Workshop: Gender, Rights and Empowerment in Southeast Asia

This conference will be taken place November 1-2, 2007, Eastin Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

WARI is a Bangkok-based women’s organization devoted to gender research, education and training. It is organizing its 8^th annual gender and Southeast Asia conference on November 1-2, 2007. The event has been successful for the last 7 years. We are looking forward to your participation and to another year of successful meeting. The conference welcomes participants from SE Asia and other countries. We invite interested students, teachers, NGO and GO workers, activists, scholars, consultants, and representatives of UN/donor agencies to participate.

This year, we will have at least two panels devoted to issues of Thai women. Please circulate this announcement.

Gender issues are often resisted in SE Asia and other countries of the global south while gender training programs and discourse have often not been successful. At least four reasons can be cited. One is the resistance of men and bureaucracies headed by men. Two, women’s movements have often been perceived as an imitation of western women’s liberation demanding personal/individual rights. This approach perceived as promoting self-centeredness has not made much sense to most women who still hold fast to traditional obligation toward family and society. In Thailand where patron-client relations prevail, family rather than market or the state is still the safety net. Third, effective gender education is lacking and not adequately supported by donor agencies or the state. And fourth, funding agencies sometimes create contradictory consequences. Policy-wise, they help maintain activists’ programs. But for their own survival, they keep activists busy in the market mechanism of proposal and report writing. This “professionalization” of women/gender issues sometimes encourages middle class entrepreneurship in the name of working for gender justice. The constellation of donors and circles of women NGO clients leave little space for dissent and critical voices. This conformation or complacency to such mechanism sometimes turns once idealist to self-promoting activists/scholars busy in travel, meeting and accounting than continuing their personal and institutional resistance against social injustice or market mechanism.

There are very few courageous voices, but the obstacles to promotion of gender justice are many. The voice of middle class is often heard, but the voice of and attention to marginal women is lacking.

In spite of mental resistance and funding obstacles, WARI wants to continue this dialogue. The aim of the annual conference is to advance gender understanding and to deepen gender, rights and empowerment approaches in order to develop and facilitate their application to emerging social issues and challenges. The conference hopes to foster a network of Gender Education and training (GET Net) to support and help facilitate a continuing dialogue on gender, capacity building and critical human resource development.

The conference would be held right after a seven-day gender-training workshop on gender and human rights in SE Asia. The issues of gender, diversity, culture, education, and rights, along with issues of training and conceptualization are of continuing interest. In addition, we are interested in the application of gender and rights approaches to contemporary areas of HIV/AIDS, violence, and trafficking, and to the case studies of marginalized women such as girl child, migrant women and ethnic minorities. Possible panels are as follows. Additional panels on related issues can also be suggested.
1. Gender, diversity, identity, education and training
2. Challenges of gender and development issues in Thailand, Mekong region and SE Asia
3. Rights-based approach and women’s empowerment
4. Gender issues in HIV/AIDS, violence, and trafficking
5. Issues of marginal women: girl child, migrants, and ethnic minorities
6. Application of CEDAW and MDGs

The conference uses English medium and will be held at Eastin Hotel, Bangkok on November 1-2, 2007. The registration fee is USD100 or 3,500 baht. Scholarship (for Thai and other needy participants) is available to reduce the registration fee to 1,500 baht. Registration form is
attached or could be accessed with other details from our website geocities.com/wari. Last date for registration is April 15, and for paper submission June 30, 2007.

You don’t have to submit a paper to participate. Our email gendertrain@yahoo.com

US Government Donation Not Enough: Activist

While the US government’s donation of US$400,000 towards a $1 million study into removing toxic chemicals from the environment and cleaning up a site in Da Nang is welcome, it’s not enough, said Len Aldis, general secretary of the UK-Viet Nam Friendship Association.

It is a very small step – and long overdue – on the long road to the eradication of the legacy left by the use of millions of litres of Agent Orange and other chemicals used and sprayed by the US," he said.

In a letter to the Viet Nam News Agency bureau in London, Aldis wrote, "Today in Viet Nam there are over three million living victims including newborn babies, suffering from illness, many with severe disabilities caused through Agent Orange. Of what benefit to them will be the $400,000 or $1 million?".

Kim Lien Primary school has undergone a few modifications recently to make it more accessible to wheelchairs

The US$10,000 "Making schools more friendly to students with disabilities" project was funded by the World Bank and involves building ramps for wheelchairs. Work began last August, organised by the Access Working Group of People with Disabilities and Handicap International.

The group visited 20 educational establishments in Ha Noi to gauge their suitability for the project.

"Most of the schools and universities we visited didn’t have disabled access, which explains why of the 20 schools we went to only one has a single disabled student," said Nguyen Hong Oanh, a member of the group.

The project is designed to advocate the rights of students with disabilities and to raise awareness about the lack of wheelchair access in schools and universities.

"Instead of feeling the shame of having to rely on other people’s help, disabled students can now attend school unaided," said Nguyen Hong Ha, the project’s manager.

Since the project was launched last year, two schools and one university now have disabled access: Kim Lien Primary School, Tam Khuong Secondary School and the University of Labour and Social Affairs (ULSA).

All three establishments now have wheelchair access to the toilets, while disabled students attending Tam Khuong can now visit the library unaided.

"I’m very happy because at least my son can feel more comfortable in school," said Nguyen Thanh Huyen, whose wheelchair-bound 14-year-old son Nguyen Van Kien attends Tam Khuong.

Ha said the project wasn’t simply about building ramps in schools but about creating "a society without barriers" where people with disabilities can lead a normal life.

"With better accessibility, we hope more and more disabled children will go to school," added Ha.

Poverty Action Program 2015 - Vietnam (AP 2015)

The “Poverty Action Program 2015” (AP 2015) for the Focus Country Vietnam is to be seen as part of the German contribution to the implementation of the “Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy” (CPRGS) on the national and (in particular) on the decentralized and local levels. The overall goal of the AP 2015 is to strengthen the collaboration between stakeholders of the German Development Cooperation and stakeholders in selected partner countries in their joint efforts to reduce extreme poverty to half until the year 2015. In Vietnam, the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) was approved by the Prime Minister in May 2002. Its implementation is a major challenge for involved government bodies and civil society in the years to come. Targets on the national (macro) level include the improvement of framework conditions and the harmonization of sectoral approaches for an ecologically sustainable and socially balanced economic growth. Targets on the decentralized (meso and micro) levels include the strengthening of capacities of local institutions and beneficiary organizations with the aim to actively involve them in the implementation and poverty impact monitoring of projects under the umbrella of the CPRGS. On the local level, this process is also meant to strengthen “Grass Roots Democracy.” Partner: Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), CPRGS-Secretariat Additional Partners: Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), People’s Committees and Technical Departments in selected Provinces and Districts Location: Hanoi, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Dak Lak and other selected provinces Contribution: € 2.22 million Commencement: 2002 Background The Federal Government of Germany has supported the participatory formulation of the CPRGS and the initial steps of its implementation by a number of programs and projects in the major fields of German development assistance. With the AP 2015, additional funds are made available by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) to further “mainstream” the focus of poverty-related impacts of these programs and projects and implement specific support activities for the decentralized implementation of the CPRGS in close association with ongoing GTZ projects and their Vietnamese counterpart structures. Objectives Since the year 2002, the AP 2015 in Vietnam supports the CPRGS implementation both on macro and decentralized levels in the form of three projects. As from 2002, the project 'Poverty Implementation Fund, Focus Country Vietnam' (PN 2002.2091.3) aims at improving the co-ordination among Ministries involved in the CPRGS, as well as between the national and the provincial levels. As from 2003, funds were made available for a number of additional activities: The project 'Social Security for poor Population Groups' (PN 03.3504-2-019.00) mainly aims at improving framework conditions on the macro level with some pilot implementation activities for vulnerable social groups. The project 'Poverty Impact Monitoring, Implementation of MDGs, poverty- and gender-orientated Budget Planning' (PN 03.3504-2-018.00) is targeted at micro level (selected districts, communes and villages) to develop models and implement pilot activities with direct beneficiary participation of the poor population. Target Groups Direct beneficiaries of the AP 2015 are poor families, women, men, youth and children in the selected villages and communes of the provinces of Son La, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Dak Lak, as well as other vulnerable groups (e.g. handicapped) in urban areas, such as Hanoi. They benefit through improved targeting of the CPRGS 'roll out' on decentralized levels due to stronger demand-oriented and gender specific programming. Based on expressed local aspirations and needs, the program supports a process in which planning, implementation and monitoring of poverty-related activities are truly 'owned' by the beneficiaries. On a pilot and modeling basis, the program also provides local development funds which are directly managed by local communities. Capacity building is targeted also to “intermediaries” of the process, such as involved government bodies, mass organizations, vocational training centers and other groups of civil society. Implementation Apart from a direct support to the CPRGS Secretariat within MPI, which is charged by the Government of Vietnam with the co-ordination of the CPRGS, other program activities are implemented in close association with ongoing GTZ-supported projects and their Vietnamese counterpart structures. The major implementation components of the program include: Implementation Components Vietnamese Partner (associated GTZ project) Son La - gender activities, commune budgets, grass roots democracy, village development funds -- DPI and Vocational Training Centre Son La (SFDP) Thanh Hoa and Dak Lak - village development funds -- DPC Thuan Xuan (Thanh Hoa) - DPC Mad Rak (Dak Lak) (REFAS ) Quang Binh - gender activities, village development funds -- PPC Quang Binh (IFSP, SMNR-CV) Dak Lak - VDP, village development funds -- DPI Dak Lak (RDDL) Hanoi and selected provinces - gender activities, poverty impact monitoring, village risk cover funds, social security mechanisms -- MOLISA (GTZ-MOLISA) Hanoi - social security for the handicapped -- VIETCOT (GTZ-VIETCOT) Hanoi and selected provinces - vocational training, support to vulnerable groups -- MoE (GTZ-BBPV) Address of the Program Office: GTZ Office Hanoi 6th floor, Hanoi Towers 49 Hai Ba Trung Hanoi, Vietnam Tel. +84-4-9344951 Fax +84-4-9344950 E-mail: wiemer@ap2015-vietnam.org nha@ap2015-vietnam.org

US grant for cleaning up Agent Orange site a pittance: expert

ThanhNien - A US donation of US$400,000 for a $1 million study into cleaning up a chemical dump in Da Nang is welcome but inadequate, general secretary of the UK-Vietnam Friendship Association, Len Aldis, said.

“It is a very small step – and long overdue – on the long road to the eradication of the legacy left by the use of millions of liters of Agent Orange and other chemicals used and sprayed by the US,” he said.

In a letter to the Vietnam News Agency’s bureau in London, he said: “Today in Vietnam there are over three million living victims including new-born babies, suffering from illness, many with severe disabilities caused by Agent Orange.”

“Of what benefit to them will be the $400,000 or $1 million?” he asked.

International donors to back VN’s sustainable development

VietnamNews — The international community has promised to help Viet Nam overcome the difficulties it will face to achieve its sustainable development targets during integration into the international community.

Addressing a recent donors’ meeting on environment and natural resources in the capital, Danish Ambassador to Viet Nam Peter Lysholt Hansen voiced appreciation for Viet Nam’s decision to allocate one per cent of its State budget to environmental protection from 2006.

Continued pressure
Tran Thi Minh Ha, Director of the Department for International Co-operation at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said Viet Nam is facing many challenges following admission into the World Trade Organisation.

"Development opportunities are many, so are the challenges," said Ha.

According to Ha, the biggest challenges come from exploitation of the country’s natural resources and environmental pollution.

She said mobilisation and exploitation of the country’s natural resources to meet the demands of rapid economic growth and cross-border pollution would seriously degrade the environment and cause an imbalance in the natural ecosystem. This would have a negative impact on sustainable development, the people’s health and quality of life, Ha said, adding that these problems were also the result of the country’s industrialisation and modernisation.

Pollution caused by waste water, industrial waste, household waste and emissions from industrial parks and urban areas across the nation have become a barrier to development, she said.

Environmental goals
Environmental protection is one of the country’s top priorities. That was the conclusion of bilateral negotiations with the European Union for accession to the WTO in July 2004. It has subsequently become one of the 11 service commitments Viet Nam has made for joining the WTO.

The country’s environmental commitments include waste water and industrial waste treatment, and controls on air and noise pollution.

Foreign invested enterprises, in which the foreign partner will be allowed to hold up to 51 per cent of the firm’s chartered capital within four years following Viet Nam’s accession to the WTO, are permitted to provide these environmental services. After four years, the foreign partner will have the right to set up on its own - but not as a branch - in Viet Nam.

Mai Ai Truc, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said to comply with the country’s commitments to the WTO, Viet Nam needed to ensure the legal framework governing the environment was in place.

The increase in economic exchanges among nations could turn Viet Nam into a "dumping ground" for unfriendly environmental products, Truc said.

Not enough
Though the government has allocated one per cent of the state budget to environmental protection, the sum is not enough, said Truc. He said it was forecast that over the next few years capital coming from Official Development Assistance would be reduced, particularly non-refundable loans.

To cope with this situation, Viet Nam should encourage foreign investment in environmental protection, the Minister said, adding that environmental protection should be part and parcel of all government policy.

According to a Swedish environmental expert, Viet Nam should only grant investment licences to inves tors who have included in their proposals good environmental treatment measures. He also suggested that Viet Nam should develop a national target programme on environmental protection and sustainable development which investors could participate in.

Klaus Rohland, the World Bank country representative suggested that Viet Nam should encourage enterprises to adopt business-development strategies based on sustainable development. He suggested the government come up with a proper sanction mechanism for enterprises that violate environmental laws and regulations.

Development aid conference starts in Vietnam

International aid experts from the World Bank, UN and other development agencies and 40 nations met in Vietnam on Monday for a four-day conference aimed at making global development efforts more effective.

The Hanoi meeting will study ways of making worldwide foreign aid -- which, organisers said, reached a record 87 billion dollars in 2005 -- more effective in eradicating poverty.

The Third International Roundtable on Managing For Development Results will bring experts and officials from the UN Development Programme and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and scores of aid agencies, non-profit groups and private companies were also expected at the meeting.

The conference follows similar meetings in 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico, where world leaders called on rich countries to give more aid and on poor countries to use it better, and a similar roundtable in Marrakech, Morocco in 2004.

At a 2005 meeting in France, 60 donor countries and 60 aid recipients endorsed the Paris Declaration to increase aid harmonisation and accountability and greater decision-making powers for the receiving country.

Host Vietnam has been praised for its poverty-eradication programmes, and has been chosen as a pilot country in which separate UN agencies will streamline their operations to work under a common leadership and budget.

The World Bank in Vietnam plans on Tuesday to announce that it will provide Vietnam with over four billion dollars in interest-free credit until 2011 to continue its poverty reduction and development efforts.