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APF Submission to the Human Rights Sub-Committee, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry on the Human Rights Issues Confronting Women and Girls in the Indian Ocean - Asia Pacific Region May, 2014 0 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 Contents The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions ................................ 2 The Australian Policy Context – Support to the APF ................................................ 3 NHRIs: Promoting and Protecting the Human Rights of Women and Girls ............... 3 4.1 4.2 4.3 APF: Working to Promote and Protect the Human Rights of Women and Girls ........ 4 International ...................................................................................................... 4 Regional ............................................................................................................ 5 National Case Studies ......................................................................................... 7 Afghanistan NHRI: Confronting Violence against Women ..................................... 7 Indian NHRI: Recommendations for law reform .................................................... 8 (a) (b) APF Future Strategic Directions: Human Rights of Women and Girls and Gender Equity .................................................................................................................... 9 APF Contacts ......................................................................................................... 9 1 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (‘APF’) wishes to make a submission to the Human Rights Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in relation to its inquiry on the ‘The Human Rights Issues Confronting Women and Girls in the Indian Ocean-Asia Pacific region’.
Our submission will focus on the term of reference in relation to ‘the effectiveness of Australian programs to support efforts to improve the human rights of women and girls in the Indian Ocean-Asia Pacific region’.

1 The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions Established in 1996, the APF is a regional, not-for-profit, membership organisation comprised of twenty-one (21) member national human rights institutions (‘NHRIs’).
The current members are the NHRIs of Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Korea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste1.

The APF has provided advice to Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Nauru, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Taiwan and Vietnam on the establishment of a NHRI in compliance with international standards.
Unlike all other parts of the globe, the Asia Pacific does not have a region-wide system to monitor, promote and protect human rights.

This is why the work of NHRIs is so critical.

However, NHRIs in the region are often under-resourced.

Some also lack the skills or capacity to work as effectively as possible.
The work of the APF makes a genuine impact by:  assisting governments and civil society to establish independent NHRIs that meet international standards; and  strengthening the capacity of its individual member NHRIs to promote and protect human rights at the country level.

To support its activities the APF has developed and maintained a diversified base of donors.

These donors include governments, United Nations agencies, foundations, private donors and non-government organisations.
The APF member institutions also contribute with annual membership fees.

The APF undertakes a rigorous approach to evaluating its progress in achieving its strategic objectives each year.

The APF’s annual reports on its performance and audited finances are publicly available2.
1 http://www.asiapacificforum.net/members/full-members 2 http://www.asiapacificforum.net/about/annual-meetings and http://www.asiapacificforum.net/about/governance 2 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 2 The Australian Policy Context – Support to the APF The Australian Government played a decisive role in the establishment of the APF and has supported it with the provision of regular financial support through its former aid agency, AusAID, as well as politically, through Government statements in a variety of international fora.
The Australian Government currently provides AUD 650,000 per annum which is approximately 30% of the APF’s total budget.

Since its establishment in 1996, initially with the support of the former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Hon.

Alexander Downer M.P, the APF has continued to enjoy strong bi- partisan support.

This reflects Australia’s interest in, and commitment to, the promotion and protection of human rights and good governance in the region.
The provision of assistance to strengthen the institutional human rights capacity of States demonstrates Australia’s commitment to providing practical and effective support for good governance and human rights that are essential building-blocks for a prosperous region, both economically and socially.

Such assistance is well regarded by countries in the region and in the wider international arena and is supported by the Australian public and non- governmental community.
Support for the APF is also consistent with Australia’s aid policy objectives.

3 NHRIs: Promoting and Protecting the Human Rights of Women and Girls Established by national law and/or via a national constitution, NHRIs are a vital part of strong national human rights protection systems.

They also play a key role in linking the international and domestic human rights systems.
Their mandate means that they can engage with all relevant actors at the national level, as well as interact with regional and international bodies and mechanisms, to advocate for laws, policies and practices that protect the human rights of vulnerable groups, including women and girls.
The relationships that many NHRIs establish with the communities they serve also provide them with opportunities to help change the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to the many harms committed against women and girls.

In our region, there is a clear need for NHRIs to play close attention to the human rights of women and girls.

In every country, women are at particular risk of gender-based violence; from the State, from the community and from intimate partners and family members.
For example, rape in marriage is often not criminalized and domestic violence is still too rarely prosecuted and punished.

In these areas, and in many others, women are denied equal access to justice and to remedies for crimes and violations committed against them.

Women experience direct discrimination in many areas of public and private life.

They may be prevented from entering certain occupations or positions and may receive unequal pay for work that is of equal value to that done by men.
They may lose their jobs when they have children and may experience sexual harassment in the workplace.

Equal access to health and education is often denied to women, with serious consequences for their well-being and economic empowerment.

Property and inheritance laws sometimes discriminate against women, entrenching poverty and dependence.
3 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 Framing the issue of lack of access to employment for women within an economic and productivity prism, the Asia Development Bank estimates that gender inequality and discrimination against women in this area of public life costs Asia USD 47 billion annually3.
In the Indian Ocean - Asia Pacific region, as in most parts of the world, there is a marked absence of women in public life and in positions of power and influence.4 That situation is a reflection of entrenched gender discrimination and also contributes to perpetuating stereotypes, inequality and discrimination.

Girls suffer many of the same human rights violations as women.

Similarly, laws, policies and practices that discriminate against women will inevitably include and affect girls.
However, girls are subject to special vulnerabilities that reflect their gender, as well as vulnerabilities associated with childhood.

Child marriage, child labour, sexual exploitation, discrimination in education and harmful traditional practices are examples of human rights violations that are particularly relevant to the lives of girls.
4 APF: Working to Promote and Protect the Human Rights of Women and Girls The APF is a leader in the global movement of NHRIs on the issue of promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls.

The APF works to ensure a regional and collaborative focus on the rights of women and girls among all of its member institutions.
The work it undertakes in cooperation with its members at the international and regional levels seeks to strengthen and bolster the work done by NHRIs on women’s and girls’ human rights and gender equality at the national level.

4.1 International At the international level, the APF and its member institutions played a leadership role at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (‘CSW’).
For example, between 2009 and 2013, APF-led advocacy contributed to NHRIs being recognized for the first time in CSW resolutions and heralded greater engagement by NHRIs in that forum.5 The APF also played a central role in shaping the 2013 Human Rights Council resolution on NHRIs.6 The resolution recognizes the important contribution of NHRIs to the elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls, as stipulated in the Agreed Conclusions of the 57th Session of CSW, held in March 2013.7 3 Women and labour markets in Asia: Rebalancing for gender equality, ADB, ILO 2011.
4 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics, 2010, pp.

111–125 and Table 5.A (pp.

218–222).

5 See www.asiapacificforum.net/working-with-others/un/commission-on-the-status-of-women.

6 Human Rights Council resolution 23/17.

7 Ibid, para.

24.
7 Ibid, para.

24.

4 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 In addition, the APF was a driving force in the development and organisation of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (‘ICC’) 11th International Conference on the human rights of women and girls, held in Amman, Jordan in November 2012.
For the first time, and as a result of APF diplomacy, the global body of NHRIs (ICC) focused its attention solely on the issue of gender equality: women and girls human rights.

The Amman Declaration and Programme of Action (‘ADPOA’), adopted at the conference, is used by the APF as a key framework in its blended learning training programmes to build the capacity of APF member institutions to more effectively promote and protect the human rights of women and girls in their national jurisdictions.
Importantly, in the coming years the ADPOA will influence the promotion and protection of the human rights of women and girls undertaken by NHRIs around the globe.

4.2 Regional Over the past 3 years the APF has moved to ensure that gender is institutionally embedded into its current work as well as turning its attention to its future strategic direction towards 2020.
In 2011, APF Forum Councillors (or the APF’s Board of Directors) agreed to include gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting strategic objective across its existing 5 objectives.

It also adopted the APF Gender Policy.

The policy provides a blueprint for integrating a gender perspective into all APF objectives, programmes and activities.
Forum Councillors also agreed to establish a Gender Focal Point within the APF secretariat to provide leadership, coordination and communication on the different elements of gender integration practice.

The Gender Focal Point sits within the senior management level of the APF in the Deputy Director position.

This role ensures there is effective coordination and integration of gender mainstreaming in APF work.
Further, the Gender Focal Point is currently developing a secretariat gender mainstreaming strategy to strengthen and enhance gender integration at the operational level.

In the last several years the APF has asked its member NHRIs in an annual survey to evaluate the APF’s efforts at mainstreaming gender into its operations.

It also has begun to collect gender disaggregated data on its member institutions and secretariat.
The issue of women and girls’ human rights are also included in the agenda of the APF’s peak decision-making forum, the annual meeting.

For example, in Amman, 2012, the APF adopted its Action Plan on the Human Rights of Women and Girls: Promoting Gender Equality (‘APF Action Plan’).8 The action plan is a framework that sets out a number of practical commitments that APF member institutions have agreed to promote and protect human rights.
8 Available at www.asiapacificforum.net/support/issues/womens_rights.

5 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 At the APF’s 18th Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference held in Qatar in October 2013, two of the five sessions were dedicated to women and girls: (i) APF member updates on the APF action plan on women and girls’ human rights: how are NHRIs promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls?
; and (ii) NHRIs and women in political and democratic reform.

This was important to ensure, that in a region still reeling from the effects of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ of political change that the impact on women and girls and their engagement and experiences in this context are highlighted; and that the role of NHRIs in addressing the rights of women and girls in this context is asserted.
A key feature of this Action Plan is the commitment of the APF to strengthen member institutions’ capacities by developing and implementing a blended learning training programme on the human rights of women and girls and the role of NHRIs.

This training will be rolled out in the latter half of 2014 and piloted with our South Asian member institutions (i.e.

the NHRIs of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka).
The United Nations Development Program (‘UNDP’) has indicated it wishes to partner with the APF in this training.

The Australian Human Rights Commission, a member of the APF, will provide an expert staff member on women and girls human rights to lead the training.

The APF has a dedicated page on its website highlighting its work on women’s human rights.

Our monthly e-bulletin features regular stories on the work of our membership on women and girls rights.
The APF has a YouTube channel featuring interviews with representatives of APF member institutions and other experts on the role of NHRIs to promote and protect women’s human rights and to advance gender equality.

Another critical aspect of our work has been the development of partnerships with relevant organisations, including the United Nations, to make the best use of existing resources and expertise.
At present, the APF has negotiated, or is in the process of negotiating, cooperation agreements with regional intergovernmental organisations such as the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (‘PIFS’) and the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (‘SAARC’).

These Agreements incorporate of gender considerations in the establishment and strengthening of NHRIs.

The APF has a long and strong track record of engagement on the human rights of women and girls.
This work includes regional programmes on reproductive rights, trafficking in persons, the rights of migrant workers and sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 2000, the APF organised its first major event on women’s human rights, a conference which brought together representatives of NHRIs, governments and NGOs from across the Asia Pacific region9.
9 http://www.asiapacificforum.net/support/issues/womens_rights 6 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 In 2010–2011, the APF, in a regional joint initiative with the United Nations Population Fund (‘UNFPA’) launched a project to map progress and challenges in the integration of reproductive rights into the work of its member institutions.
This collaboration resulted in a detailed study and a workshop aimed at encouraging and facilitating NHRI work in this area.

It provided a platform for individual NHRIs to work with UNFPA country offices to further work in partnership with this UN agency to enhance their internal capacities.

Some of the follow-up actions undertaken by NHRIs after this workshop are documented on the APF website10.
Moreover UNFPA recently indicated that it wishes to extend its cooperation with the APF and our member institutions on demonstrating a confidence in our effectiveness and relevance.

4.3 National Case Studies The APF, through its practical capacity-building and advisory services has been able to support our members to undertake important work relating to the promotion and protection of women and girls’ human rights in their national jurisdictions.
The two recent examples below demonstrate how the APF provides its membership with a platform to support their efforts.

(a) Afghanistan NHRI: Confronting Violence against Women In war-torn Afghanistan, rape and so-called “honour killings” of women are commonplace.

The police, who should be there to protect women from violent assault, are too often perpetrators of heinous crimes.
In June 2013, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (‘the Commission’) released a landmark report into rape and so-called “honour killings”.

It was the end result of a courageous, year-long inquiry that included prison interviews with perpetrators and 17 public hearings around the country.
These public hearings involved more than 1,000 participants, including victims and their families, senior government and court officials, police, religious leaders, health experts and civil society leaders.

The report called for sweeping reforms to protect the rights and dignity of women, including changes to national laws and policies, reform of the judicial and law enforcement sectors and improved support to victims of rape and violence.
The Commission called on the expertise of the APF to help plan the scope and structure of its national inquiry.

Commission staff also took part in the APF’s blended learning course on national inquiries and drew heavily on the principles and methodology outlined in the APF’s training manual.

10 See www.asiapacificforum.net/support/issues/reproductive-rights.
7 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 (b) Indian NHRI: Recommendations for law reform Drawing on the APF Action Plan and the Amman Declaration and Programme of Action, the Indian National Human Rights Commission (‘the Commission’) held a two-day National Conference on 'Human Rights of Women' in February 201411.
The Conference made suggestions and recommendations on women's sexual, reproductive and health rights, including provisioning of incentives/disincentives for adopting small family norms, violence against women and girls, women's empowerment and gender equality, and trafficking in women and girls.

The Commission committed to continue to pursue the implementation of these recommendations.
Some of the recommendations proposed during the national conference include:  Laws, regulations and policies that discriminate against women should be reviewed, amended or abolished to bring them in line with international human rights instruments  Enact a new comprehensive legislation on human trafficking from a gender and rights perspective replacing the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956  Each district should have a dedicated anti-human trafficking unit with appropriate resources  The victims of acid attack should be given pension  Patriarchal, social and cultural practices perpetrating discrimination and violence against women should be addressed with the whole might of the State and the law  The law on sexual harassment at workplace should be extended to the workers of unorganized sector and the complaints mechanism should be effectively implemented in all sections of economy  Regulation of practice of commercial surrogacy is required to protect the interests and rights surrogate women  A Bill of Women's Rights should be adopted, as a re-affirmation of the nation's commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment  Political parties should adopt affirmative measures to support more women candidates.
11 http://www.nhrc.nic.in/dispArchive.asp?fno=13120 8 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28 5 APF Future Strategic Directions: Human Rights of Women and Girls and Gender Equity The APF is currently in the process of developing its new five-year Strategic Plan for 2015- 2020.
The inclusion of gender equity and activities around the promotion and protection of women and girls human rights is integral to the strategic planning and consultative processes that have already begun.

In surveying its members and stakeholders about the APF’s future regional context, future human rights issues, and future objectives the APF has crafted a questionnaire that ensures gender considerations are triggered throughout.
This strategic framework will inform future APF strategic vision, mission, objectives, and activities to 2020.

With the invaluable long-term support of the Australian Government, the APF has been able to build itself into a sustainable, non-political, practical and respected human rights organisation with a diverse membership from across the Indian Ocean-Asia Pacific region.
The APF has been significant regional platform in providing and shaping on-going consideration, prioritisation and sustainable support to its members including existing and emerging human rights issues that impact upon women and children.

Women within the APF play strong leadership roles domestically, regionally and internationally.
The APF has clearly placed gender and women and girls human rights as a priority in its work and it is continually looking to improve its effectiveness through regular and vigorous reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

Moreover, in terms of evaluation, it is timely to note that in 2014, the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (‘DFAT’), and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (‘SIDA’) will be participating in a joint donor review of the APF.
The criteria framing the evaluation - relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability –are drawn from the OECD/DAC Guidelines on quality standards for evaluations in the development sphere.

Although the Review’s Terms of Reference are not yet finalised, it will assess the effectiveness of the APF in the delivery of its services, including its work in promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls and its progression in mainstreaming gender into its work.
The APF would be pleased to provide the JSCFADT’s Human Rights Committee with a copy of the joint donor Review report into the APF upon its finalisation.

We do hope this Report may also provide the Inquiry with evidence of the effectiveness of Australia’s support to the APF to improve, through its membership, the human rights situation of women and girls in the Asia Pacific region.

However, it is anticipated that the Report will not be available until the third quarter of 2014.
6 APF Contacts Further information on the APF or its submission can be obtained from Mr Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director, or Ms Pip Dargan, Deputy Director.

Contact details are: 9 Human rights issues confronting women and girls in the Indian Ocean – Asia Pacific regionSubmission 28