Lessons Learnt:
A continuing challenge for the programme is balancing the priorities of the programme set by the Task Force with the need to respond to the chosen theme of the UNSRVAW’s report to meet our indicator – ‘the extent of coverage in the report of the UNSRVAW’. Furthermore, if the UNSRVAW does not decide on the theme of her report until late in the year the programme may be unprepared to respond to it adequately thus missing an opportunity to provide the UNSRVAW with strategic information on the focus of her report.

The recent Consultation with the UNSRVAW demonstrated that legal standards like ‘due diligence’ are unfamiliar concepts for many participants so a Study Workshop organised before the Consultation becomes crucial ground work for the Consultation to follow. Ideally two days should be given for the Study Workshop with facilitators identified from within APWLDs’ resource pool.

The discussions in the Consultation demonstrated the gaps in strategies at an International, national and civil society level in addressing violence against women by non-state actors and thus the need to continue to work on this area. Also, there is a need to continue work on addressing ‘culture’ as an underlying cause of VAW and cultural relativists arguments as an underlying cause of impunity for VAW in the region.

Organising back-to-back National Consultations with the regional consultations should be continued. However the VAW Task Force must design guidelines for organising such Consultations to ensure that they meet their objectives of being a space for local women’s NGOs to raise their concerns and dialogue with the UNSRVAW.

The VAW TF has received very positive feedback from members on the report from the UNSRVAW Consultation in 2004. Members have reported using the report extensively in trainings and disseminating the information widely to their networks. This feedback confirms the importance of continuing to write and publish reports from the Consultations. The report from the Consultation in October 2005 will be finalised and distributed in early 2006.

This year, the HR system of the UN has vividly illustrated the tenuous commitment of the international community to women’s human rights. This was demonstrated by: the push by the US (which was successfully resisted by women’s groups) to amend the Political Declaration to BPFA to limit its applicability particularly to reproductive rights; the sidelining of women’s human rights in the Outcome Document of the UN Summit; and the only fleeting mention of violence against women in the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan’s report ‘In Larger Freedom’. These developments have demonstrated that despite the achievements at an international and national level, women are still at the point of having to continue to assert our women’s right to live without discrimination, inequality and violence even at the UN. We need concrete, specific and time-bound plans with resources for implementation of promises made at numerous International conventions and treaties, from both the UN and our governments. As details of the proposed reforms to the UN HR system emerge, we may also find that the way in which civil society can engage with the UN, particular the Special Procedures (like the Special Rapporteurs), is transformed.

Future Plans:
APWLD’s VAW Programme will continue to organise Asia-Pacific NGO Consultations with the UN Special Rapporteur on VAW as they continue to provide an accessible and relevant UN mechanism to women’s NGO’s in the region in the absence of a regional human rights mechanism. The VAW Programme plans to build relationships with other UN Special Rapporteurs where their mandate relates to violence against women. The UNSRVAW has also indicated that she would like to work more closely with other SR mandate holders on areas of overlap. In response to this and to maximise the reach of the regional Consultations, the VAW Programme will invite another UN SR to join a Consultation with the UNSRVAW in the future. The VAW programme will also share its reports and resources with other Special Rapporteurs to try to infuse their mandate with a perspective on women’s rights and VAW as a cross-cutting issue essential for the fulfilment of human rights, security and development.

The VAW Programme will continue to develop its work and advocacy on access to justice at a national and community level and develop a more nuanced understanding on the concept of ‘justice’ for VAW in the current context in the region, particularly on the inter-linkages between violence against women and women’s economic, social and cultural rights.

The VAW Programme will critically review its tactics in engaging with the UN HR system (particularly the Special Procedures and UNCHR) as details of the reforms to the UN HR systems emerge. 


Click here to view the latest information about the program ( 704 KB)

« Previous Page