Poor nations vow to defend women

Poor countries say they will give more decisions to women

Latin American, African and Asian countries have vowed to act to improve the lives of women in the Third World.

Members of the Non-Aligned Movement of nations ended their first ever summit on women's rights in Kuala Lumpur by signing a new protocol.

The Putrajaya Declaration pledges to do more to protect women from violence, improve their health and education and give them a greater political voice.

Malaysia's minister for women called this declaration a milestone.

The BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says there is little in the declaration that was not agreed by nations who took part in the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

But the 80-odd members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) who attended have, nevertheless, agreed a set of goals, he says - not least that 30% of decision makers in government and business should be women.

'Action'

They also promised to end discriminatory policies and traditions while guaranteeing women full access to health care and education.

Malaysia also announced it would set up a permanent NAM centre for women's concerns.

"This declaration will be a powerful tool to make our countries significantly improve the lives and status of women," said Masooda Jalal, Afghanistan's minister of women's affairs.

"Today we have made commitments. Tomorrow we will move our commitments into action."

Not all 116 members of the NAM - a group of mainly poor nations that tried to stay neutral during the Cold War - sent representatives to the conference.

Many have yet to give any senior politician responsibility for gender issues.

But though the achievements of this meeting may have been modest, our correspondent says, the declaration is at least a sign that women's rights remain on the international agenda.