Feature: Beyond Beijing

Then and Now—Recollections and Lessons from Beijing and Beyond

Common Concern asked three World YWCA leaders who attended the UN’s Fourth World Conference for Women and NGO Forum about their experiences and the lessons it held for our movement and for women’s activism. Anita Andersson (AA) was World President from 1995-1999 and led the World YWCA delegation, Elaine Hesse Steel (EHS) was World YWCA General Secretary from 1987-1998 and Doreen Boyd (DB) was Deputy General Secretary from 1991 – 1996.

The World YWCA has a legacy of leadership in representing women’s views at the international level. When did this begin?

EHS: The YWCA movement has never been an isolated NGO [non-governmental organisation] working on its own. Its role as the only women’s organisation of the three recognised NGOs at the founding of the League of Nations, predecessor to the United Nations, is testimony to the prominence it had within the international community even in 1919, only 15 years after its founding in 1894. YWCA women today can take pride in our inheritance from 155 years of women activists …our “godmothers”. This legacy of determined leadership continued through the decades as the World YWCA represented women’s perspectives to governments and at the UN and its agencies.

The 1995 World YWCA Council and first International Women’s Summit met only seven weeks before the Beijing Women’s Conference. How were they linked?

AA: The Executive Committee thought they should have some connection since the two events were so close together. We decided to host an International Women’s Summit (IWS) just prior to the World Council—the first IWS. We invited women from other organisations to start a dialogue that would continue in China. The Women’s World Agenda emerged from that and we called it “a new agenda for the YWCA”. The IWS was also the culminating event of the World YWCA’s 100th anniversary celebration that had begun in 1994. The Women’s World Agenda was a good advocacy tool for us, although we were working on so many issues that it was difficult to emphasise one. The World YWCA’s concentration on HIV and AIDS has given us more of a focus.

What was the impact of the Beijing Conference on the global agenda and the World YWCA movement?

EHS: What differentiated the Fourth World Conference on Women from the previous three was its place in a series of major UN conferences in the 1990s that debated solutions to global problems and educated world opinion. Each conference repeatedly identified gender inequities as a major contributor to global problems; there was simply no questioning the legitimacy of what was said when we got to Beijing.
Within our movement, these conferences resulted in a less competitive attitude amongst NGOs. We began to take a more integrated approach to working with other NGOs since Beijing and the other major UN conferences had parallel NGO forums.
We also became aware of the need to focus our work within chosen issues. A greater understanding began of regionalism in a broader context, although it still required several years not to be seen as “another layer”.
Finally, the conferences resulted in universal acceptance of the right of women’s groups to monitor their governments' actions and initial demands to monitor private enterprise.

How did the World YWCA influence the UN Women’s Conferences?

AA: The conferences had a big impact on the women’s movement and influenced the World YWCA’s work but the World YWCA also influenced the women’s conferences, especially the first three when World YWCA leaders chaired the NGO Forums [see sidebar]. By 1995, many YWCA women were part of official government delegations. The YWCA was and is very strong because we have both a grassroots constituency and connections to the UN and its agencies. The YWCA’s presence in both the NGO Forum and the UN conference was important for lobbying for our priority issues. We collaborated with other women’s organisations and many of the YWCA team had good access to and relationships with their government delegates. Those who did not learned from those who did and tried to establish contact. We did this well, although we probably could have done even better.

How has the role and participation of young women evolved?

AA: In Beijing, they talked about women, the girl child, and youth, but didn’t recognise the separate needs of young women. This was very frustrating—it made them seem anonymous. Now there is much more consciousness of young women as a group with distinct needs.

EHS: In the YWCA, the Beijing conference and the UN conferences of the 1990s led to an acceptance that the YWCA would often be represented by a large contingent of young women rather than “established leadership”. There were several pre-conferences for young people organised by UNICEF, the World Health Organisation or youth NGOs, with the World YWCA a major partner represented by our young women leaders.

What has improved since the 1995 Beijing Conference?

AA: Many things have improved. If you look back to the first women’s conference in 1975, NGOs had to struggle to be admitted to the UN meeting. Now the UN and most nations count on support from NGOs and women’s organisations when they discuss equality and the situation of women. And now there are many, many NGOs.
Also, in 1995, we were able to discuss sexual rights and sexual orientation but it was very controversial and not much came out in the final document. Now in both industrialised and developing countries, there is much more open dialogue.

DB: I see improvement in many areas such as representation in the political arena with women holding significant positions of power and influence in different parts of the world.

Which critical concerns in the BPFA have not improved?

DB: What has not changed significantly is the problem of violence against women (VAW), especially domestic violence. This is a global issue. Laws and policies have been enacted and conventions ratified by governments but they are largely not implemented. One positive development is that the current UN Secretary General has made this his issue and come out with a strong campaign against it . Also, the United Nations General Assembly voted in September to merge the four UN agencies working on women’s issues into a UN super agency for gender affairs, which hopefully should result in a stronger global response to VAW.

What current critical concerns were not identified among the 12 in the BPFA?

DB: Fifteen years ago, how HIV and AIDS would impact women was not known. HIV and AIDS had been associated with intravenous drug use and homosexuality. As the epidemic evolved the substantial social and psychological components became evident. No one could have imagined that women would be so vulnerable to sexual transmission. They are affected disproportionately because of their marginalisation, their poverty, and their vulnerability and powerlessness to protect themselves in the context of intimate sexual relationships. Many programmes for women have taught them to be assertive and “negotiate safe sex” but our thinking has evolved to understand that safe sex is not negotiable, it is a given.