334. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Denmark1
82530. Please pass Deidre Ryan, ICA. Subject: World Conference UN Decade For Women. Ref: Vienna 2874.2
1. Received your note and will begin to share preparation developments with you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
2. U.S. preparations being conducted in three phases. Phase I was initial briefing to over 250 women in small group sessions. Briefing focussed on history of UN Decade; UN conference preparation procedures of regional conferences and the Prepcom; and U.S. outreach efforts.
3. Phase II, currently underway, is the bulk of our outreach effort. This effort involves holding five regional conferences in Federal regional headquarters cities throughout the U.S. to assess American progress in the Copenhagen subtheme areas of education, employment and health. The five two-day conferences will vary their emphases, but each of the subthemes will be highlighted at various individual conferences. Conferences scheduled and sponsored as below:
[Page 1120]| Dallas | March | 14–15 | EPA |
| Denver | March | 27–28 | HEW |
| New York | April | 10–11 | Department of Education |
| Philadelphia | May | 9–10 | Labor—Women’s Bureau |
| San Francisco | June | 6–7 | Labor—Women’s Bureau |
4. In adn, five one-day conferences are scheduled. These one day conferences, sponsored by various NGO’s are scheduled as follows:
| Minneapolis, Minn. | May 17 |
| Boston, Mass. | May 17 |
| Seattle, Wash. | May 313 |
| Kansas City, Ka. | June 21 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | June 28 |
5. Phase III will involve briefing and preparations of U.S. delegation to Copenhagen.
6. Kika Molgaard Antonsen, Danish journalist, will attend our Denver regional meeting as a part of her ICA sponsored U.S. tour.
7. CSW meeting in Vienna also addressed World Conference agenda items and results being repeated in Vienna 2874 (repeated Copenhagen FYI).
8. Discussion of the political items women and apartheid, women as refugees and the effects of Israeli occupation on Palestinian women, are gaining considerable attention at our regional meetings. Detailed coverage in my next communication.
9. Packet of US Secretariat materials distributed at each conference has been pouched to you.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800162–0259. Limited Official Use. Drafted and approved by Derryck (M/WCW).↩
- In telegram 2874 from Vienna, March 6, the Embassy summarized the outcome of the February 25–March 5 meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, noting that the deliberations had “not significantly altered” the agenda for the upcoming World Conference on the UN Decade for Women. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800122–0097)↩
- Organizers of the Seattle conference canceled the meeting, as the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18 complicated conference preparations and travel. Derryck sent a telegram to Nancy Helen Hunter Fisher, one of the Seattle organizers, on May 23, commenting: “Regret that volcanic eruption and subsequent slowdown in essential services resulted in your decision to cancel Seattle meeting in preparation for the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women. Appreciate your extensive attempt to mount high quality meeting. Thank you and the Seattle coalition for all your effort. Hope that the networking and new knowledge of the Decade and its goals prove beneficial to Seattle women.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800254–0029↩