Synthesis of national reports on the progress made in the implementation of the Dakar/Beijing platform for action (PFA)

Abstract

The sixth African regional conference on women to review progress made in the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms of Action. African states will not only carry out an assessment of the efforts made in implementing the platforms for action but they will also seize this opportunity to adopt a common African strategy for the next five years. It must be recalled that the sixth regional conference is part and parcel of a process that was launched by the United Nations (UN) in the 1970s with a view to improve the well-being of women at around the world. To date the UN has organized four world conferences on women. The first one was held in Mexico in 1975, the second in Copenhagen in 1980, the third in Nairobi in 1985 and finally the Beijing Conference in 1995. The first three conferences culminated in the adoption of "the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (NFLS) for the Advancement of Women” while the Beijing conference evaluated the implementation of the NFLS.