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Annual Report
January 2003-January 2004

The Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW) is a formal network of non-governmental women’s groups in the UN-designated Asia Pacific Region. Members are from Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific and includes representation from three regional networks. Its major focus of work is the implementation and monitoring of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the Beijing + 5 (B+5) Outcomes Document.

In 2003, APWW played an important role in supporting national, sub regional and regional meetings leading to Beijing +10 and in consolidating the Asia Pacific perspective. APWW also identified as part of its work the linking of the BPFA and the Outcome Document’s implementation to other UN process, meeting and conventions. In order to do this, the group required the capacity to sustain coordination and information gathering on the local, national and regional levels between UN meetings as well as disseminating information back to grassroots. It also required a new level of knowledge and skills for women, particularly in networking, accountability and constituency building. With this focus, APWW concentrated its activities in 2003 on communication, advocacy, regional and international participation and organizational development.

Communication

Information dissemination is important for any network but for the APWW, this was identified as critical tools. In the middle of the year, APWW launched APWW-Meet@isiswomen.org, an online mailing list hosted by Isis International-Manila. This e-mail list has been designed to allow APWW member organizations to enlist and become part of information dissemination and online discussions.

Advocacy

APWW members have been actively involved in linkages with BPFA, CEDAW and World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR). For example, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) has been linking CEDAW with BPFA through its human rights work. Isis International-Manila took a regional lead in WCAR and in bringing the results of WCAR to the UNCSW meetings in New York. The Australian National Committee of Refugee Women (ANCORW) has been active in linking CEDAW and BPFA to concerns of women in armed conflict.

Regional and International Participation

APWW attended and actively lobbied at the March 2003 UNCSW meeting . APWW organized caucus meetings and carried forward a statement reflective of women’s concerns in the Asia-Pacific region.

Organizational Development

The year 2003 saw much effort towards APWW’s development as an organization. Among the activities in this area were capacity-building, strategic planning, strengthening organizational structures and processes and formalizing a secretariat.

Capacity-building. The APWW Steering Committee trained on the principles of networking. The training workshop conducted by Isis International-Manila and focused on electronic networking and development of strategies to reach women’s groups who have as well as those who do not have access to technology. The workshop also focused on strategies to keep networks active and accountable to its members. The program was held in Chiangmai, Thailand.

Strategic Planning. A strategic planning session was held to compliment and intertwine with the networking training. From this planning session, APWW emerged with a 5 year Strategic Plan, and deeper appreciation of how to use the new technologies for more active and effective regional engagement with the Beijing processes.

The group also came up with a plan to initiate regional meetings on B+10 and if possible, to hold a region- wide women’s NGO meeting prior to the UNCSW Beijing + 10 Review Meeting in 2005.

Strengthening Organizational Structures and Processes. 2003 saw APWW filling all the slots in the Steering Committee with women’s groups from the region. Organizational work also involved preparing job descriptions, clarifying roles for office bearers and committee members, and going through the legal process to register APWW in the Philippines. Formalizing a constitution and work towards acquiring ECOSOC status within the UN also started.

Setting up a Secretariat. After the strategic planning in February, it was clear that in order for the network to become a formal structure and to solidify its operations, it would be necessary to establish a Secretariat. Dr. Patricia Licuanan, Co-Chair and President of Miriam College in the Philippines, offered to host the APWW secretariat at the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College. Funding for this was made possible by a $5,000 grant from UNIFEM (East and Southeast Asia Office).

In August 2003, Luz Maria Martinez was hired as a part-time coordinator. Ms. Martinez, who had worked with the previous formations of the APWW and with many of the members of the Steering Committee, had been one of the founding members of the APWW as it is now recognized.