Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World

During the late twentieth century the issue of gender equality once again became a major issue on the global agenda. The UN Decade for Women which indeed in 1985 initiated the integration of women into development triggering the formation of thousands of women’s organizations and networking them across the world. The trend accelerated during the following decade. In 1993 the Vienna World Conference proclaimed that women’s rights were human rights; in 1994 the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development placed women’s empowerment and health at the center of sustainable development programs. Two years later the Beijing Fourth World Conference of Women adopted a platform seeking to promote and protect the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all women. Although there has been sustainable progress toward gender equality in much of the world great disparities persist as systematic indicators demonstrate. (excerpt)