The
President's Interagency Council on Women:
Building a National Action Agenda Beyond
Beijing
By
Kathleen Hendrix, State Department Representative
to the Council
On the eve of the United Nations Fourth
World Conference on Women, President Clinton
declared:
"The
(Women's) conference is going to talk about
education and domestic violence and grass
roots economics, employment, health care,
political participation...and we don't intend
to walk away from it when it's over. I'm
going to...make sure that all the effort
and good ideas actually get implemented
when we get back home."
As a follow-up to the U.N. Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, President
Clinton established the Interagency Council
on Women chaired by Health and Human
Services Secretary Donna Shalala. First
Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton serves as honorary
chair. This governmental body, composed
of high level representatives from each
federal agency, is charged with policy development
and public outreach to implement the
Platform for Action adopted at Beijing,
including the U.S. commitments announced
at the conference. (See WOMANSWORD,
Vol.1, January, 1996, p. 3.) The Council
holds monthly public meetings to discuss
its work. For information on these meetings,
call (202) 663-3070 for a recorded message.
Council
members have been working with their individual
agencies to analyze the Platform for
Action as it relates to them, with an
eye toward identifying possible initiatives
to take. Council members have been engaged
in outreach activities across the country,
attending conferences and meetings, participating
on panels and addressing gatherings. Many
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have
been in contact with the Council regarding
their follow-up activities and the commitments
they are making. They are also communicating
to the Council actions they would like the
government to endorse.
The
President's Council is sponsoring
a national conference via satellite one
year after the U.N. Women's Conference on
Saturday, September 28, 1996. On this day,
Americans will join together in community
conferences across the country to report
on progress made since the U.N. Conference,
share what's working in communities and
look ahead to develop a national agenda
for action to improve the lives of American
women and their families.
The
Council on Women will be developing
a National Action Agenda, a blueprint
to move the United States toward the goal
of equality by the year 2000, and a companion
report containing descriptions of successful
actions that communities are taking. During
the summer, the Council will be seeking
input for this project via its homepage
on the internet.
For
further information, contact:
Theresa Loar, Kathy Herdrix or Lycia Sibilla
President's Interagency Council on Women
Telephone: (202) 456-7350
Fax: (202) 456-7357
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