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COMMONWEALTH

SECRETARY-GENERAL C •,-•;•

H. E. Chief Emeka Anyaoku, C.O.N. 16 February 2000

As you might recall, the and the have worked in close D-operation to advance the status of wqmen worldwide. !n 1995, the Commonwealth P!an of Action on Gender and Development (1995-2000) was presented at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing as a special Commonwealth contribution to the UN Process.

We would similarly like to have our recently endorsed Update to the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development (2000-2005) presented and spoken to as a Commonwealth contribution to the Special Session of the UN Assembly on the Beijing Platform for Action set for 5-9 June 2000. To this end, the Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women sent a special message to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in South Africa in November 1999, asking for approval of its presentation as the Commonwealth's contribution to the UN General Assembly.

This was soundly endorsed at CHOGM. My successor as Secretary-General, the Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon will take up post in April. We would like to ensure that we put all procedures into place so that this Update can be presented by him as a Commonwealth contribution to the UN process in June.

My staff from the Secretariat will be attending the Preparatory meetings of the Commission for Status of Women and the PrepCom for the Special Session, seeking through your Division for the Advancement of Women, the best means of achieving this.

I would ask that you give every support to this initiative through your appropriate staff.

I hope, in this way, that we will be able to complement and augment your goals for the Special Session and ours for the advancement of women globally.

H E Mr United Nations Secretary-General United Nations 1 UN Plaza THE MODERN COMMONWEALTH New York 10017 CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS USA MARLBOROUCH HOUSE PALL MALL LONDON SW1Y 5HX

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