Message by the Manager of the Task Force on the Ten-Year Review of the
Beijing Platform for Action of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality
At its Third Annual Session in February 2004, the IANWGE decided that online discussions would be organized on critical areas of concern
of the Beijing Platform for Action and on other emerging issues. The results of the online discussions will be summarized by the Task
Force Manager, the Division for the Advancement of Women/UN DESA, and made available to the Commission on the Status of Women for its review and appraisal of Beijing Platform for Action to be held in New York from 28 February - 11 March 2005. The online discussions will allow the United Nations to reach out to individuals, groups and networks who will not be able to attend the session of the CSW and have no other way to participate and contribute to the appraisal.
The online discussions are to be hosted on WomenWatch with linkages to other online discussion networks, and facilitated by relevant IANWGE members. Discussions will be conducted in English and summaries provided in other languages in accordance with the capacity of the facilitating organization.
The following members of the Task Force have kindly agreed to moderate discussions:
- UNDP - Women and the Economy (11 October - 11 November 2004)
- UNEP - Women and the Environment (November 2004)
- UNIFEM - Violence against Women (November 2004)
- OHCHR - Human Rights of Women (November - December 2004)
- UNFPA and/or UNAIDS - Women and HIV/AIDS / reproductive health (Nov/Dec 2004 - tbc)
- WHO - Women and Health (November - December 2004 - tbc)
- World Bank - Women and Poverty (January 2005)
- UNESCO - Education and Training of Women (dates tbc)
- ESCAP - Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women (dates tbc)
- UNESCO and UNICEF - The Girl Child (dates tbc)
FAO and IFAD have kindly agreed to ensure that issues relating to rural women will be mainstreamed into individual discussions. The perspectives of older women and indigenous women are also expected to be mainstreamed.
The IANWGE Task Force anticipates that the online discussions will provide a lively forum for exchanging experiences, views, concerns and priorities, sharing good practices, assessing progress and considering new initiatives for the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women since the Fourth World Conference on Women. The participation of all interested parties is encouraged and we hope that the discussions will provide concrete recommendations for action by the CSW.
Carolyn Hannan
Director, Division for the Advancement of Women / UN DESA
Task Manager, IANWGE Task Force on the Ten-Year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action
