MALAYSIAN MINISTER HOSTS DINNER FOR FIRST LADIES

SERI KEMBANGAN (Malaysia), Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil Sunday night hosted a dinner for delegates of the 2010 First Ladies Summit, at a leading hotel here.

The delegates comprised 15 first ladies, 13 ministers and seven envoys.

The four-day summit, which begins Monday, carries the theme "Today's
Children, Tomorrow's Leaders".

Shahrizat said a declaration and resolutions for adoption by the
participating countries would be issued at the end of the summit.

"By doing so, we bring to bear our governments collective political will to
invest early, and invest wisely in children. There is often no second chance for
child development," she said in a statement issued in conjunction with the
dinner.

The prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor, who is also the patron
of the programme, will deliver the keynote address on the first day before the
summit is opened by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at Seri Perdana,
Putrajaya.

Seri Perdana is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Among those who will be attending the summit are the first ladies of Albania
(Teuta Topi), Chile (Cecilia Morel Montes), Congo (Marie Olive Kabila) and Sri
Lanka (Shiranthi Rajapaksa).

-- BERNAMA