They were able to secure passage of a modified World Programme of Action to expand on previous targets to improve women's status and establish a follow-up conference for the end of the decade.
[5] Initially planned to occur in Tehran, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Iran hostage crisis, escalated the political backdrop as did the continuing tensions of conflict in the Middle East.
[9][10] The secretary-general of the conference was Lucille Mair, a Jamaican academic and single mother, whose primary focus was on the development theme of the triad.
[7][10] One hundred forty-five states with around 1500 delegates participated in the official session,[15][16] including delegates like: Aleksandra Pavlovna Biryukova [ru] of the USSR; Shirley Field-Ridley of Guyana;[17] Ana Sixta González de Cuadros of Colombia; Helga Hörz of East Germany; Maïmouna Kane of Senegal; Sheila Kaul of India; Ifigenia Martínez of Mexico;[18] Gabriele Matzner-Holzer [de] of Austria;[17] Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika of Zambia;[18] Elizabeth Anne Reid of Australia;[19] Ginko Sato of Japan;[17] Umayya Toukan of Jordan;[18] Sarah Weddington, who headed the US delegation, among many others.
After opening remarks by Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark welcomed participants and expressed her hope that the conference would prove productive.
[20] Anker Jørgensen, Danish prime minister, spoke briefly, followed by opening remarks by Lise Østergaard, followed by the general discussion.
Among the documentation were statistics showing that while women put in two-thirds of all working hours, they received only one-tenth of the income, owning one-hundredth of its assets.
[16] The first committee, under the chair Maïmouna Kane, with vice-chairs, Rafidah Aziz of Malaysia, Maria Groza of Romania, and Leónidas Páez de Virgili of Paraguay, with Rapporteur Marijke Van Hemeldonck of Belgium,[18] discussed the effects of Apartheid and the Israeli-occupied territories on women; the progress and obstacles in attaining the objectives of the World Plan of Action; and the proposal for the World Programme of Action for the second-half of the Decade for Women.
Also of grave concern was education of women to not only eliminate illiteracy but to make them aware of social and political processes and how they could be part of decision-making mechanisms.
[34] On the question of Palestinian women, the committee recognized that material assistance would do little to stop insecurity unless Israel ended its colonization, returned land to its owners and worked toward a durable peace.
[38] The planning of the 1980 Tribune, or Forum as it was called in Copenhagen,[39] was led by Edith Ballantyne, the executive secretary of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and president of the United Nations Conference of Non-governmental Organizations (CONGO).
[41] The success of developing transnational networks of women was evident in the expansion of attendees at the NGO Tribune from 6000 participants in Mexico City to around 8000 in Copenhagen.
[48] When Nawal El Saadawi of Egypt presented a paper on female circumcision, western feminists were advised that the issue was a developing world problem and not their concern.
[7] It included sections to create women's bureaus or agencies, defined the roles of NGO and grassroots organizations, and established target issues countries were to monitor.
[54] Multiple countries which had abstained from voting expressed disappointment that the process, rather than dealing with women's issues, had duplicated work better suited for the General Assembly.