Asia & Pacific

Stretching from Central Asia to the Pacific, this regional grouping includes 50 member states and nine associate member states. The group falls under the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) which had its most recent meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in late October of last year. The meeting reviewed regional implementation of the Jakarta Declaration and the Platform for Action, often focusing on the concerns of activists fighting the trafficking of women into forced prostitution—a major issue for women’s rights workers in the region. The meeting also focused on how full implementation of the Platform for Action will lighten the impact of globalization on women, the Asian economic crisis and the situation of underpaid women workers throughout the region.

Key among the activists in this region is the internet-based networking group, Asian Women’s Resource Exchange (AWORC) which women’s groups throughout Asia and the Pacific online. AWORC was born after an Isis International Workshop in Manila, Philipines in April of 1998. Then and now, the group has aimed to explore strategies for electronic resource sharing and networking among women’s information and resource centers in the region.

Stay tuned to WomensWire for more on what activists in this region are up to.