Vol. 452 No. 3
79 Mr. Barry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that China has denied accreditation to Tibetan Women's groups for this year's Fourth World Women's Conference in Beijing; and if he will make representations to the organising committee to ensure that the Tibetan Women's Groups are issued invitations. [8048/95]
The question of the difficulties being encountered in relation to the accreditation of various NGOs, including Tibetan women's groups, to the Fourth World Conference on Women was indeed brought to my attention following the Preparatory Committee Meeting which was held in New York from 15 March to 4 April.
Along with our EU partners, Ireland has been most concerned that NGO representation at the Fourth World Conference on Women should be as complete and wide reaching as possible and that every effort should be made to assist at official level with NGO attendance at the Conference. In accordance with this view Ireland co-sponsored, together with our EU partners, a UN Resolution requesting that the deadline set for accreditation be extended, and that the rules for accreditation of NGOs should be applied transparently and fairly. This Resolution was adopted on 21 April 1995 and an extension of the deadline for accreditation was agreed.
Ireland shall, with our EU partners, continue to monitor this question closely with a view to achieving the accreditation of all NGOs who meet the attendance criteria for the conference.
