CONFERENCE IN INDONESIA

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26511, 28 August 1951, Page 2

CONFERENCE IN INDONESIA

DISCUSSION OF U.N. ACTIVITIES

MISS A. KANE RETURNS TO WELLINGTON

According to Miss Amy Kane, 0.8. E., of Wellington, the same enthusiasm she saw among Turkish women when they were emerging into public life in 1935 is apparent among Indonesian women. Miss Kane recently returned from Indonesia, where she attended a United Nations conference of non-governmen-tal bodies. Miss Kane attended a conference in Istanbul in 1935 and noted the eagerness of Turkish women to take part in their new, independent way of life, which enabled them also to be of service to their country. The same comparison could be drawn to-day in Indonesia, she said. Already there were five women in the Indonesian Parliament and able Indonesian women were working with United Nations agencies which were helping Indonesians in many ways with their problems. Miss Kane continued. Miss Kane heard what women in Pakistan, India, and the Philippines were achieving and of their accelerated interest in public life by talking with women delegates from these countries. Mrs de Guia, a Filipino, who was elected vice-chairman at the conference, was deputy-mayor of her town. There were several women members in the Philippines Parliament.

Miss Kane was a member of one of the five conference committees which dealt with three United Nations agencies. They were the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Each organisation was playing its part in bringing assistance to South Pacific countries needing it. Miss Kane said. The World Health Organisation was achieving results in a campaign to combat the contagious tropical disease of yaws. Technical aid in improving agricultural methods was keeping the Food and Agriculture Organisation engaged. The Children’s Emergency Fund was expanding its child care by helping to establish clinics and provide for the health and betterment of children generally. One of the aims of the conference was to publicise the work of United Nations and in hearing what its agencies were achieving delegates were given a broad view of the scope and effect of the work, Miss Kane said. Another object of the conference was to enable United Nations to get in touch with public opinion through discussion with delegates from nongovernmental organisations. Miss Kane represented the Associated Country Women of the World at the conference.