BUILDING
CAPACITY FOR CHANGE
Information and Dissemination Application Strategy
The Information
Dissemination and Application Strategy (IDAS) is a new initiative
under Phase III of our work. It seeks to strengthen new levels
of NGO activism; one that is more knowledge- and rights-based,
as well as sharper in surfacing the different layers of discrimination.
The IDAS will systematise information so that there is a flow
in terms of:
-
Generating
new knowledge and providing other types of relevant information;
-
Enhancing
the accessibility and utilisation of existing and new knowledge;
and
-
Creating
the conditions to challenge and advance local and international
human rights standards so that these address the issue of women's
equality more effectively.
Such a need
became apparent to IWRAW Asia Pacific in the course of working
with our national-level partners. The IDAS will also overarch
and support all of IWRAW Asia Pacific's activities.
The operationalising
of the IDAS is targeted at two levels. One, the current IWRAW
Asia Pacific Regional Resource Centre which functions as a "living"
repository of information, going beyond storing materials and
documents and instead emphasises their dissemination and utilisation.
Two, national-level Resource Centres which once established, will
play a similar role as the IWRAW Asia Pacific Regional Resource
Centre in their respective countries. Together, both types of
resource centres will ensure that relevant information is disseminated
in a timely and strategic manner.
Phase III
(2002-2005)
To continue
supporting the effective implementation of the CEDAW Convention
and overall efforts to eliminate discrimination against women,
IWRAW Asia Pacific will improve its information strategy by addressing
areas in which information on the CEDAW Convention is still lacking
(e.g. principles, contents of provisions, best practices, knowledge
on how to use the treaty). We will also surface information on
the linkages with other international human rights treaties and
mechanisms to encourage women's groups to utilise the work of
the different treaty bodies, at the same time showing how the
standards in these international laws can be incorporated domestically.
The following
are the specific activities under IDAS:
a. IWRAW
Asia Pacific Regional Resource Centre
-
Acquisition
and processing of materials: This includes building up a core
collection of materials on CEDAW and related human rights treaty
bodies so that we are able to continue responding effectively
to requests for information;
-
Expert
Group Meetings: Starting in 2003, these will contribute to the
development of arguments and new ways of approaching issues
such as the "justiciability" of socio-economic rights,
the defense of State sovereignty, and the horizontal application
of human rights.
-
Production
of publications: These include books,
papers, reports and information
packages. The following information packages are also in
the pipeline: Women's Political Participation, Sexual and Reproductive
Rights; Violence against Women; and Article 16 - Marriage and
Family and Article 5 - Cultural Stereotypes.
-
IWRAW
Asia Pacific website: Expanding the categories and types of
information that are being posted (e.g. on the global campaign
for the ratification and use of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW,
providing translations in Spanish and French).
-
The
cedaw4change listserv. This online discussion forum aims at
sharing, collating, and disseminating information in the pursuit
of women's equality. Primarily focused on the implementation
of CEDAW and its Optional Protocol, this moderated listserv
aims to facilitate the building of women's capacity to access
their rights through international human rights treaties.
b. National-level
Resource Centres
-
Supporting
the formation of these centres over the next three years to
promote knowledge-based advocacy. Besides serving as central
depositories on the CEDAW Convention in their own countries,
the national-level Resource Centres will also maintain a pool
of resource persons, work with governments to monitor the convention,
and coordinate groups that want to work with the Optional Protocol
to CEDAW. IWRAW Asia Pacific will be coordinating the establishment
of these local centres by coordinating a consultation in 2003,
and subsequently providing skills building training and technical
assistance to its partners who will carry out this project.
This
page was last updated on July 25, 2003
IWRAW
Asia Pacific is an independent, non-profit, NGO in Special consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
©IWRAW Asia Pacific
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