PH hosts 11th ACWC Meeting

MANILA, 18 October 2015 – The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) hosted the eleventh meeting of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) at Dusit Hotel Manila in Makati City.

The three-day meeting finalized the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women and Violence Against Children following the adoption of the documents at the ASEAN Summit.

Said RPAs include the development of Gender Sensitive Guidelines for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on performance standards for service providers on gender-sensitive handling of VAW cases, including guidelines for support services for victims or survivors and the administration of justice; establishment of regional guidelines for the collection and analysis of data on VAW; and development and enhancement of campaigns on EVAW through the use of multimedia and social media platforms and channels.

The ACWC is an inter-governmental body which looks into the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and children in ASEAN. It is composed of 20 representatives – one for women’s rights and one for children’s rights – from each of the ten ASEAN Member States.

The 11th ACWC Meeting is part of the 2015 ASEAN Meetings on Women, hosted by the Philippines through the PCW.

PCW is the lead agency that makes government work for the promotion of gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s human rights.