World Conference on Women, 1985

The World Conference on Women, 1985 or the Third World Conference on Women took place between 15 and 26 July 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya to assess the progress and failure in implementing the goals for the United Nations Decade for Women, as established by the World Plan of Action from the 1975 inaugural conference on women and modified by the World Programme of Action of the second conference in 1980. Recognizing that the goals of the Decade for Women had not been met, the conference recommended and the General Assembly approved on-going evaluation of women's achievements and failures through the year 2000.

One significance of the conference was that its official statement, "Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women", was adopted by consensus, unlike the statements of the previous two conferences. The conference marked the first time that lesbian rights were introduced in a United Nations official meeting. It was also the turning-point for violence against women to emerge from being a hidden topic into one which needed to be addressed.