How have women used global institutions and the networking possible through them to assure women's emergence on the world stage? How successful have women been at the United Nations and at international conferences over the years in their pressures for equality and for a full partnership with men? To what extent have women gained a foothold in the political arena internationally, and have they been able to exert their influence and to improve their situation? Expert participants and scholars give varying perspectives and insights about the history of women's worldwide efforts through governmental and nongovernmental organizations. They trace the role of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. They analyze the politics of the three world women's conferences in the 1970s and the 1980s, the evolution of institutions set up as catalysts to resolve key issues in developing countries, and the changing conditions for women in the UN Secretariat and specialized agencies. These unusual appraisals and a lengthy bibliography are for interdisciplinary audiences of women and men around the world-essential background to understanding the 1995 UN conference in Beijing.