What Beijing Means for Women of the World

Discusses four aims of the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing, People's Republic of China: (1) agreement on a new vision of development based on women's realities & built on women's rights; (2) identification of resources, mechanisms, & processess, adequate for implementing this new vision; (3) consolidation & construction of new bases of solidarity for the international women's movement as a global force leading into the twenty-first century; & (4) the strengthening of new partnerships between civil society & the government. Issues of economic & gender equality are closely linked. It is unacceptable that women make up 70% of the 1.3 billion people worldwide living under conditions of absolute poverty. Women need to gain a sense of control in four areas: (1) consciousness of their own value; (2) exercising the right to make choices; (3) controlling their own life in & away from home; & (4) being able to influence the direction of social changes, creating a more just socioeconomic order on both the national & international levels. M. Meeks