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UNIFEM BANGKOK NEWSMay - July 1999 Contents
Staff changesDuring the past two months, we have farewelled two members of staff. Lisa Fancott completed her internship, worked relentlessly in May to tie up as many loose ends as possible on her projects and files, then returned to Canada to compete her studies and decide her next career move. She reported in her latest email that she is missing Thailand but has found some consolation - "miracle of all possible miracles, I found durian ice cream in a mainstream Ottawa ice cream parlour. It was fabulous - large bits of very ripe stinky durian. I was transported!" In June Kuniko Takamatsu decided to move to UNDP to work on an HIV/AIDS project. Like Lisa a month earlier, Kuniko worked very hard to leave all her projects and files in "apple-pie order" before her departure at the end of the month. She left very detailed reports that will certainly make life easier for those who will take over her projects.
Marjorie Suriyamongkol has joined us until December, working on the Beijing +5 project. Successes in the 1999 UNIFEM Trust Fund RoundDuring May-June Kuniko was very busy preparing submissions from UNIFEM E&SEARO to the UNIFEM Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women. Suzette Mitchell, UNDP/UNIFEM UNV Gender Specialist based in Hanoi also assisted us to refine a proposal submitted by the Vietnam Women's Union. We are delighted to report that their hard work was rewarded, with E&SEARO successful in gaining funding for three projects in the 1999 selection round of the Trust Fund. The successful applicants in this very competitive global selection process were: Country:
MYANMAR/THAILAND Project description: To enable Burmese refugee women living in Thailand to understand their right to be free from violence, develop their own culturally appropriate strategies to fight violence, and educate the larger community about the many forms of violence against women. The project aims to help women develop the capacity to work towards eradicating violence through documentation, publication, work with the media, and local and international advocacy. The long-term goal is to assist Burmese women's groups to lay the foundations for change, and provide the tools necessary to help them create a self-reliant, active women's movement. Country:
VIETNAM Project Description: The aim of the Vietnam Women's Union is to gather data on the current situation of domestic violence in Vietnam, and build the capacity of communities to assist women who are subjected to violence. The project will include a campaign to raise public awareness on the severity and urgency of the problem in Vietnam, and to ensure that women's human rights are protected. Country:
REGIONAL – CAMBODIA, CHINA, INDIA, KOREA, NEPAL, PHILIPPINES AND SRI
LANKA Project Description: Building on the Beijing Platform for Action, Isis International-Manila aims to develop a code of conduct for the media in order to promote gender-sensitive representation, eliminate stereotypical portrayals of women, and contribute to the prevention of violence against women in all forms of print, broadcast and electronic media. Shoko Ishikawa, now in Asia-Pacific Section in UNIFEM New York reported that "Asia-Pacific did extremely well and received the most funds for this cycle. Everyone was so excited with the quality of the proposals that our region presented." Congratulations to the successful applicants and many thanks to Kuniko, Shoko, Suzette and others who contributed to this success. UNIFEM supports AWORC WENT '99 in SeoulIt sounds like a "sound bite" from some foreign language. Actually, it was a training workshop of the Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC) held for 23 participants from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand. The workshop provided training in basic web site development tools and other Internet-based group communications so that women's organizations can use electronic communications effectively to disseminate information on the Beijing +5 review process. On this occasion, UNIFEM E&SEARO in Bangkok teamed with UNIFEM Asia-Pacific Section in New York and UNIFEM SARO in New Delhi, together with the Japan Foundation Asia Center and Mama Cash, to support this Women's Electronic Network Training Workshop also known as WENT '99. The WENT '99 training team was multicultural and multilingual, bringing together trainers from Asia Pacific Women's Information Network Centre (APWINC), JCA-NET, Association for Progressive Communications - Women's Networking Support Programme (APC-WNSP), Women's Information and Resource Centre (WIRC) Mongolia and ISIS International-Manila. By the end of the workshop, participants had produced 5 web sites on topics such as Domestic Violence, Women in Armed Conflict, Five Years After : Links of Women in Asia and the Pacific, and Women in the Himalayan Eco-System. [Source: ISIS e-resource volume II, issue 4. For further information, contact e-resource@isiswomen.org.] UNIFEM brokers donor support for the Beijing +5 review process18 May, Bangkok. UNIFEM convened a meeting of the Gender, Women and Development Working Group of the United Nations to lobby for donor and agency support for NGO and government preparations for the Beijing +5 review process. In June of 2000, a special session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled Women 2000 will be held in New York to review the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA). Women 2000 will be attended by representatives from countries with NGO representatives as observers. Countries and regions around the globe are now preparing for this important event. In Asia-Pacific, the main NGO preparation will take place in Bangkok from 31 August to 3 September. The meeting will be hosted by Thai Women Watch (TW2) at Kasetsart University and organized through the regional NGO umbrella group, Southeast Asia Watch (SEAWatch). The output of this meeting will provide input to the inter-governmental meeting for Asia-Pacific, which will also be held in Bangkok, hosted by the UN Regional Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on 26-28 October. The purpose of the GWAD meeting, chaired by the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Thailand, Mr Michael Heyn, was to provide a forum for NGOs and the Thai government to brief donors and UN agencies of their preparations for these meetings, as well as the June 2000 event, and to seek support. Mr Syed Nuruzzaman, from the Women in Development Section of the Social Development Division, ESCAP described arrangements for the regional High-level Inter-governmental Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action and Regional Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action in October. Ms Anusorn Inkampeng, Director, Policy and Planning Division, Office of the National Commission on Women's Affairs, Thailand outlined Thai government preparations for participation in that meeting. Thai NGO Preparations for participation in the regional High Level Meeting were presented by Dr Chaisakran Hiranpruk of Kasetsart University on behalf of Thai NGOs. Thanpuying Sumalee Chartikavanij, President of Thai WomenWatch, then outlined the arrangements for the NGO meeting 31 August to 3 September and requested the support of donors for the substantive preparations, logistics and travel of delegates. Finally, Ms Wirada Somswadi, the Coordinator of Asia-Pacific Women, Law and Development (APWLD) briefed participants on the role of the Asia-Pacific NGOs in the Commission on the Status of Women, March 1999 through the Asia Caucus. New Policy Briefing Kit "Globalization, Gender and Markets"While Lorraine was heading for London, UNIFEM Consultant, Ms Suwira Chaturvedi and our very hardworking and dedicated printer, Khun Rattana, were hard at work finalizing the design and publication of a new policy briefing kit. The kit is the outcome of the April DFID-funded workshop "Regional Programme on Women, Gender and Globalization: empowering women in homework & micro-enterprise to meet the challenges of the market." Participants had recommended that the papers prepared for that workshop be published in the form of a briefing kit for policy makers and, if possible, circulated at the APEC Women Leaders' Network meeting in New Zealand on 20 June. Although the time available for preparation was very short, Suwira and Khun Rattana set to their task with enthusiasm and commitment. Lorraine was able to take a draft of the kit with her to London and the SPW in New York, and the final product eventually reached her in Fiji. One hundred copies of the kit were quickly snapped up at the APEC WLN meeting, and the remaining stocks are in heavy demand. We hope to have a version up on the web site on our next update. Brown Bag Lunch Forum on "Gender in Science and Technology"On May 14, during Lorraine's absence on mission, Lisa, Amalin and Kuniko were quick to identify and seize an opportunity presented by a seminar at the Gender and Development Programme at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to organize another of our popular GWAD Brown Bag Seminars. The topic on this occasion was Gender and Science and Technology (S&T). The informal lunchtime meeting in the UNDP Conference Room was addressed by three international speakers who happened to be in Bangkok to attend the AIT conference. This was an informative and entertaining occasion, as the attached notes show. Reports from a rambling RPAThe next section focuses mainly on Lorraine's travels, principally because she spent two weeks of May, all of June and the first week of July out of the office on a series of missions, interspersed with some rest and recreation. Through the miracle of modern communications, Lorraine was never more than an e-mail away. Even while holidaying on Victoria's east coast Lorraine found that the local Post Office had a computer and Internet access, provided to the community as a public service for a very modest charge. She returned to Bangkok with husband Geoff on 12 July. In the meantime, Amalin "held the fort" in Bangkok, ably assisted by Penny, Zareen and Kuniko. Penny took on more project administration to share some of the burden, as well as supervising a casual office assistant who helped get the files in order and took over some reception duties. UNIFEM E&SEARO in LondonAn old and strong supporter of UNIFEM, Ms Nancy Spence, formerly of the CIDA Canada Southeast Asia Gender Equity Programme (SEAGEP) based in Singapore has recently become Director of the Gender Programme in the Commonwealth Secretariat, London. On learning that Lorraine would be passing through London en route to the UNIFEM Strategic Planning Workshop in New York, Nancy approached the Executive Director of UNIFEM to see whether Lorraine could stop off to spend a couple of days with the Secretariat. As a result, Lorraine gave two seminars at the secretariat and also met informally with both the gender and economic staff. On 26 May, Lorraine facilitated an informal roundtable discussion with the Heads of the Economic Divisions on "How gender neutral are trade and economic agreements and issues?" in the Small Conference Room, Marlborough House, Commonwealth Secretariat. Participants were interested in the ways in which gender issues might be involved in the Secretariat's mainstream programmes and related activities within the region, including those being conducted by UNIFEM. On 27 May, Lorraine also gave an informal lunchtime presentation on "Men, Markets and Mayhem: Gender in the Asian Crisis"again in the Small Conference Room. Despite competition from a World Trade Organization training workshop that was being held concurrently, and the fact that staff had to give up their lunch to attend (no food or drinks are allowed in the very grand meeting room, which is part of the national heritage), the meeting was well attended and a lively discussion ensued. Both meetings opened up potential for closer collaboration between the Commonwealth Secretariat and UNIFEM within the region. 28 May, Lorraine met with Mr Phil Evans of the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom in their London office to brief him on the UNIFEM Workshop held in Bangkok on 19-21 April entitled "Women, Gender and Globalization: empowering women in homework & micro-enterprise to meet the challenges of the market." The workshop was funded by DFID. Lorraine also discussed with Phil the formulation of a new economic empowerment programme on "Globalization, Gender and Markets: strategic approaches to women's concerns in small enterprise development and homework." Asia-Pacific Section meeting on CEDAW activities, New YorkWhile the rest of New York was enjoying a public holiday and other RPAs were preparing to arrive at the site of the UNIFEM Strategic Planning Workshop in Hartford, Connecticut, the UNIFEM RPAs from South Asia, E&SEARO and the Pacific met in the UNICEF building in New York with Ms Shanthi Dairiam of the NGO International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific). The convenor of the meeting was the UNIFEM CEDAW Specialist, Ms Ilana Landsberg-Lewis. The purpose of the meeting was to share information and experience on UNIFEM's CEDAW-related activities in South Asia, East & Southeast Asia and the Pacific. With the assistance of IWRAW, we are beginning to recognize that CEDAW has the potential to provide a framework for programming in the major areas of our work. The meeting discussed how we might increase our own capacity to work from a CEDAW perspective and ways in which we might enhance the capacity of countries to meet their obligations under CEDAW, which is an internationally binding convention. The meeting finished in time for us to join the bus taking UNIFEM New York staff from the various geographic sections and staff from several of the regional offices to Hartford, Connecticut for the SPW. UNIFEM Global Strategic Planning Workshop (SPW), New York 29May - 12 June, Hartford, Connecticut and New York The purpose of the global SPW was to review results under the current UNIFEM Business Plan 1996-1999 and to begin planning for the new UNIFEM Business Plan 2000-2004. The SPW was attended by the UNIFEM RPAs from all the regional offices, the UNIFEM Gender Advisers (Lanyan Chen from Beijing among them), and most of the UNIFEM New York staff. The first three days focused on the work of the geographic sections. Asia-Pacific was delighted to be joined by our incoming Chief of the Asia-Pacific Geographic Section, Ms Kunzang Chungyalpa (see below). Since Kunzang had not yet officially left her former employer, UNDP, our outgoing acting chief, Mr Teckie Ghebre-Medhin was also present so the Asia-Pacific contingent was particularly strong. Lanyan Chan also joined the Asia-Pacific Section from the second day, after participating for the first two days in a special global workshop of all the UNIFEM Gender Advisers (most of whom are new to UNIFEM). Lorraine was very pleased to meet up with Shoko Ishikawa, formerly the Junior Professional Officer in the Bangkok office, who is now a Programme Officer in the Asia-Pacific Section in UNIFEM New York. It was no surprise to Lorraine to find that Shoko has made her mark in New York as a highly valued member of the Asia-Pacific team and was also one of the most active participants in the SPW.
On the evening of the second day of the SPW, the geographic sections were joined by senior management and the sector specialists. The following week, the finance and administration staff also joined the SPW as we moved toward a discussion of programme management issues. We were very fortunate to have the Executive Director of UNIFEM, Noeleen Heyzer, who is very well known to many in this region, with us at the SPW for eight days, including the weekend. Given Noeleen's busy schedule, this was a rare privilege. By the end of the second week of the SPW, we were all "talked out" and exhausted. However, we had shared some wonderful experiences, identified a very impressive array of concrete results from the current business plan and plotted the challenging outlines of the next business plan. Among the highlights was an entire morning spent sharing the experiences and results of the UNIFEM Global Campaign to Eliminate Violence Against Women. That session showed very clearly just how much can be achieved by a small group of committed and capable women with quite modest resources but strong networks to other committed and capable women in communities and NGOs. The final day of the SPW was spent back in New York in the new UNIFEM office, which recently moved from very cramped quarters on one floor of the existing building to expanded accommodation on the 15th and 16th floors. We met in the new and very pleasant conference room with the recently retired Associate Administrator of UNDP, Mr Rafeeuddin Ahmed, who now has an office in the UNIFEM that he has so strongly supported over recent years, and with the incoming Associate Administrator of UNDP, Mr Zephiren Diabre. With a perfect sense of timing, Noeleen was able to share with both men the very exciting news that the government of the United Kingdom had just signed a Memorandum of Agreement with UNIFEM, committing to UNIFEM core funds over the next three years a total of FIVE MILLION POUNDS! What a great note on which to end the SPW! Seminars on Women and Economics with the UNIFEM Pacific Regional OfficeWith a couple of days to spare en route to the APEC Women Leaders' Network meeting in New Zealand, Lorraine had arranged to drop in on the UNIFEM Pacific Regional Office to facilitate some workshops on gender and economics. She arrived to find the office celebrating with WIPPaC, the NGO Women in Politics Pacific, the impressive achievement of no less than eight women elected to parliament in the recent Fijian elections. Even more impressive is the fact that five of these women now sit in the Cabinet, one as a Deputy Prime Minister. While Lorraine was in the office, most of the successful women politicians - and some who had not succeeded but were determined to continue trying - arrived in the UNIFEM office to express their gratitude for the support that UNIFEM had given through WIPPAC to all women standing for election. Later in the week, the news came in that in the elections in the Cook Islands, the number of women in parliament had also increased - from one to two! With similar successes in Niue and other countries in the Pacific, women are rapidly becoming a political force to be reckoned with. On the Thursday, after a day to recover from her jet lag, Lorraine facilitated a workshop on Globalization, Gender & Markets, Development - a strategic approach to women in micro enterprise hosted by the South Pacific Community (formerly South Pacific Commission). The workshop was opened by Dr Jimmy Rogers, Deputy Director of SPC, and was attended by participants from SPC, NGOs, government and the private sector. On the Friday, Lorraine facilitated a second workshop on Women, Men and Economics. This workshop was jointly hosted by the SPC and the Fiji Government and was attended by participants from SPC and the various government agencies who are members of the government Inter-departmental Committee on Gender. Fourth APEC Women Leaders' Network (WLN) Meeting, New ZealandAlthough not an official APEC body, the WLN is officially recognized as an associated grouping of APEC and has developed strong links with UNIFEM. Formed initially with support from UNIFEM and CIDA Canada (who have been the mainstay of the group) in Manila in 1996, the WLN had previously met in Manila, Ottawa and Kuala Lumpur. UNIFEM E&SEARO had participated in and supported the Manila and Kuala Lumpur meetings, while UNIFEM New York had been represented at the Ottawa meeting. In 1998, Lorraine had prepared the Overview Paper for the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Women in Development and Cooperation in APEC at the request of the Philippines. This year, Lorraine was invited by the organizers of the WLN, the Office for Women in New Zealand, to organize one panel discussion on Women's Responses to Economic Crisis and to be a panellist on a second on When Economic Structures Change: Women in Transition Economies. For details on the APEC WLN, visit the web site at http://www.apec.govt.nz/
The organizers of the 1999 International Symposium on "Women's Future: Health, Rights & Development" organized as part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the University of New South Wales invited Lorraine to give a presentation on "Women's Health & Reproductive Rights - A Gender Approach". Lorraine's travel was covered by the organizers and most of her accommodation in Sydney was generously provided by the President of UNIFEM Australia Inc., Ms Patricia Patterson. Thus, the symposium was also an excellent opportunity to strengthen linkages between E&SEARO and UNIFEM Australia. The report of this conference is available on http://www.nwjc.org.au/conferencereport.html Pacific Sub-regional Meeting for Beijing+5A side benefit of Lorraine's visit to Sydney for the UNSW Symposium was the opportunity to briefly attend the Pacific Sub-regional meeting for Beijing+5. The meeting was organized by CAPOW! (the Australian NGO organising committee for Beijing) and ANCORW (Australian National Committee on Refugee Women) at Women's College in Sydney University from 8 - 11 July 1999. Lorraine was able to share with the Pacific participants a broader regional perspective on the Beijing+5 review process in a brief address during the closing ceremony on 11 July. She was also pleasantly surprised to see the familar faces of Thanpuying Sumalee of Thai Women Watch and Dr Chaisakran of Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association (PPSEAWA), both from Bangkok, in the audience. ESCAP-NGO informal meeting on NGO participation in Beijing+5 ReviewAlmost as soon as she returned to Bangkok, Lorraine again met Thanpuying Sumalee and Dr Chaisakran when they invited UNIFEM to a meeting between TW2 and PPSEAWA on behalf of regional NGOs and ESCAP to discuss arrangements for NGO participation in the High-level Inter-governmental Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action and Regional Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action in Bangkok, Thailand from 26-29th October 1999. The very cordial meeting was held in the office of the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Mr Adrianus Mooy, with Mr Mooy and Ms Thelma Kay, Chief of the Women in Development Unit, Social Development Division. Despite the inevitable time constraints of a 3-day meeting attended by approximately 60 country delegations, ESCAP assured the NGOs of the region that they will do all in their power as a Secretariat, to ensure that NGOs have the opportunity to present the outputs of their regional NGO meeting to the High Level Meeting. Visit of the new Chief for Asia-Pacific, UNIFEM New YorkThe UNIFEM office for East and Southeast Asia was both delighted and honoured to provide our new chief, Ms Kunzang (Kesang to her friends) Chungyalpa, with her first four official days of duty in UNIFEM. Kesang arrived direct from her former position as Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP via a detour to her home in Sikkim, India. Considering that the detour involved an 8 hour drive and a one hour flight from Sikkim to Kathmandu before the flight to Bangkok, Kunzang looked surprisingly bright and enthusiastic when she finally reached Bangkok on 20 July to begin her new career with UNIFEM. During the four days that Kunzang spent in E&SEARO, we endeavoured to ensure that she gained a good overview of UNIFEM's work in the region and met many of our key partners. We spent most of the first day of her visit briefing Kunzang on the E&SEARO programme throughout the region. The day was broken by a late afternoon visit from Ms Oranong Intarajit, Executive Director and Mr Narin Karinchai, Deputy Director and Psychologist, from the Hotline Foundation. They briefed Kunzang on the very successful television programme that Hotline has been running on Thai TV Channel 9 with support from the UNIFEM Asia-Pacific Elimination of Violence Against Women Campaign. Thursday began with a courtesy call by Lorraine and Kunzang on Khunying Supatra Masdit, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for the Office for the National Commission on Women's Affairs. They were then joined by National Programme Officer Amalin Sundaravej for a visit to women homeworkers in the Bangkok area with Ms Rakhawin Lee, Executive Director of Homenet Thailand, another partner NGO of UNIFEM. The visit began at a local temple where 20 women homeworkers were participating in a training programme conducted by Homenet to upgrade their skills and their awareness of women's rights. The UNIFEM team later visited several of the homeworkers in their homes. On Friday, Ms Thelma Kay of the WID Section, Social Development Division and Mr Khalid Siddiqui, Statistics Division, both of ESCAP, discussed UNIFEM-ESCAP collaboration with Kunzang. Ms Kay briefed Kunzang on the work of the ESCAP WID Section and on preparations for the High-level Inter-governmental Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action and Regional Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action. Mr Siddiqui described the long association between UNIFEM E&SEARO and the Statistics Division on gender statistics through the project RAS/93/WO6 Improving Statistics on Gender Issues and outlined the focus of Phase II of UNIFEM-ESCAP collaboration on gender statistics. Friday proved to be an "ESCAP morning" as Kunzang also joined Lorraine and Amalin on a technical consultation with the Habitat Office in ESCAP on a draft project proposal on women's leadership in local government. An informal meeting was held with the National Council of Women of Thailand at their headquarters in the gracious Managkasila Mansion in Larn Luang to introduce the new Chief of Asia-Pacific to Council members and prominent women leaders of Thailand. The Council showed two videos, the first a recently completed review of the Council's history and work and the second a video of the UN-GWAD-NCWT march held on 10 December 1998 to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Through the second video, Kunzang was able to see the public dimension of UNIFEM's advocacy and brokering role in bringing together the key women's organizations of Thailand and the UN System, led by the Resident Coordinator, Mr Michael Heyn to signify the importance of women's human rights. Among the prominent women at the NCWT meeting were the President of NCWT, Senior Colonel Asanee Saovapap, Vice-President Dr Vajiriya Buasri, Thanpuying Sumalee Chartikavanij, President of Thai WomenWatch, Dr Pusadee Tamthai, Director of the Women in Politics Institute and Dr Chaisakran Hiranpruk of PPSEAWA and Kasetsart University. The last official item on the agenda for Kunzang's visit was a very pleasant dinner in the Ton Pho, a local Thai restaurant overlooking the Chaopraya River, which provided Kunzang with an opportunity to meet some other UNIFEM partners. Guests included Dr Pawadee Tonguthai, lecturer in economics at Thammasat University, active member of Thai Women Watch and advisor to Khunying Supatra Masdit, Ms Mary Johnson, Chief, Regional Programming Services, ILO and Ms Nelien Haspels, Gender Specialist, ILO. Gender Mainstreaming Workshop for Lao Women's Union26-28 July, Vientiane, Lao PDR Amalin participated in a two-day project formulation workshop on Practice and Principles for Gender Mainstreaming. There were twenty-seven participants from the Lao Women's Union (LWU), the Central Board for Propaganda, the Leading Committee for Human Resources Development, the Central Board of Organizations, the Central Administration Committee, the Ministries of Labour, Health and Education, the National Assembly Policies, the Prime Minister's Office and the National Planning Committee. The workshop, facilitated by Dr Rosalinda (Linda) Miranda from the Philippines, was the third in a series to assist the LWU and their key partners in mainstream government agencies in Laos to formulate a new project proposal on gender mainstreaming for UNIFEM funding. The first day focused on gender mainstreaming in the economic sectors, while the second day focused on gender mainstreaming in decision making and the role of women in politics. On 28th July, Linda facilitated a morning session attended by 19 participants to review the output of the main workshop and the Strategic Plan of the LWU that had been generated under UNIFEM project LAO/93/WO2 Strengthening the Lao Women's Union. This session agreed on the main outlines of the new project, which were further refined into a process during an afternoon session attended by 9 members of senior management in the LWU. Amalin Sundarevej, National Programme Office in Bangkok, assisted Linda throughout the workshops, while RPA Lorraine joined Amalin and Linda on the final day, arriving direct from Jakarta. Based on the agreements achieved during this very participatory and consultative process, Linda will now prepare a draft project document for the approval of the LWU and, eventually, the consideration of UNIFEM E&SEARO for funding. Seminar of the Association of Thai Community Development Women Leaders30 July, Bangkok In association with the UN Resident Coordinator System and the Thai-UN Community Empowerment Response to the Crisis Action Programme CERCAP, UNIFEM supported a seminar held by the Association of Thai Community Development Women Leaders on women in leadership. The seminar, held at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre on 30 July 1999, was attended by 1400 participants and 350 women members of the Association from all over Thailand, as well as academics and senior government officials. Following an address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Major General Sanan Kajornprasart and a report by Ms Tuanjai Buraraparat, President of the Association of Thai Community Development Women Leaders, the seminar was officially opened by the Prime Minister, Mr Chuan Leek Pai. Mr Chuan presented plaques of recognition for 75 distinguished women leaders from each of the provinces of Thailand and to ten organizations supporting the seminar, including representatives from UNIFEM and UNDP. He then opened an associated three-day Exhibition of Community Development and Indigenous Products. The main event of the morning session was a stimulating discussion panel moderated by Dr Anek Laothamarat, Chairman of Political Science, Thammasat University and featuring: Khunying Supatra Masdit,
Minister, Prime Minister's Office Among the issues discussed were the draft legislation that would enable married women to retain their maiden names and ways of improving women's access to credit. After lunch, the first annual meeting of the Association of Thai Community Development Women Leaders was held, followed by a special seminar on the Empowerment of Rural Women Leaders, led by: Dr Kanitta
Kanjanarangsrinon Mr Bhairote Brohmsarn, Director-General, Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior concluded the proceedings with a presentation on "The Apex of the Thai Community Development Women Leaders' Day". Participation in UN ActivitiesAs a member of the UN System in Bangkok, UNIFEM is represented at most major meetings of the UN at the country level under the Resident Coordinator System, and at the regional level under ESCAP. Although such meetings often seriously stretch our limited staff resources, they are an important aspect of a major part of the UNIFEM mandate, mainstreaming gender and women's concerns in the UN System. The Deputy Secretary-General for the UN, Ms. Louise Frechette visited Bangkok from 2-4 June 1999 to preside the ESCAP Regional Coordination Meeting. Amalin (Evelyn) represented UNIFEM at the meeting in which Ms Frechette was briefed on the various Regional Interagency Committees for Asia and the Pacific (RICAP), which currently serves as a mechanism for ESCAP and the UN agencies to work together under "one roof". Currently, ESCAP is the only regional commission which has a working mechanism of this type. Amalin again represented UNIFEM when Ms. Frechette met the UN Resident Coordinator System on 3rd June to be briefed about the Thai-UN Collaorative Action Programme (Thai-UNCAP) and the Community Empowerment Response to the Crisis Action Plan (CERCAP) which provide the framework in Thailand for collaboration among UN agencies. Mr. Karl Paschke, the UN Under-Secretary General for the Office of Internal and Oversight Services was also in Bangkok from 8-9 July 1999 to brief ESCAP and the UN System about the functions of this office. Amalin, who attended on behalf of UNIFEM, learned that this office provides audit services for funds and programmes, including programme inspection, monitoring, evaluation and professional investigations (intentional wrongdoings, irregularities, etc). UNIFEM also participates actively in the UNAIDS Theme Group and Technical Working Group meetings, which are held monthly to monitor ongoing projects in Thailand as well as to provide technical assistance when necessary. Under UNAIDS, UNIFEM was part of the UN group monitoring an HIV/AIDS project on "Community-Based Health Care Services", which has now been completed. Other Missions May - June 19995-6 May. Jakarta, Indonesia to attend the ASEAN Development Forum and to discuss a draft UNFPA project proposal on Strengthening the Partnership between the Government and Non-Government Organizations in the Prevention and Management of Violence against Women that will be jointly executed by UNIFEM and UNFPA. 10-15 May. Kunming, Yunnan Province, China to facilitate a three-day gender awareness and analysis workshop for the Yunnan Participatory Rural Appraisal Network (Lorraine accompanied by Chen Lanyan, UNIFEM Senior Gender Adviser, Beijing.). 25-27 July. Jakarta, Indonesia. Lorraine met with the UNFPA Country Director before his departure on home leave to finalize arrangements for UNIFEM execution of the UNFPA Project Strengthening the Partnership between the Government and NGOs in the Prevention and Management of Violence Against Women in Indonesia" and to provide technical advice to the ASEAN Secretariat on their women's programme and gender mainstreaming. Other Activities May - July 1999May-July. UNIFEM E&SEARO has supported Thai and regional women's NGOs to seek funding for the Beijing +5 review process. Project proposals were formulated and approved to enable UNIFEM E&SEARO and UNIFEM Asia-Pacific to fund the Regional NGO Symposium to be held in Bangkok 31 August to 4 September. UNIFEM also assisted Thai Women Watch and other NGOs to prepare proposals to other UN and bilateral donors. May-June. Zareen, our ever-cheerful and hard working volunteer mastered the intricacies of desk-top publishing to finalize preparation of the APEC Overview Paper, including the design of the cover, ready for submission to the printer. She has also been working on layout and design for the forthcoming VAW Roadmap series.
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