Nalini Singh
APWLD Programme Officer

Twenty one aspiring women leaders, academics, activists mostly from Malaysia, Philippines and three Task Force members from Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Korea participated in this three day training to develop their capacity to make decisions about their own lives, with respect and dignity; to share experiences and develop skills on how to raise gender issues within existing institutions and systems; and to promote and implement women’s rights, including the right to take part in the Government of their countries (Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

One of the trainers Tahira Khan said that “although this workshop was organised for Asia- Pacific participants coming from different countries we had more participants from Malaysia. When discussing the political and legal systems of Malaysia from individual perspectives, it was interesting to notice that how the Malaysian system was perceived differently according to individuals understanding of the politics and political systems.”

Gender and Politics Training Level 1 Pilot Workshop held on 3-5 December, 2006, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are part of a training initiative of APWLD’s Women’s Participation in Political Processes Programme. This Workshop, using the newly completed Level training manual, is aimed at building the skills and capacity of women who want to engage in political processes and advance women’s agendas in their respective countries and across the Region.

Lively thematic discussions on political systems and gender issues/perspectives; politics for change and leadership; gender responsive legislation; lobbying, advocacy and campaigning led on by active participation by both trainers Gender and Politics Training in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiaand participations provided more understanding on the issues and through the sharing of experiences, the participants learnt more about different country and organisational situations and strategies.

Some comments on the Training Workshop:

A student leader said that this workshop had provided her insights into combining the work of a student activist and gender issues in order to bring about positive changes in society. Another student activist stated that this workshop will enable her to present gender issues to her organisation and bring about more awareness on the issue amongst fellow student members of her organisation which was politically active in Malaysia.

A Malaysian activist pointed out that the workshop helped her to strengthen her conceptual framework and application of strategies in pushing forward the women’s agenda.

Another woman leader mentioned that such workshops are excellent venues to learn from others successes and limitations in terms of electoral strategies.

An aspiring political leader declared that the workshop had been a very timely intervention for her as she was strategising for the next elections.

The next full Training Workshop is scheduled for August 2007 in Bangkok for regional participants. The completed Training manual will also be launched at that event.