PRESS RELEASE

ASEAN ministers share best practices in advancing women’s rights in national development planning

United Nations, Bangkok, 15 November 2006 -- Ministers and senior officials in charge of women empowerment and development from ASEAN countries will share experience and best practices at the “ASEAN High-Level Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the Context of CEDAW, BPFA and MDGs” on 15-16 November. Opened in Jakarta today by Indonesia’s Minister for Women Empowerment, Prof. Dr Meutia Hatta, the meeting is jointly organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and ASEAN with the Ministry of Women Empowerment, Indonesia acting as host. The meeting is one of the regional activities to operationalise the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in ASEAN under the aegis of the ASEAN Committee on Women.

CEDAW is the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. All ten ASEAN Members Countries are among 184 States to have ratified this “women’s bill of rights” which is a cornerstone of all UNIFEM programmes. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) is a document adopted by governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women that sets forth governments’ commitments to enhance women’s rights. The Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) outline a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets to promote gender equality and to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and environmental degradation by 2015.

“These three agreements form a set of mutually-supporting instruments that enable planners to link international conventions to national development planning when it comes to ensuring women’s rights in plans, policies, legislation and programmes in all areas and at all levels. This ASEAN forum on this theme is co-hosted by the Ministry of Women Empowerment, Government of Indonesia where the women’s Ministry has played a vital role in placing gender and women development on the national agenda, and this encouraging start can be reinforced by these three instruments,” says Dr. Jean D’Cunha, Regional Program Director, UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Office.  

Within ASEAN, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand are among countries that have made efforts to address women’s rights within the framework of these three international agreements. Minister of Women Empowerment Prof. Dr Meutia Hatta says: “Indonesia’s national policy formulation and planning that take into account women’s rights are reflected in various laws, regulations and development programmes, including economic empowerment of women through income generation activities, micro-credit facilities, less discriminatory labour regulations. We hope to learn how we can improve through the exchange of views and experience at this forum among our colleagues from ASEAN and experts from UNIFEM.” 

ASEAN Member Countries are committed to addressing and mainstreaming gender issues under the two ASEAN Declarations – the 1988 Declaration on the Advancement of Women and the 2004 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in ASEAN.  The implementation of these two declarations take place under two operational documents – the work plan on women’s advancement and gender equality (2005-2010) and the work plan to operationalise the Declaration on Violence against Women (2006-2010). 

The convening of the ASEAN High Level Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming within the context of CEDAW, BFPA and MDGs offers a space for regional discussion where good practices or successes of Member Countries can be shared.  It opens a forum for sharing challenges faced and finding solutions together in mainstreaming gender concerns.  Furthermore, the coming together regionally can assist Member Countries to better coordinate (nationally and with each other) to meet respective commitments under the UN processes.

UNIFEM is the United Nations Development Fund for Women. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women’s human rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women’s issues and concerns to national, regional, and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment strategies. For further information, please visit www.unifem.org or www.unifem-eseasia.org

The ASEAN Committee on Women coordinates and monitors ASEAN cooperation in women’s issues and concerns. The ACW meets regularly every year, and each Member Countries assume responsibilities of the ACW Chair on a rotational basis.  The ACW monitors the progress made by ASEAN Member Countries in implementing or addressing key regional priorities identified in the 1998 Declaration on the Advancement of Women and the 2004 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in ASEAN.   

For media inquiries, please contact:

Elaine Tan, Human Development Unit, the ASEAN Secretariat, Tel: (62-21) 726 2991 Ext 233 or email elaine@aseansec.org

Updated: 17 November 2006 15:20 +0700