The 17th Meeting of The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of The Rights of Women and Children (ACWC)
The 17th Meeting of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) was held on 20th October 2018 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Viet Nam.
The Meeting discussed the follow-up actions and progress from the 16th Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia and reviewed the status of implementation of projects of the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020. A number of important projects have been completed such as the ASEAN Forum on Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment by Singapore, the 2018 ASEAN Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform by Thailand, as well as the Launch of ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Violence Against Women and Girls Data Collection and Use and the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking-in-Persons, Especially Women and Children, both guidelines were collaborative efforts of ASEAN Member States.
At the Meeting, updates on the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (RPA-EVAW) were presented, namely the outcomes of the Senior Officials Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in ASCC Sectoral Bodies on 27-29 June 2018 by Philippines and the outcomes of the ASEAN-Australia Women, Peace and Security Dialogue on 17-19 April 2018 by the ACWC Chair. On the same note, the ASEAN Secretariat presented a concept paper on a Multiyear Programme on the Implementation of Women, Peace and Security Agenda in ASEAN.
On the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children (RPA-EVAC), the Philippines presented the outcomes of the ASEAN Children’s Forum Partnership Conference on 17-18 May 2018, followed by Brunei Darussalam’s presentation on the outcomes of the 5th ASEAN Children’s Forum on 3-4 August 2018 and Indonesia’s presentation on the outcomes of the Regional Kick-Off Workshop on Strengthening the Legal Framework to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism organised by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) on 26-27 July 2018. Finally, Thailand presented the outcomes of the 2018 ASEAN Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform on 2-4 May 2018 as well as updated the Meeting on the development of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection of Children against all forms of Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN and on the next steps of launching and raising awareness and elevation of the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking-in-Persons, Especially Women and Children for ASEAN Leaders’ notation in 2019.
The Meeting received updates on the status of ongoing projects under the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020. The projects to be implemented in the fourth quarter of 2018 are under the thematic areas of elimination of violence against women (EVAW), trafficking in women and children, as well as promoting implementation of international, ASEAN, and other instruments related to the rights of women and children. These include the ASEAN Regional Strategic Planning Workshop for the Development of ASEAN Campaign(s) in support of EVAW, and the Bohol Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Work Plan by Thailand and the Regional Consultation Workshop on “Promoting inclusion and sustainable development in building the ASEAN Community through ensuring the recognition of the legal identity of all women and children in ASEAN” by Viet Nam.
The Meeting conducted an open session with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on the progress of implementation of ASEAN-UN Women joint work programmes and key areas for collaboration for 2019.
The Meeting also discussed the development of the ASCC Blueprint 2025 Results Framework and the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020 Monitoring and Evaluation System and Results Framework.
The Meeting also focused on strengthening institutional capacity of ACWC by increasing ACWC’s visibility. A pilot project implemented by ACWC Thailand to incorporate social media platforms such as Facebook page of the ACWC Thailand-Women’s Rights, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube channel as well as logo stickers and T-shirts in order to increase ACWC visibility. In addition, to strengthen intra-government coordination and support within the countries, a pilot project for “ASEAN Gender Sensitive Guideline for Handling Women Victims of Trafficking in Persons” to be translated into Thai language and workshops for frontline officers, under the cross-sectoral collaboration among government sector, Chulalongkorn University, civil society organisations, and the UN Women.
The 18th ACWC Meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2019 at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia.
The 17th Meeting of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) was held on 20th October 2018 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Viet Nam.
The Meeting discussed the follow-up actions and progress from the 16th Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia and reviewed the status of implementation of projects of the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020. A number of important projects have been completed such as the ASEAN Forum on Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment by Singapore, the 2018 ASEAN Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform by Thailand, as well as the Launch of ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Violence Against Women and Girls Data Collection and Use and the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking-in-Persons, Especially Women and Children, both guidelines were collaborative efforts of ASEAN Member States.
At the Meeting, updates on the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (RPA-EVAW) were presented, namely the outcomes of the Senior Officials Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in ASCC Sectoral Bodies on 27-29 June 2018 by Philippines and the outcomes of the ASEAN-Australia Women, Peace and Security Dialogue on 17-19 April 2018 by the ACWC Chair. On the same note, the ASEAN Secretariat presented a concept paper on a Multiyear Programme on the Implementation of Women, Peace and Security Agenda in ASEAN.
On the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children (RPA-EVAC), the Philippines presented the outcomes of the ASEAN Children’s Forum Partnership Conference on 17-18 May 2018, followed by Brunei Darussalam’s presentation on the outcomes of the 5th ASEAN Children’s Forum on 3-4 August 2018 and Indonesia’s presentation on the outcomes of the Regional Kick-Off Workshop on Strengthening the Legal Framework to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism organised by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) on 26-27 July 2018. Finally, Thailand presented the outcomes of the 2018 ASEAN Conference on Juvenile Justice Reform on 2-4 May 2018 as well as updated the Meeting on the development of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection of Children against all forms of Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN and on the next steps of launching and raising awareness and elevation of the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking-in-Persons, Especially Women and Children for ASEAN Leaders’ notation in 2019.
The Meeting received updates on the status of ongoing projects under the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020. The projects to be implemented in the fourth quarter of 2018 are under the thematic areas of elimination of violence against women (EVAW), trafficking in women and children, as well as promoting implementation of international, ASEAN, and other instruments related to the rights of women and children. These include the ASEAN Regional Strategic Planning Workshop for the Development of ASEAN Campaign(s) in support of EVAW, and the Bohol Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Work Plan by Thailand and the Regional Consultation Workshop on “Promoting inclusion and sustainable development in building the ASEAN Community through ensuring the recognition of the legal identity of all women and children in ASEAN” by Viet Nam.
The Meeting conducted an open session with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on the progress of implementation of ASEAN-UN Women joint work programmes and key areas for collaboration for 2019.
The Meeting also discussed the development of the ASCC Blueprint 2025 Results Framework and the ACWC Work Plan 2016-2020 Monitoring and Evaluation System and Results Framework.
The Meeting also focused on strengthening institutional capacity of ACWC by increasing ACWC’s visibility. A pilot project implemented by ACWC Thailand to incorporate social media platforms such as Facebook page of the ACWC Thailand-Women’s Rights, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube channel as well as logo stickers and T-shirts in order to increase ACWC visibility. In addition, to strengthen intra-government coordination and support within the countries, a pilot project for “ASEAN Gender Sensitive Guideline for Handling Women Victims of Trafficking in Persons” to be translated into Thai language and workshops for frontline officers, under the cross-sectoral collaboration among government sector, Chulalongkorn University, civil society organisations, and the UN Women.
The 18th ACWC Meeting will be held in the first quarter of 2019 at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia.
