UN gathering on women testifies to world commitment

"The just-concluded UN General Assembly's special session on women reflected world determination and commitment to women's welfare," said Egypt's Permanent Delegate to the UN Ambassador Ahmad Abul-Gheit.

Delegations from over 188 countries Saturday ended their week-long meetings which aimed to assess the progress made since a landmark conference on women and development was held in Beijing five years ago.

Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak led a large delegation, including representatives of the recently created Egyptian National Council for Women, non-governmental organizations, universities and the press.

The New York forum adopted a future document charting new initiatives to enhance the status of women in the new millennium by pledging more antipoverty efforts and paying more attention to health care and education services.

Abul-Gheit said that the Egyptian delegation insisted that the final document emphasize recognition of cultural difference and indigenous traditions.

he Egyptian delegation also presented an initiative launched by Mrs. Mubarak to set up a global fund for women's welfare.

The overture drew the support of all developing countries and a large number of advanced nations as well as NGOs representatives.

"Interest in the welfare of women figures high in Egypt's policies," added Abul-Gheit.