assembly on 12 October 2004²², said that some of the progress made could be in jeopardy: economic problems, wars and armed conflicts, the spread of HIV/AIDS, trafficking and elimination of violence were all new challenges. The former UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King, in a speech on 4 March 2005, identified violence against women particularly during armed conflict, trafficking and the incidence of HIV/AIDS among young women compared to young men as areas where the problems had much intensified since 2000²³.

F. Conclusions and recommendations

25. In conclusion, there is an urgent need to call on governments and the various players from civil society to start the process leading to a fifth UN World Conference on Women by 2010, and to hold regional preparatory conferences, particularly for Europe by 2007 (world conferences of this kind usually take some three years to prepare). Awareness should also be raised of the fact that this conference would be convened to deal with new subjects, and not to renegotiate the Beijing decisions.

26. I would like to suggest that this report and its recommendations be dealt with at the Assembly’s meeting of the Standing Committee on 1 September 2005 in Monaco. On this occasion, Ms Rachel Mayanja, the new UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, could be invited to make a 10 minute speech on the UN’s position on a 5^th World Conference on Women, which I understand is also broadly supportive.

27. At the level of the Council of Europe, our Committee could try to push for the organisation of the European preparatory conference in 2007 or 2008 on the occasion of the next Ministerial Conference on Gender Equality, which will take place in Stockholm in June 2006.

Reporting committee: Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Reference to Committee: Doc 10112, reference N° 2949 of 26 April 2004

Draft recommendation unanimously adopted by the Committee on 23 June 2005.

Members of the Committee: Mrs Minodora Cliveti (Chairperson), Mrs Rosmarie Zapfl-Helbling (1^st Vice-Chairperson), Mrs Anna Curdova (2^nd Vice-Chairperson), Mrs Svetlana Smirnova (3^rd Vice-Chairperson), Ms Birgitta Ahlqvist, Mrs Edita Angyalova, Mrs Željka Antunović, Mr John Austin, Mr Oleksiy Baburin, Mr Denis Badré (alternate: Mr Jean-Guy Branger), Mrs Gülsün Bilgehan, Mrs Marida Bolognesi, Mrs Grazyna Ciemniak (alternate: Mr Piotr Gadzinowski), Mrs Ingrīda Circene, Mr Brendan Daly, Mrs Krystyna Doktorowicz, Mrs Lydie Err, Mrs Catherine Fautrier, Mrs Maria Emelina Fernández Soriano, Ms Sonia Fertuzinhos, Mr George Foulkes, Mr Guiseppe Gaburro, Mrs Alena Gajdůšková, Mr Pierre Goldberg, Mrs Claude Greff, Mrs Arlette Grosskost, Ms Gultakin Hadjiyeva, Mrs Carina Hägg, Mr Poul-Henrik Hedeboe, Mr Ilie Ilascu, Mrs Halide Incekara, Mrs Eleonora Katseli (alternate: Ms Maria Damanaki), Mrs Synnove Konglevoll (alternate: Ms Jorunn Ringstad), Mrs Monika Kryemadhi, Mrs Minna Lintonen, Mrs Danguté Mikutiene (alternate: Ms Biruté Vésaité), Mrs Fausta Morganti, Mrs Christine Muttonen, Mrs Hermine Naghdalyan, Mr Hilmo Neimarlija, Mrs Vera Oskina, Mr Ibrahim Özal, Mrs Patrizia Paoletti Tangheroni, Ms Elsa Papadimitriou, Ms Riorita Patereu, Mrs Fatma Pehlivan, Mrs Antigoni Pericleous-Papadopoulos, Mr Leo Platvoet, Mrs Majda Potrata, Mr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Ms Valentina Radulović-Šćepanović, Mr Andrea Rigoni, Mrs Claudia Roth, Mrs Marlene Rupprecht, Mr Össur Skarphédinsson, Mrs Rodica-Mihaela Stănoiu, Mrs Darinka Stantcheva, Mrs Rita Streb-Hesse, Mr Michal Stuligrosz, Ms Agnes Vadai, Mr Vagif Vakilov, Mrs Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, Mrs Gisela Wurm, Mr Andrej Zernovski.

N.B. The names of the members who took part in the meeting are printed in bold.

Secretaries of the Committee: Mrs Kleinsorge, Mrs Affholder, Ms Devaux

¹ The twelve critical areas of concern are:

- The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women

- Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training

- Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services

- Violence against women

- The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation

- Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources

- Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels

- Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women

- Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women

- Stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media

- Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment

- Persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child

² See documents of the UN Economic and Social Council: 48th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, "Preparation for the forty-ninth session of the Commission", E/CN.6/2004/L.12. Also see http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/49sess.htm

³ See http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/fag.htm

⁴ Ms Bani Dugal, the Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, explained in a statement made at the 49th session of the CSW on 4 March 2005: „It is an inescapable fact, however, that governments are the primary bearers of responsibilities articulated in the global action plans. While many have signed and ratified treaties, even voicing favourable speeches, many laws on the books and accompanying practices have remained unchanged – paralyzed by regressive ideologies of a bygone era. What is the meaning of commitments if no action results? States can no longer be permitted to shirk from their responsibilities on the pretext of domestic legislation or cultural relativism. There are no grounds – moral, practical or biological – on which a denial of women’s rights can be justified.”

⁵ Speech delivered on the occasion of the 49th session of the CSW in New York on 4 March 2005.

⁶ Declaration adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-ninth session, paragraph 1.

⁷ Ibid, paragraph 2.

⁸ Ibid, paragraph 5.

⁹ UN information department, DPI/1825/Rev.6 - October 1998.

¹⁰ See press release ECE/GEN/00/10: http://www.unece.org/press/00gen10e.htm

¹¹ See http://www.woman.ch/women/3-introduction.asp?Ig=2

¹² See http://www.eurosur.org/wide/UN/B+5%20Briefing.htm WIDE Briefing Paper, p. 10

¹³ See http://www.eurosur.org/wide/UN/NGO-CSW-Geneva2003.htm

¹⁴ See http://www.eurosur.org/wide/UN/WCW.htm

¹⁵ See the NGOs' discussion and 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, from 1 to 12 March 2004: report of the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women and the Women's Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO): http://www.awid.org/frontlines/beijing/

¹⁶ See Beijing + 10 - Working paper for NGOs on how to move forward, March 2004: http://www.5wwc.org/15.html?&clear=1&PHPSESSID=814f4a1cfe9a10ff746f85d4e312c342

¹⁷ Antoinette Fouque : « Il y a deux sexes », le débat/Gallimard, 2004.

¹⁸ Amartya Sen: “More Than 100 Million Women are Missing”, New York Review of Books, Volume 37, Number 20, 20 December 1990.

¹⁹ Interview with Antoinette Fouque published in « Sciences de l’Homme et Sociétés », June 2005, No.78, page 11.

²⁰ The WWSF is more or less the only one calling for the Platform for Action to be reopened.

²¹ http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/ Statement by Ms Carolyn Hannan, Director, UN Division for the Advancement of Women. UN-ESCAP High-level intergovernmental meeting to review regional implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and its regional and global outcomes, 7-10 September 2004.

²² Presentation by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM, 59th Session of the UN General Assembly, Third Committee, 12 October 2004: http://www.unifem.org/speeches.php?f_page_pid=77&f_pritem_pid=177

²³ Speech delivered on the occasion of the 49th session of the CSW in New York on 4 March 2005.