Refugee women are focus of International Women's Day

The world's estimated 8 million female refugees--over half of the total refugee population--were the focus of International Women's Day on 8 March. "None have more fully demonstrated the capacity of women to cope and prevail than those women", Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said in his traditional message for the Day.

Visions of women's potential for leadership were explored at "Making Women Count in the 1990s", a panel discussion held at UN Headquarters. Refugees, women and development issues, and women and work were other topics discussed by panelists Catherine O'Neill, Winn Newman and Dr. Nafis Sadik.

Ms. O'Neill works with the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children; Mr. Newman, a lawyer, has successfully argued landmark legal cases in the United States on equal pay for work of comparable value; and Dr. Sadik is the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund. Author Erskine Childers, formerly with the UN Development Programme, was the moderator. The...