It will analyse policies to better distribute wealth, power and time between the sexes.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Mexico's National Women's Institute (Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres de México, INMUJERES) will hold a news conference to provide information about the Ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, on Thursday 10 June at 12:45 pm, in Room 1 of the Conference Area, in Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ricardo Flores Magón N° 1, Tlatelolco, Mexico City.

ECLAC's Executive Secretary, José Luis Machinea, the Director of Mexico's National Women's Institute, Patricia Espinosa, the Under-Secretary for General Issues from the Foreign Affairs Secretariat, Patricia Olamendi, and Sonia Montaño, ECLAC's Women and Development Unit Chief will participate in the press conference.

From 10 to 12 June 2004, this Regional Conference will evaluate progress in applying international commitments that form part of the Regional Action Programme for Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, adopted in 1994 by the Sixth Regional Conference, and ratified in 2000 by the Lima Consensus.

Delegations from several ECLAC member countries will attend, headed by Ministers and Secretaries of State, along with the directors and representatives of United Nations bodies and programmes, other groups specializing in women's issues, autonomous institutions and non-governmental organizations from all over the continent.

The Conference' work will focus on international commitments to women's advancement adopted at world summits held in the 1990s, the Millennium Development Goals passed by the United Nations' General Assembly in New York in 2000 and the Platform of Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, in 1995. On this occasion, activities to commemorate next year's 10th anniversary of this meeting (Beijing + 10) will also be approved.

The Regional Conference on Women is a subsidiary body of ECLAC, which meets regularly to identify women's needs at the regional and subregional levels, present recommendations, regularly evaluate activities to implement regional and international agreements and plans in this area, and provide a forum to debate these issues.

On this occasion, ECLAC will present a report called Caminos hacia la equidad de género en América Latina y el Caribe (Paths to Gender Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean), which will serve as the basis for Conference debates.