UN WOMEN'S INSTITUTIONS LAUNCH 'WOMENWATCH', INTERNET SITE ON ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
Press Release
WOM/951
UN WOMEN'S INSTITUTIONS LAUNCH 'WOMENWATCH', INTERNET SITE ON ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
19970306 NEW YORK, 6 March (DPCSD/UNIFEM/INSTRAW) -- The three entities in the United Nations system specifically devoted to women's issues -- the Division for the Advancement of Women in the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) -- have pooled efforts and resources to create WomenWatch, a joint space on the Internet on the advancement and empowerment of women, which will be launched on International Women's Day, 8 March.WomenWatch is a gateway to United Nations information and data on women worldwide and an evolving electronic forum on global women's issues in the follow-up to the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. The Internet site provides up-to-date information on the United Nations work on behalf of the women of the world and on the global agenda for improving the status of women. It is designed to serve as an important contribution to the outreach programmes of its collaborating partners, providing a cost-effective means to expand outreach and networking, and streamlining access to information.
The joint initiative responds to a growing demand for information, which can be obtained today at unprecedented speed through the use of computer communication technology. Women stand to benefit from these new technologies and to be on the cutting edge of their development. One of the objectives of WomenWatch is to enable more women to not only be mere users of computer networking, but also producers and full beneficiaries as recommended by the Beijing Platform for Action.
WomenWatch is officially launched on the Internet to coincide with International Women's Day, 8 March, and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women which will commemorate its fiftieth anniversary this year and will begin its two-week session at Headquarters on 10 March. The Commission on the Status of Women is the United Nations intergovernmental body which monitors implementation of the agreements reached n Beijing. A computer display on WomenWatch will be set up in the first basement of the United Nations General Assembly Building for one week, beginning 10 March.
The Internet site will be accessible through the World Wide Web at http://www.un.org/womenwatch, as well as through other Internet tools, such as the electronic mail (womenwatch@un.org) and the gopher (gopher://gopher.un.org). The information will be organized in an
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Internet-accessible database to allow users in developing countries who do not have direct access to all Internet tools to retrieve the information. Efforts will also be made to repackage and redisseminate information to locations with no Internet access. Closer cooperation will be fostered with organizations that provide training in the use of electronic communication technologies.
The new Web sites of UNIFEM (http://www.unifem.undp.org) and INSTRAW (http://www.un.org/instraw), as well as the site of the Division for the Advancement of Women (http://www.un.org/dpcsd/daw), will be linked through WomenWatch.
WomenWatch was first proposed by the Division for the Advancement of Women, which is the United Nations Division that acts as advocate for the improvement of the status of the women and the achievement of equality with men. For the Division, which was the secretariat of the Beijing Conference, the initiative is a continuation of its work on electronic dissemination of information started during the preparations for the Conference. WomenWatch will help the Division to continue to: disseminate information on women and gender; expand its outreach capacity; and open up a new and exciting electronic gateway to information and ideas.
The UNIFEM is launching its new web site to coincide with the launching of the WomenWatch gateway. The UNIFEM promotes the economic and political empowerment of women in developing countries. According to UNIFEM's Director Noeleen Heyzer, "The Internet is a powerful tool that women can use to see with new eyes, understand with new minds, build connections across borders and develop relationships based on common concerns and interests." The WomenWatch initiative, of which UNIFEM's web site is a component, is an important outreach and networking tool to further goals to achieve women's empowerment.
The INSTRAW is also launching its new web site as a component of WomenWatch at this time. The INSTRAW is an autonomous research and training institute within the framework of the United Nations, working towards the advancement of women. The INSTRAW conducts research and training activities, developing new methods to enhance women's contributions and participation in the development process. It does this through networking, sharing and dissemination of information worldwide. WomenWatch will expand the Institute's outreach, enabling its constituency to access electronically the Institute's reports, research studies and public information materials and will facilitate cooperation with other United Nations entities making the Institute's training materials available on-line.
The WomenWatch World Wide Web location is: http://www.un.org/womenwatch.
For more information, contact: Division for the Advancement of Women, Oliva Acosta, (212) 963-0272, acostao@un.org; UNIFEM, Melanie Roth, (212) 906-6897, melanie.roth@undp.org; INSTRAW, Jlia Tavares, (809) 685-2111, instraw.hq.sd@codetel.net.do.
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