TAIPEI -- The 1994 Global Summit of Women began Wednesday in Taipei, with speeches focusing on greater women's involvement in politics from Taiwanese lawmaker and former dissident Annete Lu, and former French Prime Minister Edith Cresson.
'In the home and in the world, equality and responsibility between all women and men' is the slogan for this year's summit.
Kicking off the third annual summit entitled 'Women Change the World,' Edith Cresson and others cited a United Nations report that says the world's women do two-thirds of the work, but own only one percent of the world's property.
'The 20th century has produuced only 7 female presidents and 16 female prime ministers,' said Annete Lu. 'Only 10 percent of the world's parliamentarians and 3.5 percent of cabinet level officials are women.'
Cresson said France had the second worst record in Europe, next to Greece, for electing women into parliament.
Former United States Congresswoman Bella Abzug, who ran a successful bid for a seat in the U.S. Congress under the slogan 'This woman's place is in the house -- the House of Representatives,' said there could never be equallity between the sexes until women are involved in daily political policy making. She said she looked forward to the day when special days and summits for women are no longer necessary.
Abzug, who will chair the next Summit to be held in Beijing, said human rights is but the iceing on the cake for the feminist movement.
The opening session of the 1994 Global Summit of Women ended with a moment of silence for jailed Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who the Burmese ruling junta said Tuesday will have to remain under house arrest for another year.
The summit concludes Saturday.
