Pacific Delegates Set The Pace for Beijing+20 Review Over 30 representatives from governments and civil society organisations in the region attended the ‘Pacific Intergovernmental Negotiations Preparatory Briefing’ at the Royal Princess Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. The meeting played a significant role in preparing the Pacific delegation for the ‘UNESCAP Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Beijing+20 Review’, which officially opened today. Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Republic of Palau, Vanuatu and French Polynesia attended the preparatory meet. Organized and facilitated by the Pacific CSO Steering Committee namely the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Diverse Voices and Action for Equality (DIVA), FemLINKPACIFIC, the Pacific Youth Council, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Committee is also extremely grateful to UNESCAP, UNWomen and Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) for their tremendous support in coordinating the event. The briefing allowed both regional delegates and CSO representatives an insightful and participatory space to address their concerns regarding the Beijing+20 process. As such, the ‘Pacific Bloc’ stood firmly in solidarity on a broad range of issues on the first day of the Beijing+20 Review, marking a somewhat historic chapter in forging stronger partnerships and strengthening regional co-operation. FWRM Programme Director Tara Chetty was pleased with the positive outcome of the discussions: “Pacific civil society has been working closely with our governments in the regional and global arena. The partnership between SPC, PIFS and Pacific CSOs in hosting the briefing, as well as the commitment of government delegates in participating, is a great example of this close working relationship. We look forward to continuing to work together in the week ahead, as well as back home in our island countries on implementation.” Noelene Nabulivou of Diverse Voices and Action for Equality (DIVA) agreed that a powerful show of unity amongst the delegates was displayed today: “This collaboration reflects how the Pacific community continues to come together building on the legacy of women who paved the way to Beijing and that as a region we are willing to not only uphold women’s human rights and reaffirm the commitments but stepping up the work to progress the agenda,” The Beijing+20 proceedings will continue till 20th November, 2014 at the UN Convention Centre in Bangkok.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:23:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015