Founded in 1995, Social Watch was first established to provide a global platform for non-governmental organizations to monitor and promote the effective implementation of the commitments made by national governments during the United Nations World Summit on Social Development. Since that time, the group's work has continued in the areas of monitoring poverty eradication and gender equality and...

In June 2000 the UN General Assembly held a special session, "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century," also known as Beijing + 5, to review the actions taken and lessons learned since the Platform for Action was unanimously adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. In addition, the session debated "further actions and...