Abstract

The documents adopted by the United Nations World Conference on Women during the Decade for Women (1975-1985) set forth a policy agenda for national and local governments, international institutions, and women's groups worldwide. The dialogue among women at the nongovernmental forums held in tandem with these conferences served to identify, refine, and reassess the issues addressed in the official documents. In this volume, Dr. Fraser has condensed the four major documents of the Decade, retaining much of the original language, and describes the context in which agendas for policies, programs, and research were developed. The opening chapters offer a historical perspective on the establishment of International Women's Year, the Decade for Women, and the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Throughout the book the author analyzes the influence of Third World women on the formulation of the agenda and discusses the interaction between the official and NGO conferences. She concludes by assessing the results in policy and programmatic terms and by exploring their implications for the future.