By Susan Howland
It was a delight to join members of the National ECW board and others at the UNCSW: Beijing +30 meeting in March. The Commission focuses on gender equality and the rights and empowerment of women and girls and this session will review outcomes from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and make recommendations for improvement. I have been following this meeting and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action since 1995, but this was the first time I traveled to New York City to attend in person. I attended a number of parallel events, organized by NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York, and listened to women’s stories from all over the world. Women spoke of many joys and challenges, but the message I heard was that over the last 30 years the Beijing Platform for Action had provided a foundation for women to bring women’s voices, sometimes slowly, into cultural, social, and governmental structures. The global network has provided a place for women to gather, discuss and give voice to the varied challenges that women face in their local context.