sense, the emancipation and empowerment of the women is viewed as possibly threatening home and family. Change is after all, very threatening and can be very threatening.

I have characterized the debate in the 4th World Conference on Women as being, in a sense, representative of a clash between two global forces. I think, as a social scientist, that the 4th World Conference on Women was caught between two dynamic and powerful global forces. The global women's movement, on the one hand, represented primarily by the very dynamic women's non-governmental organizations and religious fundamental-ism, on the other, represented perhaps by the Catholic and Islamic fundamentalists. These were the same forces that have clashed at the International Conference for Population and Development in Cairo and had returned determined to win the next round.

But why the disagreements made headlines and while these controversial issues really were the ones emphasized? I believe it is important to emphasize that the 4th World Conference on Women did, in the end, reach agreement on most issues. We were successful in removing the four hundred (400) or so brackets in the draft document and passed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by consensus. The reservations expressed which is a natural mechanism at UN conferences were mainly in a particular chapter, this was a chapter on health, and again focused quite a bit on reproductive health. There was no mistaking the strong sense of accomplishment and unity as the Conference came to a close. So truly, there was agreement and shared concern about the following priority areas. Any may I just summarize the twelve (12) areas of concern that came out of -- that were emphasized in -- the 4th World Conference and are emphasized in the Platform for Action. These were:

l ) The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women;

2) Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services; that's the chapter on health.

3) Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services; that's the chapter on health.

4) Violence against women;

5) The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation;

6) Inequality in economic structures and policies in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources;

7) Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels:

8) Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women;

9) Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women;