The Beginnings
of APWLD
APWLD developed from dialogues among Asia Pacific women lawyers, social scientists and activists, which began at the 1985 Third World Forum on Women, held in Nairobi, Kenya. The women participating in the dialogues recognised that while law is used as an instrument of state control over resources, rights and even women’s bodies, it can also be used to help effect political and socio-economic changes in our societies.
Participants in these dialogues recognised that gaining the capacity to mobilise populations to understand the social, economic and political dimensions of women’s oppression and take collective action for change required a clear focus and strong organisation. In December 1986, women-delegates from across Asia met in Tagaytay, Philippines to discuss the most pressing socio-legal issues facing women and to explore possible areas of collaborative action. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of APWLD, the first regional response to the challenges of Nairobi.
In 1986, women lawyers and other activists in the region formally launched APWLD and set up a secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Secretariat relocated to Chiangmai, Thailand in October 1997.
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APWLD Believes
The concept of law includes
the legal system as well as the customary practices.
Law plays a critical role as it can promote or inhibit women’s access
to resources as well as their participation in development processes.
Legally sanctioned hierarchical gender structures, production modes
and socio-cultural relations need to be seriously addressed by all
stakeholders. New social structures require new legal instruments.
Knowledge of the law, legal processes and one’s rights is a process
of empowerment.
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Objectives
To enable women in
the region to use law as an instrument of change for the empowerment
of women in their struggle for justice, peace, equality and development.
To promote basic concepts of human rights in the region as enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW) and other
relevant international human rights instruments.
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For 20 years...
APWLD’s programs and activities are focused in promoting women’s rights human rights as an analytical and strategic framework of engaging with the legal system to empower women.
APWLD has engaged primarily in policy advocacy, education, training and other activities to address issues and concerns of poor and marginalized women in the region. It has lobbied at regional and international levels for the implementation of government commitments in international conventions and the integration of gender issues at regional and international fora.
APWLD has developed partnership with women’s groups, human rights groups
and development NGOs in the Asia Pacific region to consolidate, expand
and strengthen networks working on women, law and development.
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| Taking stock of 20 years of promoting women’s human rights in Asia Pacific |
2006 marks 20th anniversary of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD).
From 38 women leaders who founded the network in 1986, APWLD now has close to 150 individual and organisation members in 23 countries of the Asia Pacific region.
APWLD members speak on the role of APWLD in promoting women’s human rights in the Asia Pacific region:
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