THE 23RD SPECIAL SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: "WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

THE 23^RD SPECIAL SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: "WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

The Hon. Helen D'Amato, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee is currently leading the Maltese Delegation on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Policy during the 23^rd Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly being held at New York from the 5^th to the 9^th of June.

This Special Session has been convened to appraise and assess the progress achieved in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, five years after its adoption.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) acted as a Preparatory Commission (PrepCom) for the Special Session of the General Assembly. In fact the PrepCom decided that items on the provisional agenda of the Special Session would be:

Review and appraisal of progress made in the implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform;

Further action and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to the implementation of the Beijing Platform.

The Hon. Helen D'Amato will address the General Assembly on Wednesday, 7^th June wherein she will be reporting on the progress achieved on the national action plan for the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action for the Advancement of Women.

Ms. D'Amato is being assisted by Mr. Walter Balzan, Malta's Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, Ms. Simone Vella, Chairperson of the Commission for the Advancement of Women and Ms. Christine Theuma, Policy Co-ordinator at the Ministry for Social Policy. Dr. Sandra Vassallo, Dr. Julian Vassallo and Mr. Pierre Hili, First Secretaries at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the UN in New York will also be forming part of the Maltese Delegation.