Gender equality tops Forum 98 resolutions

On the 150th anniversary of the first women's rights convention in the U.S., more than 50 prominent women leaders have called for "bold actions and legislation at all levels to transform our society to (ensure) equality and human rights for the girls and women of the next millennium."

The Forum 98 gathering, sponsored by the University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, brought together leaders whose collective experience in the women's movement totals more than 1,000 years. They used the occasion to reaffirm their connection to the activist women of the 19th century and to call for equity, justice, power and the defense of women's rights as human rights.

Forum 98 participants endorsed two resolutions for action. The first resolution calls for a National Women's Equality Act for the 21st century and pledges to mobilize support for it. The second calls upon the U.S. Senate to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), first adopted by the U.N. in 1979 as an international declaration of support for the achievement of full equality between women and men.

Copies of the documents and press releases from Forum 98 can be obtained on the event web site, www.Forum98.org, or by calling the Susan B. Anthony University Center, x5-8799.