The result of their deliberations -- issued as a "Call to Action" -- dealt with various regional issues but above all else stressed the interconnectedness of women's concerns with the issues of human rights, social and economic development, and peace at all levels of society.
As such, the gathering offered a preview of the concerns and energy that NGOs plan to take to Beijing next September, when some 20,000 representatives are expected to gather in a much larger and more comprehensive NGO Forum overlapping with the Fourth World Conference on Women there.
"The processes and focus of this Forum herald the upcoming 1995 NGO Forum in Beijing," said Khunying Supatra Masdit, who is the Convenor of the Beijing Forum. "As with other fora, NGOs have two primary goals. The first is to provide substantive input to the Platform for Action the member states are going to adopt. The second is to strengthen the international women's movement through a visionary celebration in Beijing of women's diversity, common ground and universal aspirations."
The Vienna NGO Forum '94, which was held 13-15 October in advance of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) High-Level Preparatory Meeting for the Fourth World Conference on Women, is one of five regional preparatory meetings for NGOs. Other regional NGO fora were held for Asia and the Pacific (Manila) in November 1993, for Latin America and the Caribbean (Buenos Aires) in September 1994, and for Western Asia (Amman) and for Africa (Dakar) in November 1994.
In seeking to provide input to governments in the ECE region, which includes all of Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Israel, representatives at the Vienna NGO Forum spent much of their time working to produce a consensus document, which was given the title "Call to Action," as well as a special negotiating document which offered line-by-line suggestions to governments for the regional platform for action.
Produced piece by piece in various issue-oriented workshops and then integrated into one document by an ad hoc committee, the 12-page Call to Action sought to serve as the conscience for the government delegations attending to the ECE meeting. It started by reminding them of the enormous impact that the economic policies set by Europe and North America have not only on women in the region, but also on the world as a whole.
The document expressed concern that "current economic policies do not provide for sustainable development and peace," adding that the dominant economic paradigm "is inherently detrimental to the rights of women."
"Industrialized nations consume 75 percent of world resources and represent 20 percent of global population," the Call to Action stated. "Unsustainable economic growth in the ECE region jeopardizes women's lives and any prospects for sustainable and just livelihoods in the region and worldwide and leads to a widening gap between rich and poor, both within and between countries."
The statement aimed to show how the advancement of women will in fact lead to increased well-being for all of humanity, because of the crucial but often ignored role that women play in holding together the foundations of human society.
The NGO statement, for example, emphasized the role that women play in community development, and it urged that government officials, policy makers and community planners be required to develop policies "in partnership with grassroots women and their organizations."
"Grassroots women understand the problems of women, children
and families and local values, and support their families and
communities through their work," the document stated.