Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15
22-24 October 2009
Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines

Sisters in Asia and the Pacific,

I am pleased to accept my nomination as Convener of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15, which will be held on 22-24 October 2009 at Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines. I thank the Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW), the Forum organizers, for entrusting to me the challenging and exciting task of bringing together women from Asia and the Pacific and beyond to once again take stock of the situation of women and craft responses to overcome persistent and emerging threats to the realization of commitments made in Beijing.

It has been 15 years since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in September 1995, a period equal to half a generation. How much has our world changed? Are women’s lives significantly better? Is quality education within reach of all girls and boys? Do women and men now regard each other as equals? Do women view politics as a genuine career option rather than as an exclusive domain for wealthy men and their clans? Do women and their children feel safe and secure in their own homes and communities? There are many issues indeed.

As Chairperson of the UN Commission on the Status of Women from 1994 – 1996, I presided over countless discussions and negotiations over the draft document that we now call the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These sessions at the Prepcom in New York and at the Main Committee at the Conference in Beijing were often difficult and contentious but in the end all UN member states reached consensus on necessary Action for Equality, Development and Peace.

How much progress has 15 years brought? How much of this can we attribute to NGO action? What are our new analyses and insights and commitments that may further enrich and extend the Platform’s vision and spirit?

Friends in Asia and the Pacific, you are invited to participate in this meeting among NGOs and women’s movements and networks to prepare for the United Nations 15th year review of the Beijing Platform for Action. All are welcome: activists and academics, professionals and politicians, community workers and policy advocates, young and elderly, grassroots women, human rights defenders, the LGBT community, men---everyone. The only required qualification is that you affirm the Beijing Platform for Action and subscribe to the UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The theme of the NGO Forum is “Weaving Wisdom, Confronting Crises, Forging the Future”, highlighting the important contributions of women’s organizations and networks and feminist movements in meeting the strategic objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action in all 12 of its critical areas of concern and in creating a better future.

The venue of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15 is Miriam College in the Philippines. Miriam College, of which I am president, is an educational institution for women, aggressively committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women. I look forward to welcoming you to our campus.

For information on the Forum, please visit the APWW website . We will be posting information on the program, registration procedures, etc. as these become available.

Mabuhay and welcome to the Philippines!

Sincerely yours,

Patricia B. Licuanan Ph.D.
Convenor
Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15

For more information, please visit the APWW website .