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DATE=3/7/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-N / INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (L-O)

NUMBER=2-300457

BYLINE=JAMES DONAHOWER

DATELINE=NEW YORK

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The United Nations observed International Women's Day today (Friday) at U-N headquarters with a conference on gender equality and development. James Donahower has the details.

TEXT: Women's rights activists say "enormous progress" has been made in the area of women's rights in the last decade, but there is still much work to be done.

Geeta Gupta, head of the non-governmental International Center for Research on Women, says solid progress has been made in the education of women, for example, but women continue to lag behind men in other areas.

///GUPTA ACT///

We still have huge gaps in women's access to economic assets and economic resources. That's where we need a push. And there is a new erosion in the area of women's reproductive rights. In both of those areas we need urgent action.

///END ACT///

Ms. Gupta says international support is required to forward the cause of women's rights the world over, but certain parts of Africa and Asia are in more dire need of reform than others.

///SECOND GUPTA ACT///

Sub-Saharan Africa needs a lot of resources in order to be able to achieve its goals. South Asia stands out in terms of certain measures -- gender inequality, for example -- but frankly, in every part of the world, women do not earn the same wages, do not get access to the same jobs, still cannot own property, and all of these things must end. We are in the 21st century now.

///END ACT///

Women's advocates say on average, women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work.

The Charter of the United Nations, signed in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Every year, the United Nations celebrates International Women's Day, focusing world attention on the issues which affect women around the world. (Signed)

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