Angola: UN recommends special focus on women's rights

After bearing the brunt of years of civil conflict, women in Angola require special attention and efforts to achieve equality, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was told this week. Filomena Delgado, Angola's vice-minister for Family and Promotion of Women, said despite adverse conditions, steps had been taken to improve women's rights in the war-affected country: a state secretariat established in 1991 had been upgraded to a ministry in 1997 and the government had also taken "other initiatives to address the socioeconomic, legal and political aspects of gender parity".