Beijing + 10 Review Opens In Controversy Over US Stance

NEW YORK, Feb. 28 – U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed thousands of women standing in long lines in the snow to register today for a two-week United Nations global review of their situation, while controversy gathered over the U.S. position on a final conference document. “We have learned what works and what doesn’t work” to promote women’s rights in the ten years since the Fourth World Conference on Women met in Beijing, Annan said at the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) special review session. “We must implement what we have learned on a larger scale.”

The CSW drafted a reaffirmation of the historic Beijing Platform for Action for discussion by more than 130 countries and an estimated 6,000 women in town for the event. But the U.S. delegation has submitted amendments that would undermine the Platform by specifying that it confers “no new international human rights.”

“We really hope the United States will stop blocking the global consensus affirming women’s rights,” said June Zeitlin, president of the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO). She noted that in December, the U.S. delegation had joined a preliminary conference reaffirmation of the Platform for Action and merely attached a detailed explanation of its views. “We don’t see why they now want to change to a position that once again puts them at odds with the rest of the world.”

Country statements through Wednesday, when the U.S. delegation speaks, are expected to endorse unconditional reaffirmation of the Beijing consensus in the gathering’s Statement of Policy. The statement and several CSW resolutions will contribute to the UN’s High Level Millennium Review in September, which Annan said would include specific recommendations for achieving gender equity over the next decade. “There is no tool for development more effective than empowerment for women,” Annan said