"The New Sisterhood-Women's Networks in the 21st Century" Focus of International Women's Day Celebration.

News Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2000

25 Local Organizations Sponsor International Women's Day Event

to be Held At Presidio

To honor the achievements of Women internationally, more than 25 local organizations, spearheaded by the Resource Center for the United Nations, are holding their first International Women's Day Symposium on March 8, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., at the Golden Gate Club, Presidio Park Building No. 135, Fisher Loop, San Francisco. A distinguished panel fostering women's networks in their respective fields will speak at 7:30, following a reception with heavy hors d'ouevres. Participants are encouraged to bring a mentee to the event. Tickets are $25.00, mentees/student tickets are $10.00. Media are invited to register to attend.

"As women enter the new millennium, it is time to unite, mobilize and network to address equality as a basic human rights issue," said Rosemary van der Laan, President of the Board, Resource Center for the United Nations. "We are pleased to be celebrating International Women's Day with local women who are leading the change, and at the Presidio, which is a Center for addressing the global challenges of the 21st century."

In Washington, DC Senator Barbara Boxer, with the support of over 20 national women's organizations, will be sponsoring an event on Capitol Hill to promote the ratification of CEDAW, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The cosponsors include Mayor Willie Brown, Jr., the Resource Center for the United Nations, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Commonwealth Club, World Affairs Council-Northern California, International Diplomacy Council, Presidio Trust, Ladies San Francisco Consular Corps, San Francisco Women's Commission, United Nations Association of USA for Northern California and more than a dozen other Non-Government Organizations.

"The New Sisterhood-Women's Networks in the 21st Century," will be the focus of the distinguished panel of leaders from the public and private sector who have successfully created sisterhood networks. Eunice Azzani, Managing Director of Korn/Ferry International, will moderate the seminar. The panel participants, listed below, will describe how women are building and creating important career networks and opportunities for other women within each of their respective fields of expertise.

Audrey Oliver Rice, Chair and CEO for Integrated Business Solutions will advise on how women are building business networks. Aileen Clarke Herandez, Past President of the National Organization for Women and also the California Chair of the Women's Agenda for the Beijing +5 will speak about how women are networking in developing countries. Anna Zornosa, Senior Vice President, marketing and Strategic Partnerships, Women.Com will address women's electronic networks. The Consul General of Egypt, Hagar El Islambouly, will discuss how women from her country are progressing through networking activities.

WomenAsia.com will also announce the official launch of the first international women's online mentoring program, in partnership with the Resource Center for the United Nations.

About International Women's Day:

In 1975, the UN began celebrating International Women's day on March 8th. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 1975 as International Year for Women, followed by the Decade for Women and the international women's movement was born at the first World's Women's Conference in Mexico City, Mexico.

The Charter of the United Nations was the first international treaty that included equal rights for men and women as a founding principle. In 1946, the UN Commission on the Status of Women was established. The Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco in 1945 as the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right.

The first Women's Rights Convention was held in July 1849 in Seneca Falls, New York. On March 8th, 1857 one of the first women's organizations formed by women from the garment and textile factories in New York City, went on strike against low wages, long working hours and inhumane conditions. In 1910, at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Women's Socialists International decided to observe an International Women's Day.

The Resource Center for the United Nations is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 1996 by the Marin and Silicon Valley Chapters of the United Nations Association (UN-USA) in cooperation with the UN Department of Public Information. Its mission is to create a informed and powerful and vocal constituency for the UN system in the community.

Please order tickets through the United Nations Resource Center, Presidio Building 1004, PO Box 29181, San Francisco, CA 94129, telephone [phone].