women, says Community and Cultural Affairs Minister the Hon. Yvette Swan.

"Women in Bermuda have really gone ahead very, very quickly in the last ten years,'' she said. "However, we are not there yet.'' Speaking recently to the local chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Association of which she is a past president, Sen. Swan noted that while in Beijing for last month's United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women she accepted an international award for progress in women's rights on behalf of the Bermuda Government.

The award was one of a small number handed out by conference organisers to countries nominated by their BPWAs.

Bermuda was judged the country which had made the most progress in improving the status of women in the North American and non-Spanish-speaking Caribbean since the last World Conference, held in Kenya in 1985.

And Sen. Swan said Bermuda came within a few points of beating out Canada for the world award.

"We didn't tell them how close we were to beating them because they would have been so embarrassed,'' Sen. Swan said. "I think we should be very proud of the steps Bermuda has made.'' However, "we have to really make sure we do not take our advancements for granted, because there is still work to be done.'' In nominating Bermuda, the local chapter of the BPWA cited amendments to the Human Rights Act, progress in after school care and day care, and "the longstanding acceptance in Bermuda of the equal access of women to education.'' Also speaking to the BPWA at Wesley Methodist Church Hall were Opposition Sen.

Neletha (Honey) Butterfield and veterinarian Dr. Susann O. Smith. They both attended a women's conference for non-governmental organisations that was held near the Government conference.

Sen. Swan, who was Bermuda's representative to the Government conference in Beijing, said it was true there was rain and unfinished buildings and Government surveillance in China.

However, "the Press focussed on negative aspects,'' and "did not do the conference justice,'' she said.

The two conferences brought 40,000 women, men, and children to Beijing. At the Government conference, Sen. Swan's job was to attend plenary sessions and record information given about programmes in various countries. The notes Sen.

Swan kept were sent back to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London.

While a speech by Pakistani Prime Minister Ms Benazir Bhutto was among the highlights, Sen. Swan was unimpressed by American First Lady Mrs. Hilary Clinton.

"She used us as a platform, and then she left us,'' Sen. Swan said. While other first ladies stuck around, Mrs. Clinton delivered a "highly political'' speech and then left.

"It would have made more sense to me if she had stuck around for a couple of days and worked with us to get a good platform of action, so that she could have been a mentor for young people there who needed guidance.'' A 30-clause declaration was approved calling for "equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity.'' Upon signing the declaration, all governments must assure they follow the principles of UN declarations on human rights, the rights of the child, and other issues relevant to women.

Sen. Butterfield, who took part in a workshop sponsored by the American-based National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club Inc., said many of the sessions she chose to attend from the nearly 3,000 offered had to do with women and politics.

"It's important for us to get involved in politics, or you're going to find more men making more decisions for us,'' she said.

It was said at the conference that it would take 400 to 500 years for women to be equal to men. But, "do we really want to wait that long?'' Sen.

Butterfield asked.

Dr. Smith, who represented the local chapter of the BPWA, focussed on questions of race. "I know Bermuda still has racial problems, and I was determined to find out how the rest of the world was thinking,'' she said.

She found that racial relations in Bermuda were better than in Brazil and other countries.

As women move forward, "we shouldn't leave our men behind,'' Dr. Smith said.

Most people in colleges and universities were now women, who would soon be "in the driver's seat.

"We can't leave the men behind, because then it will be lopsided the other way. Then we'll have women running everything and we'll have men's conferences.''