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.

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