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WORKING GROUP I

Working Group I, chaired by Nana Ama Yeboa (Ghana), continued consideration of Chapter II (Global Framework), and then began examining the section on mass media. Delegates first approved an informal group's work on paragraph 361 (UNIFEM and INSTRAW), which included a call for resources from the international community to be sufficient and maintained at an adequate level.

CHAPTER II: Delegates agreed to remove the brackets from family structure[s] in 38 (changes in family).

CHAPTER IV. SECTION J (mass media): After a long debate on 236 (negative images of women), delegates noted that media products "are also negatively affecting" women. In 239(a) (women's education), delegates agreed to Zambia's proposal to "promote and ensure women's equal access to" the media. In 239(c) (equal participation), delegates lifted brackets to call for "full" participation. In 239(h) (freedom of media), the US proposed replacing the reference to media involvement in social issues with text from the Social Summit.

In 242(b) (training to use information technology), delegates deleted the reference to "consider training." In 244(a) (self-regulation of media), delegates called for professional guidelines and codes of conduct and adopted the US proposed qualifier "consistent with freedom of expression." The EU objected to including "pornographic" in 244(b) (guidelines regarding violent materials), which remains bracketed.

In 245(b) (materials on women leaders), several countries, including the G77/China and the EU, wanted to delete the reference to "caring mothers and nurturers of happy families." Some, including Peru, Guatemala and Pakistan, supported a reference to "mothers." Iran suggested a compromise reference to "leaders, inter alia, as not only mothers but as managers and entrepreneurs," which was supported by Australia and the US, among others, but the EU objected. In 245(d) (development of alternative media), delegates agreed to "support the development of and finance as appropriate new" alternatives.

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