The United Nations is drastically curtailing a conference that had been expected to bring up to 12,000 people from its 193 member nations to New York next week because of the spread of the new coronavirus that emerged in China. The U.N. Commission on the Status of Women decided Monday to hold a one-day event on March 9 so delegations in New York can adopt a draft political declaration commemorating the 25th anniversary of the U.N. conference in Beijing that adopted a wide-ranging plan to achieve equality for women. But the commission decided to postpone the major event to a future date to be determined, when delegations from all countries and nongovernmental organizations can attend. The commission stressed that there will be no debate on March 9, and all side events will be canceled. It discouraged delegations from all capitals from coming to New York for the March 9 event.-AP

Source: The Standard March 03, 2020 03:59 UTC