NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS
Press Release
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS
19951017 WORLD LEADERS, AT UNITED NATIONS FORUM IN NEW YORK,TO DISCUSS CURRENT STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Meeting on 25 October will Consider Action Called for by Recent conferences in Vienna and Beijing
A group of world leaders will discuss the status of human rights at a high-level forum in New York next wednesday, 25 October. Their review will be followed by a discussion among senior United Nations officials on women's rights, particularly in light of the Vienna Conference on Human Rights and the recent Women's Conference in Beijing. Beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council chamber, the forum and panel have been organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.
The first panel discussion will be entitled "The United Nations Human Rights Agenda -- The Next Fifty Years". Joining the High Commissioner will be President Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, President Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda, President Václav Havel of the Czech Republic, and Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway. They will explore the status of human rights programmes in the United Nations today, and priorities for such initiatives in the future.
The second discussion, to be chaired by Mr. Ayala Lasso, will be a "Women's Rights As Human Rights". Among those taking part will be Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Geraldine Ferraro, United States Representative to the Commission on Human Rights, and Vice Chairman at the Beijing Conference; Peter Hansen, Under- Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs; Noeleen Heyzer, Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Gertrude Mongella, Secretary-General for the Fourth World Conference on Women; Nafis Sadik, Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and James Gustave
- 2 - Note No. 5310 17 October 1995
Speth, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The participants will address the priorities in the Beijing Platform for Action, in the framework provided by the Vienna Conference on Human Rights.
Discussing the programme, High Commissioner Ayala Lasso said the world community was debating the proper role of the United Nations in its next fifty years. "Within this debate", he added, "human rights programs are becoming more and more the focus of attention. It is only appropriate that we mark the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary with special programs to address what specific role human rights initiatives should and can play." He expressed gratification that so many leaders of countries and United Nations agencies would be together to address the future of human rights programs. "This is an unprecedented gathering in a unique format which will help me set my own office's agenda and priorities", he said.
Invitations to attend the forum and panel discussion are going to all Member States, non-governmental organizations, and others interested in the human rights programs of the United Nations. The High Commissioner expects to summarize the discussions of the two panels in a document to be released after the events.
For more information, please contact: Bill Hass - 212-963-0353 or Abbe D. Lowell - 212-963-5930/202-662-9700.
* *** *