Subject: [fem-women2000 562] Women's Globalnet #163: B+5 Follow-Up in Asia/Pacific Region
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 15:50:43 -0800
Seq: 562
IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #163 Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide by Anne S. Walker December 5, 2000 BEIJING PLUS FIVE FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES IN THE ASIA/ PACIFIC REGION REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BEIJING +5 OUTCOMES DOCUMENT: An Expert Group Meeting (EGM) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN/ESCAP) met in Bangkok, Thailand from November 30 and December 1, 2000. The two-day meeting, held to strategize on the regional implementation of the B+5 Outcomes Document, was composed of experts from Fiji, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and Nepal. GLOBALIZATION, POVERTY REDUCTION and ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION were identified as priority issues. The impact of globalization was clearly acknowledged as the most important issue facing women in the region. The meeting recognized that while globalization has opened up some new opportunities for educated women with marketable skills, for the less skilled it has meant an insecure livelihood in a competitive environment. TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND GIRLS especially for the purpose of prostitution and sexual exploitation was recognized as another priority issue in the region, a problem clearly exacerbated by globalization. The meeting noted the severity of trafficking particularly in 3 sub-regions: South-East Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. A further six other priority issues identified included three that are among the 12 Critical Areas of Concern in the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA). These are: 1) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN; 2) WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISION-MAKING; and 3) WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT. The remaining three issues are contained WITHIN PFA Critical Areas of Concern (identified in brackets). These are: 4) the HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (Health); 5) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (Media); and 6) PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION (Women and Armed Conflict). Note: This summary was adapted from a report by Chat Garcia Ramilo (Manila, Philippines), Project Manager, Association for Progressive Communication, Women's Networking Support Programme. E-mail: chat@apcwomen.org. Web: http://www.apcwomen.org PUBLIC HEARING ON CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN RECENT WARS AND CONFLICTS, December 11, 2000: The International Criminal Court (ICC) Women痴 Caucus for Gender Justice is coordinating a one-day public hearing on crimes against women in recent wars and conflict situation as a part of the Tokyo Tribunal 2000, December 8-11, 2000. The Public Hearing, co-sponsored by VAWW-NET Japan and Asian Centre for Women痴 Human Rights (ASCENT) The Philippines, will be held on December 11, and will include testimonies of victims and survivors of wars and conflicts in different regions of the globe including Guatemala, Colombia, Chiapas, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Burma, East Timor, Afghanistan, Algeria, Western Sahara and the US military bases in Okinawa and Vieques. A forum to present initiatives to fight back and demand justice in each of these places is also included. For further information on the Public Hearing, contact: 1) Women痴 Caucus for Gender Justice. Tel: (1-212) 697-7741. Fax: (1-212) 949-7996. E-mail: iccwomen@igc.org. 2) VAWW-NET Japan. Tel/Fax: (81-3) 5335-4088. E-mail: vaww-net-japan@jca.ax.apc.org. Web: <http://www.ica.apc.org/~vawwjs> . 3) Asian Centre for Women痴 Human Rights (ASCENT). Tel: (63-2) 926-4386. Fax: (63-2) 928-4973. E-mail: ascent@csi.com.ph. Web: http://www.vawwnet.org SPECIAL RADIO WEBCAST FOR TOKYO TRIBUNAL 2000: Starting on December 8, 2000, the first day of the Tokyo Tribunal 2000, FIRE (Feminist International Radio Endeavor) will undertake a series of broadcasts via the World Wide Web from the Tribunal and the Public Hearing. The Tribunal will feature testimonies of so-called "comfort women" who were victims of sexual slavery at the hands of the Japanese army during World War Two. FIRE (based out of Costa Rica) has extended an invitation to women worldwide to participate in the web-casts and to write messages that can be sent to the women giving testimony, some of whom today are more than 90 years old. They kept silent for 50 years but have been speaking out during the past decade, demanding that sexual torture of the kind they endured be acknowledged not only as a war crime but as a crime against humanity. If you work in radio, or have access to radio, you can download the FIRE sound files and re-broadcast them on the air. For more information, go to Radio WEB of FIRE at: <http://www. fire. or. cr> PLEASE NOTE; All of us at IWTC wish our partners and friends in every world region the best of good wishes this holiday season, with the hope that the year 2001 will truly be the beginning of a Women's Rights Millennium! For those who were looking forward to the annual IWTC Holiday Peace Party, we regret to inform you that we have had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances. There will however be other opportunities for us to invite you to celebrate with us during the coming year. IWTC Women's GlobalNet is a production of: International Women's Tribune Centre 777 United Nations Plaza 3rd Floor New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: (1-212) 687-8633 Fax: (1-212) 661-2704 Email: <iwtc@iwtc.org> Web: <http://www.iwtc.org> You can subscribe to this list at any time by sending a blank message to: <iwtc-womensglobalnet-subscribe@igc.topica.com> You can unsubscribe to this list at any time by sending a blank message to: <iwtc-womensglobalnet-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com> WOMEN, INK. For quality, cutting-edge publications on women and development by, for and about women worldwide, see Women, Ink's catalogue at : <http://www.womenink.org>. Or contact Women, Ink. at 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA. Tel: Yasna Uberoi (1-212) 687-8633 ext 212 or Mary Wong (1-212) 687-8633 ext 204. Fax: (1-212) 661-2704. 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