Beijing, 1995 : The Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, agreed on a plan for achieving equality for women across twelve critical areas.

At the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, an internationally agreed plan for achieving equality for women across twelve critical areas was established. The twelve areas were: poverty, education and training, health, the economy, power and decision-making, human rights, armed conflict, institutional mechanisms, the environment, violence against women and the girl child.
The United Nations General Assembly mandated the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to integrate into its program a follow-up process to the Conference, regularly reviewing the twelve critical areas of concern and to develop its role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in United Nations activities.

A 5 year review process was carried out in 2000 and 2005. And the +15 review will take place from 1 till 12 March at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

Lesbians’ rights are human rights and since discrimination based on sexual orientation is not recognized or mentioned in any international text of the UN, lesbians have been working for visibility on their issues at the United Nations for more than 30 years. They have been demanding recognition of their issues since the First World Conference on Women in 1975 in Mexico, and they have been consistently denied.

For the upcoming review session in New York ILGA will be represented by a delegation of seven people representing various regions of the world. We have been working with our LGBT partners and with feminist organizations to have women, and lesbians’ questions, present in the agenda of the United Nations.

We request that:

o Policies to stop violence against women include violence against lesbians
o Policies to support girls at school and schools to support lesbian girls
o Policies to support the health of women include lesbian women
o Policies against discrimination against women include lesbian women
o Adequate public service is being guaranteed in the above areas
o Budget cuts do not prevent public service from implementing those policies

We will be there again, to make our voices heard, educate, share our knowledge and celebrate the Beijing + 15 review achievements.

To see a Short History of Lesbians in the United Nations, click here

http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/miOmf061IN