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Delegates Have Their SayUNIFEM sponsored 11 women and 1 man from NGO’s and Governments within the Asia-Pacific Region to attend the Beijing +5 Intergovernmental meeting in Bangkok (Oct 26th- 29th, 1999). We asked them what they got out of the conference, here’s what they had to say………….. Ms Suchita Vemuri works for the NGO "Womens Feature Service" (WFS), located in Dehli. She participated at the Bejing +5 ESCAP meeting as senior editor for the ISIS media team to provide training for the NGO media representatives. Involving NGOs in media dissemination is the best way to get women’s issues into the general media and to the public. If you can get NGO’s to write, then you will make better progress than trying to get the general media to be involved. Working face to face with other NGO’s resulted in many benefits – I have a greater understanding of the culture and issues in other regions. The opportunity to work with ISIS has resulted in a new working relationship, which will result in both organisations (ISIS and WFS) being more effective in achieving our aims. UNIFEM considered Madame Ha Thi Khiet’s attendance at the Beijing +5 Intergovermental meeting to be important for the women’s movement in Vietnam, as she is Chairperson of the National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam and president of the Vietnam Women’s Union. I was very delighted with the commitment shown by Asia-Pacific countries to the Beijing platform and the opportunities NGO’s were given to make comments and suggestions. I felt that the meeting created ‘renewed energy’ and a sense of ‘renewed commitment’ amongst participants. I have gained a wider perspective from other countries and NGO’s. It felt good to be in a responsible position and be able to contribute to the conference. While in Bangkok for the ESCAP meeting, Madame Ha Thi Khiet and other members of the Vietnam delegation were also able to attend a dinner with neighbouring countries Lao PDR and Cambodia to exchange experiences and ideas. I realise that we should share our experiences with Lao and Cambodia, and that we can probably learn from them as well…..This was a very good initiative. Ms Oidov Oyuntsetseq attended the Beijing +5 ESCAP meeting as a representative of the Mongolian NGO Women’s Research Information Centre, and as a delegate with the Mongolian government. The goal was to work in partnership with the government delegates. It created more possibilities to act in an NGO capacity and with other governments. A great opportunity to exchange information with other NGOs. The conference allowed people to dream together, but was challenging enough to force us to be realistic about our dreams. UNIFEM supported a large delegation from Lao PDR, including representatives from the Lao Women’s Union, and the Lao Government. We spoke to a few members of the delegation. Mrs Bouchanh Sihanath – Lao Womens union. It was wonderful that UNIFEM could support members of the Lao Women’s Union and members of the ministry – it was good to be able to link up and integrate ideas. I gained a lot, especially listening to other countries, to learn of their achievements and how they implemented the Beijing Platform for Action. The conference also provided an opportunity for us to get books and documents on how the Beijing Platform has been implemented in each country – this is very important I had a chance to meet and discuss issues with women’s groups (NGOs) The exhibit was very useful, especially the documents and the videos. As a criticism, we did not get a chance to report in each of the 12 areas. I think next time they should run concurrent sessions so we can learn more about what other countries are doing in all areas. When we return to Lao, the team will discuss how to disseminate information to society, especially to women and other government officials. Mr Bounthavy Sisouphanthong – Director of Lao PDR National Statistics Centre I was surprised…..I think the conference can assist people in governments to understand what action is all about and what strategies need to be taken. I now understand what mainstreaming gender is, and that mainstreaming women is the next step. The picture has become clearer, I understand better how to make statistical publications with a gender approach. More gender research is needed in this region. Ms Khanthaly Siriphongphanh – Deputy Director of General Education Department, Head Office of Basic Education (Girls) project. Very important for me because I have learned to share experiences. I learned the most from the session on gender manistremaing and the rights based approach. I would now like to develop a project on gender mainstreaming in education for Lao. Dated: 21Nov1999 |
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