NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS TO WORK DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS TO WORK DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS

Theme is "Free To Be You and Me"

Take Our Daughters to Work Day will be observed at United Nations Headquarters for the fifth consecutive year on Thursday, 27 April. All staff, members of delegations and accredited media are invited to bring girls aged 9 to 15 to work with them to participate in a programme of activities to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. The theme this year is "Free To Be You and Me".

Zohreh Tabatabai, Focal Point for Women in the United Nations, will welcome the guests. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Penny Wensley, Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations and Chairman of the Fifth Committee; Gloria Steinem, noted writer, feminist and co-founder of New York Magazine, Ms. Magazine, and the Ms. Foundation; and Col. Eileen Collins (NASA), who in 1999 became the first woman space shuttle commander.

Workshops will allow the girls to speak in small groups with role models who will give career information and guidance, and also to discuss the important issues that Donna de Varona, a former Olympic swimmer who co-founded the Women’s Sports Foundation and was instrumental in the passage of Title IX legislation to provide equal funding for girls’ school sports; Teresa Barrenechea, chef/owner of Marichu and former press attaché of the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations; Afsane Bassir Pour, United Nations correspondent for Le Monde; Alex Berke, teen reporter for Children’s Express, model/actress Vendela Thommessen, an international spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with a special focus on the issue of girls’ education; artists Clytie Alexander and Ana Golici, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City; and Karin Sham Poo, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF. Other careers that will be highlighted during the morning are: physician, artist, humanitarian affairs officer, children in conflict officer, deminer, and peacekeeper.

Andrea Johnston, author and co-founder of Girls Speak Out Foundation, a girls’ advocacy organization, will lead a discussion and an interactive chat using the United Nations Web site, CyberSchoolBus. The day will also be an opportunity to showcase the talents of women who will provide international

- 2 - Noter No. 5609 24 April 2000

entertainment, including Wayquay, the musical poet, appearing courtesy of twinm00n and Global Beat; traditional dances from the Philippines and India; and an origami workshop.

At 11:15 a.m., there will be a press conference in room 226 with Ms. Steinem and some of the other participants.

At the closing ceremony in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at 12:30 p.m., Roberta Guaspari, Violin Teacher and Founder of Opus 118 Music Center, will give an address. The movie “Music of the Heart”, starring Meryl Streep and Gloria Estefan, was based on her life story. Representatives from the workshops will present the conclusions they reached about the obstacles that prevent girls from being free to be themselves, and how those obstacles should be addressed. These conclusions are to be presented to the delegates to the special session of the General Assembly on "Women: 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century", known as Beijing+5, to take place at United Nations Headquarters from 5 to 9 June, as input to the platform on girl children and rights of the child.

This event is organized by the Office of the Focal Point for Women; the Department of Public Information (DPI); UNICEF; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and the Group on Equal Rights for Women in the United Nations. It is co-sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women and the Girls Speak Out Foundation.

Take Our Daughters to Work Day was launched in 1993 by the Ms. Foundation, for Women, and is designed to develop in young girls a sense of their own potential by working alongside adult mentors where they can see the accomplishments of women in the world and strengthen their belief in the promise and importance of education. While most boys are influenced in the early developmental years to plan for a lifetime career, many girls are not, even though most will work outside the home throughout most of their lives.

Take Our Daughters to Work Day is the one day of the year when girls get the undivided positive attention of adults and the media and where they are publicly encouraged to pursue their dreams. Its observance at the United Nations began in 1996, following the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) and has since become a tradition.

For further information and event programme, please call 963-6828; for media accreditation, 963-6934; for United Nations television coverage, 963-7650.

* *** *