Articles by Felicity Hill

Each of the major UN World Conferences of the 1980s and 90s has a review mechanism that calls for five-year meetings to discuss the past and set goals for the future. These "Plus 5s" have examined decisions made at the Copenhagen Social Development Summit, Cairo Conference on Population and Development, Vienna Process on Human Rights, and Rio Environment Conference. Next in line is a review of progress on the Status of Women, scheduled for June 5-9 in New York.

A host committee is organizing many celebratory events, and an international committee has been set up to facilitate the activities of women actually lobbying at the UN. Women’s organizations from around the world have produced "shadow" or alternative reports to fill in the perceived gaps in their government’s assessments. These will be compiled and presented as a global shadow report, the non-governmental sector’s contribution to the debate. Since this isn’t a major conference but rather a Plus 5, no large NGO forum is planned. A two-day working session for NGOs will be held on the weekend prior to the meeting, and a variety of panel and cultural events will take place within and around the UN. read more