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Sonia Correa
Just as each of the routes which led to Beijing are worthwhile, there are many ways of assessing what took place on the other side of the Great Wall of China in September 1995. This article will not attempt to cover the kaleidoscope of circumstances, issues and results of this Fourth Conference, but will examine some of them, using memories of Nairobi(1), images of ECO 92 and, above all, the labyrinths of the ICPD negotiation process and the Social Development Summit as a backdrop.
On Saturday, 15 September, 1995, a group of international networks that had been directly involved in the preparation of the Fourth Conference organized a farewell party for Beijing. The invitation said "Thank God, it's over". This feeling of relief is possibly the sincerest evaluation that we can make of the Fourth Conference. Beijing was one of the beads in a rosary of international events, spaning from Rio (1992) to Istambul (1996), with Vienna (1993), Cairo (1994) and Copenhagen (1995) along the way. The results of Beijing should be assessed in relation to the entire cycle. And, above all, they should be examined in the light of the extremely unfavorable conditions that marked the preparatory process for the Conference itself.
Throughout 1994, various feminists had been pointing out the risks that could turn Beijing into a failure: a breakdown in the agenda of negotiations; the absence of an incisive analysis of the issues; a lack of clarity and commitment in relation to financial resources and implementation. Between 1994 and 1995, the chances of the Conference failing did not get smaller, on the contrary, they grew. Conservative forces - having their epicenter in the Vatican - turned the Social Development Summit into a political platform to attack the Vienna agreements and, more particularly, the Cairo agreements. These efforts converged in March 1995 at the Third Session of the Conference Preparatory Committee, when many parts of the text of the Platform of Action were left within brackets.
At the same time, the Chinese government decided to move the NGO Forum to Huairou, creating an impasse that would only be solved at the beginning of June. As part of this same scenario, the developed countries, and in particular the USA, showed a growing lack of flexibility concerning macro-economic issues: reduction of the debt, structural adjustments and additional resources for development.
As if this were not enough, the inefficiency - lack of experience according to some - of the Conference Secretariat should also be mentioned. This was reflected in the quality of the draft Platform of Action which reached the Conference in a fairly preliminary state. But it was seen in the lack of determination shown by the Conference leaders in trying to overcome the impasses of the Third PREPCOM and in facing the Chinese government's unilateral decision. Finally, internal tension in the womens' movements themselves, apparent at various levels, should also be taken into account. An example of this was the debate on the division of tasks and coordination of activities for mobilization and lobbying, involving the Facilitative Committee and the various international networks participating in the preparation of the Beijing meeting.
Beyond sexuality
Given this set of circumstances, it does not seem an exaggeration to state that Beijing was a success. All references to the Cairo Plan of Action reached Beijing within brackets. For many of us, our main agenda for the Conference, was merely to "maintain the language of ICPD". In this respect, the adoption of paragraphs 97, 232f and 107K, to which objections had been raised, is highly significant. And even though the subjects of reproduction and sexuality mobilized the attention of the press and obsessioned various negotiators, the positive results of Beijing can be identified in many other sections of the final document.
Without attempting exhaustive analysis, I would say that the positive outcome of Beijing is focussed in four areas: recognition of "race" and "ethnic group" as causes of discrimination and factors of inequality; the various recommendations concerning the calculation, recognition and value of non-paid work; the definitions contained in the chapter on armed conflict, and finally, some decisions concerning macro-economic issues.
The fact that the terms "race" and "ethnic group" were finally incorporated in a United Nations document means that a long-standing and obstinate resistance on the part of some of the Member Countries has finally been overcome. Until Beijing, only the United States, and to a lesser extent Brazil, defended the unrestricted use of this terminology. The adoption of these terms in paragraph 32 of the Declaration and in two other sections of the Platform for Action, compensates although partially, their elimination in the chapter on health.
Even though these alterations may seem simple, they were the result of an intense and concerted lobbying on the part of the Group of Colored Women, together with African countries and the European Union itself. The Brazilian delegation also provided considerable input.
Paragraphs relating to the calculation and value of non-paid work go far beyond the definitions adopted at Copenhagen (March 1995) and open up infinite possibilities for research and actions on the part of the Womens' movement in Latin America and Brazil.
The Beijing recommendations highlight and place value on domestic and informal work, inserting women into the continental labor market. They may also enable informed evaluation of womens' skills that are not generally recognized or adequately remunerated on formal markets. Finally, they open up a strategic line for debates with macro-economic decision-makers, towards a consistent articulation between the spheres of production and reproduction.
The chapter on conflict has a particularly significant meaning for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Although it is not possible to forget Chiapas and the recent war between Peru and Ecuador, the armed conflict in Latin America involving national states is no longer in a critical state. Even so, the dramatic effects on womens' lives and their participation as mediators in critical situations can be of considerable significance in the context of urban and rural violence that still prevails in various countries of the region.
Finally, to summarize, the document generally reconfirms the principles defined at Copenhagen concerning the core of the debates on development. For this reason, it confirms the agreements of the Summit in some aspects. One example is the case for the recommendation mentioned earlier, referring to a reduction in multilateral debt. But even more significant is the final agreement concerning additional resources.
The Copenhagen resolutions are limited to increasing resources for social development within national plans and to recommendations stepping up assistance for development in the case of Africa and the Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs). However, the Beijing Platform for Action supports increased assistance to development within national plans and is significant for all the countries of the South, insofar as they are committed to programmes and activities directed toward equality of gender and empowerment of women, as defined by the various sections.
This definition may be interpreted on a strategic level as by the reassignment of available resources to policies supporting at women. This will probably not please many of the G 77 governments, who would prefer to have access to resources, which are not linked in this way. However, these resources can and must be used positively, and developing implementation strategies will be our challenge from now on. The presence of the new President of the World Bank at the Final Plenary, and his participation in two in-depth dialogues in the presence of the NGOs in Beijing, should be understood as part of this process. While this is not the ideal situation, it is a first step.
Last but not least the inclusion of two references to the principle of full respect for the autonomy of NGOs in the Beijing Declaration. This principle, highlighted in chapter 15 of the ICPD Action Program, was not included in the Platform for Action. As in the case of "race" and "ethnic group," its incorporation was ensured by an efficient emergency operation on the part of the Linkage Cause. It overcame resistance on the part of several developing countries, including China, which had openly opposed non-autonomy of the non-governmental sector in Copenhagen in March 1995.
Finally these results would have been radically different had it not been for the presence, firmness, clarity and professional action of feminists within the delegations and in various circuits of the lobbying which took place in the meeting rooms and corridors of the Beijing International Convention Center. Taking Nairobi as a point of reference, the most unequivocal qualitative jump is to be found in the number of women included in the official delegations. Sixty percent of the delegates attending the Nairobi Plenary were male, whereas at Beijing there were perhaps less than 20%; however many of them did make their presence felt at the last minute, when negotiations were coming to an end.
Even more significant was the efficiency and coordinating capacity of NGO representatives, involved in the articulation and resolution of tensions and in lobbying. There seems to be no doubt that the cohesion and energy of Latin American and Caribbean coordinators played a critical role in solving much of the disorganization that preceded and plagued the Beijing process.
Barbara Adams is an official in the liaison service between NGOs and UNOs (NGOLs) who has taken part in hundreds of negotiations. She told me at the end of one of the briefing sessions organized by the team that at no other time in her many years of experience had this task been so harmonious and efficient. It therefore seems no exaggeration to state that we, the feminists, rescued the Fourth Conference from the Chronicle of a Fortold Death to which it had be relegated during the first half of 1995.
Sonia Correa, from IBASE, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and DAWN Network.
(1) The authors lists the international conferences of the last years: the third women's conference in Nairobi (1985), the conference on ecology in Rio de Janeiro (1992), the conference on human rights in Vienna (1993) the international conference on population development (Kairo 1994), the social development summit (Copenhagen 1995).
Translated by Victoria Swarbrick