4. Fourth world conference in Beijing (1995)

This conference confirmed that the targets and goals set for the decade had only been partially achieved. While the early years of the decade had featured relatively favourable economic conditions in both developed and developing countries, the subsequent decline in the economic situation had prompted a drop in the pace of efforts aimed at promoting the equitable participation of women in society and had generated issues that forced a downturn in the

The Nairobi Strategies represent such a change in the UN's focus on the issue of women's status that the organisation itself refers to this conference as the "birth of feminism on a global scale". For the first time, a document passed with full consensus by all the participating states takes an in-depth look at the cultural reasons behind the perpetuation of gender-based inequality and recommends that these obstacles be eliminated not only through legislation

In this document, the approach to equality is no longer exclusive in terms of nondiscrimination of women; instead, the signatory states make a commitment to implement legal and institutional mechanisms that encourage full participation by women in all occupations, particularly in realms that were once considered strictly masculine domain, in order to break down occupational barriers and taboos [10]. Special emphasis is placed on passing measures focused on ensuring equitable representation of men and women in decision-making bodies at all local, national and intergovernmental levels of politics. The fact that equality was no longer approached in terms of "non-discrimination" at this conference but rather as participation by women in all social spheres represents an important qualitative shift because it suggests a change in the very structures of society, in which women are active agents of this transformation. Another issue to be highlighted is the fact that this conference looks more closely at the cultural reasons behind the perpetuation of gender-based inequality and concludes that there are no physiological reasons to consider women as inferior to men nor are there any jobs or tasks specifically for women, and social structures are determined to be the essential element

In Nairobi, the need to intensify research on the status of women and the causes of discrimination of women became evident, and without actually giving it a name, the approach referred to as "empowerment" also began to take shape here, meaning the need to foster self-esteem, autonomy and greater access to power by women. Although the concept of "empowerment" pervades the Nairobi Strategies, the word itself does not appear for the first time until 7 years later at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, and it is

Another topic that was stressed was the insistence upon taking measures at all levels to counteract gender violence. Violence against women was defined for the first time as "a major obstacle to the achievement of peace and the other objectives of the Decade" and was

In the non-governmental field, the International Women's Rights Action Watch, IWRAW, was created in Nairobi to track the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

but also by educating the population in general, men as well as women.

cause for women.

86 Marketing

that perpetuates inequality.

also included in the Beijing Declaration in 1995.

categorised as a critical area of concern.

against Women.

In 1995, the fourth United Nations World Conference was held in the capital of China, Beijing. At the same time, coinciding with the conference, the NGO Forum was held simultaneously, attended by more than 10,000 people from civil society. Preparations for this conference dated back to 1990, with preliminary regional summits held over the years to draw up proposals, which were recorded in regional documents and plans. These preparatory meetings helped to define the draft version of the Platform of Action, which would later be discussed in Beijing. However, despite all the work done, the Draft version of the Platform of Action lacked consensus, and more than 50% of the text was submitted without consensus [14].

The Beijing Conference had an unprecedented impact in the media, thus fully achieving the goal of any United Nations Conference of raising awareness amongst the public about the topics to be addressed. The fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the NGO Forum in Huairou generated an enormous mobilisation of the media. The events attracted more than 3200 journalists and people related to the media, compared to some 1400 at the 1985 conference in Nairobi and 800 at the conference in 1980. The Beijing Conference received more coverage than the preceding three conferences all together [15].

As a result of the conference, two documents were issued—the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action—which focused on 12 critical areas of concern for women, namely, poverty, education, health, violence against women, armed conflicts, the economy, women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for advancement, human rights, the media, the environment and the girl child.

In Beijing, the term "gender" was introduced, defined as "socially constructed roles assigned to men and women, and the possibilities, opportunities and discriminations deriving from this" [9]. This new approach entails no longer dealing with women's status in an isolated manner but rather, in order for it to improve, changing the very structures of society, recreating more equal relationships between men and women. Thus, it is noted that the differences between women and men are not just biological but that there are also certain social structures that must be eradicated if full equality is to be achieved.

The United Nations conferences held during the first half of the 1990s had insisted on fostering equitable participation by men and women in order to achieve equitable, sustainable, human development. The fact that equality between men and women had found its way onto the United Nations' agenda, not just in the field of issues specific to women but integrated into other sector policies, shows that the mainstreaming of the issue had been evolving in the UN's agencies and organisations as well as in the governments of its member states. In Beijing, the commitment by the international community in terms of empowerment of women was bolstered, and systematic mainstreaming of the gender perspective was integrated into the policies. This posed a major step forward compared to the preceding conferences.

It is true that opinions vary as to the results from Beijing. According to the more or less progressive ideologies based on which women launched their reflections, the topics prioritised as achievements within the document sometimes varied substantially. When assessing issues such as poverty, education, work and the economy, there is little disagreement from one ideology to the next, and these are spaces in which building consensus has shown to be plausible. One of the specific achievements highlighted by women with progressive leanings was the recommendation that governments revise laws that punish women who commit or have committed abortion (…). The conservative sectors are the ones that made sharper criticism of the Platform for Action. These groups focused their criticism mainly on one area: women's reproductive health. Not in vain were these the only issues in which they showed

The Progress of the United Nations in Empowerment and Equality for Women

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These views were also reflected in the communication media. Certain issues were handled by the press as successes or failures based on whether they were viewed as being "progressive" or "conservative". Certain newspapers even asserted that "the conservatives", with their backward ideas, had watered down the Beijing document. In this regard, it must be pointed out that the economic and political interests of the West often influenced the form and content of international news items. Because they control the communication media technology, they are considered agents of globalisation because they further the consideration of western values as

Despite the criticism, we can conclude that the Beijing Platform represented a step forward and the bottom line is positive. It is no wonder that the closing statements of the fourth World Conference on Women were made by the Secretary General of the Conference, Gertrude Mongella, who declared "A revolution has begun and there is no turning back", and there has been none. Beijing represented an unprecedented change that mobilised international public opinion, governments and women's movements, offering them the support and strength

Not surprisingly, these efforts made by the United Nations and other public stakeholders in support of equality have, in some way or another, influenced both consumption and the market. Gender has managed to overcome social barriers and has been incorporated into every field, including the marketing sector. In this way, we find that the first conference on gender, marketing and consumption organised by the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) was held in 1991. This is just one example of countless conferences that have further studied such relevant issues as gender identity, differences between men and women in consumption, the sociocultural dimensions of the purchasing behaviour of men and women, lifestyles and consumer rituals [19]. As some researchers have asserted, the phenomenon of the working woman has probably had a greater effect on marketing than any other social change, since women are working and saving more than men, leading many industries to start considering marketing aimed at

any interest in the pre-Beijing period [16].

universal values [17].

women [20].

needed to progress in equality [18].

5. Marketing and the gender perspective

Hence, the adoption of positive measures focusing on ensuring equal representation of men and women in decision-making was recommended for the first time. The Platform acknowledges that women have lower rates of representation in decision-making positions due to the existence of barriers that are structural as well as ideological, which must be overcome by taking positive measures. Moreover, these measures should be taken not only by governments and political parties but also by trade unions, employers, industries and the private sector, research and academic institutions, non-governmental organisations and the UN system itself, to name a few, to achieve an increase in women's participation in decision-making in all aspects of public life.

There is also an insistence on parity and on the fact that women should reach influential positions, overcoming the invisible obstacles that prevent or hinder their access to executive positions, known as the "glass ceiling". To do this, we must have a decisive number of female leaders, executives and directors in strategic decision-making positions and in all areas of power and insist that governments must drive these measures.

In 1996, the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunities of the Council of the European Union created a mainstreaming group. This group carries out educational activities and issues publications designed to provide guidance on integrating equal opportunities into the community's set of policies. These initiatives develop the principle of mainstreaming, giving the integration of the focus on gender in the assessment of national, regional and international policies a global boost.

Unprecedented progress was made in Beijing, recognised by the entire international community. Indeed, up to that time, the World Conferences on Women had been meetings by women or meetings to discuss issues that affected women. They were the sole recipients of the guidelines set or the measures proposed (…). However, in Beijing the international community took a step further to recognise, for the first time, that in order to achieve equality between women and men, a broader social change was needed, which not only affected women but also involved men [16].

Other accomplishments of the fourth Conference include spotlighting the precedence of women's human rights over religious beliefs, prioritising the educational and training needs of girls and women by donors and governments in development cooperation programmes, recommending that specific measures be taken to fight against violence affecting women, accepting rape committed during times of war as a war crime, recognising sexual violence as a reason for granting asylum, recommending that governments revise laws that punish women who commit or have committed abortion and calling upon the communication media to set up codes of conduct and self-regulatory mechanisms to eliminate stereotyped images of women.

Yet, as occurred at the three previous conferences, consensus did not reign in Beijing, and of the 2 documents approved, 44 reservations were expressed in relation to the Platform for Action, which show the degree of disagreement with the text issued. The document was criticised mainly for its lack of continuity with previous international documents, its ideological imbalance and the linguistic ambiguity that pervades the text.

It is true that opinions vary as to the results from Beijing. According to the more or less progressive ideologies based on which women launched their reflections, the topics prioritised as achievements within the document sometimes varied substantially. When assessing issues such as poverty, education, work and the economy, there is little disagreement from one ideology to the next, and these are spaces in which building consensus has shown to be plausible. One of the specific achievements highlighted by women with progressive leanings was the recommendation that governments revise laws that punish women who commit or have committed abortion (…). The conservative sectors are the ones that made sharper criticism of the Platform for Action. These groups focused their criticism mainly on one area: women's reproductive health. Not in vain were these the only issues in which they showed any interest in the pre-Beijing period [16].

These views were also reflected in the communication media. Certain issues were handled by the press as successes or failures based on whether they were viewed as being "progressive" or "conservative". Certain newspapers even asserted that "the conservatives", with their backward ideas, had watered down the Beijing document. In this regard, it must be pointed out that the economic and political interests of the West often influenced the form and content of international news items. Because they control the communication media technology, they are considered agents of globalisation because they further the consideration of western values as universal values [17].

Despite the criticism, we can conclude that the Beijing Platform represented a step forward and the bottom line is positive. It is no wonder that the closing statements of the fourth World Conference on Women were made by the Secretary General of the Conference, Gertrude Mongella, who declared "A revolution has begun and there is no turning back", and there has been none. Beijing represented an unprecedented change that mobilised international public opinion, governments and women's movements, offering them the support and strength needed to progress in equality [18].
