Report Back on the CSW Meeting and the Asian Caucus

MAIN POINTS OF THE PRESENTATION / INPUT

Women's Participation at the CSW:

• Participation in women's conferences increases every year.
• The Commission on the Status of Women in the United Nation's coordinating body for the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).
• The 12 Critical Areas of Concern of the BPFA are:
• Women and Poverty
• Education and Training of Women
• Women and Health
• Violence Against Women
• Women and Armed Conflict
• Women and the Economy
• Women in Power and Decision-Making
• Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women
• Human Rights of Women
• Women and the Media
• Women and the Environment
• The Girl-Child

• Organizations with ECOSOC status (those in consultation with the UN Economic and Social Council) are those allowed to attend CSW meetings.
• Women's participation in the meetings influence the decision-making in the CSW and in their own countries. These meetings also have lobbying potentials brought about by the one-to-one meetings with their government bodies/representatives.
• Regional caucuses have been formed so that there will be more effective representation during CSW Meetings.Explained the various regional caucuses (African, North American, European Women's Union, East European, Asian).
• The Asian Caucus negotiates the Aisan women's issues with their government representatives.Regional issues vary during the CSW Meetings.

• Globalization
• Militarization and women's health
• Elderly women
• Protection fro the Indigenous medicine and the prohibition of western drugs in Asia
• The use of military arms to exert religious beliefs, border control etc. . .(Tibet, Taiwan)
• Fundamentalisms and other traditional values that impact women negatively (South Asian Women)

Coordinating body of the Asian Caucus:

• Asia-Pacific Women in Law and Developemtn (APWLD)
• Isis International-Manila
• SAATHI
• Asia Pacific Watch (APWatch)
• South East Asia Wathc (SEAWatch)