Cross Cutting Initiatives

2.5  Actions on Important Dates

Celebration of International Women’s Day, March 8
The APWLD Secretariat joined the celebration by women’s groups in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hundreds of women-activists and students gathered at Tapae Gate for the rally carrying banners to mark the day and voice their concerns about gender based violence and gender inequality in every sphere of life in Thailand. Kulavir P.Pipat of Women’s Studies Center, Chiang Mai University, spoke at the rally on how Thai women suffer from every facet of the gender oppression that stems from the patriarchal nature of the Thai society. In Thailand, annually 1.5 percent of pregnant women test HIV positive because of their husbands’ promiscuity. As a result, 4,000 HIV positive babies are born every year. Due to male irresponsibility, 300,000 Thai women seek abortion every year. As many as 12 percent of this number, or 36,000, die from unsafe abortion. Women comprise 47 percent of the workforce, yet they get from 60 to 84 percent of their male counterparts’ wages. Women’s under-representation in the Thai political processes is glaring. In national politics, women make up only 8 percent of the cabinet of ministers and 9 percent of the Members of Parliament

APWLD was invited to speak at the International Women’s Day event organised by UNIFEM Regional Office in Bangkok. The meeting focused on the impact of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on women. Cholpon Akmatova, APWLD Information and Communications Officer, raised women’s human rights concerns in the tsunami aftermath in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand based on testimonies of women survivors. The presentation raised a lot of interest among the audience. The event was broadcast on national TV and covered in the local media. APWLD was later contacted by international researchers who saw the event in the TV news for further information on NGOs supporting vulnerable groups in the tsunami affected countries.

March 20: Day of Action against the War around the region
March 20 marks the second year of the occupation of Iraq by the Unites States. It also marks the anniversary of the biggest anti-war protest rallies the world has ever seen. APWLD Secretariat joined a “people’s occupation” rally outside the US Consulate in Chiang Mai on March 20 to call for an end of the US occupation in Iraq. Protesters read out statements, sang songs and offered flowers for the thousands of lives taken by the war in Iraq and in the South of Thailand. Pornthip of EMPOWER (APWLD member-organisation) read out the statement of United for Peace-Chiang Mai, a network of organisations, activists, students, migrant workers, sex workers, artists and concerned individuals working for peace and justice. “In Iraq, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed; half of them are women and children. And here in Thailand, over 600 people in the South have died. Most of them have been killed by the state police and military.” The group encouraged the Thaksin government to find peaceful solutions to the problems in the South and lift the martial law in the three southern provinces. Judy Pasimio read out APWLD’s statement calling for an end of the military junta in Burma, which continues to intimidate, imprison, and kill Burmese and other members of ethnic communities in the country. The event was covered by the local TV and press media.

Solidarity Action on 60th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, June 19
APWLD Secretariat joined a solidarity rally for Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy of Burma, who has been under house arrest since 1995. The Friends of Burma-Chiang Mai, a network of solidarity groups of which APWLD is a member, gathered in Nod Puak Park wearing t-shirts with the slogan “freedom for one, freedom for all” and carrying purple paper umbrellas. They sang songs for peace and released 60 balloons.

International Day to End Violence against Women, November 25
APWLD issued a statement focusing on violence against women caused by WTO and other global free trade actors read at VAW day rally in Chiang Mai attended by around 200 people from NGOs and civil society groups as well as villagers, students and nurses. The event was hosted by Friend of Women Foundation, a Thai national organisation. One of the main themes was alcoholism and VAW and the speakers called for men to stop drinking as it leads to violence against women. APWLD Secretariat members who participated in the event, however, felt that focusing on the link between drinking and VAW diverts public attention from the root cause of VAW which is gender inequality. Burmese women’s group organised “White Ribbon” campaign distributing ribbons to the participants. They brought the poster “Stop State Violence” to the rally, but the host organiser did not allow putting up the poster or its distribution.

2.6 Supporting networks

Nepal: 100 women-activists arrested during demonstration on the International Women's Day
APWLD issued a statement which was widely disseminated demanding an immediate and unconditional release of the hundreds of women activists who went out on the streets of Nepal to celebrate the International Women's Day, on March 8, 2005. Bidya Devi Bhandari, chair of All Nepalese Women Association (ANWA), an APWLD member, was among the arrested. After a month in detention, not allowed any visits or communication from the family, or comrades from ANWA, Bidya was released but the human rights violations in Nepal remain rampant - arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings and disappearances of activists, journalists, human rights lawyers and Maoists sympathisers.

APWLD, among other human rights groups, signed a letter to General Pervez Musharraf, expressing concern over the arrest of 50 human rights activists, including Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, and Asma Jehangir, Chair of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Although the activists were released after four hours in detention, violent actions of the police in preventing a peaceful marathon to raise awareness on the issue of violence against women in Pakistani society is a matter of grave concern.

India: Brutal Attack on Dalit Youths, July 25, 2005
APWLD sent letters demanding justice to the Indian Government in support of the action alert sent by SRED, APWLD member in India. Five Dalit youths were severely beaten by 40 youths of higher caste. Deadly weapons were used to beat them besides stone and rods. They were barbarously bitten at the back and their clothes were removed and burnt on the spot. Among the five victims, Ashirvatham was struggling for life with head injuries in Chennai hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.

Indonesia: Trafficking Case in Japan
APWLD endorsed an action alert sent by Solidaritas Perempuan, a WEN Task Force Member, APWLD sent letter to Ambassador of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Republic of Indonesia in Japan to enquire into a trafficking case of 17 Indonesian women who were employed in a sex bar and to provide appropriate assistance to the victims to ascertain their salary during 4 months work to be paid.
Philippines: Illegal Arrest of Protestors Condemned
APWLD sent a solidarity statement to Gabriela protesting the illegal arrest of Gabriela Womens Partylist Secretary General Cristina Palabay, GABRIELA Secretary General Emmi de Jesus, and GABRIELA staff Joan Salvador after they run to rescue Karla Padilla, a KARAPATAN paralegal staff, who was arrested and carried to a police mobile car.

Thailand: Burmese workers deported after attempting to assert their legal rights
APWLD sent letters of concern to the Thai authorities and ILO. A group of migrant workers at the Chotiwat Manufacturing Company in Songkla province was deported on August 17 after attempts to renegotiate their working conditions: they were threatened and at least one assaulted by employer representatives. Subsequently, when the Law Society of Thailand and other organisations sought to intervene in the case, the Sadao Immigration Office removed 38 workers and sent them to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre from where they were subsequently deported. ILO responded to this statement with a letter committing to take necessary measures against the perpetrators.

Philippines: Nestle Union President and KMU Leader Shot Dead
APWLD sent letters to the Philippines Government demanding justice in the case of a brutal murder of labour leader Diosdado “Ka Fort” Fortuna, President of United Filipro Employees – Drug, Food and Allied Industries (UFE-DFA-KMU), the Nestle Cabuyao Workers’ Union. APWLD received a letter from Nestle Co. informing that they are investigating the case.

Philippines: Call for justice against gang-rape in the Philippines, November 2005
APWLD issued a statement demanding to bring US servicemen to justice in the case of a 22-year old Philippine woman raped by 6 US servicemen, who were among the 4,000 US troops in the Philippines for counterterrorism military exercises. This happened in Subic, Olongapo, where the US military bases were situated until 1990 when the Philippines said “no more.”

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• Hong Kong: 900 protesters arrested during WTO Ministerial Meeting, December 18, 2005

APWLD issued a statement widely disseminated calling for the immediate release the 900 protesters arrested, among them 45 Thais and 20 Indonesians, 5 of them - women. The arrested protesters were kept in the outdoor yard of the Kwun Tong Court all night. They had to suffer throughout the cold winter night with no blankets, no food, and no water. Women were physically abused and stripped naked for body search. The arrests followed violent police dispersals using tear gas and water canons while protesters staged a peaceful sit-in on a road near the convention centre where the WTO Ministerial Conference was taking place. APWLD condemned police brutality against people who are exercising their right to assemble and protest.

Global petition to the UN and ILO
APWLD joined the signature campaign initiated by its member, War and Women’s Human Rights Centre of Korea, and set up a weblink on APWLD website. The campaign collected one million signatures and Heisoo Shin of the War and Women’s Human Rights Centre submitted them to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in March 2005 requesting the international community to urge the Japanese government to solve the issue of military sexual slavery and say no to Japan’s wish to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

2.7 Consolidated Report on the WTO MC 6th Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong

Participation in international/regional preparatory meetings for the WTO MC6th
In the first international planning meeting organised by the Hong Kong Peoples Alliance (HKPA) in February 2005 in Hong Kong, different Task Forces were represented - the Women and Environment (WEN) and Rural and Indigenous Women (RIW) TFs were represented by judy a. pasimio/PO, Women’s Participation in Political Processes (WPPP) TF by Tita Lubi (TF member/P&M) and Labour and Migration (L&M) TF by Connie Regalado.   From there, the preparations for the participation and involvement of the different TFs started. 

The WEN/RIW TFs were also represented (Valentina Soe/PA) in the regional preparatory meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka (June 2005).  Here the WEN/RIW TF plans were shared with the other networks.  Even during these meetings, it was apparent that APWLD is one of the very few women’s networks which is actively involved in the anti-WTO campaign. 
 
At the WTO MC6th, Hong Kong, December 2005
Joining forces with thousands of anti-WTO protesters from the region and world over, APWLD had a strong contingent of 86 women, majority from RIW, WEN and WPPP Task Forces. Some representatives from L&M Task Force were also present. The TF members were supported to have broader participation from their organisations, enabling them to extend invitations to members of the grassroots communities they work with to participate in the events. However, a significant number of our members from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Burma were not able to get into Hong Kong. As most of our members’ national partners have not traveled outside their communities, let alone their countries, the bureaucratic requirements of the embassies were obstacles in their participation in Hong Kong.  From those who were able to go, some of them experienced harassment at the airport (ie. Tita Lubi and 2 other women from ILPS).

While APWLD’s participation in Hong Kong was a network-wide activity, there were activities specific to the Task Forces. The WPPP TF had its annual TF meeting in Hong Kong. The participation of WEN and RIW Task Forces was part of the “Don’t Globalise Hunger!” campaign. Thus, the activities were designed primarily to respond to the objective of contributing in the mobilising and strengthening of grassroots women organisations in their struggle against globalisation, in the region in general.   

The following are the major activities of APWLD at the WTO MC6th:

Asian Women’s Village
The Asian Women’s Villageserved as a focal point and physical center for women delegates of the different movements coming to Hong Kong and participating in the peoples' actions for the 6th Ministerial Meeting of WTO (December 11-18, 2005).  The Village became a space for ideas, sharing and discussions with and among APWLD network and other Asian womens’ groups.

The activities which were held there included:

•  photo exhibits of women’s struggles and actions on food sovereignty
•  display of local food and non-food products
•  scheduled small group discussions on women’s issues on food and trade
•  distribution of statements and press release for media
•  display and distribution of campaign materials, publications, videos

Media interviews with APWLD community partners were held at the Village on a daily basis.  It was also the venue for the launching of important books - “Seethings and Seatings: Strategies for Women’s Political Participation in Asia Pacific” of the WPPP TF; and “Intensifying Working Women’s Burden: The Impact of Globalisation on Women Labor in Asia” by the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN).  APWLD, as a member of APRN, had collaboration with it on the Women and Work research, through the research carried out by members of L&M and WEN task forces.

Women’s Tribunal Against WTO
The Women’s Tribunal, which was organised by APWLD along with AMIHAN (National Peasant Women’s Organisation) and GABRIELA, found the WTO guilty for causing the bankruptcy of millions of rural women, driving them out of land and agricultural production, which is the main base of their skills and livelihood.  The verdict held that “the greatest crime of the WTO to women and humanity is the fact that it exposed women to frightening levels of hunger and malnutrition.”
Irene Fernandez, who has been recently awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize 2005, read the verdict, as the head of the presidium of judges.  “The WTO has pushed thousands of rural women and their daughters to the flesh trade as they are driven out of the land. Furthermore, the WTO exacerbated the existing discrimination suffered by women producers in the sphere of employment, wages and conditions of work; women have less rates of participation in the labor force, are unpaid, and if they enter paid employment, they receive wages lower than men. WTO has worsened this discrimination.”
As the presidium for the Tribunal, Irene Fernandez was joined by 5 other anti-WTO women activists from the region: Titi Soentoro, Regional Coordinator of APWLD; Liza Maza, President of the GABRIELA Women’s Party; Gigi Francisco, Asian representative of International Gender and Trade Network; S.K. Priya, human rights lawyer and educator from India; and Connie Ledesma, from MAKIBAKA, a revolutionary women’s organisation.
The testimonies came from rural women in six countries, providing details of the extreme deterioration in their daily lives and of their families.  “It is clear that the agent responsible for the destruction and desolation in women lives and their communities is the World Trade Organisation,” read Azra Talat Sayeed in her summation of the testimonies.  Azra, director of Roots for Equity of Pakistan, is also the convenor of WEN Task Force. “The testimonies further verify the presence of other pillars of the profit mongering capitalist system such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the ruling elite in the third world countries.”
Found guilty also are the co-accused – the national governments who are found guilty for “the neglect of the peasantry’s welfare by the adoption and implementation of the WTO policies clearly inimical to the interest of the peasantry.”  It was further found guilty with the charge of “failure to recognise and break up patriarchal values entrenched in laws and policies that continue to oppress and discriminate against women, which make them the frontline casualties in the havoc wreaked by the WTO.”
For these crimes, the sentence handed down for the WTO was to “discontinue operating as a world trade body” and for the United States, European Union and other big economies to desist from “bullying” and “arm twisting” small economies into entering bilateral trade agreements with them.
The Women’s Tribunal proceedings will be published in 2006 as it proved to be a good documentation of women’s life stories of their struggles and their resistance. 
Women’s March
The Women’s March came after the handing down of the verdict of the Women’s Tribunal against the WTO.  Thus, it was a celebration of the Guilty verdict against the WTO, as well as taking it to the streets of Hong Kong to further show the WTO, the Hong Kong public, and the world of women’s growing resistance against WTO and the corporate rule over their lives.

There was almost a thousand women in the march, and definitely more than a thousand along the streets of Wanchai, both women and men, curious and interested by-standers, watching women march, dance and listening to the slogans and chants in English, Cantonese, Bahasa, Filipino, Thai, and sprinkles of Tamil, Khmer and Mongolian.

The Women’s March and its success in terms of the good turn-out was an indication of the significant role that APWLD plays in the organising and mobilising of women, particularly from the grassroots level, in the region. This is especially so within the anti-globalisation movement. 

The good media coverage it had (in most of the daily newspaper of Hong Kong, both in English and Cantonese) contributed in achieving the main objective of the march which was to reach out to the broader Hong Kong public amidst the active presence of grassroots women in Hong Kong for the people’s actions against the WTO.

This was co-organised with GABRIELA, AMIHAN and the Hong Kong Women’s Workers Alliance (HKWWA), with a lot of support from the women of Asosiasi Buruh Migran Indonesia (Indonesian Migrant Worker’s Association). 

Patches of Resistance
From the Regional Conference, the participating organisations in the campaign were called to start “Patches of Resistance, towards Global Resistance”.  Throughout the campaign, the call was for Asia Pacific women to draw or write messages of resistance and of solidarity for the movement on pieces of fabric.  Throughout the months leading up to Hong Kong, groups from Thailand, Philippines, Mongolia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia weaved and stitched together the patches from the different activities and actions they had in the communities. Each group then brought their ensemble to Hong Kong, and there, with an evocative ceremony introduced the Patches of Resistance and its representation of the ongoing and growing activism within the women’s movement at the grassroots level.  The patches from the different countries were sewn together, and other women from the region as well as other countries stitched together their own patches then and there.  This resulted in a huge women’s quilt of resistance. This colourful and meaningful quilt representing the voices of resistance from the different communities was marched throughout the streets of Hong Kong by hundreds of women who joined the Women’s March. This was also taken to the Hong Kong Convention Center, venue of the WTO Ministerial Meeting by APWLD women leaders to convey the message in different languages: Women say NO to WTO!

Support to protesters arrested during anti-WTO demonstrations
At midnight December 17, in what is now known as the Siege of WanChai, 900 protesters were arrested and detained by the Hong Kong police.  Among these 900 were some 87 Indonesian women and men and some 90 Thai women and men.  Most of them were from farmering and fishing communities. Majority were Korean peasants.

The arrested and detained people from Indonesia and Thailand were from the close networks of APWLD country members. In response to the urgent situation, the APWLD team who were still in Hong Kong, divided themselves into two groups: one, to provide assistance to the Indonesian group, and the other, to the Thai group.  There were quick actions taken by the teams – going to the detention centres to get facts, as well as close coordination with the Hong Kong People’s Alliance legal team. There were pressure actions taken as well in the detention centres.  With facts at hand, the teams did media work, exposing the situation as well as the appeal for the intervention of the embassies of Thailand and Indonesia.  The media work involved both Hong Kong, as well as national media – Thailand and Indonesia.  This is where the coordination with, and the quick response of, the secretariat in Chiang Mai contributed a lot in the effectiveness of the media work.

On the day the rest of the APWLD team left, December 20, all Indonesia and Thailand detainees had been released. The Korean women were released earlier, while the men were left behind.  APWLD joined the international community in condemning this act of human rights violation by the Hong Kong police and the government for continuing the detention of Korean protesters. This assistance led to closer coordination and cooperation with other networks such as Via Campesina and Focus on the Global South. To this date, there are still 3 protesters in detention, awaiting their trial. APWLD will continue to join the international pressure until their release.

Massive Loss, Significant Gains in Hong Kong
The deal from the recently concluded 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong has proven that WTO can never ever be about fair trade and development.  While there were substantial concessions from the developing countries, they got hardly anything in return. 

In agriculture, which is the main sector that the WEN programme is involved in, the countries from the South basically got the date for the final phase-out of export subsidies in agriculture – 2013.  However, the structure of agriculture subsidies of the United States and the European Union has remained untouched.  Along with the “box-switching” schemes, these rich countries will maintain their high domestic agricultural support and other forms of subsidies protecting the interests of the large agri-businesses.  The European Union, for one, will be able to continue its export subsidy of 55 billion euros beyond 2013. 

On cotton, the developing countries got nothing. In the “development package” the commitment of the United States to eliminate export subsidies on cotton is an implementation of an actual ruling. Under the Brazil-US Cotton ruling, the United States was already obligated to eliminate export subsidies a year and half ago.  This Development Package, which actually belies the claim that what is being held is a Development Round, is nothing but a sham. While the United States offered duty free and quota access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the flexibility that the United States has to protect products such as sugar and other products of real interest to LDCs render this inutile. The billion-dollar “aid for trade” is actually a programme of loans reminiscent of the structural adjustment programmes of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.  This would leave the LDCs deeper into loans and tied to the agenda of the United States and other powerful countries.

The impending NAMA deal possibly by 2006, can bring more problems for small fishers everywhere, especially in Southeast Asia: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam. We can expect more importation in the fisheries sector of these countries. Aquaculture will get more government support, boosting the investments of corporations, to the detriment of small fishers.  The coastal resources will be increasingly in the hands of corporations, which will mean more environmental degradation, and lead to loss of livelihoods of coastal communities.
The GATS (under its Mode 4) framework allows only for temporary movement of workers across borders to provide services. Its resemblance to the form of a global guest worker programme rather than a broad improvement in the mobility and rights of workers. Historically, guest worker programmes have led to the abuse and exploitation of guest workers whilst at the same time undermining the rights of national workers. This transformation of employment, where workers are commodified and work patterns towards flexibilisation, informalisation and deregulation is taking place to the detriment of working women in the service sector. Liberalisation and efficiency required in the service sector are only shifting work from the paid sector into the unpaid sector. Women end up with having fewer secure jobs and more unpaid work. At the ministerial meeting it was feared that developed country concessions on Mode 4 would be made in that there would be forced agreement to the entry of more professionals from developing countries. As it turned out, this did not press through.
The Hong Kong deal has undoubtedly exposed the genuine spirit behind the WTO – not that of development of peoples and their communities but that of profiteering from the sweat and blood of the working and food-producing masses by large corporations and the colluding governments.

However, it was on the streets of Hong Kong that women showed that they will not be silenced. Women, especially those from the grassroots communities who braved the chill of the weather as well as that brought by the Hong Kong anti-riot police, proved that they will continue to resist WTO.  

Lessons learnt
In 2005, response to the tsunami was APWLD’s most significant cross-cutting initiative. Its advocacy efforts for women’s human rights in the tsunami aftermath proved to be most relevant, timely and needed. APWLD’s report on violations of women’s human rights in the tsunami aftermath turned out to be a valuable source of information for organisations and individuals advocating for women, such as UNIFEM, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, researchers and activists worldwide, such as Japanese activists advocating for special protection of women during natural disasters. Women’s Edge Coalition, a US based NGO, was able to use the information from the APWLD report to successfully lobby the US Senate to approve a USD 10 million grant to support livelihood initiatives of women-survivors of the tsunami.

The Hong Kong activities showed the significant role that APWLD plays in the peoples movement in the region – the facilitator and amplifier of grassroots women’s voices to the regional level and in the broader peoples movement.  And beyond Hong Kong, APWLD can very well bring the network’s activism in the broader women’s movements to enjoin them to be part of the people’s movement resisting economic globalisation. This would be in recognition that violation of economic rights of women is another form of violence against women.

As stated above, the Secretariat has participated in numerous actions, developed statements on various issues, integrating a feminist and women’s human rights perspective, and responded to urgent action alerts from network members and partners. In 2005, urgent action calls served as an important instrument to forge solidarity with other human rights groups, support members and partners’ campaigns as well as demand actions from the governments and alert international community of gross violations of human rights when APWLD members were arrested during demonstrations: in Nepal, when 100 women-activists were arrested during demonstration on the International Women’s Day and in Pakistan, when Hina Jilani, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, and Asma Jehangir, Pakistan Human Rights Commissioner, were arrested during a peaceful marathon on violence against women in May 2005. These women were released under pressure from the international community.

Future Plans
The plan for 2006 is to complete the Survey of women’s human rights violations and develop the Guidelines for gender sensitive disaster management to be presented at a regional forum in July 2006. The challenge is to ensure that state and non-state actors involved in the disaster response follow the guidelines. APWLD will continue its advocacy efforts at the regional and international level.

Due to the scale of the disaster which affected 12 countries and APWLD’s rapid response with the report on women’s human rights concerns in the tsunami aftermath, APWLD was able to raise additional USD 120,000 to fund the Consultation on post-tsunami challenges faced by women in Aceh and the Survey of women’s human rights violations. However, year 2005 exposed the need for APWLD to budget more funds to respond to urgent calls for assistance from network members in emergency cases such as natural disasters. Thus, APWLD’s Programme and Management Committee has proposed to introduce a contingency network members support budget line.

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