The Regional Consultation on the ASEAN commission on the rights of women and children and the ASEAN human rights body, a joint initiative of Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights, FORUM-ASIA, Save the Children-Sweden UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation on Human Developement (SEARCH), will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 15 – 17 September 2008.
The consultation aims to initiate a regional process for women and children's rights groups from the ASEAN countries, for the following purposes:
- To inform women and child rights groups on recent developments on the ASEAN Commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children, the ASEAN human rights body and the three pillars.
- To develop a regional civil society proposal and advocacy strategy on the establishment of the ASEAN Commission on the rights of women and children, ASEAN human rights body and the three pillars from the perspective of women and child rights groups.
- To bring the women and child rights groups into the civil society ASEAN engagement process so as to articulate the perspectives, analysis, and recommendations of women and child rights groups on the ASEAN.
The consultation is a follow-up to the Women and Children's Rights Caucus on the ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms.
The mechanisms that were discussed were both the proposed commission and the human rights body.
The main agenda of the consultation will be to review developments in the ASEAN and civil society responses, study proposals for the proposed ACWC and the AHRB, and come up with recommendations.
It is expected to bring together approximately 70 representatives of civil society organisations and movements, CEDAW Watch groups, national women's machineries, UN agencies, human rights organisations, and other stakeholders in the promotion and protection of women and children's human rights.
