UNIFEM BKK Upcoming exhibition/auction event in September 2004

4 August, 2004 - UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Office will organize a joint event entitled “Women 4 Women” with Soroptimist International Club of Bangkok with the view to raising funds to support sub-regional efforts for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The event is art exhibition/auction of 4 prominent Thai female artists who had agreed to donate their works to support UNIFEM’s project of eliminating violence against women. The event will take place from 1st until 3rd September at the Thai Bank Museum Art Gallery in Bangkok, with Ms. Kathleen Johnson, wife of the American Ambassador to Thailand, presiding over the opening ceremony. UNIFEM Bangkok was successful in mobilizing the involvement of the private sector, the Body Shop and Siam Commercial Bank, to sponsor the event.

Soroptimist International is a world wide organisation for women in management and the professions working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women. Soroptimists work together to make the world a better place for all. Working at all levels of civil society, local, national and international, Soroptimists are involved with a wide spectrum of women's concerns. Soroptimist Programme of Service activities encourage members to be an active influence for positive social change through awareness, advocacy and action. All members are encouraged to be aware of and involved in the issues of society and to take positions of advocacy, encouraging governments and authorities to ensure that gender and human rights concerns inform policy and action.

Soroptimist International Club of Bangkok has been an active partner of the UNIFEM BKK EVAW Programme since the joint event in September 2003 in commemoration of the 16 days Campaign against VAW. It was a panel discussion “1993-2003 – A Decade of Fighting Violence Against Women: A Retrospective”. The event welcomed Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women of the UN Commission on Human Rights as a keynote speaker, along with some influential panelists in the field of VAW. The panel discussion was regarded as an important opportunity to raise awareness and sensitize the general-public on violence against women issues. It was also considered as one of few opportunities to exchange opinions, experiences and concerns in an informal manner among participants with varied background. More than 100 people participated in this event representing various UN agencies, civil society, NGOs, Government agencies, MPs as well as Media, which indicated high interest among society in women’s human rights issues. [Invitation]

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