Indonesia hosts Asia-Pacific conference on women's roles

Indonesia hosts Asia-Pacific conference on women's roles

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will host an Asia-Pacific conference
next week which will discuss the role of women in development,
and will serve as a prelude to next year's Fourth World Women's
Conference in Beijing.

The Second Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Women
in Development, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, will be
attended by ministers, senior officials and representatives of
non-governmental organizations from 50 countries, the United
Nations Information Center (UNIC) announced yesterday.

Organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP) in conjunction with the Indonesian
government, the conference will consider adopting a new regional
plan of action to improve the well-being of women.

A large number of women are reportedly living in extreme
poverty and suffering from gender discrimination despite economic
progress and greater opportunities.

The conference will be divided into three major themes: Women
in Economic Development, Women in Social Development and Women
and Empowerment.

State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi on Thursday
disclosed that next week's meeting, to be attended by some 600
people, is expected to produce a Jakarta Declaration.

The meeting will first bring together senior officials from
participating governments and NGOs. The conference proper,
involving ministers, will be held on June 13 and 14 and will be
opened by President Soeharto.

Mien said the Indonesian delegation will include 59
participants and 89 observers from NGOs and research
institutions.

Meanwhile, Mien Warnaen, a legislator and an executive of the
Indonesian Teachers Union, predicted yesterday that one of the
main discussion items will be efforts to wipe out all practices
of discrimination against women.

Mien Warnaen said the Indonesian delegation has prepared a
paper on the Indonesian concept of gender that will be presented
at the meeting.

"Women's emancipation in the Indonesian design is to make
women equal partners to men and not engage in confrontation with
them," she said.

The Antara news agency in a dispatch from Beijing reported
yesterday that the Chinese delegation to the Jakarta conference
will be led by Deputy of the Permanent Committee of the People's
National Congress Chen Muhua, who is also the chairperson of the
All Chinese Women's Federation (ACWF), a foreign ministry
spokesman said.

In conjunction with the upcoming conference, ACWF on Thursday
issued a white paper on The Situation of Chinese Women providing
details of the organization's activities. (pwn)