THE EARTH TIMES
MARCH 21, 1993
Miller of Barbados elected by NGOs
BY ASHALI VARMA
Billie Miller, a leading women’s rights campaigner and politician from Barbados, has been names to a leadership position on the NGO Steering Committee for the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.
Miller, who is widely known for her volunteer work in family planning and women’s issues, will head the Planning Committee and the NGO Steering Committee through the preparatory stages leading up to the Conference in Cairo, in September 1994. Miller said she was delighted and honored that she would be able to be make significant contributions to the Cairo-Conference.
Dr. Peggy McEvoy, senior associate at The Population Council, and a member of the Steering Committee said, “We are very aware that the real action is going to be at the preparatory committee meetings before the conference, and not only will NGOs come for this but we will assist them in being able to effectively lobby their points of view and influence their national delegations.”
The Committee is expecting at least 500 NGO representatives to attend the PrepCom in New York from May 10-21.
To get maximum participation the Committee is reaching out through various networks and seeking out people who don’t usually get heard in international forums. Among the third world organizations represented on the Steering Committee are The Kenyan Medical Women’s Association led by Dr. Florence Manguyu of Amparo Claro ISIS International (Chile), and Peggy Antrobus of Dawn (Development Alternatives with Women for the New Era)