ABSTRACT
The World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in l985 is now considered an historical event. A quarter of a century has passed since this significant event in the political history of the advancement of women, significant also in the history of the United Nations (UN). The Nairobi conference followed two other world conferences on women, one in Mexico in 1975 and the other in Copenhagen in 1980. In 1995 the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. The number, locations and time span of these conferences are characteristic of how the UN operates as a world organization. Once a theme has been defined as important, problematical and of global concern, a process evolves whereby member states, relevant units of the UN system, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders may mobilize.
