14 - 16 February, 2004
South Asian National Resource Centres Consultation
Kathmandu, Nepal
Organised by IWRAW Asia Pacific with logistical support from Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD)

This consultation brought together IWRAW Asia Pacific’s partners in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan to discuss and determine the relevance of promoting women’s human rights in South Asia through a strategy of creating national-level resource centres. Among other things, the centres were envisaged to serve as repositories of information on CEDAW and human rights; disseminate more related country materials to their constituencies; maintain a pool of CEDAW resource persons; coordinate treaty monitoring committees; and work with governments to monitor the implementation of CEDAW Concluding Comments for their country.

At the national level, the participants’ action plans outlined the shape and direction of their proposed resource centres or resource strategies. At the regional level, they weighed follow-up activities to the consultation and agreed, as a first step, to set-up an electronic discussion list that would allow them to share information and materials on women’s human rights initiatives in South Asia, with a focus on CEDAW and other human rights treaty mechanisms. They also agreed to explore organising a regional training of trainers and other skills-building exchanges.

16 - 18 February 2004
Workshop "Towards the Realisation of Women's Human Rights". Organised by UNIFEM SEA. Bangkok, Thailand

This workshop discussed UNIFEM-CIDA's Southeast Asia programme to facilitate CEDAW implementation in the region. On the 17th, Shanthi Dairiam made a presentation on 'The Framework for the Assessment of CEDAW Implementation.' Included in the programme are inception missions to several South East Asian countries that will take place from May to July. IWRAW Asia Pacific will be involved in this.

16 - 20 February 2004
Women's Rights Watch Project. Third Exchange Week "Exploring how CEDAW can be used as a holistic framework. Organised by HOM, Netherlands. Sayar, Bangladesh

This was the final phase of a programme which brought together IWRAW Asia Pacific and other NGOs from Kenya, Nicaragua, the Netherlands, and Bangladesh to develop an impact assessment tool. This tool will enable NGOs to explore the linkages between women's rights to health, international human rights treaties, trade and international cooperation.

17 - 19 February 2004
Gender and Human Rights Expert Group Meeting. London, UK. Organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a number of key gender and human rights issues with a view to developing proposals for a new Commonwealth Ten-Year Plan of Action (2005-2014). Shanthi Dairiam attended the meeting and presented a paper titled 'CEDAW Achievements and Challenges. Discussion on Implementation of Policies and Legislation: Progress, gains, constraints and key priorities.

23 February - 5 March 2004
OP-ICESCR Open-Ended Working Group. Geneva, Switzerland

IWRAW Asia Pacific is part of the Steering Committee of NGO Coalition for an OP-ICESCR. Members of IWRAW Asia Pacific's lobbying team were: Tulika Srivastava (India), Caroline Lambert (Australia), Sabine Shresta (Nepal), Marlene Libardoni (Brazil) and Maria Herminia Graterol (IWRAW Asia Pacific). To find out more about the Coalition, click here.

26 - 28 February 2004
"When Frameworks Collide". Expert Group Meeting between economists and human rights advocates. Geneva, Switzerland. Organised by Ford Foundation, New York

This meeting brought together progressive experts in human rights and international economics to look at the intersections between human rights and economic development, and in particular, the barriers to and opportunities for the two groups to work more closely together. Shanthi Dairiam attended this meeting for IWRAW Asia Pacific.

1 - 12 March 2004
Forty-Eighth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. New York, US. Organised by the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Shanthi Dairiam took part in various panels, including one on the Optional Protocol to CEDAW organised by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR).

29 March - 9 April 2004
60th Session of the Commission on Human Rights. Geneva, Switzerland.

Shanthi Dairiam and Rea Chiongson were involved in several processes related to several ESCR issues, including housing, health and the renewal of the mandate of Open-Ended Working Group on the OP-ICESCR. They also followed some of the processes around the issue of Violence Against Women. IWRAW Asia Pacific made two statements on the following items during the CHR session: (1) Item 10: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and (2) Item 12: Violence against Women. They also had discussions with the Special Rapporteurs on Health, Violence Against Women and Housing to discuss possibilities for further collaboration.

30 March and 2 April 2004
Workshop on the CEDAW Convention. Organised by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam). Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Maria Herminia Graterol made two presentations at these workshops in East Malaysia, giving an overview of the CEDAW Convention.

24 - 27 May 2004
Regional Workshop on Domestic Application of International Human Rights Law. Organised by Forum-Asia and Indonesia Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI). Jakarta, Indonesia

The purpose of the workshop was to examine how principles and standards developed by treaty bodies may be used by human rights lawyers and advocates in ensuring the domestic application of human rights treaties. Rea Chiongson, Programme Officer of IWRAW Asia Pacific presented papers on “Jurisprudence Emerging from Treaty bodies: CEDAW” and “Experiences of IWRAW Asia Pacific in Using International Human Rights Law.

2 - 5 June 2004
Training of Lawyers. Organised by Ain o Salish Kendra in collaboration with IWRAW Asia Pacific. Dhaka, Bangladesh

This National Lawyers Training on the Application of CEDAW and Its Optional Protocol aimed to enable lawyers to pursue legal initiatives, especially litigation, for CEDAW implementation and enforcement of women’s human rights. It also sought to develop a pool of lawyers in Bangladesh, committed to advance women’s human rights through legal and litigation strategies using the framework and standards of the CEDAW Convention. Participants to the training were practicing district and high court lawyers. Resource persons include Rea Chiongson and S.K. Priya of IWRAW Asia Pacific; Faustina Pereira, Sara Hossain Saidur Rahman, Sanaiyya Fahim Ansari of Ain O Salish Kendra and Tanjibul Alam of Dr. Kamal Hossain and Associates.

14 - 17 June 2004
ICPD Ten Years On – Strategic Planning Meeting. Organised by ARROW. Langkawi, Malaysia

This meeting by the Asian and Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women shared and discussed key findings and recommendations of eight ICPD monitoring country studies – Pakistan, India, Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Based on this, participants also developed a broad advocacy plan for the region in relation to women’s reproductive health and rights. They identified as important the following areas: health sector reforms; law and policies; role of donors and the politics of aid; and religious fundamentalisms. beng hui attended this meeting on behalf of IWRAW Asia Pacific.

21 - 25 June 2004
Annual Treaty Body Chairs Meeting. Organised by the Office for the High Commissioner on Human Rights. Geneva, Switzerland

IWRAW Asia Pacific attended the 3rd Inter-committee Meeting of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies (ICM) and the16th Annual Meeting of Treaty Bodies Chairpersons. The meetings were held on June 21-22, 2004 and June 23-25, 2004 respectively in Geneva. Both meetings focused on enhancing the effectiveness of the treaty bodies, in particular on ways to improve the reporting process. The draft guidelines for an expanded core document and treaty-specific targeted reports was presented for consideration of the treaty bodies as an option to address challenges to State reporting. At the ICM, IWRAW Asia Pacific presented a statement that provided ways to strengthen the implementation of State obligation under the human rights convention. It provided initial comments to the draft guidelines, and gave suggestions on technical assistance and capacity building and NGO participation. It also encouraged the treaty bodies to play a crucial role as experts in the working group on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

30 June - 3 July 2004
The Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing +10. Bangkok, Thailand

Yew Bee Yee and Maria Herminia Graterol represented IWRAW Asia Pacific at this meeting. In addition, we facilitated the presence of a representative each from Aurat Foundation, Pakistan and Women and Media Collective, Sri Lanka.

IWRAW Asia Pacific’s team focused on attending activities related to women’s human rights and followed how this issue was addressed in the outcome documents of the NGO Forum.

Further, we coordinated and facilitated a workshop on “How to Use the CEDAW Reporting Process?: Linking Efforts for the Implementation of CEDAW and the BPFA”. Heisoo Shin, CEDAW Committee member and other partners such as Ruth Manorama (India), Tashia Peterson (Malaysia), Amaarsanaa Darisuren (Mongolia) and Zaana Jurmed (Mongolia) assisted in making the workshop a success. More than sixty women participated. For more details on the workshop’s outcomes, click here.

21 July 2004
Day of Genderal Discussion on CEDAW General Recommendation 26 (on Article 2). Organised by DAW. New York, USA

IWRAW Asia Pacific made a presentation to the CEDAW Committee, together with Madhu Mehra (Partners for Law in Development, India) and Deepika Udagama (Sri Lanka). IWRAW Asia Pacific’s paper discussed state obligation and its various components, while Deepika’s and Madhu’s highlighted state obligation in difficult situations, namely, in times of armed conflict, as well as internal conflict and sectarian violence.

11 - 15 August 2004
Training of Trainers on CEDAW. Organised by NAWO, India and supported by IWRAW Asia Pacific. Kolkatta, India

This training was organised to develop a CEDAW pool of trainers from the eastern region of India. It involved 35 participants. Salma Khan, CEDAW Committee member, was invited as a resource person and provided input in discussions relating to CEDAW as well as critical issues affecting women in the eastern region.

21 - 22 August 2004
National Conference on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Organised by Women’s Aid Organisation in collaboration with the National Council of Women’s Organisations. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

IWRAW Asia Pacific ran two sessions at this meeting which was part of the process by Malaysian women’s groups to produce the country’s first CEDAW shadow report. The first session was on “Understanding the CEDAW Convention: Framework/Principles” while the other was on “The Role of NGOs: Advocacy/Reporting Process”. CEDAW Committee member, Hei Soo Shin was also a resource person at this meeting.

7 - 10 September 2004
High-Level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Review and Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA). Organised by UN ESCAP. Bangkok, Thailand

The objective of the meeting was to review advances and identify obstacles to the implementation of the BPFA in the Asia Pacific region. The outcome document, the Bangkok communiqué, will be Asia Pacific’s contribution to the global review process that takes place at the 2005 Commission on the Status of Women’s session. IWRAW Asia Pacific worked closely with the NGO Caucus at this meeting. In addition, the organisation facilitated a strategy session at NGO meeting on 6 September 2004.

18 - 21 September 2004
Consultation on Updating of Skills on Applications of CEDAW. Organised by IWRAW Asia Pacific. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

More than 20 partners and members of IWRAW Asia Pacific’s pool of experts met to discuss skills and methodologies needed to provide technical assistance to NGOs and governments seeking expertise in relation to CEDAW in different contexts. Some of the issues discussed were: (i) trends, obstacles and opportunities for promoting applications of the CEDAW Convention at the national, regional and international levels; (ii) skills and knowledge needed to respond to complex requests for technical assistance; and (iii) practical applications of CEDAW in specific contexts to further the rights-based approach and provide tools to women’s groups and institutions requesting assistance. One of the main outputs of the consultation was the identification of elements of a framework for working with governments. On the afternoon of the 21st, a smaller group of participants took part in a “refresher” workshop for trainers. This session provided an opportunity for them to share their experiences using IWRAW Asia Pacific’s training manual at the national and regional level.

24 - 26 September 2004
Sexuality and Human Rights in Muslim Societies in South and Southeast Asia. Organised by Yayasan Kesihatan Indonesia and Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways. Jakarta, Indonesia

This meeting sought to bring together activists, NGOs, academicians and members of international and regional organisations, to dialogue on key human rights issues related to sexual and bodily rights in Muslim societies of South and Southeast Asia. Participants came from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Additionally, several members of an existing sexual rights network in the Middle East and North Africa region also attended and shared their experiences and knowledge on this issue. Click here for press release.

12 - 15 October 2004
Pacific Regional Consultation on Women’s Right to Land and Adequate Housing. Organised by RRRT, HIC, APWLD and IWRAW Asia Pacific. Nadi, Fiji

The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing met with human rights defenders from the Pacific to gather testimonies on women’s housing and land rights issues. Participants also discussed and exchanged related approaches and strategies. Prior to this, they attended a pre-consultation training session. Click here for press release.

13 October 2004
CEDAW 25th Anniversary Roundtable Discussion. Organised by the Division for the Advancement of Women. New York, USA

This event “CEDAW at 25: Are we moving forward?”, saw the participation of several former CEDAW chairs and other invited guests. Shanthi Dairiam, Executive Director of IWRAW Asia Pacific made a presentation on the impact of the CEDAW Convention at the domestic level. Click here for a copy of her speech.

6 - 10 November 2004
Training for a Beijing+10 and CEDAW Shadow Report. Organised by the Vietnam Women’s Union. Hanoi, Vietnam.

Shanthi designed and conducted this training session on writing a combined shadow report for Beijing+10 and CEDAW.

15-19 November 2004
Samoa CEDAW Mock Session. Organised by the Ministry of Women, Samoa and UNIFEM Pacific. Apia, Samoa

In light of the Government of Samoa being scheduled to present its initial report to the CEDAW Committee in January 2005, UNIFEM South Pacific funded this mock session to prepare the government for the review. Shanthi was one of the resource persons, together with a member of the Fiji government, an NGO member from Fiji and a staff member of UNIFEM Pacific.

18 - 22 November 20004
CEDAW Training of Trainers. Organised by Women and Media Collective and supported by IWRAW Asia Pacific. Sri Lanka.

This was the second of a two-part training on CEDAW in Sri Lanka. While the first training, held from 9-12 October 2003, was for Singhalese participants, this one focused on Tamil-speaking groups. Like the first meeting too, the IWRAW Asia Pacific manual “Building Capacity for Change” was translated, but this time into Tamil. Sixteen persons (from Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Palavi, Kalpittiya, Valachchenai, Trincomalee, Colombo, Ratnapura, Kandy and Batticaloa) took part, and at the end of the training, also shared their need for further training on data collection and writing of shadow reports. IWRAW Asia Pacific provided financial support and technical assistance for this training. SK Priya of India and Sudarshana Gunawardena of Sri Lanka were the trainers while Sepali Kottegoda and Sudarshan Mahalingam were additional resource persons.

22-25 November 2004
Asian Civil Society Forum 2004. Organised by Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations and Forum Asia. Bangkok, Thailand.

beng hui and Hasni attended this meeting titled “Building UN/NGO Partnerships for Democratic Governance through MDGs”. The meeting focused on the report of the UN High-level (Cardoso) Panel on UN Civil Society Relations and on developments related to the Millennium Development Goals. There was also opportunity for participants to dialogue and exchange strategies to enhance advocacy of NGOs in the region. Additionally, beng hui made a presentation on “Women Human Rights Defenders and Sexuality Rights” at the Thematic Briefing and Strategic Planning Workshop on Women Human Rights Defenders.

9 December 2004
Global Challenges to Women’s Human Rights: 25 Years of CEDAW. Organised by WOMANKIND Worldwide, DFID and the British Council. London, United Kingdom.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Violence Against Women, this event was organised to raise awareness of the significance of CEDAW and mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the treaty. Shanthi was one of the keynote speakers and shared on her experiences with CEDAW – challenges and lessons learnt, both at the local and international levels. As report of the meeting will be made available for distribution by WOMANKIND Worldwide.

9-12 December 2004
Regional Consultation on Women’s Right to Participate in Political and Public Life. Organised by IWRAW Asia Pacific. Jakarta, Indonesia.

This consultation presented participants with an opportunity to share their experiences as political candidates, and as women in public administration and public life. It surfaced the reality of the obstacles and impediments that women face, not only in terms of institutional barriers but also the cultural/religious frameworks that influence the extent and ways women partake in political and public life. The consultation also addressed how different electoral and political systems affect women in this arena, discussed the concept of Temporary Special Measures, and introduced IWRAW Asia Pacific’s framework to monitor state fulfilment of related obligations under CEDAW.

There were thirty participants from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Mongolia. Heisoo Shin, CEDAW Committee member, also took part as one of the resource persons. Rea and Rozana were IWRAW Asia Pacific’s representatives. Rea also presented a paper on Temporary Special Measures. Click here for a report of the consultation.

9-13 November 2004
International Dialogue on Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights. Organised by ARC International and Liu Institute. Geneva, Switzerland.

The objectives of this conference included identifying international entry-points and priorities for advancing sexual orientation and gender identity issues, as well as strategising in preparation for the 2005 Commission on Human Rights (CHR) session. It provided a good opportunity to establish contacts and network with groups working in these areas. It also allowed us to be better informed about developments around the Brasilian resolution on sexual orientation that had been tabled unsuccessfully in 2003 and 2004. beng hui represented IWRAW Asia Pacific and spoke on the potentials of CEDAW in promoting sexuality rights.

17 November 2004
Advocacy Workshop on the Ratification of the OP-CEDAW. Organised by Forum for Women, Law and Development. Kathmandu, Nepal

IWRAW Asia Pacific provided technical assistance to the consultation’s programme and agenda. Donna Sullivan, a member of the Advisory Group of the IWRAW Asia Pacific OP-CEDAW Global Campaign and Shanthi participated as resource persons. Other members of the Advisory Group also attended. The consultation focused on persuading the Nepali government to ratify the OP-CEDAW and participants came from both government agencies and NGOs. Sessions discussed: (a) What is the OP-CEDAW and its history, (b) The Nepal government’s stand on the OP-CEDAW; (c) the OP-CEDAW as a tool to implement CEDAW and help governments fulfil their obligations under CEDAW; (d) Common concerns of government relating to the OP-CEDAW; and (e) Why Nepal should ratify the OP-CEDAW.