The Platform for Action was the result of a two-year  process that included meetings at the community, national and international level and which engaged thousands of women in the policy-making process, many for the first time. The Platform is not legally binding, but sets forth  goals to sere as a guide for improving the lives of women and girls. The role of governments is to implement the Platform; the role of non-government organizations (NGOs) is to hold them accountable, and to assist governments in implementation. The Platform for Action is an important tool for NGO's efforts to promote the advancement of women.

Beijing +5 and US Women’s Organizations: A Gap and An Opportunity

In June 2000, the United Nations and its member governments assessed progress in implementation of the Platform for Action. This assessment, called "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty First Century," took place in June 2000 at UN headquarters in New York. Also known as "Beijing +5," the process will allow women’s communities throughout the world to see how far their governments have come in implementing the Platform for Action and their country-level national agendas for action. Thus, "Beijing +5" offers a strategic opportunity for women and girls to strengthen their efforts to hold government accountable, at the national, state and local levels, on issues they identify as priorities. By linking these efforts under the common umbrella of "Beijing +5" and beyond, there will be an enhanced ability for individuals and organizations to work together, increasing the potential for impact on policy.

Just as the participation of women’s NGOs was vital to the development of the Platform for Action, their participation is critical for ensuring that governments follow through on their commitments. In many countries, from the Philippines to Uganda, NGOs have strengthened their influence by forming national coalitions around the strategic objectives and actions contained in the Platform for Action. They are using the Platform for Action to strengthen and reinvigorate their efforts to advance the well-being and empowerment of women.

The women’s community in the United States has also responded to the Platform for Action. In 1996, the President’s Interagency Council on Women sponsored a national conference via satellite  to obtain recommendations for US national action to implement the Platform for Action. As a result of this conference and the subsequent input of NGOs, the US Women’s National Action Agenda was created during l996 and l997. The Agenda takes the broad categories of the Platform for Action and makes them specific to the situation in the United States.

However, there has not been coordinated and visible NGO follow-up to the US Women’s National Action Agenda in a way that capitalizes on the opportunities to advance women in light of the upcoming "Beijing +5" activities. Unlike many countries in the world, the US has no national women’s network with local and grassroots "arms" to promote and monitor women’s rights, advancement and agendas in government policies and programs. While the President’s Interagency Council on Women is important, the Council exists at the discretion of the President and the mandate of the Executive Order offers no guarantee that it will continue in subsequent administrations. And as a part of the executive level of government, the Interagency Council cannot be considered an independent actor. Thus, there is a need for a politically independent mechanism able to hold government at all levels responsible for consistently addressing the concerns of women.

The lack of intensive follow-up to the US Women’s National Action Agenda is unfortunate because this is a critical moment in the US women’s movement and in the global movement for women. Indeed, local efforts in the US can be enhanced by the global agenda through the empowering effect of identifying with women in other countries, the sharing and cross fertilization of strategies, and the potential for building and expanding alliances.

As a result, over the past three years, leaders of national and local women’s NGOs have come together to strategize on how to intensify and link follow-up actions. These efforts have focused on how to advance implementation of the Platform for Action in this country, which are outlined in the US Women’s National Action Agenda, and on building the foundation for a national network to strengthen efforts for government accountability.

Creation of US Women Connect

The outcome of this three-year effort was the creation of US Women Connect. US Women Connect was created to serve as the lead NGO catalyst to move action forward on the Beijing Platform for Action and the US Women’s National Action Agenda during the "Beijing +5" process. US Women Connect’s role, however, extends beyond "Beijing +5" since the Women’s National Action Agenda will take decades to achieve, and is an on-going need for a facilitating and organizing body like US Women Connect.

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