BUILDING
CAPACITY FOR CHANGE
Training and Training Materials
Phase I
(1993-1996) and Phase II (1997-2001)
The training
that IWRAW Asia Pacific has developed aims at strengthening the
domestic application of human rights norms in relation to women's
rights. By focusing on the CEDAW Convention, our training:
-
Creates
clarity with regard to the concepts of substantive equality,
the principle of non-discrimination and State obligation;
-
Promotes
a rights-based approach to women's advancement as well as the
need for the development of a theoretical framework of human
rights law that is reflective of the gender-based violations
suffered by women;
-
Presents
the premise that rights guaranteed by international treaties
have to be actively claimed by women, and that this requires
the mobilisation of different constituencies and sustained advocacy
with the State;
-
Emphasises
the importance of engaging with the law as an instrument for
claiming rights and develops skills in the application of the
CEDAW Convention in differing contexts; and
-
Raises
awareness of the need for synergy between local and international
advocacy, and provides an introduction to the UN human rights
system, the reporting procedures of the CEDAW Convention, women's
roles in these procedures, and the significance of the Optional
Protocol to the CEDAW Convention.
Apart from
training different kinds of women's groups, we have also provided
training and technical assistance to human rights advocates, lawyers,
and government officials across the region.
To support
our training, we have compiled a set of materials incorporating
the experiences, needs and perspectives of women who participate
in our training activities, and developed this into a five-module
training package covering the following topics:
-
Women's
realities - understanding some concepts (e.g. social construction
of gender, institutions and inequalities, discrimination, substantive
equality);
-
Law
and the legal system (e.g. the role of the law, limits and possibilities
of the law);
-
Rights
as a tool for change (e.g. what are rights and why rights, link
between development and rights, international human rights law,
challenges and prospects for women's rights);
-
The
CEDAW Convention (e.g. history and key features, State obligation
and role in protecting women's rights, mechanisms and procedures,
using CEDAW to promote women's rights); and
-
Planning
the next steps.
Phase III (2002-2005)
In Phase III,
our role in training will shift from one that schedules and conducts
training to one that develops expertise for the region in terms
of resource persons and training material so that national-level
groups will be self sufficient in building their capacity. Particularly
since the demand for training is expected to increase, we will
focus our energy and resources on building a regional and national
pool of resource persons who are able to take on the different
levels of capacity-building necessary.
In view of
the adoption of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, it is vital for
lawyers to develop expertise on the domestic implementation of
CEDAW, especially on incorporating its key principles of substantive
equality, non-discrimination and State obligation, in national
jurisprudence, laws and policies. We will therefore conduct a
more specialised level of training of lawyers to develop their
capacity for legal strategies to promote equality and non-discrimination.
Material
development
To support
these new levels of training, we plan to have:
-
The
CEDAW Guide which provides activists, government officials
and anyone interested in the application of the CEDAW Convention
with quick and easy access to vital information on this treaty;
-
An
Expert Group Meeting to update training concepts and a companion
package to the Training Package that incorporates information
on new and emerging areas relevant to the effective implementation
of the CEDAW Convention;
-
An
Expert Group Meeting on training of lawyers and a curriculum
for a specialised level of training of lawyers;
-
A
popular version of the Training Package that documents the
language and methodology used in communicating information
on the CEDAW Convention to women at the grassroots level;
and
-
A
translation of the Training Package starting with providing
key handouts in Spanish and French.
Training
This
page was last updated on July 25, 2002
IWRAW
Asia Pacific is an independent, non-profit, NGO in Special consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
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