SAIS REVIEW

This article analyzes how the achievements of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing go beyond those of any other recent international conference. The article begins by describing the goals and purposes of the Beijing Conference. The article then discusses the conference's reaffirmation of the Program of Action from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, which was centered on women's reproductive health and rights.

This article presents a qualitative analysis of the outcomes of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. The article focuses on the major themes that emerged from the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum and the Conference, especially those themes relevant to developing countries. The themes discussed include women's human rights, violence against women, globalization of the economy, partnership with men, the rise of conservatism, the girl child, and the feminization of poverty.

Reports of rape in the former Yugoslavia have highlighted the abusive nature of wartime rape and the persistent misunderstandings regarding its prevalence, function and motivation in war. Efforts to prosecute rape effectively by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established to try war crimes in the territory have also revealed the difficulties in applying existing international human rights and humanitarian law standards to rape.