UNWWO History

◆ The predecessor of the World Women Organization can be traced back to the rise of the international women organization at the end of the 19th century. At that time, the primary purpose was to fight for women’s fundamental rights and statuses, such as the right to vote and stand for election, employment, and the right to receive education. After the Second World War, some international women’s organizations to strive for peace appeared one after another.

◆ In July 1848, New York launched the feminist movement

◆ In 1888, Washington held the International Conference on women

◆ The international women’s Union was founded in 1925

◆ In 1936, the international women’s movement for peace was launched

◆ In 1946, the first international women’s organization conference was held, and the international women’s organization alliance was launched

◆ In 1947, the second International Conference of women’s organizations was held. The International Women Organization was established in New York. It is the predecessor of today’s World Women Organization (UNWWO) and its regional office.

◆ In 1965, representatives of International women organizations participated in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to respond to the queries on education, employment, inheritance, criminal law reform, and other issues from government actors, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and officers from the United Nations.

◆ In 1975, when the United Nations designated 1975 as the International Year of women, there was no celebration because representatives of the cold war opponents did not agree to approve it. At first, the Romanian representative of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women proposed to hold a celebration, but the proposal was against by the communist representatives. International Women organizations proposed to the United States to hold the first World Conference on Women.

◆ On June 19 to July 2, 1975, Mexico agreed to host the conference. The first World Conference on Women was held in Mexico.

◆ The international women organization officially changed its name to the World Women Organization in December 1975, and its headquarters was located in New York, USA.

◆ During period from 1976 to 1985, it was the brilliant decade for women activities. The World Women Organization established contacts with the United Nations and have helped convening the World Conference on Women.

◆ On July 14 to 30, 1980, the Second World Conference on Women was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. About 1500 delegates from 145 countries attended the conference.

◆ On July 15 to 26, 1985, the Third World Conference on Women was held in Nairobi, Kenya. About 1400 delegates from 157 countries attended the conference.

◆ On September 4 to 15, 1995, the fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, China. Representatives from 189 governments, United Nations agencies, EU, League of the Arab States, intergovernmental organizations, activists and organizations from all over the world attended the conference. 17000 people attended, and another 30000 activists participated in the parallel forums.

◆ In 1997, the administration system of the World Women Organization was reformed.

◆ In 2001, the cabinet meeting of the world women organization decided to set the realization of human peace to promote gender work. This goal is based on the seventh UN Secretary- General Kofi’s report on peacekeeping operations (resolution 1327 adopted by the UN Security Council on November 13, 2000). Secretary-General Kofi Annan highlighted five critical areas in the implementation report: strengthening the rapid deployment of peacekeeping operations, strengthening relations with the Member States and legislative bodies, reforming the management culture of peacekeeping operations, reforming the relations between peacekeeping operations and field missions, and strengthening relations with other United Nations agencies.

◆ In 2007, the comprehensive reform of the World Women Organization aimed to complete the organization system’s reorganization, but it was not successful.

◆ In 2015, the World Women Organization adopted the comprehensive reform agenda of revitalizing the World Women Organization: reform program.

◆ In 2016, the World Women Organization’s reform council was established, which mainly implements strategic management to strengthen objectives.

◆ The proposal of the new world women organization’s regulations in 2018 was adopted and signed by the World Women Organization’s Reform Council.

◆ In 2019, Lady Angela R.M. became the Director-General of the World Women Organization.

◆ In November 2019, the first intergovernmental reform conference of the World Women Organization was held in the Malaysian Parliament. Mohd Rashid Hasnon, deputy speaker of the Malaysian Parliament, presided over the meeting. At the reform conference, it was unanimously agreed that director general Lady Angela, and her Malaysian parliamentary group to establish a new autonomous international intergovernmental World Women organization. At the same time, Director-General Lady Angela announced to promote the next World Women Conference. In December of the same year, the reorganization of the World Women Organization was completed.

◆ In January 2020, the World Women Organization’s commissioning bureau was established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

◆ On September 15 to 16, 2020, the World Women Organization hosted the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and platform for the women’s Congress. UNWWO Brings Global Leaders Together to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Beijing Declaration. Leaders from more than 20 countries around the world, including governments, United Nations agencies, UN non- governmental organizations, public health, and multinational institutions, gathered to discuss issues of cross-era topics, such as gender harmony, co-construction between men and women, women and global sustainable development discussion.

◆ On September 15, 2020, Mohamed Rashid Hasnon, deputy speaker of the Malaysian Parliament, delivered a policy speech. He outlined his vital role in the comprehensive and extensive reform of the World Women Organization as a force for peace.

The World Women Organization supports the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. UNWWO takes peace, innovative ideas and scientific development as its action guide. UNWWO promotes gender harmony and women empowerment, and strengthens its work efficiency by integrating global resources.

World Women Conferences

 

The World Women Conference, also known as the United Nations World Conference on Women, is an important conference of women organizations around the world. Issues pertaining to women have always been a top priority for the United Nations. In 1972, to mark its 25th anniversary, the Commission on the Status of Women recommended that 1975 be designated International Women’s Year. The recommendation was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the need for equal rights and to women’s contributions to development and peace. During International Women’s Year, the First World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City, marking the anniversary of the Commission on the Status of Women and its progress. This conference was followed by the UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, which lasted from 1976 to 1985. To promote women’s development around the world, the United Nations has held  four World Women Conferences to date. The Second, the Third and the Fourth World Conference on Women took place in Copenhagen in 1980, in Nairobi in 1985, and in Beijing in 1995. The last was followed by a series of five-year reviews.

The First World Conference on Women (1975)

 

The Commission on the Status of Women called for the First World Conference on Women as one event established for International Women’s Year. Held in Mexico City, 133 governments participated, while six thousand delegates attended the International Women’s Year Tribune. The conference led to the the United Nations Decade for Women (1975-1985) and follow-up conferences established to evaluate the progress made in eliminating discrimination against women. At the conference, the World Plan of Action was adopted. The World Plan of Action had specific targets for nations to implement for women’s improvement, including minimum goals to be attained within the next five years. These goals involved securing women equal opportunity, eliminating discrimination, grant women full participation in development, integrate women into existing systems, and to support their contributions to world peace and non-violence. The conference made education, employment, family planning, housing, health and nutrition key focal points. The Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace was also adopted during the Conference, The Declaration discussed how nations foreign policy actions impacted women.
The Second World Conference on Women (1980)

 

The Second World Conference on Women took place in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1980. At the conference, 145 Member States gathered for the mid-decade assessment of progress and failure in implementing the goals established by the World Plan of Action at the First World Conference on Women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was signed during the ceremony. The conference adopted the official World Programme of Action, which included plans to create women’s bureaus and agencies, and established target issues countries were to monitor including child care, households headed by women, migrants, rural women, unemployment, and youth.

 

The Third World Conference on Women (1985)

 

The Third World Conference on Women took place in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985, as the end-of-decade assessment of progress and failure in implementing the goals established by the World Plan of Action from the 1975 inaugural conference on women as modified by the World Programme of Action during the second conference.The conference also established concrete measures to overcome obstacles in achieving the Decade’s goals. There were 1,400 delegates from 157 Member States at the conference; a parallel NGO Forum attracted around 12,000 participants. The Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women was adopted, with more extensive topics discussed, which outlined measures for achieving gender equality at the national level and for promoting women’s participation in peace and development efforts.

 

The Fourth World Conference on Women (1995)

 

The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was held in Beijing in 1995, which marked a significant turning point for the global agenda for gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Actionwas adopted unanimously by 189 countries. It was an agenda for women’s empowerment and considered the key global policy document to achieve global legal equity. It set strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas. The conference built off of political agreements reached at the three previous global conferences on women, and consolidated five decades of legal advances aimed at securing gender equality. More than 17 thousand participants attended, including six thousand government delegates at the negotiations, along with more than four thousand accredited NGO representatives, a host of international civil servants and around four thousand media representatives. A parallel NGO Forum held in Huairou (a district of Beijing) also drew some 30 thousand participants.