That is why this ministerial meeting on women is more urgent than ever. Our agenda is central to the challenges APEC economies now face. Just as women benefited when times were good and contributed to the economic boom, so too will they be central to recovery of APEC economies. Women are part of the solution. Over the last two decades we witnessed an extraordinary worldwide phenomenon.
Women account for the majority of new workers in both industrialized and developing countries.
But despite these gains, gender disparities and inequality of opportunity and treatment persist. We find increasing evidence of the feminization of poverty around the globe. The international community is gradually recognizing the importance of women to the global economy as well as the persistent inequality women face. The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing reaffirmed the critical importance of quality employment and working conditions, as well as the need for equal access to education, training and credit, and a place at the table where economic decisions are made. Following the Beijing conference, President Clinton established an Interagency Council on Women to coordinate our government's implementation of the agreements made there.