The Fourth World Conference on Women

The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing during September 4-15, 1995, was a major success. The platform for action adopted by consensus at the conference is comprised of the mission statement, a global framework, critical areas of concern, strategic objectives and actions, and institutional and financial arrangements. The conference was an extension of other large international conferences organized under UN initiative over the past 15 years. The Beijing platform of action aims to remove all obstacles to women's active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural, and political decision-making. The following concerns were defined by the conference: eradicating poverty, increasing school enrollment and eliminating gender inequalities in access to education, improving access to health care and eliminating gender inequalities in access to services, eliminating violence against women, mitigating the consequences of armed conflicts against women, securing equal access of men and women to economic resources and employment, providing equal participation of men and women in power structures and decision making, enhancing national mechanisms to promote the advancement of women, protecting the rights of girls and women, eradicating stereotypes about women, participating in the management of natural resources and environmental protection, and improving the status of girls.