International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific

Current and Proposed Activities by Programme for 2010

Most of the programmes are interlinked with capacity building, advocacy and knowledge building components. However in terms of implementation of specific activities to achieve our objectives the activity is anchored in one or another programme. This Calendar of activities highlights some of the IWRAW Asia Pacific events planned for the year in order to implement our programmes or to support the work of national partners. It also includes some of our engagements with various international human rights mechanisms & processes at the regional or international level as well as certain key international events/forums in relation to women’s human rights.

For a snapshot of the 2010 Calendar click here

Month	Programme	Event/Activity
April	Enhancing Realisation of Rights	Europe Concluding Observations Implementation Meeting, in collaboration with KARAT Coalition and WIDE The Regional Consultation on the Implementation of the CEDAW Committee’s Concluding Observations in Europe (Consultation) will bring together women’s groups, academics and activists from the European region, with an emphasis on countries in which the two collaborating partners Karat Coalition and WIDE have a focus. The Consultation aims to assess the status of CEDAW application and to consider how to further utilise CEDAW and other human rights instruments in the work of participants’ organisations. In particular, the Consultation will provide a space to examine the successes in and barriers to promoting and monitoring the implementation of the Concluding Observations of the CEDAW Committee in the selected countries in the region as a process for holding states accountable to their obligations under CEDAW. Further, the participants at the Consultation will explore the potential for strengthening existing alliances as well as for building new ones, and developing national and regional strategies for collective action towards the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, including effective state implementation of the Concluding Observations.
May	Enhancing Realisation of Rights	8th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) IWRAW Asia Pacific is supporting the participation of women’s human rights organisations with the UPR process as part of on-going work aimed at integrating women’s human rights in the work of the Human Rights Council, as well as to support greater implementation of Concluding Observations through lobbying for inclusion of Concluding Observations in the UPR Outcome Document.
May	Building Capacity for Change	Sub-regional Training of Trainers for Timor Leste, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam The Sub-Regional Training of Trainers (SRTOT) is designed for leaders in the field of women’s rights in the selected Southeast Asia countries who wish to play a role in promoting equality and the human rights of women through engagement with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the CEDAW Convention” or “the Convention”). Selected Participants will be interested in using the Convention to raise human rights standards, strengthen the domestic application of human rights norms in relation to women’s rights and create change in laws and policies around women’s rights. The training aims to strengthen the ability of women activists and organisations to apply CEDAW and other international human rights norms in the domestic context, and to expand the pool of resource persons in the selected countries who can conduct trainings and provide technical assistance on the CEDAW Convention at the local and national levels in collaboration with IWRAW Asia Pacific.
June	Building Capacity for Change	Consultation on the Implementation of CEDAW Concluding Observations in Timor Leste, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia The Consultation on the Implementation of the CEDAW Concluding Observations in Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste and Vietnam will provide an opportunity to bring together women’s groups, academics and activists from the four countries to assess the status of CEDAW application and to consider how to further utilise CEDAW and other human rights instruments in their work. In particular, the Consultation will provide a space to examine the successes in and barriers to promoting and monitoring the implementation of the Concluding Observations of the CEDAW Committee in the selected countries as a process for holding states accountable to their obligations under CEDAW.
June	Enhancing Realisation of Rights	From Global to Local (46th CEDAW session) “From Global to Local” is a programme conducted by the International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific) held in conjunction with the CEDAW Session. This programme is designed to fill the gap between human rights monitoring by the CEDAW Committee at the international level, and grassroots activism of NGOs demanding government accountability at the national level. Through the programme, IWRAW Asia Pacific: Alerts NGOs when their State is scheduled to report to the CEDAW Committee; Provides NGOs with guidelines and training on preparing an NGO shadow / alternative report; Assists NGOs to attend the CEDAW session to lobby the CEDAW Committee; and Continue to provide useful information post CEDAW review to NGOs including how to monitor the State’s implementation of the Concluding Observations.
September	Enhancing Realisation of Rights	Enhancing Realisation of Rights