In 1995, the IV World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. Tavares da Silva did not attend but played an important role in preparatory discussions. A member of the Southern European Women's Association (AFEM), she was elected Secretary-General in 1997, serving for two years. In 1999, she produced the first Portuguese bibliography of papers on women, with the title "A Mulher: Bibliografia Portuguesa Anotada", (The Woman: Annotated Portuguese Bibliography). In 2000, during the Portuguese presidency of the European Union, she was asked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate participation in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and in the preparatory process for the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, to evaluate progress in the five years since the IV World Conference on Women.