Project profile — Support to Establish the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children

• Far East Asia, regional (100.00%)

• Public sector policy and administrative management:
Public sector policy and administrative management (15110) (50.00%)
Human rights (15160) (50.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Children's issues (principal objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)

The project aims to ensure better protection of women's and children's rights in member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) through effective human rights mechanisms such as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights and the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children. The project develops the institutional capacity, functions, and structures of both Commissions. At the same time, it enhances the capacity of organizations and networks in the ASEAN region that interact with these two Commissions and that have a critical role in ensuring they both fulfil their mandates to promote gender equality and protect women's and children's rights. Activities include: supporting civil society dialogues with the ASEAN committees and other relevant bodies; undertaking a study on the use and the impact of existing regional mechanisms on the promotion and protection of women's rights; and supporting the consultative workshops of relevant ASEAN bodies on the terms of reference of the ASEAN human rights commissions.

N/A

Results achieved as of the end of the project (December 2014) include: (1) Canada’s partnership with UN Women through this programme was a driving force for the improvement of women’s human rights across ASEAN. These efforts were pivotal in the inception and early development of key ASEAN institutions that oversee the regional human rights agenda, namely the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children (ACWC), instilling in them common sense of purpose in promoting and protecting the rights of women; (2) the prioritisation of the needs of women in Southeast Asia in the development and finalization of the terms of reference and workplans of AICHR and ACWC. UN Women, through the programme, provided input into the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, adopted at the 21st ASEAN Summit (Phnom Penh, 15-20 November 2012) and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Elimination of Violence against Children (DVAWC), adopted at the 23rd ASEAN Summit (Bandar Seri Begawan, 9-10 October 2013); (3) the programme developed and expanded the Women’s Caucus network of women’s human rights organizations engaged in ASEAN advocacy; (4) the programme contributed to expanding the number of civil society organization (CSOs) working to advance women’s human rights in the ASEAN region from 29 to 100 members. More than 1,500 stakeholders were trained and engaged with ASEAN at local, regional and international levels; and created and disseminated more than 30 critical advocacy documents on the rights of women and girls; and (5) the programme also provided training to ASEAN Secretariat staff on women’s and girls’ human rights issues to enable them to support the implementation of the AICHR and ACWC workplans.

• Proactive disclosure