ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children
The ACWC was established to strengthen the promotion of women and children’s rights in the ASEAN region through more effective implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To fulfill this objective, it was necessary to establish a baseline data profile of the ten ASEAN countries using the framework of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Millennium Development Goals and the Beijing Platform for Action, which together, form a strong bases to assess women’s progress on women’s rights and gender equality. This report is a product of long and tedious work by all Representatives on Women’s Rights. It underwent several revisions and consultations with women NGOs at the national level.
Undocumented women and children are often vulnerable to being left behind. ASEAN Member States (AMS) are making significant progress in promoting the inclusion of vulnerable groups for the attainment and maintenance of sustainable development. This is being applied by, among other actions, increasing the recognition of the legal identity of women and children, primarily through extending civil registration coverage and access to identity documentation as well as preventing statelessness and realising the right to a nationality through the implementation of national laws. These developments contribute to the implementation of the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which all AMS have ratified. Still, further progress in these areas is needed if the AMS are to fully contribute to the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint¹ as well as to facilitate the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that it is the obligation of State parties to address and eliminate the widespread prevalence and incidence of violence against children (VAC). The UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, outlined what has to be done to confront the major challenges of VAC (2006). During 2009 – 2015, another UN Special Representative, Marta Santos Pais, also has consistently monitored and highlighted the need to accelerate, preventive and responsive mechanisms to address violence against children worldwide.
Violence against children is prevalent throughout the world, including in the East Asia and Pacific region. In recognition of the need for States to work together at a regional level, in 2013 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heads of State signed a Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Children in ASEAN.
In 2016 the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children (RPA-EVAC) came into force, setting out the commitments of Member States to protect children from violence and respond to the needs of child victims across twelve key priority areas. The RPA-EVAC applies to all ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam) and covers the years 2016-2025. This study provides a baseline for the twelve priority areas for the first five years of the RPA-EVAC.
In recognition of the need for States to work together at the regional level, the 10 ASEAN Heads of States signed a Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Children in 2013 and adopted the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children in 2016.
The objectives of the Regional Plan of Action are for: 1) ASEAN to institutionalize policies and to sustain support to end violence against children across pillars and sectors; and 2) ASEAN Member States to have effective prevention and protection services supported by a national legal framework and institutional mechanisms to end violence against children.
Thirty years ago, the world united to secure the rights of all children through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Convention, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 20 November 1989, remains, to this day, the most widely and swiftly ratified international human rights agreement of all time.
By 1995, all 10 member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had signed and ratified the CRC, binding themselves to its 54 Articles covering the protection of and respect for a full range of rights for all children. In 2019, the CRC had 196 States parties.
In 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence against Women (ASEAN RPA on VAW) was adopted and recognized that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is an “obstacle to the social and economic development of communities and states as well as the achievement of internationally agreed-upon development goals,” including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given this recognition, ASEAN Member States agreed to develop and disseminate these ASEAN Regional Guidelines on VAWG Data Collection and Use (herein referred to as the ASEAN VAWG Data Guidelines) that build upon national and international good practices.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that it is the obligation of State parties to address and eliminate the widespread prevalence and incidence of violence against children (VAC). The UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, outlined what has to be done to confront the major challenges of VAC (2006).
All ASEAN Member States (AMS) have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which has 54 articles covering four major categories of child rights, namely, the right to life, the right to protection, the right to development and the right to participation. Education is one of the major vehicles through which children develop. With knowledge, skills, attitudes and values acquired through education, children are equipped to survive in their adulthood through ability to work, and enjoy quality of life as well as they are empowered to protect themselves from ill harm and danger, which include discrimination and violence, through knowing their rights.
The Action Agenda aims to mainstream Women’s Economic Empowerment through innovation, trade and inclusive business, and human capital development by encouraging each ASEAN Member State to support the following actions