Womenwatch internet site launched

The Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) have pooled efforts and resources to create a joint space on the Internet on the advancement and empowerment of women. "WomenWatch," a gateway to UN information and data on women worldwide and an electronic forum on global women's issues, was launched on International Women's Day, 8 March 1997, as part of the follow up to the Beijing conference. The site provides up-todate information on UN work on behalf of women, and on the global agenda for improving their status. It is designed as a contribution to the outreach programmes of its collaborating partners to expand networking and streamline access to information, as recommended by tine' Beijing Platform for Action.

The Internet site is accessible through the World Wide Web at http.//www.un.org/womenwatch and by e-mail <womenwatch@un.org> and the gopher <gopher://gopher.un.org>. The new web sites for DAW (http.//www.un.org/dpcsd/daw), UNIFEM (http://www.unifem.undp.org) and INSTRAW (http.//www.un.org/instraw) will be linked through Women Watch.