In the 70’s the United Nations adopted an enlarged definition of women’s rights and started the implementation of a policy of “integration of women into the development process”. The 1974 World Conference on Population sponsored by the UN was a landmark in the history of this issue within intergovernmental foruns. In the wake of a redefinition of demographic problems within the context of economic and cultural development and of the restatement of the political character of the population question, a new emphasis is given to the need to promote the participation of women in social, economic, cultural and political life. This article analyzes fertility control and development - the two issues that resulted in the lineages of thought at the root of the concern with women’s status and roles which was slowly growing within the UN since the late 60’s.
Women - United Nations: women’s rights; population policy; fertility control; women and development