SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF FORMER US CONGRESSWOMAN BELLA ABZUG, 'LEADING LIGHT' OF NGO COMMUNITY, PIONEER IN ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
Press Release
SG/SM/6510
SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF FORMER US CONGRESSWOMAN BELLA ABZUG, 'LEADING LIGHT' OF NGO COMMUNITY, PIONEER IN ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
19980331 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:The Secretary-General has learned with deep sadness of the death of former United States Congresswoman Bella Abzug. He recalled Ms. Abzug's long record of achievement as a civil rights lawyer, a leading light of the non- governmental organization community and a pioneer in the advancement of women.
Ms. Abzug worked tirelessly to give women and non-governmental organizations a voice at United Nations conferences and other world forums, in particular, the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing. We will always remember her description of the Beijing Platform as a morally binding "contract with the world's women".
So many people benefited from Ms. Abzug's fearlessness and vitality; from her constant pressure on governments and world leaders to make good on their promises of equal rights. To all of them, to her family and her friends, the Secretary-General offers his sincere condolences.
* *** *