Contents

• Out with the Old, In with ??
• Gone, but not too far
• UNIFEM EVAW Regional Programme Monitoring November 2001
• UNIFEM EVAW programme supports Domestic Violence Legislation Workshop in Cambodia Dec. 4-6, 2001
• New UNIFEM Gender Advisor to the UN Country Team Philippines
• We have been multiplying - Gilda and Natalie produce a pair
• UNIFEM supports Pyongyang Women's Garment & Trading Centre at the Hong Kong Fashion Fair 14-18 January, 2002
• ASEAN-World Bank High Level Conference on Social Development in National Development 16-18 January, 2002 Jakarta
• ASCENT workshop and study tour on CEDAW for North Korea
• CIDA Canada-UNIFEM workshop on CEDAW 16-18 February 2002
• UNIFEM technical support to WARI Gender Workshop 18-28 February
• UNIFEM Regional workshop for Asia-Pacific Migrant Women Workers Programme in New Delhi, February 2002

Out with the Old, In with ??

This long overdue contribution to Fresh from the Fields is not quite as fresh as it should be. It is also my last contribution - my "Swansong", at least to the East & Southeast Asia Website. On 31 January 2002, I stepped down from the position of Regional Programme Director for UNIFEM East & Southeast Asia Regional Office. [We are still awaiting the appointment of my successor, so Evelyn and the team are holding the fort!]

I have very much enjoyed my seven years in the post of RPD - not bad for someone who arrived with only her suitcase to "hold the fort" for Linda Miranda for just one year in the lead up to the Beijing Conference. Many thanks to you all for your support, cooperation and encouragement. I would also like to acknowledge a huge debt to the staff in the UNIFEM East and Southeast Asian Regional Office, particularly to Evelyn and Pen who between them have taught me most of what I know, particularly about the UN!

Gone, but not too far

I am happy to report that this is not my last contribution to UNIFEM and that you will still be meeting me through UNIFEM on the Web, although in a somewhat different guise.

On 1 February 2002 I took up the new post of Regional Economic Advisor for Asia-Pacific and Arab States. In my new role I will be focusing on a major new Regional Programme on Engendering Economic Governance (EEG). I will also be providing technical coordination to the UNIFEM Programme on Women's Leadership for Peace-Building and Gender Justice in East Timor (PB-GJ). News of the PB-GJ Programme will continue to appear on the UNIFEM East & Southeast Asia website, although there is not a lot there at present as the Programme is not yet off the ground.

You will find an overview of the new EEG Programme on the new UNIFEM Asia-Pacific and Arab States Economic Governance website, which I will be managing with the usual dedicated support from Geoff (the Economic Governance web site is "inside" the East and South East Asia site, but is being managed seperately). I will soon be contacting many of you through email asking whether you wish to receive news of updates of the new site. If you don't get an email but want to receive the news of updates, please email me.

I hope that you will not be put off by the rather grand-sounding title "Engendering Economic Governance", as the Programme is really about demystifying economics and empowering women, particularly those who think they do not understand it. Good economics is pretty much common sense and much too important to be left in the hands of economists!

UNIFEM EVAW Regional Programme Monitoring November 2001

In November, Kornvipa Boonsue, Programme Manager for the Regional Programme to Promote the Realization of Women's Rights Through the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), undertook her first monitoring missions for the new Programme in Philippines and Thailand.
In Thailand, Kornvipa reviewed Component 3 of her programme on Theatre in Education, which is being implemented by the student drama group Mai Khid Fai, and Component 4, Communities Free From Violence, implemented by Friends of Women Foundation.

UNIFEM is building the capacity of Mai Khid Fai to use drama for advocacy and awareness raising to change attitudes and behavior on VAW. Following the drama performances, the group will encourage schools and educational institutions to develop special programmes and activities to change attitudes on VAW among school youth and teachers and to raise their awareness of women's human rights. Kornvipa attended two plays one at a school in Bangkok, and another at a public event to mark the 16 Days against VAW in Hadyai.

In the Philippines, Kornvipa met with women's NGOs working on advocacy on VAW issues and was briefed on the situation of Domestic Violence legislation in the Philippines. The mission was to identify EVAW Programme partners in the Philippines and build a network between UNIFEM Regional EVAW Programme and women's NGOs there. Among the NGOs she met were: PILIPINA, which is also a founding member of other NGO networks such as Media Watch Collective, The Asian Women's Research and Action Network, Women's Action Network for Development and SIBOL; the Alternative legal Assistance Center (SALIGAN); Women's Media Circle Foundation; KALAKASAN; DAWN Foundation; Touch Foundation; the Commissioner on Urban Poor Women, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women; and Women's Crisis Center.

UNIFEM EVAW programme supports Domestic Violence Legislation Workshop in Cambodia Dec 4-6, 2001

In December, Lorraine, Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, the UNIFEM Bangkok Information Officer and Kornvipa attended a regional workshop on Domestic Violence Legislation in Cambodia. The workshop was organized by Forum Asia and the regional human rights NGO Asia-Pacific Women Law and Development APWLD, with some support from the UNIFEM Regional EVAW Programme and hosted by the Ministry for Women's and Veteran's Affairs, Cambodia.

New UNIFEM Gender Advisor to the UN Country Team, Philippines

One of Lorraine's more pleasant tasks at the end of 2001 was, with representatives of the UN Country Team Philippines, to interview applicants for two new posts based in Manila: a UNIFEM Gender Advisor to the Un Country Team, Philippines and her Programme Assistant.

We are delighted to report that Ermie Valdeavilla, formerly Executive Director of the National Commission for the Role of Filipino Women, took up her post as UNIFEM Gender Advisor on 2 January 2002. Ermie really hit the ground running: we were extremely impressed to receive a lengthy report of her first ten days in office even before Lorraine had returned from her annual leave!

Ermie has been joined by Ma. Theresa Padilla-Matibag - known as Tes, who was previously Programme Assistant and Gender Coordinator in HELVETAS, the Swiss Association for International Cooperation.

A warm welcome to both Ermie and Tes, who will be responsible for an exciting and innovative programme to mainstream a gender perspective in the work of the UN Country Team in the Philippines, working with the UN Resident Coordinator Mr Terence Jones and the Chair of the UN Gender Theme Group Dr Terrel Hill. The programme is funded by UNDP and executed by UNIFEM.

We have been multiplying - Gilda and Natalie produce a pair

We are delighted to announce that Gilda Esposito, our UNIFEM Liaison Officer for East Timor and her husband Julio are the proud parents of a daughter, Maya, born on 17 January 2002 in Italy. In Gilda's own words: "Beautiful Maya was born on the 17/01. She is the most beautiful little thing I have ever seen and I am the happiest woman on the planet. She looks much more Guatemalan than Italian and has, of course, black hair, even if my mother is still convinced that she will turn blonde soon... Julio and I are spending all our time with her and have forgotten everything but her..."

Back in Bangkok, Natalie Fisher, our wonderful volunteer was working hard to complete a new project document on violence against women in Indonesia for us before her own Big Event. She arrived in the office on a Wednesday to hand over all her files and bid us - we hope a temporary - goodbye expecting to go home, put her feet up and have a nice rest while she awaited the birth of her firstborn. To our surprise, and no doubt Natalie's, over the weekend we received photos of a proud Mum and her handsome son. William Frederick was impatient to put in his appearance and did not give his Mum that chance for a nice rest after all!

UNIFEM supports Pyongyang Women's Garment & Trading Centre at the Hong Kong Fashion Fair 14-18 January, 2002

In January, UNIFEM National Programme Officer Amelin Sundaravej joined our international marketing consultant Marian Nash and a team from the Pyongyang Women's Garment and Trading Centre (PWGTC) at the Hong Kong Fashion Fair. The PWGTC delegation and exhibition at the Fair was supported under the UNIFEM project Rationalizing Cottage Industries in North Korea, which is funded by UNDP Pyongyang. You can read all about their success on the project page.

ASEAN-World Bank High Level Conference on Social Development in National Development 16-18 January, 2002 Jakarta

While Amalin was in Hong Kong, Lorraine was attending an interesting meeting on the integration of social development in national development policy, which primarily refers to the integration of social and macroeconomic policy. The meeting was particularly timely in terms of Lorraine's new appointment as Regional Economic Advisor and the approach has already altered her thinking about the new Programme on Engendering Economic Governance. It has also opened up a potentially important new partnership for the UNIFEM EEG Programme with the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Bank.

ASCENT workshop and study tour on CEDAW for North Korea

In February, Amalin also facilitated and joined a study tour from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the Philippines to study the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - CEDAW.

DPR Korea ratified CEDAW in February 2001, and is in the process of preparing its initial report under the Convention. Being familiar with our work with PWGTC, the Government approached UNIFEM to help them learn about CEDAW so that they can prepare the first country report to the Committee.
UNIFEM arranged for the regional human rights NGO ASCENT, based in Manila, to organize a workshop and meetings with a variety of groups to learn of the Philippines' approach and experience in promoting women's equality under the principles of the Convention. A full report of this very successful study tour will appear in the next update of the Website.

CIDA Canada-UNIFEM workshop on CEDAW 16-18 February 2002

UNIFEM East & Southeast Asia and CIDA Canada, with support from the Asia-Pacific and Human Rights Sections in UNIFEM New York, recently held a very successful CEDAW workshop with government and NGO partners from eight countries in Southeast Asia. The workshop was part of a process of formulating a major sub-regional proposal to be submitted to CIDA Canada for funding. If successful, the Programme would be executed by the UNIFEM office in Bangkok.

UNIFEM technical support to WARI Gender Workshop 18-28 February, 2002

The Bangkok-based NGO WARI recently held its third Gender Workshop at the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok. WARI has particularly focused on capacity-building on gender for the countries of Mekong sub-region. The 26 participants were drawn from Lao PDR (10), Cambodia (4), Vietnam (5), Thailand (2), Philippines (2), and one each from Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Nepal and included staff from various ministries, the Women's Unions in Lao PDR and Vietnam, NGOs, academics and donor agencies. Both Lorraine and Jean D'Cunha from UNIFEM Bangkok acted as resource persons for half-day sessions, Lorraine on "Women, Men and Economics: Engendering Economic Policy", and Jean on "Gender, Transformative Leadership and Good Governance".

UNIFEM Regional workshop for Asia-Pacific Migrant Women Workers Programme in New Delhi, February 2002

Jean D'Cunha, the Senior Programme Specialist from UNIFEM Bangkok and Endah Nurdiani, the Programme Manager from the UNIFEM Project Office in Jakarta recently participated in a workshop of the Asia- Pacific Regional Programme on Empowering Women Migrant Workers in Asia (WMW). Jean was one of the resource persons at the workshop, the first to be held under the Programme. The workshop provided an opportunity for staff involved in the Programme from the UNIFEM offices in Jordan, Delhi and Bangkok to meet the new Programme Manager, Delia Monares who took up her post on 18 January in New Delhi.

The WMW Programme promotes a gender equality and rights-based perspective in both source and destination countries to the protection, well being and empowerment of migrant women workers. It particularly targets women migrant workers moving from South Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Philippines) to West Asia (Jordan).
 

Dated: 3Apr2002