Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–14, Part 1, Documents on the United Nations, 1973–1976

183. Telegram 3254 From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State, July 8, 1975, 0225Z.¹ ²

July 8, 1975, 0225Z

TELEGRAM
Department of State
USUN 3254

R 4502252 JUL 75

FM USMISSION USUN NY
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0980
AMEMBASSY MEXICO CITY

USUN 3254

STATE FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY INGERSOLL, ASST SECRETARIES ROGERS, RICHARDSON AND BUFFUM

MEXICO CITY FOR AMB JOVA

FOL IS REPEAT USUN 3254/1 -SENT ACTION USMISSION GENEVA - 7/7/75 - REPEATED YR INFO:

QUOTE

USUN 3254
FOR AMBASSADOR MOYNIHAN FROM AMBASSADOR WHITE

E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: ECOSOC, UN, EGEN
SUBJ: IWY CONFERENCE

1. FOLLOWING IS MY EVALUATION OF IWY CONFERENCE, BASED ON PARTICIPATION IN ALL BUT THE FIRST THREE DAYS. ON BALANCE I THINK THE CONFERENCE HAS TO ITS CREDIT SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN PROMOTING EQUALITY AND FULL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN, AND THAT ITS IMPACT WILL BE WIDE-RANGING.

2. THE CONFERENCE MADE CLEAR BEYOND DOUBT THAT THERE IS A WORLD-WIDE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT WHICH, DESPITE OBVIOUS DIFFERENCES OF OUTLOOK DUE TO VARYING CONDITIONS WORLDWIDE, STILL HAS A COMMON BASE OF ASPIRATION AND DETERMINATION. WHILE THE CONFERENCE PAID ATTENTION TO THE “TRADITIONAL” WOMEN’S ISSUES OF LEGAL EQUALITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, IT FOCUSED TO A VERY CONSIDERABLE EXTENT ON “CONTEMPORARY” ISSUES, I.E. ATTITUDES (THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE MEDIA AND SOCIETY ITSELF SHAPE ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN); ROLES (THE NECESSITY FOR ELIMINATING SIMPLISTIC STEREOTYPES OF WHAT ARE APPROPRIATE ROLES FOR MEN AND WOMEN); AND THE RIGHT OF WOMEN TO BE FULL PARTICIPANTS IN TODAY’S WORLD. DELEGATES FROM THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES STRESSED THESE THEMES JUST AS STRONGLY AS DID THOSE FROM THE DEVELOPED ONES.

3. THE US ACHIEVED ITS PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE: PASSAGE OF A WORLD PLAN OF ACTION THAT WILL SERVE AS A GENERAL GUIDE, TO BE ADAPTED COUNTRY BY COUNTRY, TO ELIMINATING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AND ENSURING THEIR FULL PARTICIPATION IN THEIR SOCIETIES.

4. THE US ALSO TOOK THE INITIATIVE IN PRESENTING FOUR RESOLUTIONS, TO SIGNAL SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL ATTENTION. ATTEMPTS TO POLITICIZE SOME OF THESE WERE SIDETRACKED, AND ALL FOUR PASSED WITH STRONG SUPPORT. THEY WERE WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (ADVOCATING TECHNIQUES FOR UN AGENCIES SIMILAR TO THOSE USED IN OUR BILATERAL AID PROGRAMS THROUGH THE PERCY AMENDMENT); EDUCATION; WOMEN IN UN AGENCIES AND WOMEN ON NATIONAL DELEGATIONS TO UN MEETINGS.

5. AS WAS INEVITABLE, THE CONFERENCE WAS POLITICIZED TO A DEGREE. BUT NOT TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT IT FAILED TO TAKE ACTION ON THE WOMEN’S ISSUES. THERE WERE A HALF DOZEN STRICTLY POLITICAL RESOLUTIONS (ON SUCH SUBJECTS AS CHILE, PALESTINE, PANAMA CANAL) WHICH REITERATED FAMILIAR POSITIONS TAKEN IN OTHER UN FORUMS. THE THIRD WORLD WENT THROUGH THE MOTIONS AND WELL-KNOWN VIEWS (THEIRS AND OURS) WERE DULY REGISTERED. BUT THE REAL SUBSTANCE OF THE CONFERENCE DEALT WITH WOMEN’S ISSUES, AND IT IS ON THESE THAT THE IMPACT OF THE CONFERENCE WILL BE FELT.

6. SINCE MEXICO CITY IS THE HOME OF A GOOD NUMBER OF CHILEAN REFUGEES, CHILE GOT CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION. THE CHILEAN DELEGATION HAD SOME DISAGREEABLE EXPERIENCES IN PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS AND ALLENDE’S WIDOW SPOKE AT THE TRIBUNE. THE DISCUSSION OF THE RESOLUTION ON CHILE AT THE CONFERENCE, HOWEVER, WAS NOT EXCESSIVE AND, THANKS TO EFFORTS OF THE LATIN AMERICANS, THE RESOLUTION WAS WORDED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE CHILEAN DELEGATION DID NOT OPPOSE ITS ADOPTION BY CONSENSUS. WHILE I DO NOT KNOW WHAT PRECIPITATED CHILE’S DECISION TO BAR THE UN INVESTIGATING GROUP, I DOUBT THAT IT WAS DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE AT MEXICO CITY. INDEED, SEVERAL LATIN DELEGATES REFERRED FAVORABLY TO CHILE’S WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT THE GROUP AS EVIDENCE OF HER OPENNESS AND COOPERATION.

7. IT WAS ALSO INEVITABLE THAT THE ECONOMIC ISSUES OF THE NIEO AND CERDS WOULD BE RAISED --IN PART BECAUSE THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FEEL STRONGLY THAT THESE ARE RELATED TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS, IN PART BECAUSE PRESIDENT ECHEVERRIA WAS DETERMINED TO EXACT HIS PRICE AS HOST TO THE CONFERENCE. AGAIN, A DE FACTO COMPROMISE EMERGED. THE SUBSTANTIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE CONFERENCE--THE PLAN OF ACTION AND THE RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES--WERE LEFT SUFFICIENTLY INTACT THAT WE COULD SUPPORT THEM; THE DECLARATION AND A FEW OF THE RESOLUTIONS WERE UNSATISFACTORY TO US AND ACCORDINGLY WE VOTED NO.

8. OUR “NO” VOTE ON THE DECLARATION WAS BASED ON UNACCEPTABLE REFERENCES TO ZIONISM AND TO THE CERDS AND NIEO. THE G-77 DRAFTED THE DECLARATION AND DESPITE REPEATED REQUESTS FROM US WERE NEVER WILLING TO NEGOTIATE LANGUAGE. AND GIVEN ECHEVERRIA’S PERSONAL CAMPAIGN ON CERDS, I DOUBT THAT MEXICO WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED LANGUAGE THAT WE COULD LIVE WITH. WHILE REGRETTABLE, THAT THE “NO” VOTE WAS NECESSARY, AND PARTICULARLY UNFORTUNATE THAT WE WERE ISOLATED IN COMPANY ONLY WITH ISRAEL, I DO NOT CONSIDER IT OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE OUTCOME OF THE CONFERENCE. WE EXERCISED OUR RIGHT TO REGISTER OUR VIEWS IN THE MOST TELLING WAY--BY OUR VOTE. THIS HAS NO EFFECT ON THE CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIONS WE PLAN TO TAKE TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN OF ACTION AND RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES. THE US EMPHASIS THROUGHOUT THE CONFERENCE WAS NOT ON RHETORIC, BUT RATHER ON PRACTICAL STEPS TO ADVANCE THE STATUS OF WOMEN.

9. MOST OF THE RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES WERE VERY GOOD FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW. THEY STRESSED MANY OF THE ISSUES TO WHICH WE GIVE PRIORITY IN OUR BILATERAL AID PROGRAMS; HEALTH, EDUCATION, FAMILY-PLANNING, SELF-HELP, INTEGRATION OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT, CONSIDERATION OF SOCIAL AS WELL AS ECONOMIC FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENT. THE CONFERENCE DID, AS WE HOPED AND URGED, GIVE PRIORITY TO THE THEME OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT.

10. WHILE THE PARALLEL NGO CONFERENCE, THE “TRIBUNE,” OCCASIONED SOME OF THE NEGATIVE PRESS REPORTING, IT PLAYED AN ESSENTIAL PART. IN ADDITION TO THE FRINGE GROUPS THAT DREW SO MUCH ATTENTION, THERE WERE IMPORTANT WOMEN LEADERS FROM MAINSTREAM ORGANIZATIONS. MANY WOMEN’S ISSUES WERE DISCUSSED IN DEPTH AT THE TRIBUNE TO A GREATER EXTENT THAN WAS POSSIBLE AT THE GOVERNMENTAL CONFERENCE. AND THE PARTICIPANTS WILL SUPPLY ESSENTIAL FOLLOW-THROUGH WITH GOVERNMENTS WHEN THEY RETURN HOME. AS AT THE BUCHAREST AND ROME CONFERENCES, THE NGO PARTICIPATION PROVIDED AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT.

11. MY BASICALLY POSITIVE EVALUATION STEMS FROM WHAT I THINK THE RESULTS OF THE CONFERENCE ARE LIKELY TO BE. THE POLITICAL RESOLUTIONS AND THE STATEMENTS ON CERDS/NIE0 ARE ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER IN BATTLES THAT ARE BEING WAGED MORE APPROPRIATELY ELSEWHERE. THEY ADDED LITTLE TO THE ONGOING ARGUMENTS IN OTHER FORUMS. BUT THE PLAN OF ACTION AND THE RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES--TOGETHER WITH THE CATALYTIC EFFECT OF THE CONFERENCE--WILL I BELIEVE SET IN MOTION SOME SIGNIFICANT STEPS. WE KNOW THAT UN RESOLUTIONS CAN MEAN NOTHING, IF IGNORED, OR A GREAT DEAL IF THOSE WITH THE POWER TO DO SO DECIDE TO CARRY THEM OUT. IN ALL THE UN MEETINGS I HAVE ATTENDED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, I HEARD MORE TALK DURING THIS CONFERENCE THAN IN ANY OTHER OF WHAT PEOPLE--BOTH GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL--INTEND TO DO WHEN THEY GET HOME. IN THIS SENSE I THINK THAT THE CONFERENCE WILL PROVE TO HAVE ITS IMPACT. BENNETT UNQUOTE.
BENNETT

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files, D750234–0991. Limited Official Use. Repeated to Mexico City.
2. White evaluated the success of the World Conference of the International Women’s Year, which had concluded on July 2.