Subject: [fem-women2000 373] PACIFIC WOMEN UNITE AND SEEK INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR PEACE
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 06:45:26 -0500
Seq: 373
Forwarded by lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org> ---------------- Original message follows ---------------- From: "liz" <liz@gn.apc.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <b5ngonews@lists.sn.apc.org> Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 17:28:13 +0200 Subject: [B5NGONEWS] PACIFIC WOMEN UNITE AND SEEK INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR PEACE -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Global Women's Media Team/Electronic News Bulletin distributed by Isis International-Manila mailto:owner-bpfa-news@isiswomen.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- PACIFIC WOMEN UNITE AND SEEK INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR PEACE By Beverleigh Kanas Liu* UNITED NATIONS, New York ュ NGO members from Fiji have appealed to delegates to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Women 2000 to join an international campaign to regain peace in their country which has been gripped by a hostage crisis for the past three weeks. The crisis, in which businessman George Speight and his supporters held members of the Parliament hostage to demand the resignation of President Ratu Mara, has affected the participation of Fiji, which failed to send government representatives to the UN assembly. Various issues concerning women in war torn and in conflict areas have been discussed in the conference, also known as the Beijing Plus Five Review. The session is a review of the gains of women since the Fourth International Conference on Women in the Chinese capital in 1995. Members of the Fiji Women's Crises Centre and Fiji Women's Rights Movement, discussed ways to highlight their concerns and those of other countries who are in similar situations. They received support from members of women NGOs from East Timor and Africa. "We are going through a hard time too, and even though we do not have funds to support the women in Fiji, we are with them in spirit," said an East Timorese representative. When Taina, a Fijian living in New York, stood up to speak, her voice faltered and tears ran down her cheeks. There was silence for a few minutes >from those present in the room. One delegate said that while those present in the room may come from different countries, they have one common goal, to "unite and fight for themselves." ### * The Global Women's Media Team (GWMT) for the UN General Assembly Special Session to Review the Beijing Platform for Action is composed of NGO women and women journalists from Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. The GWMT is coordinated by Isis International-Manila and supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in East and South East Asia and South Asia, the Canadian International Development Agency - South East Asia Gender Equity Programme, United Nations Development Program in Latin America, the Caribbean and Mongolia, oundation for Sustainable Development, NCOS-Pilipinas, World Council of Churches, and the British High Commission. Beverleigh Kanas Liu is a member of the GWMT. The main objective of the Team is to cover the UN General Assembly Special Session on the Review from 5-9 June, 2000, at the United Nations Headquarters, in New York. Beverleigh works as the Information/Communication Officer of the Vanuatu National Council of Women. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- BPFA-NEWS is archived at: http://www.isiswomen.org/womenet/lists/bpfa-news/archive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem