SECRETARY-GENERAL AND FIRST LADY OF UNITED STATES TO ADDRESS OBSERVANCE OF 1999 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, 4 MARCH

26 February 1999

Press Release

SECRETARY-GENERAL AND FIRST LADY OF UNITED STATES TO ADDRESS OBSERVANCE OF 1999 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, 4 MARCH

19990226 'Equality for Women' Theme of Panel Discussion In Trusteeship Council Chamber

A panel discussion with the theme, "Equality for Women" will be held on Thursday, 4 March, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, in observance of 1999 International Women's Day. The event is being organized by the Group on Equal Rights for Women in the United Nations (GERWUN).

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, and the First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton, will address the observance.

The Moderator of the panel discussion will be Carole Simpson, ABC News, Senior Correspondent. The panel will consist of the following: Agnès Marcaillou, President of GERWUN; Susana Chiarotti, Regional Coordinator, Comite de America Latina y El Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer; Lorna Myers, Director, Girls' Choir of Harlem, and Penninah Ogada, Researcher, "Property Ownership for Women in Kenya", North-Eastern University, Boston. "ULALI", a group of Native American a cappella singers, will open the event.

A luncheon, sponsored by GERWUN, will be held on Monday, 8 March, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the West Terrace of the Delegates Dining Room. Among the participants in the luncheon will be Louise Fréchette, Deputy Secretary-General; Nane Annan; Louise Arbour, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; Margaret Jay, Minister for Women, United Kingdom, and eight female Permanent Representatives to the United Nations. Please contact Zoa Goele (extension 3-7292), by 1 March, for reservations and further information.

The GERWUN was established in 1971 in an effort to improve the situation of women working in the United Nations. Among the Group's concerns are career development, sexual harassment and family/work issues. The Group currently

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works to increase the number of women in the Organization at all levels and to ensure that more women are being placed at the decision-making level.

It supports the Secretary-General's efforts to promote gender mainstreaming in all aspects of the work of the Organization, including areas such as Political Affairs, Peacekeeping Operations and Disarmament Affairs. The Group monitors the Organization's progress in training women for leadership positions and sending them on field missions, where they have the opportunity to gain experience. Currently, only two Special Representatives of the Secretary-General are women: Elizabeth Rehn, for Bosnia, and Ann Hercus, for Cyprus.

To cover this event, members of the media must fax a request for United Nations access, on letterhead, to the United Nations Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit at (212) 963-4642, and call (212) 963-6934 or /7164 to confirm receipt of the fax. Once the request is verified, a pass must be obtained (using 2 forms of photo ID) at 801 United Nations Plaza (45th and 1st.) the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Building, Pass and Identification Unit.

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