The second world conference on women

The second world conference on the status of women was convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, five years after the first conference in Mexico City which had adopted the World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Women’s Year.

The Conference recognized that there was a disparity between women's guaranteed rights and their capacity to exercise them. Participants identified three spheres in which measures for equality, development and peace were needed:

• Equal access to education;

• Equal access to employment opportunities;

• Equal access to adequate health care services.

The final report of the conference stated that "the review and appraisal of progress achieved during the past five years indicates that the integration of women into development has been formally accepted by most Governments as a desirable planning objective. Many countries have made significant efforts, undertaken a number of activities and measures and established institutional and administrative mechanisms to integrate women in development."