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:

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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. E-mail: <wink@womenink.org>

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