Report of the Expert and bureau meeting on follow-up to the fourth world conference on women

Abstract

Two meetings, one of experts on follow-up to the fourth World Conference on Women and the other of the Bureau took place at the ECA Headquarters from 1 - 3 March 1996 and 3 - 5 March 1996 respectively. The two meetings were organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration and with the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Regional focal field level institution (RFFI) for east Africa. The ECA for carrying forward the coordination role assigned to it at the fourth World Conference on Wtimen. She also took note of the presence of Mrs Mongolia and assured her of UNDP's support to ensure that the African spirit which permeated in Beijing was strengthened and utilized for achieving the objectives of the Global and African Platforms for Action. She informed the meeting that UNDP provided financial and substantive inputs into the Bureau meeting because they believed it would provide important guidance and clarity on a number of issues. She further informed the meeting that in a recent meeting convened by UNDP in Burkina Faso for all African Ministers of Planning and UNDP Resident Representative for the Africa region, a major lesson learnt was that poverty lies at the heart of both economic and political marginalization, because people within its grip cannot participate In, and contribute meaningfully to the direction of the society and to its economic growth and wellbeing. A related lesson is that poverty has a woman's face and the increasing poverty among women is linked to their status and power in their communities and countries as well as the undervaluation of their work, absence of recognition of the contributions they make and to their legal equity and equality.