The 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion andProtection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) took place inJakarta, Indonesia, on February 25-27 to review the implementation ofthe ACWC Work Plan in 2012-2016 and discuss a plan for 2016-2020.

The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) andother relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies talked over measures to supportwomen victims of trafficking and help law enforcement agencies, socialworkers and health officials to handle cases more efficiently.

The meeting looked at feedback from social service agencies and otherrelevant stakeholders on the establishment of the ASEAN Network ofSocial Service Agencies (NOSSA) to prevent, protect and assist victimsof violence against women and children from 10 ASEAN member states.Thirty three nominated social service agencies involved in the fieldhave been appointed as initial members of NOSSA.

Atthe same time, the ACWC is developing the Regional Plans of Action forthe implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of ViolenceAgainst Women (EVAW) and the Elimination of Violence Against Children(EVAC) as adopted at the 23rd ASEAN Summit in 2014.

The commission had a consultation with the Committee of PermanentRepresentatives to ASEAN (CPR) to share information on the progress ofthe ACWC’s work and exchange ways to promote gender equality,particularly women’s and children’s rights across the three pillars inthe ASEAN Community beyond 2015.

It also held aworking session with Special Representative of the UN Secretary-Generalfor Elimination of Violence Against Children Marta Pais to share viewson current children issues such as the use of technology and cyberpornography.

The 11th ACWC Meeting is slate for October 2015 in the Philippines.-VNA