ever, these changes tended to level off. There were lot of changes in the beginning right after Nairobi and then it sort of tapered off as the implementation of these new laws or these less, these non-discriminatory laws were much slower in coming. In other words, the implementation of the laws were getting more difficult.

The review revealed that, unfortunately, it was easier to change the law than it was to change actual behavior and practices. Thus while there was progress in de jure equality, de facto equality was far behind. The conclusion was that there was need for drastic action if the goals of the Forward-Looking Strategies which were formulated in Nairobi were to be achieved by the year 2000. So, in 1990, the Commission on the Status of Women decided that the Fourth World Conference on Women should be held in 1995. But it emphasized that this 4th World Conference should be different in the sense that:

First, it should focus on priority areas of concern, strategic objectives to reach the goal or equality, development and peace. In other words, to narrow down the priorities. Second, it felt that this 4th World Conference on Women should recommend specific actions to be taken, it should emphasize action and implementation. So, these mandates were reflected in the theme of the conference which, if you will remember, was action for equality, development and peace. So, what were the accomplishments? Given that mandate, what were the accomplishments of the 4th World Conference on Women? I believe there were many but I am forced to highlight a few.
First, the 4th World Conference on Women reinforced old concerns. The 4th World Con-ference on Women produced a very solid document, the platform for action that covered and reinforced old concerns that remain concerns -- when I say "old", concerns that were raised in Nairobi, Copenhagen and even in Mexico. This would be like the concerns of poverty, the concerns ofhealth, education, political participation, human rights.

The 4th World Conference on Women also gave these so-called "old areas" new visibility, a fresh perspective and recommendations for concrete actions from a wide range of actors, government, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil society and so forth.
Second, accomplishment perhaps might be phrased this way:
The 4th World Conference on Women upheld commitments of past conferences. The 4th World Conference on Women built on past UN Conferences and upheld the commitments made particularly in the recent conferences on Environment and Development in Rio, that was in 1 992, the Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1 993, and the conference on Population and Development in Copenhagen in 1995.

Finally, in terms of accomplishments, the 4th World Conference on Women broke new ground. That I feel was the most significant. Among and again here, what new ground did it break? Well, a lot, no. But I again will emphasized four or five of these.
First. It elevated the issue of violence against women from a private domestic concern to the level of public policy. It also broadened the definition of violence against women to include acts previously justified in the name of culture and tradition.