Review of Developments at the 48th Session of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Until the turning point of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, few issues received as little political attention at the United Nations as the human rights of women. Now, thanks to the efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics, and other advocates, the Conference itself can claim the placement of women on the human rights agenda as one of its clearest victories. The weaknesses of the United Nations and of the international community as a whole {including states and NGOs) have been primarily in two areas: (a) at the conceptual level, their failure, until recently, to declare all women\u27s human rights concerns as part of international human rights law; and (b) at the operational level, their failure to integrate women\u27s human rights into the mainstream human rights agenda, thereby marginalizing the issue in terms of monitoring and implementation and in terms of national institution building