Asian NHRIs Meet on Women's ESCR

Chairperson Purificacion Valera Quisumbing welcomes the participants of the Asian Pacific Regional Workshop on Women's Economic Social and Cultural Rights at the Legend Villas, Mandaluyong City on January 23-27, 2006.

The Workshop provides participating Senior Staff of the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) the opportunity to analyze and deepen their understanding of ESC rights issues and the consequences of Women’s irregularity within the international and national human rights contexts.

The Chair in her remarks stressed the developments of the growing issue on the justiciability of ESC rights not only in the Philippines but also in other countries as well. She updated the participants on the most recent seminar/workshop of judges and lawyers held in the Philippines which discussed such issues of justiciability and its progress in other Asian countries. The issue of Access to Justice was raised along with the growing concern of the accessibility of justice to the vulnerable sectors of society such as those concerning women.

The objectives of the activities were to enable the participants to:

· Determine the impact of current ESC rights issues in the Asia-Pacific region on women

· Review the mandate and role of NHRIs in promoting women’s ESC rights

· Apply international legal norms on ESC rights and on women’s rights to their work

· Incorporate a gender perspective in their work on ESC rights issues

· Develop practical strategies to effectively promote and protect women’s ESC rights for NHRIs

· Establish informal networks among NHRIs for the promotion and protection of women’s ESC rights.