UN Chronicle | Women Go Global: The United Nations and The International Women's Movement 1945

"Women Go Global"
The United Nations and The International Women's Movement 1945 - 2000
By Nuchhi R. Currier for the Chronicle

Web Article

A new CD-ROM produced by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women entitled "Women Go Global" makes its debut. The interactive, multimedia production is remarkable for its multiple parallel themes, each set converging to create a cohesive, dynamic whole. It provides a graphic account of the legitimization process of the global feminist movement by the United Nations. Just as the Organization's efforts in placing women's issues at the forefront of its agenda gather momentum and garner greater success, an authoritative source of information relating to those issues becomes essential.

The audio/video presentation highlights major themes of the international women's movement unfolding alongside the United Nations international conferences and treatises. The same UN women's conferences in world capitals are shown running concurrently with major congresses of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There are the voices of women from the North emphasizing legal forms of discrimination and equality, commingling with those from their sisters in the South stressing women's roles in economic and social development. Then there are the two different approaches to women and development: the equity approach highlighting the negative impact of economic growth for women linked to their subordination, and the poverty approach that argues that gender inequality promotes economic inefficiencies and perpetuates poverty. All these different strands come together in the end to speak with one compelling voice.

The opening screen allows the viewer options to pick either the history of the international women's movement or to view UN Conferences related to women's issues. Any of the five time-periods between 1945 and 2000 leads the viewer to a chronological view of the combined histories of the UN and the feminist movement related to gender equality. Each of these sections has a short slide/film option and includes text, music, taped speeches, and other recorded footage.

Since women have long been silent in demanding their rights and airing their grievances, it is only fitting that the CD should come equipped with recordings of speeches made by women leaders at key meetings and conferences. The sound effects add a depth to the architecture of the film.

The period 1945-1962 starts with the UN Charter calling for gender equality in Articles 3 and 8, supported by the ongoing efforts of leading feminist groups. This led to the formation of the Sub-Commission on the Status of Women within the UN Commission on Human Rights, which evolved into the independent Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in June 1946. The Secretariat for the CSW, known as the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) set up to service CSW, also monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW), and services Women's international conferences and helps implement the agreements reached.

Each Global UN Conference on Women:- Mexico City in June 1975, Copenhagen in July 1980, Nairobi in July 1985, Beijing in 1995 — culminating in the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (Beijing + 5, June 2000) is exhaustively tracked and documented. The scope of this ambitious project can be judged by the contents of its "Information" section. It contains links to about 80 documents, 65 profiles, a selected bibliography of 105 publications with an impressive range (Nawal Al Saadawi to Betty Friedan to Julliette Minces), 27 archival stories on women's history (Herstory), a selection of 27 related Websites, as well as the results of an online enquiry on Women and the United Nations. The format of this CD-ROM is kaleidoscopic; the outer pattern breaks up into layers upon layers of intricate, internal patterns, leading in different directions, but ultimately all integrating into the original cohesive whole. A user-friendly search index facilitates user access to substantive documents and resource material related to each section. It is, ultimately, a valuable resource for scholars, researchers, specialists and institutions interested in the feminist movement in relation to the United Nations agenda on gender equality.

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