Attention to women’s rights and gender equality has dramatically increased in the last five decades all over the world. One of the main reasons for the increase in women’s activism during the 1940’s was the creation of the United Nations. The framers of the UN charter gave a new international status to human rights, including women’s rights. Several charter articles provide that the UN is to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, nationality, sex, or religion. By creating a framework of international laws, the UN opened opportunities for women to promote justice for themselves and their societies. Using international law, women’s rights advocates have been successful in overcoming the limitations built into domestic legal systems.
 In 1947 the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established to promote women’s rights and equality, by setting standards and formulating international conventions that would change national discriminatory legislation, and foster global awareness of women’s issues. In the first two decades of its operation, the CSW focused mainly on mapping out the legal status of women in member states. A critical change in thinking concerning the status of women began in the early 1970s. It was realized that women had a central role as actors in relation to many development goals. The feminist movement grew stronger in industrialized countries and brought the status of women and their thinking into public discussion. This was reflected in the UN, which declared the year 1975 as International Women’s Year, and organized in Mexico City the first global conference to address women’s issues and world problems from women’s perspectives. Following the conference, the General Assembly declared the years 1976-1985 as the UN Decade for Women.
 The first accomplishment of the Mexico City Conference was the acceptance of the first human rights treaty for women, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, accommodated women’s long-term goals to transform oppressive laws and distribute national wealth more equitably. As an essential component of the International Bill of Human Rights, CEDAW has become one of the most useful tools for women to pressure their governments for more gender equality.
 The Mexico City conference initiated a series of world conferences on women. The next three conferences took place in Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). One of the outcomes of the conference in Nairobi was the creation of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). UNIFEM has focused its activities on four strategic areas: reducing feminized poverty; ending violence against women; reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls; and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of both peace and war. One of the pillars of UNIFEM's work is women's political participation, a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy.
The most important document affecting women since CEDAW was drafted during the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995). The Platform for Action went beyond previous documents in asserting women’s rights as human rights and in specifying commitments to action to ensure respect for women’s rights. The Platform identified twelve critical areas of concern in reference to women’s human rights and outlined actions for change that were to be taken at the national and international levels.
Despite major accomplishments of women both at the UN and around the world, many women’s rights activists have been feeling that the frameworks of women’s human rights and gender equality have been eroding in the last few years. As a result, there is resurgence in women’s activism within the UN system, in cooperation with global and local NGOs, to continue the empowerment of women around the world. The major issues women’s rights activists focus on are: women and the environment, women and peace and security, and women and UN reforms (gender mainstreaming).
 In 2000, by adopting Goal no. 3 (“Promote gender equality and empower women”) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), governments and development institutions reaffirmed that gender equality is critical to the effort of meeting the needs of the world’s poorest, and for the achievement of all the MDGs. Yet, statistics indicate that countries, private donors and the multilateral system consistently fail to prioritize, and significantly under-fund women’s rights and gender equality work. Many activists believe that the present phase of UN reform provides an opportunity to promote gender equality, and thus push the UN to widely promote the concept of gender mainstreaming – equality between men and women in all political, economic and social spheres.
One area in which women have been pushing for gender mainstreaming is climate change and the environment. NGOs such as Women’s Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) have demonstrated that women are the most vulnerable and best poised to curb the effects of climate change. Climate change magnifies existing inequalities, and gender inequality is among the most pervasive. Therefore, the link between gender equality and sustainable development has become a major area of concern for NGOs all over the world. WEDO and similar NGOs call for the creation of practical tools that allow gender equality to be incorporated in climate change initiatives.
 During the past years, greater awareness of a missing link in progress on women’s rights within the UN system has emerged: violence against women. When CEDAW was being prepared in the 1970s, this issue was overlooked both in the UN and elsewhere. As a result, the convention does not include any mention of it. However, since the 1985 Nairobi Conference, the UN has encouraged discussion to help break the silence concerning the issue of violence against women. In 2007, the theme of the International Women’s Day was violence against women. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has taken this issue very seriously and called for action on violence against women numerous times. In October 2007, Mr. Ban openly acknowledged that violence against women has reached “hideous” levels in countries attempting to recover from conflict. He demanded an end to impunity for rape and other sexual crimes. On 25 February 2008 the Secretary-General launched a multi-year global campaign bringing together the UN, governments and civil society to try to end violence against women, calling it an issue that “cannot wait.”
One of the most groundbreaking achievements for women at the UN is Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which was unanimously passed by the Security Council in October 2000. Resolution 1325 calls for integration of women in all conflict resolution processes and post-conflict reconstruction. It recommends special training for all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human rights of women and children in conflict situations. Women around the world have eagerly used the resolution in connection with present conflicts in their countries. Women in Africa have been the first ones to sit at the negotiation tables for the resolution of conflicts and implementation of peace agreements in their continent.
Useful links:
Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women: www.un.org/women/endviolence
The UN Division for the Advancement of Women: www.un.org/womenwatch/daw
The Text of CEDAW: www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm
UNIFEM: www.unifem.org
Office of the UN Secretary-General’s special advisor on gender issues and advancement of women: www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi
Women Watch: www.un.org/womenwatch
Women’s Environment & Development Organization: www.wedo.org
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