APWW Discusses Post-Beijing+5 Agenda

8 June 2000 / New York

The APWW held a mini-workshop today to discuss the future on the network after the Beijing+5 process. The activity was held in preparation for the APWW Steering Committee to be held on Saturday, 10 June. The objective was to have the members of the network brainstorm on the future activities, the APWW mandate, coordination and monitoring mechanisms, and fund-raising. The recommendations/suggestions from the workshop will be taken up in the Steering Committee meeting.

The participants of the meeting reaffirmed that the APWW continue to exist and work as a network for the next 3-5 years, at the least. The following are the recommended future areas of work and activities of the network:

1. monitoring and advocacy of results of Beijing+5
2. networking with all the organisations in the region
3. coordination and facilitation during regional and international conferences
4. APWW Meeting in the next 2 to 5 years
5. documentation on the status of and statistics on Asia Pacific women
6. comparative analysis between government reports on and the real status of women in the region
7. training of local women to collect data (documentation)
8. training of local women on women's issue
9. information sharing
10. translation of materials

Further recommendations/suggestions include:

1. Setting up a discussion list, apart from the apwomen2000 list which is mainly an information dissemination channel. Through the new mailing list, APWW members can discuss and further collaborate on future activities. One of the topics that would be discussed is how each organisation can contribute to the network's future areas of work and activities.
2. Creating one more slot in the Steering Committee for a youth representative.
3. Developing national focal points as part of the structure of the APWW. This includes the development of a process through which the focal points will be nominated.
4. Holding national meetings to discuss national and sub-regional representation in the APWW and the Steering Committee.
5. Exploring the possibility of legally registering APWW, specifically for fund-raising purposes. Currently, funding for the network is facilitated through the organisation of the Chair/s of the Steering Committee. For more transparency within the network, it was recommended that funds go directly to APWW. However, some participants raised the difficulties that the legal jurisdiction in the different countries might bring. It was then recommended that the funds should be facilitated through the organisation of whomever is the APWW Chair/Convenor.

These recommendations will be discussed further by the Steering Committee. A report of that meeting will be sent to the APWomen2000 list.