Dominique Meda, Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales (France) spoke on "Women and work, including the emergence of new forms of work and employment and reconciliation of family and work responsibilities"

She said societies must allow for changes in employment rules to offer women and men more time for their personal and social lives. She referred to the Netherlands' part-time work schedules that have encouraged men to take greater roles in childcare and household tasks

Gillian M. Marcelle, Chairperson, African Information Society Gender Working Group, Pretoria South Africa, spoke on "Gender, justice and technology"

She highlighted the rapid growth of information and communication technologies, but noted that benefits to men and women are unequal. She suggested the international women's movement identify disparities and develop strategies to reduce them.

Madhu Bala Nath, UNAIDS/UNIFEM, Gender and HIV/AIDS Advisor spoke on "Women living with HIV/AIDS"

On community-based data collection, she said AIDS education must expand from prevention to programmes on coping with the disease. She reported that HIV/AIDS is weakening family structures in Africa and Asia, and called for "re-engineering" development to include the perspectives of women with the disease.

Charlotte Abaka, CEDAW Secretariat

She highlighted new challenges to the implementation of CEDAW including, inter alia, the adverse economic impacts on women resulting from the transition to a market economy, and trade liberalization and globalization. She said PFA and CEDAW implementation should be fulfilled within a human rights framework.

Maitre Mame Bassine Niang, Ministère de la Famille (Senegal) spoke on "Life Cycle and access to resources including inheritance"

She considered approaches to mitigating disparities between genders, including creation of diversified activities in trade and commerce to help women overcome low income. She highlighted the importance of national legal frameworks, including family law codes, to regulate family relations.

Left to right:The Youth Caucus identified the absence of actions to address youth issues as the biggest gap in the PFA, stating that not only are young women key actors in implementation, but special attention must be given to those facing discrimination on multiple bases. She emphasized that poverty and globalization exacerbate these problems. The Country Women's Association of Nigeria/CSD Women's Caucus, highlighted the lack of access to property by African women, who produce 80% of food, yet have rights to less than 1% of land. She identified the need for laws regarding land tenure, monitoring and enforcement of existing laws, and paralegal training for women in local communities Gabon noted that violence, due to traditional cultural values, is still a taboo subject in many countries, and called for the sharing of experiences. She also said HIV/AIDS is a problem particularly for African women, exacerbated by poverty and lack of access to medication.