Bangkok, December 2, 2000 -- Globalisation, poverty reduction and economic participation were identified as priority issues at the recently concluded Expert Group Meeting (EGM) convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The two-day meeting was held on November 30 and December 1, 2000 to strategize on the regional implementation of the Outcome Document of the global review of the Beijing Platform for Action. Independent experts and representatives of several non-government organizations as well as United Nations bodies prioritised the persistent issues, concerns and emerging challenges elaborated in the Outcome Document and identified strategies that are relevant to the Asian-Pacific region. The final report of the meeting is expected to provide further guidance to ESCAP, other UN agencies and organizations, and different stakeholders at the country level to strengthen implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action until 2005. Experts from Fiji, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and Nepal attended the meeting. Two resource persons provided a comprehensive overview of regional issues, strategies and modalities for prioritisation and consideration.
Globalisation, poverty reduction and economic participation
The EGM agreed that the impact of globalisation was one of the most important issues facing women in the region. The main challenge was to ensure that globalisation became a positive force for women and its benefits and costs were equally shared by nations in the region. The meeting recognized that while globalisation has opened up new opportunities for educated women with marketable skills, for the less skilled it has meant an insecure livelihood in a competitive environment. Experts at the meeting pointed out informalisation and casualisation of employment as among the pressures facing women along with the shift of social service provision from the public to the private sector. To address the mounting pressures of globalisation on poor women in the region, it was recommended that measures be adopted to better understand the process of globalisation and its precise impact on women.
Trafficking in women and girls
The EGM also identified trafficking in women and girls especially for the purpose of prostitution and sexual exploitation as another priority issue in the region arguing that this is one of problems exacerbated by globalisation. The meeting noted the severity of trafficking particularly in 3 sub-regions: South-East Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. Thelma Kay, Chief of the Women In Development Section of UNESCAP pointed out new national, regional and international instruments and initiatives like the protocol on trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by various Governmental entities in Thailand working on the issue of trafficking. She also mentioned the passing of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 by the United States Congress. The bill takes the approach of punishing perpetrators and not the victims and facilitates advocacy efforts and earmarks funding of around $US 94.5 million to work with other countries on anti-trafficking efforts.
Other priority issues
The EGM further identified six priority issues for region. Three of these are among the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform – violence against women, women in power and decision making and women and the environment. The remaining three issues are more specific issues within the BPFA critical concerns that need to be highlighted in the region. These were the HIV/Aids pandemic, information and communication technologies, and peace and conflict resolution.
HIV/AIDS
A recent global aids conference held in South Africa turned world attention once more to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Commission on the Status, compelled by recent alarming developments with regard to women and HIV/AIDS, has included the topic as a priority theme in its work programme for the year 2001and one of the agenda items for the next CSW meeting. The seriousness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been pinpointed on several occasions at the international level and HIV/AIDS is now recognized as a phenomenon with wide development and security implications. In January 2000, an unprecedented UN Security Council session was devoted exclusively to the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa.
UNESCAP urged participants of the EGM to pay urgent attention to the HIV/AIDS problem in the region, pointing out that the region’s huge population and different modes of transmission, including the commercial sex industry and relative easing of barriers to mobility, the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific region could take the same path as African pandemic if preventive action is not taken immediately. The EGM pointed out that women must be a priority target group and that the gender dimension of HIV/AIDS must be carefully researched and identified for policy intervention.
Information and communication technologies
Information and communication technologies (ICT) were recognized at the meeting as an important concern that creates new opportunities as well as new areas of marginalisation for women in the region. It was pointed out ICT have been a critical factor in the globalisation process and have dominated all current discussion of contemporary development. While ICT enabled increased global access to information for women, its use in by the sex industry in pornography and trafficking had become a grave concern in the region. The meeting also noted that while ICT has been the fastest growing sector in the world economy, the market has largely determined the direction of its development. There is a need for governments and civil society to ensure equitable access to and development of ICTs. The EGM agreed a review of ICT policies in the region is necessary to ensure that gender concerns are addressed and that priority areas for gender-sensitive ICT development are identified. The meeting further recognized that for many women in the region, access to ICT is still limited and that women and girls have to be prepared for the digital economy through expanding access, connectivity, training, employment opportunities.
Peace and conflict resolution
With the breakout of armed conflict in countries like Indonesia and Fiji, and rising tensions in other countries, attention was also given to the importance of drawing more attention to issues of peace and conflict in the region. A landmark United Nations Security Council resolution on the role of women in the peace process, adopted only last October, could push governments to address women’s peace and security concerns. The Resolution called upon Member States of the United Nations to insure increased representation of women at the decision-making level, urged the Secretary General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys and expressed the willingness of the Council to incorporate a gender perspective into peace-keeping operations.
