At the 1999 IUPAP General Assembly, the concern was raised that women are greatly under-represented in the field of physics in most countries. Recognizing that all fields of science progress most rapidly when they draw from the complete available pool of talented people, the participants of the General Assembly passed a resolution to form a Working Group on Women in Physics.

The Working Group planned a three day International Conference on Women in Physics that was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on March 7 to 9, 2002. The results of this conference were presented at the IUPAP General Assembly in October 2002. The IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics brought together more than 300 participants, about 15 percent of them men, from 65 countries to review data, discuss barriers, share success stories, propose ways to improve participation globally, develop resolutions for action by the IUPAP General Assembly, and help teams develop appropriate strategies to improve the status of women in physics in their home countries.

Since 2005 is the International Year of Physics, the IUPAP working group together with prof. Elisa Saitovitch, former president of the Brazilian Physical Society, decided to organize with the support of the Iupap Working Group on Women in Physics a second conference in Rio de Janeiro.