Quiet women's rights event draws full house

The Aichi Expo ends its run in less than two weeks, and the pavilions are staging their final events in a mad rush of music, dance, food and drink to make one last big impression on the throngs of people descending on the site.

While the swarms of sightseers are eager to see all the whiz-bang technology, one quiet event had a full house of people who came to hear a different kind of transformative idea.

"Active Women of the World," a joint seminar by the United Nations and Saudi Arabia pavilions -- two small venues with only a few events -- was an opportunity for women from around the world to talk about the different experiences and common efforts of women trying to achieve empowerment and independence.

Moderated by Caroline Carpentier, public relations officer of the Saudi Arabia pavilion, the seminar featured four women, all in important positions at the expo.

Maria Helena Henriques Mueller, director of the U.N. Pavilion, first outlined the Millennium Development Goals set by the international body and spoke about why they were important to developing countries.

"The biggest change we have seen among the 192 member nations of the U.N. is that investing in women has numerous related benefits and payoffs for a society," Mueller said.

The second speaker was Nimah Ismail Nawwab, a trailblazing Saudi writer and poet who is also a senior public relations specialist at Saudi Aramco. She was guarded and spoke more generally about the status of women in her country, but mentioned improvements in education and career opportunities.

Barbara Helm, director of the Canada Pavilion, related the historical changes in the rights of Canadian women.

Canada is considered by many as a role model in terms of gender equality, and Helm spoke of how recent many of the improvements have been as well as her optimism for the future.

Finally, Mari Christine, the Aichi Expo's public relations producer, covered the status of Japanese women, looking at recent shifts in employment and social advancement.

The event was well-attended: A wide range of visitors -- both young and old, male and female -- filled the 500-seat Expo Hall.

While the U.N. is well known for its work in advancing the role of women, many people do not know details about the situation in Saudi Arabia.

The seminar was an eloquent testament to the important positions women can hold, even in the most male-dominated societies.

The Spain Pavilion is auctioning off more of the tiles decorating the exterior of the building.

More than 3 million yen was raised Saturday in Tokyo from the sale of 168 of the more than 10,000 distinctive tiles and donated to Doctors without Borders Japan.

The remaining tiles are available at a minimum bid of 2 million yen, while 450 hexagonal pieces that were not used are for up for bid, starting at 4.5 million yen.

The fruit art adorning the roof in the Harvest of Paradise "chapel," designed by noted artist Javier Mariscal, is also being auctioned off with a starting bid of 14 million yen.

For more information, e-mail spanishpavillion@expo-int.com