Note to Correspondents

tWENTY-FIFTH anniversary of Convention to End Discrimination

against Women to be marked at United Nations event

 

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women will be marked at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday, 13 October.

A number of persons involved in the issue over the years will take part in a round table event, to be held in Conference Room 1 from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. that day.

Twenty-five years after the adoption of the convention, there has been significant progress in the recognition and implementation of the human rights of women.  Laws have been strengthened to ensure equality, courts and judicial processes in many countries have been guided by the Convention’s principles, and national institutions have been developed for the advancement of women.

Yet still no country in the world has achieved full equality for women both in law and in practice.  Women in many countries continue to have unequal legal status with regard to marriage, divorce, property inheritance and nationality laws while traditions, customs and stereotypical attitudes towards the role of women and men in some societies are major impediments to equality and women’s enjoyment of human rights.

Speakers at the round table will include:  Jean Ping, President of the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly (invited); Louise Fréchette, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright, Governor General of New Zealand, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1993-2000; José Antonio Ocampo,
Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on behalf of entities of the United Nations system.

Also taking part will be four previous chairpersons of the Committee -- Ivanka Corti (1993-1996), Salma Khan (1997-1998), Aída González Martínez (1999-2000) and Charlotte Abaka (2001-2002).

Angela E.V. King, former Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; Shanthi Dairiam, Executive Director, International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia Pacific; and Bani Dugal, Chairperson, Non-Governmental Organization Committee on the Status of Women will also be on the panel.

The moderator of the event will be Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey), chairperson of the Committee, 2003-2004.

Delegations, representatives of NGOs and the media, and staff members are cordially invited to attend.

For media queries and to request interviews with participants, please contact:  Renata Sivacolundhu, UN Department of Public Information, tel.:  +1 212 963 2932, fax:  +1 212 963 1186 or e-mail:  mediainfo@un.org.

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