INTRODUCTION:

The Pan-African Women's Organization was created in July 1962. It has its headquarters in Luanda - Angola . The organization has an observer status at the united nations social and economic council (ECOSOC). It also has an observer status at the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and enjoys working relations with UNESCO as well as other organizations.

The Pan-African Women's Organization has a continental spread with all 53 african countries as members, divided into 5 sub-regions, with each region having its own office:

NORTHERN - ALGERIA
WESTERN - MALI
EASTERN - TANZANIA
CENTRAL - RWANDA
SOUTHERN - SOUTH AFRICA

The organization also has focal points in all the countries. The secretary general has resolved to reactivate all the focal points taking into consideration the new realities of each member state.

PAWO was founded by some african women leaders to give leverage to the participation of women in the political, economic and social life of african countries. Since then it has grown by leaps and bounds!

Having partly participated in the examination process of the inwlementation of the Beijing program of action and in the Dakar platform of action, at the 6th african regional conference in Addis Abeba and at the 23rd session of the United Nations general assembly in New York, PAWO felt querried on its feminization. This situation calls for deep reflection and effective concerted national and international efforts aimed at creating better conditions for the eradication of poverty.

It is within this framework that the secretary general of pawo decided together with the angolan women's organization to request the Angolan Government to organize an international conference on poverty and its consequences in Luanda from 1-3 July 2002.

Our choice of the republic of Angola was informed by the increasingly difficult times that the angolan people are going through. It is needless to remind us that as a result of the war, more and more people are being displaced from the provinces to Luanda.

The response of the International Community towards the situation in the country has often tended towards emergency relief assistance.