Senior officials of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries Saturday began their meeting in Malaysia to finalize the agenda for the Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women on May 9 and 10.

The meeting, held at the Putrajaya International Convention Center, was opened by Malaysian Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and is chaired by the ministry's secretary-general Faizah Mohamed Tahir.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, the officials from some75 of the 114 NAM member countries will meet behind closed doors in brain-storming sessions to fine-tune the draft of the Putrajaya Declaration.

The Putrajaya Declaration is expected to outline action plans which will reaffirm NAM's commitment to the empowerment of women and their full participation in all sectors and at all levels, touching on the seven sub-themes of the meeting.

The sub-themes are women in economic, decision-making, information and communication technology, health, armed conflict and violence against women in line with the theme of the meeting, "Empowering Women in Facing the Challenges of Globalization."

NAM, set up in 1961, now plays a significant role in the post-Cold War world as custodian of Southern interests.