The Fourth World Conference on Women

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Chapter 3: General Exchange of Views

1. The Conference held a general exchange of views on
(a) the second review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2000;
(b) the main conclusions and recommendations of regional preparatory conferences; and
(c) national priorities and commitments (item 8) at the 2nd to 15th plenary meetings, from 5 to 15 September 1995. Representatives of States, observers, specialized agencies, United Nations bodies, programmes and offices, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations and observers for associate members of the regional commissions addressed the Conference. All speakers expressed their appreciation of the efforts made by the host Government and the secretariat in preparing for the Conference.

2. At the 2nd plenary meeting, on 5 September, the Conference heard statements by the First Ladies of Panama and Brazil and the representatives of the Philippines, Spain, Turkey, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Belgium, Mexico and Sri Lanka.

3. At the 3rd plenary meeting, on 5 September, the Conference heard statements by the First Ladies of the Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Ghana and Benin, Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan and the representatives of Ukraine, Namibia, China, Iceland, India, Thailand, the United Republic of Tanzania, Senegal, Chile, Portugal, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Antigua and Barbuda, Tunisia, the Holy See and Nepal.

4. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Directors-General of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Statements were also made by the Deputy United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Executive Directors of the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her Majesty Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the representative of the International Steering Committee on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women, made a statement. Statements were also made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: NGO Forum in Beijing, National Organization of Arab/American Women and Committee for Asian Women.

5. At the 4th plenary meeting, on 6 September, statements were made by the First Lady of Egypt, His Royal Highness Prince Sobandla Dlamini of Swaziland and the representatives of Ireland, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Germany, Zimbabwe, Malta, Morocco, Gabon, Peru and Algeria.

6. At the same meeting, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme made a statement. A statement was also made by the representative of the Commission of the European Communities.

7. At the 5th plenary meeting, on 6 September, the Conference heard statements by the First Ladies of El Salvador, Suriname, Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea, Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Marie Ranariddh of Cambodia and the representatives of the United States of America, Australia, Denmark, South Africa, Guinea, Lithuania, Canada, Zambia, Fiji, Finland, Malaysia, Luxembourg, Sweden, Poland, Mongolia, Guyana, Singapore, Pakistan, Mozambique and Togo.

8. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization. The Executive Director of the World Food Programme, an Inspector of the Joint Inspection Unit, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific made statements. The representatives of the International Organization for Migration and the Commonwealth Secretariat, intergovernmental organizations, made statements. Statements were also made by the following non-governmental organizations: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Family Life Counselling and All India Women's Conference.

9. At the 6th plenary meeting, on 7 September, the Conference heard a statement by the First Lady of Lebanon and the representatives of Austria, Hungary, Argentina, Slovakia, Latvia, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, France and Saint Lucia.

10. At the same meeting, the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization made a statement. A statement was also made by the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

11. At the 7th plenary meeting, on 7 September, the Conference heard statements by Her Majesty Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho of Tonga and the representatives of Greece, Nicaragua, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Cameroon, Trinidad and Tobago, Rwanda, Paraguay, the Central African Republic, Vanuatu, the Czech Republic, Niger, Bahrain and Georgia. The observer for Macau made a statement. The observer for Palestine also made a statement.

12. At the same meeting, the Rector of the United Nations University, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe and the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) made statements. Statements were also made by the representatives of the League of Arab States, the Council of Europe and the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation. Statements were also made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: International Cooperative Alliance, International Coalition on Women and Credit, Accio'n Familiar, Women's International Democratic Federation, International Right to Life Federation, Network for Women in Development: Europe, and World Muslim Congress.

13. At the 8th meeting, on 8 September, statements were made by the First Lady of Burundi and the representatives of Kenya, Liechtenstein, Cuba, Estonia, Croatia, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Belize, Romania and Viet Nam.

14. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Director of the Division of Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries and Special Programmes of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development also made a statement.

15. At the 9th plenary meeting, on 8 September, the Conference heard statements by the First Ladies of Nigeria and Bolivia, Her Royal Highness Princess Sonam Chodron Wangchuck of Bhutan and the representatives of Honduras, Angola, Oman, Mauritania, the Russian Federation, the Netherlands, Israel, Dominica, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Guinea-Bissau. The observer for the Netherlands Antilles made a statement.

16. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the World Meteorological Organization. Statements were also made by the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers, the Under-Secretary-General for Development Support and Management Services of the United Nations Secretariat, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa and the Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. The representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations made statements: Organization of the Islamic Conference and Asian Development Bank. Statements were also made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: International Planned Parenthood Federation, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Muslim World League, National Council of Negro Women, Disabled Peoples International and Centre for International Cooperation.

17. At the 10th plenary meeting, on 11 September, the Conference heard statements by the representatives of Colombia, Maldives, Liberia, Barbados, the Republic of Moldova, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Burkina Faso andUruguay.

18. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representative of the International Monetary Fund and the representative of the World Health Organization, on behalf of the Joint and Co-sponsored United Nations Programme on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus. The Acting Director of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women made a statement. A statement was also made by the representative of the Inter-American Development Bank, an intergovernmental organization.

19. At the 11th plenary meeting, on 11 September, statements were made by the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malawi, the Congo, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Belarus, Tuvalu, the Sudan, Guatemala, Iraq, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Armenia, San Marino, Myanmar, the Comoros, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Qatar and Cape Verde.

20. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Statements were also made by the representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations: Organization of American States, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Organization of African Unity, African Development Bank and Nordic Council. The representative of the Global Commission on Women's Health also made a statement. Statements were made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: International Federation of Agricultural Producers, Commission on Global Governance, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood and Women and Fisheries Network.

21. At the 12th plenary meeting, on 12 September, the Conference heard statements by the First Ladies of the Gambia and Kazakstan, the representatives of Sao Tome and Principe, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Haiti, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Samoa, Lesotho and Madagascar and the observer forGuam.

22. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

23. At the 13th plenary meeting, on 12 September, statements were made by the representatives of Botswana, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Azerbaijan, the Marshall Islands, Zaire, the Federated States of Micronesia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Chad, Costa Rica, Brunei Darussalam, Slovenia, Uzbekistan, Albania, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Cook Islands, Kiribati and Kuwait.

24. At the same meeting, a statement was made by the representative of the International Maritime Organization. A statement was also made by the representative of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The President of the Comite' ministe'riel de coordination "femmes et de'veloppement" made a statement. The representative of the Latin American Parliament, an intergovernmental organization, also made a statement. Statements were made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: Agence de recherches d'information et formation pour les femmes, Women's Environment and Development Organization, Somali Women's Trust, Association pour le progre`s et la de'fense des droits des femmes maliennes and Forum of African Women Educationalists.

25. At the 14th plenary meeting, on 13 September, the Conference heard a statement by the representative of Palau.

26. At the same meeting, the representative of the Office of Human Resources Management of the United Nations Secretariat made a statement. Statements were also made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Interaction: American Council for Voluntary International Action, Flora Tristan, Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations, African Caucus of Femnet, Housewives in Dialogue, Global Network Women and Politics, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Older Women's Network Australia, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Network of African Rural Women's Associations, Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, International Human Rights Law Group, Centre for Women's Global Leadership, Fe'de'ration europe'enne des femmes actives au foyer, Anglican Communion, Arab Organization for Human Rights, Education International, World Federation of United Nations Associations, World Federation of Trade Unions, Choisir and International Federation of University Women.

27. At the 15th plenary meeting, on 15 September, the President of Peru made a statement.

28. At the same meeting, the Conference heard a statement by the President of the World Bank. A statement was also made by the representative of the Coalition of Youth Non-Governmental Organizations accredited to the Fourth World Conference on Women.

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