Virginia Women Connect

The 1976 - 1985 Decade for Women served to develop and support the international women's movement. In 1977, First Lady Betty Ford (R) addressed the Houston Women's Conference in support of the American Equal Rights Amendment. In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - the treaty entered into force in 1981.

Since 1985, the global focus has been on securing equality, development and peace for women, forging consensus on actions to be taken in advancement of women as part of comprehensive international goals. In 1993, the UN Human Rights Conference in Vienna declared that women's rights are human rights and appointed a Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, reporting directly to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Four global women's conferences, Mexico City(1975), Copenhagen(1980), Nairobi(1985) and Beijing (1995) have strengthened the international women's community and our movement toward equality.

U S WOMEN CONNECT was the American organizing agent in the follow-through from the Beijing conference, serving as the pipeline for regional plans for action to the Presidents Interagency Council for Women. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, as Chair, received the plans for action and took them to the Beijing+5 Commission on Women at the UN in 2000.

The Platform for Action, adopted in 1995 by 189 delegations, and reaffirmed by those nations in 2005 (www. put in URL for PFA) constitutes the comprehensive action plan for economic and political empowerment leading to the global objective of full equality for women.

While women's rights as human rights is a whole-systems operating standard of the UN, the following organizations are tasked with specific charges regarding women's rights:

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) - created in 1946.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) - established in 1976.

The International Research and Training Institute for Advancement of Women(INSTRAW) - began operations in 1980, based in the Dominican Republic.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - convened for the first time in 1982.

The Interagency Committee on Women and Gender Equality - established after the Beijing Conference.

The Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Division for the Advancement of Women - first appointed after the Beijing Conference.

Check out our website for more information and news at www.uswc.org.