Wellington, March 2 NZPA - Women's Affairs Minister Pansy Wong has apologised -- before one of the largest gatherings of women at the United Nations -- over New Zealand's record of sexual violence against women.

Ms Wong told the 54th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), attended by 9000 women representatives in New York, that one in five New Zealand women will be subjected to violence in their lifetime, compared to one in 20 men, the Inter Press newsagency reported online.

"We deeply regret that we have not made greater progress in combatting violence against women.

"We are also well aware that the real incidence of violence against women is far worse than is reported in official statistics," she added.

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, Samoa's minister of women, community and social development said that violence against women was also a "major concern" in the Pacific region, with as many as two-thirds of women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence -- "violence that is widely culturally tolerated".

Ms Wong said the large attendance at the commission was a sign of the value placed on women's rights.

"Our leadership also includes fronting up to the problems of violence against women, equal pay and opportunities and women in leadership," she said.

New Zealand was proud of its record in the advancement of education and employment at all levels and supported the establishment of a new UN "gender entity".

"We call on the Secretary-General to appoint the new Under-Secretary General on Gender without delay," she said.

Last September, the UN General Assembly agreed to create a new agency for women, wrapping into it the four UN bodies that currently handle various women's issues, including the UN Development Fund for Women and the Division for the Advancement of Women.

The secretary-general has yet to announce who will head the proposed new agency.