Economic Opportunities and Rights for Women in ASEAN
Date:
Jakarta, Indonesia - UN Women Regional Office for Asia Pacific organized a two-day Consultation under the theme “Increased Women’s Economic Opportunities and Rights in the ASEAN region” on 10 and 11 November 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The consultation brought together a diverse group of national and regional actors from different government agencies, civil society organizations, regional bodies, international development partners and UN Agencies to discuss the paradoxes and opportunities of women’s economic empowerment at both policy and implementation level. The meeting brought new lights in favor of gender equality and provided an indication of commitment to women’s economic opportunities and rights in ASEAN.
For more than 10 years, UN Women Asia Pacific has been strongly supported by the Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) concentrating on women’s human rights in the context of Southeast Asia and focusing on raising awareness about the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Donald Bobiash, Ambassador of Canada to Indonesia and ASEAN, reiterated the significance of the longstanding partnership in furtherance of inclusive growth. UN Women Policy Advisor on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Mr. Francisco Cos-Montiel emphasized the need for continued multi-partnership for deliberate policy and upscale programme interventions on women’s economic empowerment to set direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Moreover, he explained “there is a need to strengthen public-private partnerships to emphasize responsible business practices that advance women economic empowerment, build evidence-based and sex-disaggregated data on gender analysis in the economy, build capacities of statistic organizations and ministries, and implement gender sensitive policies and legislations at all levels to advance and enhance women’s interest in economy.”
Building on a satisfactory cooperation with UN Women, DFATD has funded regional projects, including the support for the development of human rights mechanisms within the ASEAN structure. The consultation sought inputs and recommendations on a preliminary project on the Increased Women’s Economic Opportunities and Rights in the ASEAN region. It provided also the platform to discuss numerous novel ideas and insights on the formulation of the programme within the context of economic integration.
The meeting contributed to enhance understanding on public-private partnership possibilities for women’s economic empowerment in ASEAN and the situation for different groups of economically marginalized women in the region; as well as to provide insights on more effective measures for corporate social responsibility and accountability.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Pimvadee Keaokiriya
Regional Programme Office, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Email: [ Click to reveal ]