The conference to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing to review gains and continuing challenges since 1995 globally and in China and to bring the recommendations of this Conference to the Millennium Summit 2005. The Conference was sponsored by the National Working Committee on Women and Children under the State Council of China, the All China Women's Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the UN system in China , and co-sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Government. The Conference was attended by high level government officials ¨C heads of states and governments, ministers largely from the ministries of women, heads of UN agencies and other international organizations, international and national NGOs. The Conference adopted the Beijing +10 Declaration .
Plenary sessions focused on high level government presentations on national progress and continuing challenges in attaining gender equality and women's empowerment towards achieving the MDGs. Thematic workshops where again presentations were made by high level government officials, heads of national/international NGOs focused on the following themes: women in decision-making and management; economic empowerment of women; women and poverty eradication, women's human rights and elimination of violence against women; women and HIV/AIDS; women and sustainable development.
Key issues raised include the following:
¡¤ Key gains globally: acknowledgement of women's rights as human rights and wide ratification of CEDAW, gender equality recognized as means to attaining the MDGs and sustainable development; the recognition of HIV/AIDS as a gender and development issue; gender responsive legislation and programs in the areas of HIV/AIDS, violence against women, land rights and employment, marriage and family laws; recognition of the impact of war on women and involvement of women in peace building and post conflict reconstruction; quotas and affirmative action for women in political decision making with growing representation especially at local levels; gender analysis of budgets.
¡¤ Key challenges: feminized poverty, the growing unprotected informal sector where women predominate, adverse impact of trade policies on poor women, trafficking, rights violations against women migrants, HIV/AIDS, violence of all kinds, including during conflict, where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war.
¡¤ Way forward: address the above issues through knowledge building, enabling policy, institutional and social environments and the need to focus on implementation of policies and programmes, accountability and increased financial resources towards gender equality and women's empowerment issues.
¡¤ The Government of the People's Republic of China issued the ¡®White Paper ' - a document mapping out progress in the areas of economic rights and security, political participation, law, health, education, family and marriage, environment, etc. It passed a comprehensive law protecting women's rights and interests on a variety of issues, before the conference. The government has also made substantial budgetary allocations on education, health and provided loans to poor women.
Conference recommendations
The following were the key recommendations: speed up implementation of BPFA, MDGs and CEDAW; ensure all human rights of women and girls; intensify efforts at poverty eradication; ensure women's full participation in decision-making; speed up women's equal rights to education and health; promote women's economic independence and empowerment; combat trafficking; promote women's participation in peace and security issues; strengthen women's role in environmental protection and management; implement gender mainstreaming strategies and strengthen the capacities of national machineries.
The issue of sex ratio imbalances, however, was not addressed.
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