Note to Correspondents

‘EMPOWER WOMEN’ EXHIBITION TO OPEN AT UN HEADQUARTERS ON 4 MARCH

As the United Nations commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the First United Nations World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975, the exhibition entitled “Empower Women:  30 Years of the United Nations Efforts to Promote Gender Equality” will open in the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby on Friday, 4 March.

The exhibition was conceived and coordinated by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality.

This year is also the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.  The Beijing meeting represented a significant milestone for the advancement of women around the world with the adoption by governments of the Beijing Platform for Action.

From 28 February to 11 March, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is assessing 10 years of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, including the participation of women as full and equal partners in decision-making, and increased attention to their human rights in all areas.

The four world conferences -- Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995) -- gathered impressive women leaders from both government and civil society, as well as from within the United Nations.  Women leaders in civil society played a key role, which set the stage for increased involvement of civil society in the work of the United Nations on gender equality at national, regional and global levels.

This exhibit highlights images representing the 12 Critical Areas of Concern addressed in the Beijing Platform for Action and emerging issues.

Selected images are courtesy of Magnum Photos.  The exhibition is designed by Real Design Associates/NY and produced in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Public Information.  For information on this exhibition, call Yasna Uberoi at tel.:  (212) 963-5253, or visit www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review on the Web for more information on the Beijing Review and Appraisal.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen at tel.:  (212) 963-8531 or Liza Wichmann at tel.:  (212) 963-0089, or visit the Web site at www.un.org/events/UNART.

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