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44th Session of the Commission on
the Status of Women (Beijing +5 PrepCom)
New York, 28 February - 17 March 2000
   

Highlights from Wednesday, 8 March

Town Hall Meeting on "Women Uniting for Peace" in honor of International Women's Day A call from women around the world for a stronger voice and a role in peace negotiations and peace building strategies was the focus of this special event. After an opening statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and statements from Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Security Council President, and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, women who are making a difference in resolving conflicts all over the world exchanged views. 


Secretary-General Kofi Annan's opening statement

PrepCom Working Groups Working Group I met in the morning to continue negotiation of bracketed text contained in the introduction of the proposed outcome document. Delegates reconvened briefly in Plenary in the afternoon to hear a statement by Security Council President Anwarul Karim Chowdhury. Working Group II met immediately afterward to begin discussion of actions and initiatives to overcome obstacles and to achieve the full and accelerated implementation of the PFA (E/CN.6/2000/L.1/Rev.1).s (Click here for highlights from today's PrepCom Working Groups and the UN Security Council's statement on mainstreaming gender issues in all aspects of peace processes)

 

 
 

 

Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, President of the Security Council, Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Secretary-General Kofi Annan with Angela King, Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, President of the UN Security Council, Bangladesh, said the Security Council will intensify and strengthen its support for women's initiatives aimed at promoting peace

Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioer for Human Rights.

She set out what she believes to be the vital preconditions for peace and the component part of what is meant by peace, highlighted the progress that has been made, discussed the need for action and gave illustrations of some of the strategies for combating inequality that have been adopted. She urged States to ratify the optional protocol to CEDAW. She paid tribute to the work of UNIFEM and others who faciliate the participation of women in development and in civil society projects and encourage the development of women's networks and alliances.
UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer (center)

Nane Annan

Angela King
Nora Ahmetaj, Women in Black, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Mayerly Sanchez (15 years old) The Children's Movement for Peace, Colombia, and Adiatu Teresa Deigh, The Sierra Leonne Youth Empowerment Organziation
 
How can there can be peace without economic equality?
PrepCom Working Groups
The G-77/China (left) speaks with Working Group II Chair A. K. Bhattacharjee, India, before the convening of the working group
Cuba expressed concern over the Security Council's participation in discussing the advancement of women, maintaining that this issue is primarily the responsibility of the GA and ECOSOC.President Chowdhury responded that he did not feel the UNSC was in any way taking over the work of the GA and ECOSOC, but rather the intention was to emphasize women's contributions to peace-building and the importance of mainstreaming gender in conflict resolution. He said he hoped the UNSC's statement would add to other efforts, highlighting that the various organs of the UN must support each other in their mutual objectives.
Bangladesh discusses text with conference participants before the morning session of Working Group I


ENB Summary of CSW-43
Linkages Coverage of the Fourth World Conference on Women
 Linkages Coverage of CSW-43
 Secretariat web site with official documents and information for NGO participants
ENB's Background Information on CSW-44
 Other links (NGOs, research institutes, etc)
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