Women shared technology, cultural experiences, religious traditions (in all their aspects), and practical marketable skills with each other. Women decided positively that "the task of the next decade has to be taken seriously as well as politically". The total agenda of the United Nations was debated and dealt with by women of the world on the Great Court and environs of the University of Nairobi.

The Nairobi experience showed that women can no longer be ignored if the world is to move forward with positive attention to the pressing problems with which peoples of the world are faced.

In conclusion, with the new found strength gained from this event, women have a responsibility both individually and collectively to act as catalysts within their own countries. As they study the forward-looking strategies which came out of the Women's Conference, women need to organize special groups to work with their own governments to ensure that these forward-looking strategies are taken seriously and implemented. In order to carry forward the spirit of Forum '85, those who attended should personally share their experiences with as many people as they can, thus exciting others as to potential areas of discussion. There must also be ongoing education of women around the questions raised and the conclusions reached during the decade, which require continuing re-evaluation.

The excerpt from the poem written by Elizabeth Cox of Papua New Guinea in celebration of the Tech & Tools Exhibit seems to sum up Forum '85 - for it reflects what seemed to be the spirit of most women present.

Go forward not backward

Seize time

Seize training opportunities

Teach yourselves

Set your own horizons

Take care

Take hold firmly of tools &
technology

Take part fiercely in the
future

Take stock of the changing
time

Be all that you can

And all that you want

A decade is over

Our day has begun

Dame Nita Barrow was the convener of the Planning Committee for Forum '85 and has had a long-term commitment to gere advancement of women. An adult educator throughout her professional career in nursing, she is currently President of the International Council for Adult Education. She was knighted in 1980 as a Dame of the Order of St. Andrew (Barbados) in recognition of her work in the voluntary sector.

ÉVALUATION PERSONNELLE
DE LA DÉCENNIE DE LA FEMME

Maintenant que trois grandes conférences internationales ont été organisées par les Nations Unies au sujet des femmes, dit Margaret Fulton, il est essentiel que chacun des gouvernements participants traduise sous forme de lois les réformes décrites dans le Plan d'action de l'ONU, et que les femmes de chaque pays veillent au respect de ces lois.

Il faut encourager le gouvernement canadien à user de son influence à l'ONU pour obtenir qu'au moins trois autres conférences de ce genre aient lieu avant l'an 2000, vu les progrès réalisés depuis les réunions de Mexico, Copenhague et Nairobi.

Bien que les grands thèmes des trois conférences passées restent les mêmes - égalité, paix, développement - les priorités ne sont plus tout à fait les mêmes qu'il y a dix ans car aujourd'hui, dans le monde, la simple survie préoccupe davantage les femmes que l'égalité.

Autre chose qui ressort de Nairobi: les femmes sont de plus en plus conscientes qu'elles devront se politiser pour changer la situation. La discussion organisée par Bella Absug avec la collaboration de 18 femmes siégeant au parlement de 15 pays, sur le thème "Si les femmes gouvernaient le monde", qui a attiré plus de 1000 déléguées, l'a bien montré.