Dear partners, colleagues and friends,

Welcome to the inaugural issue of WEDO E-News & Views, the bi-monthly on-line newsletter that keeps you in touch and up-to-date on global policymaking and advocacy for women’s empowerment and gender equality at the United Nations and worldwide. It’s been a busy year so far—and there’s much more to come!

In March the UN Commission on the Status of Women reviewed implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by governments 10 years ago. Thousands of advocates from 80 countries beat back a Bush Administration Assault against the Platform, while women in more than 150 countries documented a lack of sufficient progress in implementation in WEDO’s global monitoring report, Beijing Betrayed.

The meeting affirmed the critical link between the Platform for Action and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This was a big plus for women’s advocates as we move forward to the UN five-year review of the Millennium Summit known as The World Summit, in September—despite the failure of the Secretary-General’s Report, “In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All” to follow through.  In World Summit related activities: Women’s global networks critique the SG’s Report and Draft Outcome Document, prepare for Informal Interactive Hearings at the end of June, and become increasingly active and vocal in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (G-CAP).

In our other reports: At the March meetings of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development human rights got sidelined by privatization; and we’re reaching out to U.S women in a year long series of Town Hall Meetings we’ve dubbed Women Engaging Globally.

WEDO E-News & Views welcomes your feedback on this issue and urges you to use the resources and action plans to get involved!

June Zeitlin

With hardly a pause after the 10-year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action, advocates are gearing up to make the case for women’s empowerment and gender equality at the Five-year Review of the Millennium Summit, known as the World Summit 2005, in New York in September...

The 13th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-13), took place 11-22 April 2005 at UN headquarters in New York. This was the second of a two-year “Implementation Cycle” focused on government commitments in the areas of water, sanitation and human settlements as well as various cross-cutting issues including gender equality. The purpose and challenge was to translate policies into actions and to mobilize the appropriate resources to support them. Over 500 NGO representatives participated...

The unequivocal reaffirmation of the Beijing Platform for Action at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women last March was a resounding victory for women’s human rights over the Bush Administration’s global war on women. The success was largely due to the continuing solidarity, commitment and hard work of progressive feminist and women’s groups and networks from around the world allied with key government ministers of women’s affairs and delegates who were unwavering in their support. Advocates were organized and ready for the member states delegations with creative strategies and rigorous advocacy documents—and they were not afraid to confront and expose U.S. hypocrisy in the world’s media...

On March 3, 2005, over 200 people gathered at the UN to celebrate the launch of WEDO’s fifth global monitoring report, Beijing Betrayed. Using the voices and accounts of women from nearly 150 countries, Beijing Betrayed illustrates that the realities women face often contrast sharply with the official reports of their governments...

In a crowded college auditorium in Minneapolis, Minnesota one concerned woman demanded to know why the US government had granted the right-wing, and notoriously anti-woman, Independent Women’s Forum $10 million dollars for women and democracy initiatives in Iraq. In Boston, Massachusetts, another woman stood to ask what she and others at the local level could do to stop the trafficking of women into the U.S....