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3. Equality, Development, and Peace: The UN Decade for Women, 1975–1985
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3 EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT, AND PEACE The UN Decade for Women, 1975–1985 In response to the pressure exerted by women’s organizations, particularly the Women’s International Democratic Federation, and following a resolution of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the UN declared 1975–85 as the Decade for Women (United Nations 1972) and organized three World Conferences for Women during it: the first during the International Women’s Year (IWY) in Mexico City in 1975, the second in Copenhagen in 1980, and the third in Nairobi in 1985. These conferences were important symbolic events. They replaced the previously accepted equality frame with one centered on women in development (WID). Moreover, the conferences inspired the emergence of women’s movements and networks at both national and international levels, contributed to the establishment of new institutions, and stimulated research and data collection on women’s status throughout the world. These outcomes are somewhat surprising, because changes in political alignments as well as conflicts between them severely interfered with and hampered the conference proceedings. At the time of the women’s conferences, the countries belonging to the UN were divided into three blocs: the North, comprising the United States and its Western European and Latin American allies; the South, consisting of the Group of Seventy-Seven (G-77) and the Non-Aligned Countries; and the East, with the Soviet Union and other socialist and communist countries. Of the three, the Northern-Western bloc had 73 controlled the voting majority in the UN General Assembly during the 1940s and 1950s. However, following decolonialization and the emergence of new states in Africa and Asia, the Southern bloc frequently supported by the Eastern bloc countries began to outnumber it.1 The declining position of the North, particularly that of the United States, was symbolically reinforced by the success of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, revealing the vulnerability of Northern countries, the failure of the United States in Vietnam, and the victory of revolutionary movements in Iran and Nicaragua in 1979 (Jaquette 1995, 47). The political realities regarding the three blocs were mirrored in the themes of the women’s conferences—equality (favored by the North and West), development (pushed by developing countries), and peace (pressed by Eastern bloc countries). Moreover, the divisions between them were reflected in the politicization of the meetings, with the Southern countries calling for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) or condemning Zionism as a form of racism and with the Northern and Western countries opposing their initiatives. The Problem: Political Alignments and Conflicts at the IWY Conference in Mexico City, 1975 In comparison with the women’s conferences in Copenhagen and Nairobi, politicization at the IWY Conference in Mexico City from June 23 to July 4, 1975, was still moderate, which might be explained with its novelty. Although theme conferences were nothing new for the UN, this was the first world conference of governments on the subject of women producing the first international public policy—a World Plan of Action—aimed at improving women’s status. Hence, positions still had to be developed, networks had to be established, and governments still had to be persuaded that such a conference was important and needed. The idea of a world conference for women was not unanimously supported when Patricia Hutar, U.S. member of the CSW, proposed it on behalf of women’s groups. The Saudi Arabian delegate in the Third Committee of the General Assembly, for example, argued that the conference was superfluous because women already enjoyed equality with and were supported by men (Fraser 1987, 18). Others were concerned about duplicating efforts because the World Congress for Women was to be held in East Berlin from October 20 to 24, 1975.2 Still others worried about its costs or that it might divide men and women rather than 74 Chapter 3 [52.14.126.74] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 17:01 GMT) unite them (Allan, Galey, and Persinger 1995, 29). Yet, several symbolic events contributed to a favorable climate and turned the tide in favor of the IWY Conference. At the national level, the second wave of the women’s movements was thriving and exerted pressure on governments to take action with respect to women’s issues. This was particularly evident in the United States, where President John F. Kennedy established the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, the Equal Pay Act was enacted in 1963, and...