I. Introduction

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA) are organising a Forum for members of Parliament from selected African and Asian countries, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 6 to 8 December 2002.

The Forum is organized in collaboration with the Parliament and the Government of Thailand, and ESCAP and UNDP in Bangkok. The event is also linked with the Commission on Human Security (CHS). The initiative is financially supported by the Japanese Government through the Japan Women in Development (JWID) Fund in UNDP. The initiative was developed in collaboration with Dr. Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) of the Indian Parliament, and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Council.

The Forum builds on the first Africa/Asia Parliamentarian Forum on Human Security and Gender held in Marrakech, Morocco, 24-26 March 2002. Building on the outcomes of the first Forum, the second Forum aims to:

(a) further enhance the role of parliamentarians in promoting gender equality;
(b) develop and expand strategic partnerships and knowledge networking among parliamentarians in mainstreaming gender issues in the legislature;
(c) strengthen existing South/South networks of parliamentarians who advocate for gender equality;
(d) identify opportunities for promoting gender equality in relation to human security aspects of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, and the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol.

The consolidated outcomes of the first and second Forums will provide substantive inputs to the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III) scheduled for 2003, and to the annual session of the Commission on Human Security (CHS). Both Forums will also contribute to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in particular its critical area of concern on women in power and decision-making, and of relevant recommendations contained in the outcome documents adopted at the twenty-third special session of the UN General Assembly of June 2000.

II. Background

United Nations Conferences, particularly the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century," underlined the importance of women’s full and equal participation in decision-making as crucial to the achievement of gender equality and sustainable development in all areas of life. Women’s equal representation in the political arena and partnership with men will promote the goal of gender equality and increase attention to women’s specific needs and concerns in national policies. As members of the legislature, women and men parliamentarians who are advocates for gender equality play a key role in the creation of an enabling national environment for gender equality.

A recurring recommendation for further integrating the objective of gender equality into parliamentary work has been the need to strengthen sustainable and long-term co-operation among parliamentarians. Such co-operation would strengthen their capacity to formulate and/or sponsor legislation for the advancement of women and gender equality in line with the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA). To this end, there is, in particular, an interest in promoting partnerships among parliamentarians in the Asia-Africa co-operation framework.

Based on these considerations, UNDP and UN/DESA organized a first Africa/Asia Parliamentarian Forum on Human Security and Gender in Marrakech, Morocco, following the 107th Inter-Parliamentary Conference of the IPU in March 2002. The Forum brought together members of Parliament (MPs) from 24 African and Asian countries, as well as representatives from UN agencies and regional organizations. The first Forum covered two main issues of human security: freedom from fear and freedom from want. Within these overarching issues, three topics were covered from a gender perspective: peace processes, HIV/AIDS, and socio-economic policies. In addition, experiences of gender sensitive budgeting were provided. Participants focused on the role of parliamentarians and the challenges they face in integrating a gender perspective in parliamentary work in the context of human security. Participants of the first Forum adopted a communiqué containing concrete recommendations for action and follow up.

The Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) in 1998: (a) considered gender equality as an important element of democracy; (b) identified gender mainstreaming in development policies and programmes as a critical condition for the reduction of poverty; and (c) emphasized the need for experience sharing between the two regions, namely Africa and Asia. Following the TICAD Ministerial-level meeting in 2001, the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III) is scheduled to take place in October 2003, which is the tenth anniversary of the initiation of the TICAD process.

With the establishment of the African Union, elaboration of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), TICAD III will focus on the following three areas: 1) Asia-Africa cooperation; 2) human-centered development, with particular emphasis on education, health and medical care, and the supply of safe water; 3) efforts to consolidate peace as a precondition of development. Gender issues will be mainstreamed in each of the three areas as a cross cutting theme. As the political empowerment of women and achievement of gender equality represent important objectives for human-centered development in both regions, the outcomes of the two Forums are situated clearly within the Asia-Africa co-operation framework for gender equality, and will directly support the TICAD process

III. Objectives

The Forum will discuss the role of parliamentarians - the opportunities and challenges they face - in promoting gender equality in the context of human security. Specifically, the Forum aims to:

1. Enhance the capacity of Parliamentarians to: (a) formulate and/or sponsor legislation for the advancement of women and gender equality in line with the Beijing Platform for Action (PfA) and CEDAW, (b) exercise oversight of the executive branch of Government from a gender perspective, and (c) work with their constituencies for gender equality;

2. Increase the understanding of the gender dimensions of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals;

3. Enhance the understanding of Parliamentarians of the role of the legislature in strengthening the implementation of CEDAW and its Optional Protocol;

4. Strengthen South/South networks of parliamentarians who advocate for gender equality;

5. Build leadership skills and strategic partnerships for gender equality at local/national, regional and interregional level to mainstream gender perspectives in the legislature.

IV. Organization and format of the Forum

The Forum will be organized by UNDP (Bureau for Development Policy) and UN/DESA (Division for the Advancement of Women) in collaboration with ESCAP and UNDP Office in Bangkok, and with a link to the Commission on Human Security (CHS). The Forum will be hosted by the Parliament and the Government of Thailand.

The participants will meet in plenary as well as in working groups. In an opening plenary, participants will report on actions taken since the first Forum and lessons learned. This will create a series of good practices and lessons learned, and of a framework for developing strategies for parliamentarians to promote gender equality in the context of human security. On the second and third day, plenary sessions and panel discussions will focus on selected themes, where short presentations will be made, followed by in-depth discussions and elaboration of recommendations for action in working groups. At the conclusion of the Forum, participants are expected to adopt a joint communiqué that outlines the major conclusions and recommendations of the meeting. A final report will be produced after the meeting.

V. Documentation

UN/DESA (DAW) and UNDP (BDP) will prepare a document compiling information on action taken and lessons learned at the country level since the first Forum. Discussion notes will be prepared to guide plenary and working group sessions.

Additional background documentation will be provided at the conference site.

VI. Expected Outputs

As the second and last event in a series, the Forum is expected to result in the creation of a self-sustaining network of parliamentarians who are advocates for gender equality within their respective legislature and their political parties, and vis-à-vis their constituencies. It is anticipated that based on the experience gained in the two Forums, participants will use the network on a continuous basis to share experiences and exercise leadership for gender equality. Specifically,

1. Concrete strategies for enhancing leadership skills, and for building partnerships, links and networks for gender equality at local/national, regional and interregional level, will be discussed and developed;
   
2. Knowledge networks of gender sensitive women and men parliamentarians from Africa and Asia created at the first Forum will be strengthened and expanded;
   
3. South-South exchanges between parliamentarians will be promoted;
   
4. Legislative agendas to strengthen implementation of CEDAW in selected areas, and ratification of the Optional Protocol will be designed;
   
5. Good practices/lessons learned and challenges will be identified, based on follow-up actions to the first Forum taken by the participants;
   
6. A joint Communiqué will be adopted to contribute to the integration of gender perspectives in the TICAD process. This will be submitted to the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III).

VII. Venue and Participants

The Forum will be held at Bangkok, Thailand. It is scheduled to take place from 6 – 8 December 2002.

The number of participants will be approximately 40-50. They will include:

1. Members of the Parliament from selected Asian and African countries. (A recommendation is made to include, in particular, newly elected and gender sensitive parliamentarians, and to increase participation of male MPs.)
2. Members of Thai Parliament and Government officials.
3. Resource persons and facilitators.
4. Representatives of the IPU and UN entities.
5. UNDP and UN/DESA (DAW) staff.

UNDP/BDP Gender Focal Points in Africa and Asia, and in particular UNDP/BDP Gender Specialists in Dakar, Pretoria and Kathmandu, UNDP Office in Bangkok will assist in the selection of participants.

The costs of participation for those who are invited by the United Nations will be covered by the Japan WID Fund. Other participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses.

Languages

The Forum will be conducted in English and French. Background material will be provided in English and French to the extent possible.

Passports and Visas

Participants will be expected to make necessary arrangements with regard to passports, visa and health certificates for travel.

All relevant correspondence should be addressed to:

Ms. Makiko Tagashira
DAW/DESA
Tel: (212) 963 4836
Fax: (212) 963 3463
E-mail: tagashira@un.org

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