The Evolving Role of the United
Nations on the Status of Women Around
the World
By Elia Garcia McComie, Washington
D.C. League of Women Voters, Liaison
for International Conferences and
U.S. Alternate Delegate to Inter-American
Commission of Women
It's hard to believe
that a little over a year ago we were
looking forward to the beginning of
the NGO Forum in Huairou and
the Beijing Women's Conference.
For the women from over 180 countries,
these events proved to be both a magnificent
adventure and an important milestone
of the United Nation's impact on the
status of women. The world's women are
indebted to this sometimes maligned
organization for providing a forum where
governments can work in partnership
with NGOs to improve the quality of
women's lives.
This important relationship
between the U.N. and women didn't just
happen. In 1945, at the San Francisco
conference that established the United
Nations, the few women delegates who
participated, one of whom was Eleanor
Roosevelt, insisted and worked diligently
for a commission to focus on the needs
of women. A sub-commission for this
purpose was established under the newly
formed Human Rights Commission.
Soon after, at the second session of
the Economic and Social Council,
the work of the women delegates and
others who supported them, paid off,
and the sub-commission became a full
commission, the Commission on the Status
of Women and it has been a powerful
force ever since.
From February 1947 and
through 1967, the Commission concentrated
its efforts on obtaining the elimination
of all forms of discrimination against
women. This effort led to the adoption
by the U.N. in 1979 of the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, CEDAW. By the end
of 1996, most countries had ratified
the Convention, but the U.S. is still
not among them.
The Commission's work
didn't end there. It expanded its long-term
role in the advancement of women to
also assisting governments to implement
their national programs. From 1966-1986
several important U.N. resolutions and
events were enacted, all aimed at advancing
the status of women:
- International Women's Year
(1975)
- Implementation of the World
Plan of Action
- The Voluntary Fund for the
Decade for Women (UNIFEM's precursor)
- The establishment of the International
Research and Training Institute
for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
- The Program of Action for the
Second Half of the U.N. Decade for
Women, and
- The Implementation of the
Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies
for the Advancement of Women
The Commission has smoothed
the way for four successful world conferences
on women through its role as the Preparatory
Commission for the World Conferences
on Women. These conferences have
brought about many positive changes
in the lives of women worldwide. A new
international spirit of women truly
began with the first U.N. Women's
Conference held in 1975 in Mexico
City, followed by the 1980 conference
in Copenhagen and five years later in
Nairobi and, finally, in 1995 in Huairou
and Beijing.
During all these years,
the world's women have shared a commitment
to promote equality, development, and
peace, the three themes established
by the first conference in Mexico City.
As we reflect on the progress that women
have made around the world, we must
remember with gratitude the women who,
years ago, had the foresight and persistence
to insist that we needed our own commission
in the U.N. to look after our own concerns.
Excerpted from WOMANSWORD, Vol.
1, Issue 12, December, 1996.
