Press Release

ACWC Invites CSO to Closely Participate in the Process of Drafting the Declaration

[Jakarta, July 4, 2012] – Civil Society Organizations from ten ASEAN Member Countries working on the issue of the rights of women and the rights of children question the purpose, the timeline and the long-term plan of drafting of the Declaration on the Elimination of the Violation Against Women and Children (CEVAWC) that is now undertaken in the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), today in ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Declaration aims at bringing the political commitment of the ASEAN Member States to address the issue of violence against women and violence against children into the higher level of importance.  The Declaration would add value on the convergence link between the rights of women and the rights of children. It also signifies that the issue of women and children could be tackled together.

“We are happy that ASEAN is committed to zero tolerance on violence against women and children”, said Amihan Abueva of AsiaAct, a coalition of non-government organizations working on addressing trafficking of children in Asia. “This declaration will become a political commitment of ASEAN to ensure the rights of women and children especially free from any kinds of form of violence. We urge ACWC member states to adopt international human rights standard. We are very happy to collaborate with ACWC to improve the Declaration”, added Nina Somera of Asia-Pacific Women, Law and Development (APWLD), a regional organization based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"I believe that this is the right moment for ACWC to address the cross-border issues such migrant workers, trafficking and refugees as well as to tackled the lack of protection measures for specific groups such as indigenous people, LBTI, etc,” Rena Herdiyani from Kalyanamitra said.

“I witness the improvement in our engagement with ACWC. It was first started with an “informal dinner” in February 2011 to initiate a dialogue between civil society organizations and ACWC. In September 2011, the meeting was upgraded into “informal session” which allowed civil society to exchange views in more substantive manners related to numerous issues that concerned the most for both ACWC and civil society organizations. In January 2012, the meeting was called a “workshop” which provided the venue for ACWC and civil society organizations to discuss issues related the violence against women and violence against children in open platform. Now, ACWC has included the discussion with civil society in their official agenda and named it as an “open session with civil society”, explained Dien Haryana from Sejiwa Foundation.

During the Open Session, ACWC invited civil society to contribute to the agreed ACWC projects as listed in their 5-year work plan. Responding this positive development, Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Senior Advisor on ASEAN and Human Rights said, “We definitely need a mechanism to communicate, collaborate and share information between ACWC and civil society organizations. I believe the region’s vast expertise, experience, lesson-learnt and our collective knowledge will mutually beneficial for both, if civil society can get access and receive proper information on the inter-governmental process, decision making and plans of ACWC”.

ACWC thanked civil society for the comprehensive submission that was the result of 2^nd Regional Civil Society Forum to the 5^thMeeting of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) co-organized by Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Kalyanamitra Foundation, KKSP Foundation, Child Rights Coalition (CRC-Asia) and South East Asia Women’s Caucus on 2-3 July 2012. [ ]

Contact Person: Rena Herdiyani, email: ykm@indo.net.id [0812-982-0147] Yuyun Wahyuningrum, email: wahyuningrum@gmail.com [0815-10543290]