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

Web Archives (photos and real audio): 28 Feb 29 Feb
Daily ENB Coverage begins Friday, 3 March

Highlights from Wednesday, 1 March
Delegates met in a morning plenary to hear a panel discussion on emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting women and gender equality. In the afternoon, delegations briefly introduced draft resolutions on: the release of women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts; the situation of women in Afghanistan; the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women; and women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS. The Commission also completed discussing the follow-up to the Beijing Conference and the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme for Action. On Thursday, the closed Working Group on Communications will reconvene in the morning. In the afternoon, delegates will meet in Plenary to adopt draft resolutions and the CSW-44 report.

Chair of the Panel on Emerging Issues, CSW-44 Vice-Chair Loreto Layton, Chile 

Click here for photos and real audio from the UNIFEM panel discussion on Women at the Peace Table with Hanan Ashrawi, Palestine, Mary Brownell, Liberia, and Piedad Cordoba, Colombia

 
Panel on Emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting women or equality between men and women

Dominique Meda, Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales (France) spoke on "Women and work, including the emergence of new forms of work and employment and reconciliation of family and work responsibilities"

She said societies must allow for changes in employment rules to offer women and men more time for their personal and social lives. She referred to the Netherlands' part-time work schedules that have encouraged men to take greater roles in childcare and household tasks

Gillian M. Marcelle, Chairperson, African Information Society Gender Working Group, Pretoria South Africa, spoke on "Gender, justice and technology"

She highlighted the rapid growth of information and communication technologies, but noted that benefits to men and women are unequal. She suggested the international women's movement identify disparities and develop strategies to reduce them.

 

Madhu Bala Nath, UNAIDS/UNIFEM, Gender and HIV/AIDS Advisor spoke on "Women living with HIV/AIDS"

On community-based data collection, she said AIDS education must expand from prevention to programmes on coping with the disease. She reported that HIV/AIDS is weakening family structures in Africa and Asia, and called for "re-engineering" development to include the perspectives of women with the disease.

Charlotte Abaka, CEDAW Secretariat

She highlighted new challenges to the implementation of CEDAW including, inter alia, the adverse economic impacts on women resulting from the transition to a market economy, and trade liberalization and globalization. She said PFA and CEDAW implementation should be fulfilled within a human rights framework.

Maitre Mame Bassine Niang, Ministère de la Famille (Senegal) spoke on "Life Cycle and access to resources including inheritance"

She considered approaches to mitigating disparities between genders, including creation of diversified activities in trade and commerce to help women overcome low income. She highlighted the importance of national legal frameworks, including family law codes, to regulate family relations.


Left to right:The Youth Caucus identified the absence of actions to address youth issues as the biggest gap in the PFA, stating that not only are young women key actors in implementation, but special attention must be given to those facing discrimination on multiple bases. She emphasized that poverty and globalization exacerbate these problems. The Country Women's Association of Nigeria/CSD Women's Caucus, highlighted the lack of access to property by African women, who produce 80% of food, yet have rights to less than 1% of land. She identified the need for laws regarding land tenure, monitoring and enforcement of existing laws, and paralegal training for women in local communities Gabon noted that violence, due to traditional cultural values, is still a taboo subject in many countries, and called for the sharing of experiences. She also said HIV/AIDS is a problem particularly for African women, exacerbated by poverty and lack of access to medication.


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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