While activists welcomed the creation of the ASEAN Commission on Women
and Children (ACWC), they are concerned if it would face similar
limitations as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' human rights
commission launched late last year.
While activists welcomed the creation of the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children (ACWC), they are concerned if it would face similar limitations as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' human rights commission launched late last year.
Independence of commissioners, and whether either body can actually protect the region's most vulnerable are ongoing questions in the heart of all activists.
FORUM-ASIA executive director Yap Swee Seng, said the commission's terms of reference lean more towards promotion of rights.
"I think it will be difficult for the commission to embark on a protection mandate," he said, a criticism also levelled at ASEAN's human rights commission.
Activists also called on the rules and procedures for both the new commission and the existing rights body to be further defined for them to work effectively, including with non-governmental organisations.
They added that both commissions are dominated by current and former civil servants, rather than independent experts, raising questions about their potential effectiveness.
The ACWC, however, was hailed as a "turning point" for the region by ASEAN at a ceremony in Hanoi recently.
"These are the vulnerable half of the ASEAN community, the women and the children," the Association's secretary general, Surin Pitsuwan, told reporters ahead of a summit which opens Thursday.
"So if we wish to become a compassionate community, a sharing and caring community… we have to take care of the women and the children."
Background:
ASEAN aims by 2015 to form a free-market "community" of almost 600 million people committed to democratic ideals.
Activists say they expect the new commission to examine issues including human trafficking, child labour, child soldiers, and gender discrimination.
Among its stated functions, the 20-member commission is to "promote and protect rights"; build judicial and administrative capacity; and encourage data collection, studies and research.
The 10-nation ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, which activists say has restricted its ability to criticise rights abuses, particularly in military-run Myanmar.
In the past, ASEAN was focused on economic issues, but since the bloc's 2008 charter committed it to tighter links as a "community", there must be a strong social component as well, said one Asian diplomat.
Source: APF.
