Beijing +5 will be a Special Session of the General Assembly entitled "Women: 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century." It will be held from 5-9 June 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York. The Special Session will review and assess the progress achieved in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, adopted in 1985, and the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. It will also consider further actions and initiatives for the year 2000 and beyond. In its resolutions 52/100 and 52/231 the General Assembly decided to convene the Special Session and requested that UN Member States, the United Nations system and NGOs provide information to assist in the review and appraisal. 

Who may participate

Unlike the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was a global event attracting thousands of participants to the host country, China, the Special Session of the General Assembly will be a meeting held at UN Headquarters in New York. 

Participants will include: 
UN Member States Associate members of regional economic commissions UN Specialized Agencies NGOs and IGOs in consultative status with the ECOSOC as well as NGOs that were accredited to the Fourth World Conference on Women 

The Preparatory Process

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Special Session (see GA resolution 52/100). The PrepCom has met twice to prepare for the Special Session, during the 42nd session of the CSW in March 1998 and during the 43rd session of the CSW in March 1999. The Commission will meet again as preparatory committee in conjunction with its 44th regular session from 6 - 24 March 2000. The PrepCom has recommended preparations to be undertaken in a draft resolution issued in March 1999. The resolution recommends actions to be undertaken by Governments, UN Regional Commissions and the United Nations System. Since 1995, the CSW has been reviewing each of the 12 critical areas of concern. In doing so, the Commission has made recommendations for each critical area on concrete measures to implement the strategic objectives in the Platform for Action. In preparation for the review, a series of informal consultations will be held in New York, beginning as follows:

June 14 and 21 - The Bureau of the PrepCom will meet June 15 - Informal open-ended consultations June 18 - Informal open-ended consultations June 23 - Informal open-ended consultations 

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (4-15 September 1995) by representatives from 189 countries. The Platform reflects a new international commitment to the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere. It builds on commitments made during the United Nations Decade for Women, 1976-1985, including at the Nairobi Conference, and on related commitments made in the cycle of United Nations global conferences held in the 1990s. 

1. Poverty 
2. Education & Training 
3. Health 
4. Violence 
5. Armed Conflict 
6. Economy 
7. Decision Making 
8. Institutional Mechanisms 
9. Human Rights 
10. Media 
11. Environment 
12. The Girl-child 

Five years after Beijing, the Special Session in June 2000 will provide an opportunity for all concerned to share and compare experiences, to renew old commitments and make new ones and to examine obstacles encountered as well as good practices in implementing the Platform for Action.