Poverty And Water Key Issues For Women
Leaders of large umbrella organisations from the Asia Pacific region will be attending an International Council of Women
(ICW) Seminar this week to discuss the eradication of poverty and water issues for women.
Over 70 delegates are expected from Singapore, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand and other
Pacific nations.
Spokesperson Jane Prichard says the Seminar has been designed "to let all women present have their voices heard on some
challenging issues for our region and to catch a glimpse of how the International Council of Women will lobby at the
highest international level to have these views recognised".
Veteran women's activist and Singaporean lawyer, Dr Anamah Tan, will be opening the conference. Dr Tan is the current
ICW President and has recently been elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women.
Dr Tan says that the ICW as a highly respected global organisation is strategically placed to tackle the stubborn
problem of increasing violence and abuse affecting the lives of women in every country in Asia and the Pacific. Having
Dr Tan as a keynote speaker at the seminar raises the level of credibility around women's issues.
Other keynote speakers include Her Excellency The Honourable Dame Silvia Cartwright who will open the seminar, Rosslyn
Noonan, Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Pushpa Hegde from India and Charletty Choesyana Soffat from Indonesia.
The ICW Asia-Pacific Regional Council Seminar will be held in Auckland 3-6 November 2004 at the Hotel Ibis/Novotel
Ellerslie.