Women redrawing the map: the world after the Beijing and Cairo conferences
Dunlop, J.; Kyte, R.; Macdonald, M.
Sais Review 16(1): 153-165
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 1946-4444 PMID: 12349079 Document Number: 306798
This essay analyzes how the Fourth World Conference on Women (WCW) reinforced and built upon the achievements of previous world conferences, especially the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development's (ICPD) emphasis on women's reproductive health and rights. The introduction describes the WCW, its position in the continuum of world conferences, and its importance in clearly indicating women's centrality in meeting global priorities in the next century and reaffirming women's human rights. Next, the essay focuses on how the WCW was the culminating event in solidifying the shift in global understanding of the role of the international community and of development. The political realities faced by the delegates to the WCW (which opened with 35% of its platform in brackets indicating lack of agreement) are covered in sections that consider 1) the impact of the women's movement and Southern leadership, 2) the importance of the preparatory process, 3) indicators that the tide had turned, and 4) the pattern of diplomacy. The essay then describes how the WCW 1) established the primacy of women's rights, 2) identified action to ensure reproductive and sexual rights, 3) called for a review of restrictive abortion laws, 4) recognized adolescent rights, and 5) established the right of women to control their sexuality. This section also explains why efforts to prevent discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" were abandoned. The essay concludes by summarizing the overall messages the WCW sent to the world.