Education International (El) and Public Services International (PSI),representing over sixty million public workers in the world, 60% of thembeing women, expect governments to decisively commit to fund adequately the Platform of Action geared at improving the legal, economic and social situation of women.

For the two major Global Union Federations, representing public employees and education personnel, properly funded quality public services would make a huge difference in the lives of millions of women worldwide. "Governments need to allocate sufficient human and financial resources to provide quality services such as health, education and security," highlights Nora Wintour, PSI Equality and Rights Officer. Many public employees are women, and women rely on public services to support their family and community.

The urgency of state-supported quality services was also highlighted by the Forum of NGOs which met on 27 February prior to the opening of the 49th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW49, New York, 28 February-11 March 2005). Over 6,000 civil society organizations representatives made their own review of the results of the 4th UN Conference on Women (1995, Beijing).

The NGO Forum noted that if many positive institutional improvements have occurred since 1995, a lack of proper funding hampered the implementation of the new policies and legislations. NGOs and trade unions deplored the lack of dialogue between Finance ministries and their colleagues dealing with Women's, Social and Development issues. The NGO Forum also regretted the absence of a gender dimension in the formulation of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "Although adopted a couple of weeks after the Beijing+5 Review in 2000, the MDGs contain no real commitments towards women,"Stresses El Equality Coordinator Marta Scarpato. The NGO Forum also requested a women-focused approach in dealing with AIDS.

While expressing its frustration at the weak implementation of the Beijing commitments, the NGO Forum noted that civil society played a prominent role in the progress achieved. "Civil society is to be praised, not the governments," said Charlotte Bunch of the Global Center for Women Leadership. The NGO Forum also paid tribute to the positive role of the UN system in defending the cause of women worldwide, including the protection of women's reproductive rights.

EI,PSI and their affiliates worldwide will continue to lobby, at the CSW and later at the Summit UN MDG, and in their talks with governments, to see that the international pledges given on women's rights are fully achieved.