'EMERGENCIES IMPACTING ON WOMEN, WOMEN IMPACTING ON EMERGENCIES' SUBJECT OF PANEL DISCUSSION AT HEADQUARTERS

Press Release
IHA/707

'EMERGENCIES IMPACTING ON WOMEN, WOMEN IMPACTING ON EMERGENCIES' SUBJECT OF PANEL DISCUSSION AT HEADQUARTERS

(Delayed in transmission.)

NEW YORK, 31 May (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- Women are uniquely affected by emergency situations. Conversely, they can have a unique affect on helping to solve them. In this context, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will hold an important panel discussion on Wednesday, 7 June, from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. entitled "Emergencies Impacting on Women -- Women Impacting on Emergencies". The conference is open to press coverage and will be held in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium.

Participants include Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF; Catherine Bertini, Executive Director, World Food Programme; Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator a.i.; as well as Adiatu Deigh (Sierra Leone) of the Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization, Leena Atmar (Afghanistan) of the Norwegian Church Aid, and Pilar Rueda (Colombia) of Maria Va. This expert panel will analyse how emergencies impact on women, and how women can also have a positive impact on emergency situations.

As conflicts change, women and children are fast becoming targets of choice. How women deal with this frightening reality is of utmost importance to the world as we know it today, and as our children will know it tomorrow. This panel discussion is one of many events being held in conjunction with a special session of the General Assembly, which is being held from 5 to 9 June 2000 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The session is entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century".

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