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AFPPD
News
1. Civil Society and Parliamentarians
Preparing for UNGASS on HIV
2. AFPPD Emphasizing the Value of the “Girl
Child”
3. AFPPD Standing Committee on the Status of
Women Meets in Jakarta
4. ASEAN Parliamentary Assembly Enhancing
Female Parliamentarian Cooperation for MDG5
5. Open Hearing on Elimination of Violence
Against Women in Philippines
6. Hon. Chiaki Takahashi Appointed Senior Vice
Minister of Foreign Affairs in Japan
Affiliate Network News
7. Women Parliamentarians are Agents of Change
in the Commonwealth
8. Pakistan Parliamentarians Strategizing MDG
Fulfillment
9. Asia Pacific Parliamentarians Commemorate
100th International Women’s Day
Resources for Parliamentarians
Announcements
AFPPD
News
1.
Civil Society and Parliamentarians Preparing for UNGASS on HIV
Thailand –
Parliamentarians joined representatives from
international organizations, governments, civil
society, and experts at the Regional
Consultation on Universal Access to HIV
Prevention, Treatment and Care: ‘Getting to
Zero’ which took place March 30 -31 in Bangkok.
Organized by the UN AIDS Regional Support Team
in cooperation with the United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
the consultation aimed to prepare for the UN
General Assembly 2011 Comprehensive AIDS Review
(scheduled this June 2011 in New York, USA).
AFPPD Secretariat was represented by Executive
Director Mr. Shiv Khare, and Program Associate
Mr. Tammavit Tasnavites.
2. AFPPD
Emphasizing the Value of the “Girl Child”
Indonesia – over 100
participants, including 65 parliamentarians and
ministers from 19 countries in the region,
joined by experts and representatives from
international organizations took part in the 8th
Regional Women Ministers’ and Parliamentarians’
Conference on “Young Women and Girls: Enhancing
Parliamentary Support for and Monitoring of
Gender Equality” in Jakarta from 26 to 27th of
March. Organized by AFPPD in cooperation with
the Indonesian Forum of Parliamentarians on
Population and Development (IFPPD), Parliament
of Indonesia, Government of Japan and UNFPA, the
conference focused on strengthening advocacy
efforts, action and progress emphasizing the
value of the girl child in Asia and the
Pacific. The parliamentarians committed to
ensuring adequate attention and concrete policy
actions through high level advocacy, regular
monitoring and review of the process on
addressing the rights and equitable development
of young women and girls.
3. AFPPD Standing
Committee on the Status of Women Meets in
Jakarta
Indonesia – 16
parliamentarians and other participants attended
the AFPPD Standing Committee on the Status of
Women meeting, which took place on 27 March in
Jakarta, chaired by Sen. Claire Moore from
Australia. The committee discussed issues such
as male participation in the prevention of
violence against women and girls; holding open
hearings on women’s issues in parliaments;
increasing understanding of the changing social
dynamics of gender relationships (not just
‘womens’ issues’), and the need to focus efforts
on vulnerable populations such as young women,
women with disabilities, or women living with
HIV. The committee also agreed that steps should
be taken to reactivate the Pacific Network of
Parliamentarians on Population and Development.
4. ASEAN Parliamentary Assembly Enhancing Female
Parliamentarian Cooperation for MDG5
Cambodia –
approximately 100 participants attended the
ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)
seminar on “Accelerating Achievements of MDG-5
through the role of Women Parliamentarians” in
Phnom Penh. Organized by Cambodian Women
Parliamentarians, and the Social Affairs
Committee with AFPPD, the event took place in
Phnom Penh from March 9-12, in preparation for
the 32nd AIPA General Assembly to be held in
September 2011. The seminar, which focused on
enhancing cooperation between female
parliamentarians in achieving MDG 5 goals, was
officiated by Her Excellency, Dr. Bun Rany Hun
Sen, First Lady of Cambodia. Mr. Shiv Khare,
AFPPD Executive Director, gave the keynote
speech, and AFPPD Program Associate Ms. Nancy
Noma also attended.
5. Open Hearing
on Elimination of Violence Against Women in
Philippines
Philippines - The
Philippine Legislator’s Committee on Population
and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD), in
collaboration with the Congressional Committee
on Women and Gender Equality, Committee on
Population and Family Relations, Men Opposed to
VAW Everywhere (MOVE), with support from AFPPD
and AusAID, organized a public hearing on
“Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) in
the Philippines: Male Involvement” in Cebu City
on 18 March. The forum discussed effective
implementation of enacted laws in the over-all
protection of Women’s Human Rights and male
involvement in the elimination of violence
against women. Rep. Edcel Lagman, AFPPD Deputy
Secretary General, addressed the forum, as well
as Cong. Antonio Tinio. AFPPD was also
represented at the event.
6. Hon. Chiaki
Takahashi Appointed Senior Vice Minister of
Foreign Affairs in Japan
Japan – Hon. Chiaki
Takahashi, Secretary General of the Japan
Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP)
has been appointed as Senior Vice Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Japan. Hon. Takahashi is
also Chair of the AFPPD Standing Committee on
Food Security
Affiliate Network News
7. Women
Parliamentarians are Agents of Change in the
Commonwealth
New
Zealand - The Commonwealth Women
Parliamentarians (CWP) Pacific regional gender
and democracy seminar took place from 27 to 31
March in Wellington, with the theme of "Women as
Agents of Change." Participants included
female parliamentarians and candidates from
Bougainville, the Cook Islands, Niue, Nauru, the
Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati,
Tuvalu and Tonga. Less than 4 percent of all
elected representatives in the Pacific region
are currently women.
8. Pakistan
Parliamentarians Strategizing MDG Fulfillment
Pakistan –
Parliamentarians, civil society activists,
economists and academicians attended a National
Conference on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
in Islamabad from 21 to 22 of March. Organized
by ActionAid Pakistan and AusAid, the “National
Conference on monitoring the achievements of the
MDGs and weaknesses of the existing Budgetary
Allocations” focused on advancing the principles
of the localization of MDGs and stressed for the
need of public participation, particularly of
civil society, to recommend strategies to the
government for MDG attainment.
9. Asia Pacific
Parliamentarians Commemorate 100th International
Women’s Day
Asia Pacific -
Parliamentarians from across the region
celebrated 100th Anniversary of International
Women’s Day on March 8. From the Philippines,
where members of the PLCPD contributed to the
mobilization of 7,000 pro-RH advocates who
marched for 6 kilometers in Quezon City in order
to call for the passage of the Reproductive
Health Bill; to Indonesia, where Minister for
Women Empowerment and Children Protection Linda
Agum Gumelar announced that Parliament will have
a gender equality law on its agenda,
parliamentarians have actively contributed to
the empowerment and enhancement of the rights of
women throughout Asia Pacific.
Resources for Parliamentarians
A new publication
on resource mobilization is available
for parliamentarians, “Tips and Tricks
South Asia,” released by the German Foundation
for World Population (DWS). It is a free tool
containing information detailing how to access
European funding resources for population
assistance and poverty alleviation, in the
constantly changing donor environment.
Resources for other regions such as East Africa,
as well as country specific, are also available
at
http://www.euroresources.org/tips_and_tricks
The AFPPD
Policy
Tracking and Monitoring Unit has
created a population and development policy
database, with a large number of policy and
legislative resources available online at
http://www.afppd-populationpolicies.org/.
Population policy updates are also being sent
out electronically to parliamentarians, UN
representatives and other interested
professionals in the field of population and
development to keep them informed and up-to-date
on current issues. If you wish to be added to
this list, please email
afppdpolicytrackingunit@afppd.org
Announcements
AFPPD would like to
express solidarity with the citizens
of Japan, as they recover from the effects of
the recent earthquake. The Japanese Organization
for International Cooperation in Family Planning
(JOICFP) has opened a fund to support women
affected by the earthquake and followed by
Tsunami in Japan. AFPPD requests the National
Parliament Committee members to circulate this
information as widely as possible so that JOICFP
can help women in Japan.
If you have any
parliamentary news items that you
would like to see included in our monthly E-news
service, please email us at
afppd@afppd.org, with “E-news item” in the
header.
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