..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 25 April 2007
Press Release No. N/21/2007

UNESCAP examines ways to end violence against women, harmful traditional and cultural practices in the Asia-Pacific region

Bangkok (UN Information Services) -- The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is organizing a two-day expert group meeting to examine how the Asian and Pacific region can strengthen policies and strategies to reduce violence against women. The meeting will be held from 26-27 April at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

For the first time, the focus is on addressing harmful traditional and cultural practices.
According to the 2006 report by the UN Secretary-General, “In-depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women”, prenatal sex-selection and infanticide in India have resulted in half a million missing girls per year for the past two decades. In Kyrgyzstan, one half of ethnic Kyrgyz marriages in one study group were the result of kidnappings, of which as many as two-thirds were non-consensual. And in Pakistan, 4,000 men and women were victims of “honour” killings between 1998 and 2003, the number of women being more than double that of men.

The meeting, "Regional Strategies for Implementing the Recommendations from the Secretary-General’s In-depth Study on Violence against Women with Particular Emphasis on the Role of National Machineries” will serve to provide targeted strategies to assist Asia-Pacific policy makers in implementing the recommendations from the recent Secretary-General’s study.

Experts will focus on preventing violence against women and addressing its socio-cultural root causes in the Asian and Pacific context. Attitudes and practices such as sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, dowry deaths, “honour” killings, forced marriages, and sex slavery continue to violate women’s rights. The meeting will examine the roles of different stakeholders in implementation, including the government and legal system, police and health personnel and community based organizations and NGOs.

Experts from the region include United Nations representatives, academics, human rights NGOs, and government officials. The meeting is organized is by UNESCAP’s Gender and Development Section.

More information on the meeting may be found at: http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Events/EGM-VAW2007/index.asp

Provisional Programme
Short Profiles of the Experts

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Ainbinder
Gender Development Section
Emerging Social Issues Division
UNESCAP
Tel: +(662) 2882455; Fax: +(662) 2881018
Email: ainbinder@un.org

Penelope Lake
United Nations Information Services
UNESCAP
Tel: 9662) 2881869 Fax: (662) 2661052
Email: lakep@un.org

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Headquartered in Bangkok, UNESCAP is the largest of the UN's five Regional Commissions in terms of its membership, population served and area covered. The only inter-governmental forum covering the entire Asia-Pacific region, UNESCAP aims to promote economic and social progress. More information on UNESCAP is available from www.unescap.org

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (+66-2) 288-1866 ● Fax: (+66-2) 288-1052 ● E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org