The panel discussion on Oct. 30, titled "Bringing Beijing Home: A Panel Discussion on The Fourth U.N. World Conference on Women," featured Karin Ryan, assistant director of the Human Rights Project at The Carter Center; Belle McMaster, director of advanced studies at the School of Theology; Nancy Boothe, executive director of the Feminist Women's Health Center; Glenda Price, provost at Spelman College; and Dazon Dixon, founder and president of Sisterlove: Atlanta Women's AIDS Project. Joyce Jones, education coordinator at The Carter Center, served as moderator for the discussion.
Jones asked panelists to consider four questions in sharing their experiences: why they attended the conference; three issues at the conference they felt were important to share with the audience; how it felt to be there; and what they thought was important in the document that the conference produced.
Ryan's main goal in attending the conference was to follow and monitor the progress of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). "Our international program chose last year to focus on one key area: the role of NGOs in the development and implementation of international policy." She discussed the problems encountered when the Chinese government would not cooperate with NGOs and separated the NGO forum from the conference. Ryan said the 138-page document compiled concerning women's rights "outlines the parameters ... it's an important way to measure potential activity for each country."
McMaster, who went to Beijing representing the National Council of Churches, called her experience "electric and energizing." Concerning the document produced at the conference, McMaster said two important issues outlined were violence against women and the stigma of "the girl child." "Only in this document have we addressed the discrimination girl children get around the world, in limited education and nutrition as well as opportunities," McMaster said. She addressed the conflict of religious and cultural traditions versus women's rights, saying, "We must respect each other's religious traditions, but when they conflict with basic human rights, we must say no."
Boothe, who went to Beijing with the goal of advancing the issue of reproductive health in terms of economic and social justice, said the conference was "definitely the Woodstock of the women's movement." Boothe assisted in teaching self-help exams and home remedies to women who did not have access to proper medical care. Boothe worked to incorporate into the conference document the idea that reproductive health issues should be broad-based and worldwide, and felt that she succeeded. "The most powerful thing was the sheer presence of people who had so much difficulty in coming," she said.
Price gave her impressions of the conference by detailing her previous trips to Beijing and the changes that she had seen over the years. "China is anxious to move up into the industrial world, but they have a long way to go. The United States has not shared with the world the mistakes we've made in order to help other countries grow." She was struck by the presence of women of color at the conference, saying, "These women have found their voice." She said that women worldwide are more alike than different and want the same things for themselves and their families, and violence against women "is a major epidemic in this world. Governments spend no time, money or resources on it."
Dixon, who focused on AIDS training for women during the conference, was encouraged that out of the 250 to 300 workshops offered each day, 10 to 15 focused on HIV and AIDS. Dixon, like other panelists, stressed the epidemic of violence against women and the "tribunal of women's rights as human rights." She also was impressed by the candid dialogues, both formal and informal, that the conference produced. Dixon said she didn't suggest extensive changes to the AIDS and HIV portions of the document, because they already included language she had previously suggested. "That was the greatest sense of accomplishment," she said.
The document produced at the conference can be accessed through the World Wide Web at http:\\
www.un.org.\conferences\index.html.
-- Danielle Service