WOMEN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET AT UNITED NATIONS

Press Release
WOM/1152
L/2934

WOMEN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET AT UNITED NATIONS

U.S. Attorney-General Janet Reno

To Address High-Level Meeting on Role of Women Leaders

NEW YORK, 12 November -- Women justice ministers from more than 15 countries will participate in a meeting at United Nations Headquarters on 16 and 17 November. United States Attorney-General Janet Reno will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday, 16 November.

Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada (1993), will chair the two-day meeting. Other speakers include: Louise Fréchette, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs; Gillian Sorensen, Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations; Angela E.V. King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; and Professor Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

The Ministers will discuss a range of issues, including their roles and responsibilities; public confidence in the justice system; and the impact of international events on domestic policy. They will also examine various aspects of corruption, including domestic and international responses; best practices for combating corruption; and strategies for international cooperation.

The meeting will bring together, for the first time, women who hold the highest legal positions in their countries. In addition to creating a forum for dialogue on their roles and responsibilities as ministers, the Ministers hope to produce a letter which will likely focus on the impact of public and private corruption on the social and economic well-being of women. The meeting will coincide with the General Assembly observance of the closure of the United Nations Decade of International Law (1990-1999).

The event is being organized by the Council of Women World Leaders of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in collaboration with the United Nations. The Council is an independent international organization, comprised of current and former women heads of State and heads of Government. Its mission is to mobilize the experience, network, knowledge and global visibility of a group of eminent women who hold or have held the highest offices in their countries.

- 2 - Press Release WOM/1152 L/2934 12 November 1999

For further information, contact Elisabeth Ruzicka-Dempsey, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information, tel.: (212) 963- 1742, e-mail: .

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