The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) held its 7th meeting in Kuala Lumpur from July 22-24 with the participation of ASEAN Member States (AMS).

According to the ACWC press release, the meeting finalised a draft Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (VAW) and Elimination of Violence Against Children (VAC). The declaration addresses the concern of VAW and VAC as obstacles to achieving equality, peace, and development, while reflecting the collective efforts of ASEAN to intensify and strengthen policy, legal frameworks, and institutional capacity to eradicate VAW and VAC.

The ACWC reaffirmed its commitment to remove such obstacles in the context of strengthening regional co-operation, collaboration, and co-ordination. The organisation endeavors to eliminate VAW and VAC by key measures, such as building adequately funded national welfare systems, protection, recovery and rehabilitation of victims, promotion of legislation against VAW and VAC, and protection of the rights of women and children.

The Declaration also highlighted vulnerabilities and emerging forms of abuse faced by women and children, such as conflict, migration, disaster, emergency situations, climate change, human trafficking, labor, online abuse, persons with disabilities, statelessness, and membership in ethnic and/or indigenous groups, saying that these must be addressed.

The meeting recognised the contributions of AMS, sectoral bodies, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in providing relevant input.

It further accentuated the need for intensified collaboration and partnership among AMS, CSOs, governments, and relevant institutions, both local and international, to effectively eliminate VAW and VAC.

The Declaration will be presented for adoption to the 23rd ASEAN Summit in October 2013.

Conferees also dealt with the progress of implementation of projects and activities led by AMS under the ACWC Work Plan 2012-2016.

The 8th ACWC meeting will be held in early 2014 at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia.

(Nhandan Online)