ASEAN COMMITTEE ON WOMEN (ACW) 12 December 2013
1.Thank you for inviting ACWO to give its report. ACWO congratulates ACW for choosing the theme Strengthening Economic Empowerment of Women because studies have shown that when women are economically empowered, their valuable talents have directly improved the growth, prosperity, competitiveness and progress of their countries. The World Economic Forum for example has shown the close relationship between greater equality and higher per capita income. In OECD countries, female labour participation is positively correlated with GDP. Countries that are closing the gender gap are also those that are the most dynamic. Six of the ten most competitive economies are also in the top 20 most equal. Evidence is showing that investing in women isn't just good ethics, it is sound economics!
2.As aptly stated by Dato Sri Mohd Najib, Prime Minister of Malaysia at the opening of the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum in
3.However ACWO firmly believes that economic empowerment alone is not enough. We need to empower women in all spheres. ACWO recognizes that unresolved issues that prevent women from realizing their full potential still exist. This is reflected in the low labour force participation rate in many ASEAN countries.Women still form the majority of the bottom 60 percent of the income pyramid. Representation of women in decision making roles in both public and private sectors remain dismally low. Laws, policies, practices, misinterpretation of religious texts and patriarchal social values as well as organizational culture and governance that continue to disadvantage women are still prevalent. Enabling and supportive facilities such as quality early childhood education and care facilities are still lacking.We need to do more to challenge and change the organisational cultures and governance that for too long have held women back. It requires a belief in and commitment to equal treatment and access to resources by working on strategies for political, social and economic equality and liberation for both men and women.
4.ACWO works on the principle that empowerment is contingent upon gender equality and its integration into all aspects of public life, be it political, economic or social.Empowering means giving women the knowledge and thinking skills for them to make informed decisions which would give them the courage to break free from limiting belief patterns, societal conditioning or misinterpretation of religious texts that have traditionally held women back.By giving women voice and opportunity we develop their sense of self-worth to realize their full potential. Bringing both empowerment and gender equality to the forefront of decision-making would ultimately lead to fairer policies and a gentler society as women’s voices heard in the corridors of power are bound to transform the very culture of decision-making from adversarial to diplomatic.
5.Thus ACWO places great importance on the economic empowerment of women as part of the total effort to empower women. Enhancing their employability and capability to generate their own incomes will break the intergenerational cycle of poverty but women can only do this if the environment is safe, sustainable and conducive for them to pursue the income generating endeavours. ACWO’s approach to women’s empowerment, including economic participation, is reflected in the themes of the 15 General Assemblies that have been held since its inception on 21st February 1984. Examples of themes in the new millennium include:
9th General Assembly: The New Millennium, ASEAN Women Taking Stock and Moving Forward” (May 2000,
10th General Assembly: “Globalization – Economic, social and political empowerment” (July 2002,
11th General Assembly: “Elimination of Violence Against Women” (July 2004,
12th General Assembly: “ICT: e-commerce and e-government bringing a higher quality of life in ASEAN” (September 2006, Brunei Darussalam);
13th General Assembly: “Empowering women and expanding their participation in the globalized economy” (November 2008,
14th General Assembly: Enhancing Women’s Effective Participation towards an ASEANof Peace, Development and Prosperity (October 2010,
15th General Assembly: Accelerating the Achievement of the MDGS Through Gender Equality and the Economic Empowerment and Protection of Women in ASEAN (November 2012,
6.From the reports of the national councils for women in ASEAN countries three major strategies appear to predominate. The first is advocacy to advance women’s economic participation. In all countries advocacy using a collaborative rather than confrontational approach with the authorities has been the mainstay of women organizations in ASEAN. Over the last decade, working through lobbying and persuasion in an intellectual and evidence-based manner national women organizations have identified issues and challenges faced by women in all sectors of life and set goals, key strategies, performance indicators and targets to support the empowerment and advancement of women in key areas such as education, health, economy, law, media, science, technology and the environment.. Examples of specific measures include:
a.NCWO Malaysia gave input into the Tenth Malaysia Plan covering the period from 2011-2015 where four key programmes for empowering women are explicit. First is increasing women’s participation rate in the labour force to 55% by 2015. Second is providing equal opportunity for key decision-making positions based on merit across all sectors. Third is the provision of support for women in challenging circumstances such as those with lower incomes, particularly widows and single mothers, to help alleviate extreme poverty. Fourth is eliminating all forms of discrimination against women.
b.In increasing greater participation of women in the workforce the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) and NCWO Malaysia report advocating specific measures such as policies that affect or enhance family and work balance, or harmonization because surveys in both countries showed that women cited “Family Responsibilities, particularly childcare, as the reason for their economic inactivity. Governmental responses are seen in development programs for better and more accessible child-care facilities, incentives for teleworking and home office, more job-sharing and more flexible work arrangements. In this respect NCWO Malaysia has been an active participant of the Permata Negara early childhood education and care programme initiated by the wife of the Prime Minister, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. To support parental sharing of family responsibilities, paternity leave policies have been introduced in
c.An important development is to ensure leadership roles for women through policy measures that range from setting hard quotas to soft targets, or requirements for transparency in appointments and promotions. In
d.Policies, programmes and activities to facilitate the development of SMEs have also been put in place. Although the schemes and support facilities provided may not be gender specific, they are mainly taken up by women, particularly the microcredit scheme. In
7.The second strategy is education and training. Education helps build a nation’s human resource that ultimately shapes its economic growth.
a.In all countries access to education is a priority item in advocacy by national councils of women. In fact women are increasingly becoming the majority in tertiary education in most ASEAN countries.
b.Gender awareness training to reduce misconceptions are conducted by national councils and their affiliates in government departments, private sector and other NGOs. The aim is to build sustainable partnerships where corporate culture acknowledges and leverages on the strength of gender diversity and enables women to stay ahead in their careers. NCWP conducts livelihood seminars based on resources and skills available in the community.
c.Specific training for economic empowerment are largely undertaken by NGOs dedicated to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a pivotal factor for advancing sustainable economic opportunities for women and facilitating their contribution to the economy. It also gives them flexibility of time and enables them to work from home. Women have been the catalysts of growth for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in all ASEAN countries. While supporting each other through networking and mentoring the women entrepreneurs empower and strengthen the member's ability to manage business and gain access to new technology, marketing and finance. Business networks provide opportunities for improving the quality of the business and to be globally competitive.
d.In
e.A specific scheme participated by NCWO Malaysia is the Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme or the "Teman 1 Azam" programme under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, aimed at reducing extreme poverty among women in challenging circumstances, particularly widows and single mothers. With a grant from the Ministry, NCWOcollaborated with the National University of Malaysia (UKM) to develop an innovative one year training module to build entrepreneurship skills, upgrade skills and improve the quality of products and branding, improve understanding of relevant laws, provide marketing opportunities and provide financial support for business start-ups for 70 single mothers. Marked improvement in pricing and revenue has been recorded.
8.The third strategy is provision of services.
a.SCWO reports counter-crisis measures that target women who are retrenched from the formal sector. The Back to Work with U programme of the National Trade Union Congress focuses on job placements and skills acquisition for women to return to the labour force, which they may have left through either job loss during the downturn, or for family reasons. It also works with companies to come up with flexi-work arrangements supported by a government grant for women in 2013. Since the beginning of this programme, 9,400 women have joined the labour force.
b.Kowani of Indonesia through IWAPI or the Indonesian Business Women’s Association promotes economic empowerment through various activities. The Kowani Fair exhibits products of SMEs and also serves as a platform for media promotion, publicity, business exchange and networks in developing markets globally. Kowani also participated in the ASEAN Fair held in conjunction with the 19th ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit in
c.The Women’s Union of Vietnam has set up the Association of Women Entrepreneurs to support women entrepreneurs by uniting them and showcasing their talents. Similarly networking opportunities provided by various activities of all national councils such as conferences, workshops, seminars, business meetings, have facilitated women entrepreneurs in developing valuable business contacts both locally and internationally.
d.NCWO Malaysia has a programme to encourage the use of ICT for better marketing and management of business
9.It is pertinent to end by sharing that at the ACWO Board Meeting in 2012, it was unanimously agreed that the Board would focus on the urgent issue of the safe repatriation and reintegration of human trafficking victims within the ASEAN countries.
10.In conclusion ACWO would like to stress that as ASEAN moves towards becoming an ASEAN Community in 2015, there will be more challenges to meet. Issues concerning women cross–cut the three pillars of the ASEAN Community. The issue of economic empowerment cannot be seen in isolation and must include the provision of security as well as conducive social and cultural conditions.
