It was the first international conference held by the United Nations to focus solely on women's issues and marked a turning point in policy directives.
[1] At a time when the United States had just withdrawn from Vietnam,[2] forty-eight separate conflicts would rock Asia in such places as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
[4] Decolonization of the Caribbean saw twelve states gain their independence between 1962 and 1983, but simultaneously remain marginalized by pressures from world powers which continued to manipulate local concerns.
[7] In Central and South America various coups d'états in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador and dictatorships led to instability and decimation of indigenous populations.
[8] The embargo was followed by the 1979 energy crisis, sparked by concerns over lowered production caused by the Iranian Revolution and how continued instability might impact oil availability.
Collating responses covering education, employment, inheritance, penal reform, and other issues, from government actors, NGO representatives and UN staff, CSW delegates began drafting a declaration.
[14] When the United Nations designated 1975 as International Women's Year, no conference was planned as part of the celebrations because delegates on opposing sides of the Cold War could not agree to authorize one.
[17] When Mexico City agreed to host the conference, Princess Ashraf of Iran began collecting funds,[15] and each side mobilized to shape the agenda.
The Soviet camp advocated for women to be empowered so that they could use their natural abilities as nurturers to stem violence and inequality which created poverty and injustice.
[16] Among the prominent delegates, which many feminists felt were chosen for ideological reasons or ties to prominent male politicians, were Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka;[21] Anna Louise Beer, chair of the Norwegian National Women's Council; Vilma Espín de Castro, sister-in-law to the Cuban president; Francoise Giroud, French Minister of Women's Affairs;[22] Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines; Ashraf Pahlavi, twin sister of Iran's shah;[23] Leah Rabin, First Lady of Israel;[24] Elizabeth Anne Reid of Australia;[25] Silvana Maria Rota, Argentine congresswoman;[22] Jehan Sadat, First Lady of Egypt;[26] Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space; Vida Tomšič, Yugoslavian representative of the Non-Aligned Movement;[27] Khunying Suparb Visessurakarn, vice president of Thailand's National Council on Social Welfare;[28] but not First Lady Betty Ford, as the US administration feared linking the threat of anti-capitalist sentiment with women's issues.
[33] The first committee, under the chair Jeanne Martin Cissé of Guinea, with vice-chairs, Gladys Freire de Addiego of Uruguay, Jaroslav Havelka [cs] of Czechoslovakia and Nilima Ibrahim of Bangladesh and Rapporteur John Bruce Campbell of Australia[34] discussed the World Plan of Action.
[37] Some radical feminists, uninterested in reviewing a plan already prepared by UN committees tried to take over a US embassy meeting and yet another group walked out of the conference when Leah Rabin spoke.
The format allowed for non-governmental organizations (NGO) to meet and discuss the issues tabled at the official conference, but gave them no authority to take any action.
[55] The Tribune hosted thirty-six planned meetings and nearly two hundred spontaneously organized additional sessions covering a wide variety of topics from development, education, health, human rights, peace and work to birth control, gender violence, lesbianism, prostitution, racism and sexism.
If they were utilized by new industry, women tended to be exploited as a cheap labor source, as laws for equal pay were non-existent in many developing economies.
[61] Socialist women felt that equality could only come with a transformation of geopolitical relationships, which recognized the contributions of all members of society and denounced exploitation and discrimination on any basis.
[26][47] At one point, frustrated that they could not be part of the official dialogue, a group of radical feminists planned to stage a march through the streets of Mexico City.
The amendments the Tribune proposed included establishment of a UN office to monitor success of the Plan, issue annual progress reports, and investigate human rights abuse against women.
The Tribune played a uniting role, by bringing together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds to formulate the means to overcome differences in objective and create pathways for NGOs to participate in the policy-making process.