But there were also the spillover effects of a rising tide of global conservatism and religious fundamentalism in many parts of the world.19 While religious extremists from different groupings were often at odds with each other,they tended to converge in their opposition to gender equality and women’s human rights. Many UN spaces witnessed this, not least the 5-, io- and 15-year reviews of the Cairo and Beijing conferences. It began moving closer to TNCs through the Global Compact that began in mid-2000, a replacement of the idea of a binding Code of Conduct by the voluntary adoption of 10 principles.