Denpasar
(The Jakarta Post/ANN)- Despite the hype surrounding the recent Asean
Summit in Bali, a women's caucus in the region said it saw no signs of
Asean advancing women's rights and gender equality.
The Southeast Asian Women's Caucus is urging the regional group to include some points reiterating women's rights in the Asean Declaration of Human Rights, which is currently being drafted.
The caucus, a network of 60 nongovernmental organizations from the 10 Asean member states plus Timor Leste, formally submitted its input to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to ensure the declaration would incorporate issues on equality and nondiscrimination, freedom from violence, sexual and reproductive health rights and work standards in local and overseas employment.
Rena Herdiyani from Kalyanamitra, an Indonesian NGO focusing on women's issues, said the caucus was keeping a close eye on the drafting of the declaration; and that it recently held a meeting after the Asean Summit to formulate several points to be submitted to the human rights commission.
"Women's rights are not up for further negotiation. Asean must acknowledge our inherent rights, as affirmed in the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other international human rights instruments."
At the recent Asean Summit, caucus members said they were alarmed at Asean's support for Myanmar a country where cases of women's rights violations are mounting, to become Asean chair in 2014.
Moreover, there are qualms over the space afforded to civil society in Cambodia, which is due to assume the chairmanship of Asean next year. "Although there has been some progress during Indonesia's chairmanship this year, such as Asean being more transparent with civil society, there remain concerns as Indonesia ends its term and passes the baton to the next chair," Rena said.
"Asean has yet to show it's serious about guaranteeing women's rights, especially concerning violence against women, cases of which routinely occur in Asean countries. The [regional] grouping puts more attention on political and security issues rather than women's issues," she added.
As the declaration will be finalized by the human rights commission in December, and will be deliberated and adopted under Cambodia's leadership next year, the caucus is calling for open and safe space for civil society.
"We are not just feminists and activists, we are stakeholders of Asean. We have to critically engage with the process," said Kunthea Chan from the Cambodian women's organization, Silaka.
On the issue of Myanmar, the country's Women's League said there were at least 81 cases of rape committed this year.
The Myanmarese army's widespread attacks against civilian communities, especially women, were an egregious violation of international law, and they blatantly showed the lack of the rule of law in Myanmar, the league announced in a statement.
"The security of women is not a minor issue but a major problem, which should be addressed before a nation can progress." The women's caucus, meanwhile, hopes that Myanmar will improve its efforts toward eliminating violations of women's rights before the country assumes the Asean leadership post in 2014.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150392133229965
By Desy Nurhayati in Denpasar/The Jakarta Post | ANN – Mon, Nov 28, 2011
The Southeast Asian Women's Caucus is urging the regional group to include some points reiterating women's rights in the Asean Declaration of Human Rights, which is currently being drafted.
The caucus, a network of 60 nongovernmental organizations from the 10 Asean member states plus Timor Leste, formally submitted its input to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to ensure the declaration would incorporate issues on equality and nondiscrimination, freedom from violence, sexual and reproductive health rights and work standards in local and overseas employment.
Rena Herdiyani from Kalyanamitra, an Indonesian NGO focusing on women's issues, said the caucus was keeping a close eye on the drafting of the declaration; and that it recently held a meeting after the Asean Summit to formulate several points to be submitted to the human rights commission.
"Women's rights are not up for further negotiation. Asean must acknowledge our inherent rights, as affirmed in the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other international human rights instruments."
At the recent Asean Summit, caucus members said they were alarmed at Asean's support for Myanmar a country where cases of women's rights violations are mounting, to become Asean chair in 2014.
Moreover, there are qualms over the space afforded to civil society in Cambodia, which is due to assume the chairmanship of Asean next year. "Although there has been some progress during Indonesia's chairmanship this year, such as Asean being more transparent with civil society, there remain concerns as Indonesia ends its term and passes the baton to the next chair," Rena said.
"Asean has yet to show it's serious about guaranteeing women's rights, especially concerning violence against women, cases of which routinely occur in Asean countries. The [regional] grouping puts more attention on political and security issues rather than women's issues," she added.
As the declaration will be finalized by the human rights commission in December, and will be deliberated and adopted under Cambodia's leadership next year, the caucus is calling for open and safe space for civil society.
"We are not just feminists and activists, we are stakeholders of Asean. We have to critically engage with the process," said Kunthea Chan from the Cambodian women's organization, Silaka.
On the issue of Myanmar, the country's Women's League said there were at least 81 cases of rape committed this year.
The Myanmarese army's widespread attacks against civilian communities, especially women, were an egregious violation of international law, and they blatantly showed the lack of the rule of law in Myanmar, the league announced in a statement.
"The security of women is not a minor issue but a major problem, which should be addressed before a nation can progress." The women's caucus, meanwhile, hopes that Myanmar will improve its efforts toward eliminating violations of women's rights before the country assumes the Asean leadership post in 2014.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150392133229965
By Desy Nurhayati in Denpasar/The Jakarta Post | ANN – Mon, Nov 28, 2011
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