Beijing diary: ten days at the women's conference

摘要

In the biggest ever United Nations conference, delegates from 180 countries met in Beijing last month for the fourth world conference on women. In the 20 years since the first UN conference on women, the campaign for equality between men and women has witnessed momentous changes and undeniable advances. To date, 139 member states have now signed the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women adopted by the UN general assembly in 1979. In many countries, women are developing their professional careers and challenging the traditional roles that have been the norm for many years. Progress has been rapid, but inequality remains and the UN recently identified health as one of the areas that needs more attention. The UN conference in Beijing (and the parallel meeting organised by the non-government organisations which was held in Huairou, an hour away from Beijing) aimed to re-examine the issues and to develop a plan of action for the future.