NEWS or FARCE - MYANMAR'S Holds WOM

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

Subject: NEWS or FARCE - MYANMAR'S Holds WOMEN'S Conference

NOTE: How accurate and true are these numbers?  Since the education
centers have been closed for about 4 years, how then can Women's level
of education increase ??

MYANMAR'S Holds WOMEN'S Conference

            Xinhua
            06-DEC-98

            YANGON (Dec. 7) XINHUA - A four-day conference on
            women sponsored by the National Committee for Women's
            Affairs (NCWA) began here on Sunday. 

            The conference, the first of its kind in Myanmar, aims to
            promote the quality of life and ensure regular and
            sustainable opportunities for women, safeguard the cultural
            heritage by women and enhance their full participation in
the
            nation-building endeavor. 

            Attending the conference are delegates of the NCWA,
            government departments and non-governmental
            organizations. 

            Myanmar is carrying out a national action plan to speed up
            efforts for improving women's condition in the country in
line
            with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted
            at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in
            1995. 

            After the Beijing conference, Myanmar formed the NCWA in
            1996 to carry out the country's development project for
            women. 

            The NCWA has been able to adopt systematic plans and
            projects for uplifting the role of women all over the
country
            and success has been reportedly achieved. 

            Of Myanmar's total population of 46.4 million in the 1997-98
            fiscal year, 23.6 million or 50.34 percent are women,
            according to official statistics. 

            A census conducted in 1994 showed that 46 percent of
            Myanmar women above the age of 10 were in the labor force
            in 1990. 

            Meanwhile, the national literacy rate of women has gone up
            to 71.3 percent.