Researcher Eileen Pittaway, assisted by Kate Breen and Jack Draper, have presented an evaluation of the participation of Australian Women's Organisations in the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Non Government Organisations' Forum held in China in 1995. The report, Women Working Wonders, is the result of interviews and questionnaires with 140 women representing 46 women's groups across Australia.
In summary, the report concludes that participation 'has empowered many women and women's groups, and increased their ability and confidence to participate in decision making at a National level in an informed and effective manner.' And as one participant commented, '...every woman should have the chance to attend one of these meetings at least once in her life.'
For many, the gains came even from the preparation stage, through the enjoyment of joint planning and networking, and the focus provided for action and involvement. Pre-conference events and training for Australian delegates in such matters as effective lobbying, meeting preparation, skills and tactics and cross cultural communication were highly valued.
In Beijing, the work of the Australian caucus, which met daily to plan strategies and share information, had a significant impact and provided valuable input into the conference while the close co-operation of Government and NGOs was commented on favourably. It was an Australian initiative which led to the adoption of the concept of Government commitment to improve the status of women and the listing of specific goals to be achieved by 2000.
The report lists a number of important lessons learnt from the experience but warns that the post conference activity was relatively short lived and that attention needs to be focused again on implementation of the Platform of Action and work needs to be done on the commitments made by the Australian Government. 'There is a feeling, in 1998, of "being on hold", that the momentum is lost and that in some areas, the status of women is in fact slipping backwards.'
The report lists 14 recommendations which, if taken up by Government, 'would enhance the participation of Australian women in all aspects of social and political life'.