UN Women ACWC Regional Consultation Workshop Danang, Viet Nam

i) H.E Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of MOLISA

vi) H.E Alicia Bala, Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN socio-cultural Community

ii) Ms Pramila Patten, CEDAW Committee member

iii) Ms. Milena Pires, CEDAW Committee member

iv) Ms. Long Sophally, Vice-chair of ACWC

vii) Mr. Jesper Moller, OIC, UNICEF in Viet Nam

Members of the ACWC

Colleagues from UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF

On behalf of UN Women, I join my colleagues in welcoming everyone to the Regional Consultation Workshop on “Promoting the Rights of ASEAN Women and Children through Effective Implementation of the Common Issues in CEDAW and CRC Concluding Comments”.

I feel privileged to be in attendance as this is my first meeting with the ACWC with your leadership at a regional level in advancing substantive equality and the empowerment of women.

There is no doubt that there has been tremendous progress in the lives of many in the ASEAN region. We know that more and more people have access to education and to health services and there is a growing attention to delivering on the social protection floor.

Yet inequalities and lack of access to productive assets keep many women and their families’ in poverty. This limitation on economic opportunities we know is experienced differentially by sectors of women and their families, for example in urban slums, and in indigenous and rural communities.

We also are aware that our societies, our communities, our families can be places of violence rather than places of care and security. Statistics show that domestic violence including rape within marriage is pervasive, with few men being held accountable in justice systems and even fewer experiencing remorse or regret about their actions. Much of that violence is perpetrated against children, girl children and young women. And much of that violence is carried out by young men, their development distorted by inculcation of notions of masculinity that stunt their emotional growth and can be harmful to their community

Given the levels of poverty and inequality, women and men are forced into the informal economy where many are vulnerable to harsh and oppressive working conditions, where too many are also prepared to move across borders under the radar of the law and therefore susceptible to extreme labour exploitation and sexual violence.

For women, these experiences of exclusion and limited access to rights when connected to the irresponsibilities for social reproduction, for child care, leave them with little room to resist and protest in organized ways, in ways that can transform governance in all its dimensions.

It is for this reason primarily, because so many are voiceless or as Arundhati Roy would say deliberately silenced, preferably unheard, that institutions like ACWC matter. We have the responsibility of ensuring that the experiences of the unheard are heard and that their interests are taken into account in policy making, in programme development and in resource allocations. And we need to think of those who are particularly marginalized because of statelessness, denial of citizenship, undocumented migration, because of rural isolation, because of ethnic minority status, all of which present particular challenges in the ASEAN region.

In this meeting, we have the opportunity of talking through the strategies for advancing the work of ACWC as stated in its TOR, especially the mandate to report and monitor implementation of CEDAW, CRC and the Concluding Observations of the Committees. This means we need to think of practical ways for continued integration of the Commission’s work on women’s rights and children’s rights.

CRC and CEDAW are amongst the most ratified of international human rights treaties. Both these treaties have constituencies- civil society organisations that have worked hard to ensure normative standards which are universal, which reflect the inter-dependence of all human rights- the political, social, economic and cultural.

Over the last years, UN Women has worked closely with ASEAN, its Human Rights Bodies, in particular, ACWC and with its member states and civil society organisations to strengthen awareness of CEDAW and to support implementation of CEDAW-compliant laws and policies. But obviously, ACWC is also concerned to support ASEAN member states fulfill their obligations under CRC. And this special attention to women’s and children’s rights is evident in the ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights which reaffirms that:

The rights of women, children, (the elderly, and persons with disabilities, migrant workers, and vulnerable and marginalised groups) are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of human rights and fundamental freedoms

As Savitri Goonesekere points out CRC and CEDAW provide a continuum of human rights protection under international standards. Together, CRC and CEDAW guarantee rights throughout a woman's lifetime that can be pursued. Both treaties protect the welfare of children. Several articles of CEDAW relate to the interests of children: Article 2 (equality); Article 5 (maternity); Article 9 (nationality); Article 11 (maternity leave); Article 12 (health care); Article 16 (best interests of the child paramount with respect to equality between the parents). The critical areas of health and education in children's lives discussed in CRC both are fundamentally linked with women's human rights. CRC and CEDAW also share concerns with violence and sexual abuse.

Both treaties share a concern for advancing the indivisibility of rights. But each has not only its particular population focus but also specific concepts which are emphasized. With CEDAW it is the attention given to both formal and substantive equality, that women and men must not only have equality of opportunity, but also equitable outcomes. Also that the state has the obligation to address both discrimination in law and in practice- direct and indirect discrimination.

CRC requires state parties to ensure that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in all matters affecting the child, and that children are guaranteed non-discrimination, the right to life, survival and development, and the right to be heard. In other words, the three Ps - protection, provision and participation.

Both treaties recognize intersectional discrimination. CEDAW acknowledges that women experience multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination and exclusion that result not only from their gender, but also their ethnicity, social and economic status, disability status, health status and many others.CRC references children who are refugees, children living with disabilities.

Both treaties but in particular CEDAW place emphasis on social norms that reproduce power hierarchies, that maintain the subordination of women. This centering of discriminatory cultural norms and practice in CEDAW reflects what we know, that gender inequality, gender roles and gender identities are socially constructed. And this is important as it forces us to reject arguments of cultural specificity when that culture oppresses or maintains exploitation.

It is for this reason that CEDAW is the treaty against which the most reservations are entered. CEDAW forces us to confront power hierarchies.

CRC also asks of state and non-state actors that we treat children as rights holders. Yet it is also culture to which many seek refuge when discussing issues such as freedom of expression and religion, corporal punishment or young people’s access to sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Realizing a full enjoyment of rights requires more than confronting and challenging cultural practices and beliefs that are harmful. As important as this is, the concept of inter-dependence and indivisibility requires too that we look at how socio-economic development models ensure or impede state accountability for universal access to quality education and health care, housing and decent jobs.

Many countries within the ASEAN community are experiencing high levels of economic growth. This increase   in state fiscal space provides a unique historical opportunity to accelerate social and economic policies that eliminate poverty, that secure a more equitable distribution of assets and which guarantee good governance.

This is a time where our collective efforts to secure compliance with global human rights must be re-doubled. We do that through advocacy, through technical advisory services and yes, through monitoring of state compliance with human rights treaties and declarations.

During this workshop, we will have the opportunity to discuss the complementarity of the two treaties and strategies for promoting the implementation of common approaches resulting from the concluding observations of the respective treaty bodies. ACWC can and must play a key role in supporting ASEAN member states in implementation of the recommendations of the two Committees according to its mandate.

In our work we must pay attention to violence against women and children, and in particular the girl child, given the reflections of the treaty bodies on domestic violence, on the scourge of trafficking and violence directed at migrant workers. We also have a growing understanding of how certain macro-economic and trade policies can erode economic security rights, particularly for women in the informal economy who also bear the burden of care for children, for the sick and the elderly.

 As you would know, we are approaching the end of the MDG and member states are concerned to ensure that the gaps in the MDG framework are addressed and that the gains are reinforced and sustained. In the discussions in the Asia Pacific region between governments, NGOs and parliamentarians over and over, the need to attain gender equality and the empowerment of women was reiterated. In Bali in a CSO Parliamentarian Forum, for example, the forum agreed that:

…equitable development cannot be achieved or sustained without gender equality and women’s empowerment, women need to be able to: make healthy and informed choices about their health, in particular regarding their sexual and reproductive health; lead lives free of threat of and actual violence in all settings including from intimate partners; and have equal access to assets and resources as well as equal representation at all levels of governance

That meeting also brought attention to the challenges facing of children and young people and the need for multiple actions to secure rights, survival and development. These needs for the most part are basic nutrition, water and sanitation. In addition there are repeated demands for investing in children and young peoples’ education, including early childhood care and quality education as well as life and comprehensive sexuality education; protecting children and young people from violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse and ensuring that they thrive in a safe family environment.

To achieve these outcomes, the Bali Forum stressed the importance of eliminating corruption, removing discriminatory laws and promoting respect for the rule of law and democracy, including strengthening access to justice and judicial accountability for human rights.

As the discussions proceed, it is clear that we have an emerging global consensus on the centrality of gender equality and the imperative of taking good care of children and often these overlap. In the HLP report which calls for transformative shifts, the Panel has recommended that Post 2015 agenda focuses on Empowering Girls and Women and Achieve Gender Equality whose targets would include ending violence against women and child marriage.

In order to address the structural causes of gender-based discrimination and to support true transformation in gender relations, UN Women proposes an integrated approach that addresses three critical target areas of gender equality,

• Freedom from violence against women and girls.
• Gender equality in the distribution of capabilities and access to resources and opportunities,
• Gender equality in decision-making power in public and private institutions, in national parliaments

In this global context, state accountability is key to the achievement of these continuing and urgent aspirations. Building and deepening political will can be done through meetings such as this one- meetings where we can grow our understanding not only of the norms but also of the approaches which must be taken to realize a larger enjoyment of freedoms and entitlements. 

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that for UN Women our partnership with ASEAN and the ACWC is profoundly valued. Through our functional cooperation we wish to continue work which assists states in fulfilling obligations under CEDAW and CRC. This can be achieved through the provision of technical assistance and  trainings to support the preparation of the CEDAW and CRC periodic reports;  supporting implementation of the Concluding Observations of CEDAW (and CRC); encouraging ASEAN Member States to remove reservations and consider ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (and CRC).

I want to express UN Women’s appreciation for the support of the Government of Canada, whose partnership has been the base of much of our work in the ASEAN region.

And finally, I would like to thank MOLISA and ACWC Vietnam for their support in the co-hosting of this workshop.

Roberta Clarke

20 August 2013