Cambodian Women's Caucus Statement to AICHR on AHRD

Cambodia Women Caucus Statement on AHRD

Women’s Rights are ASEAN Human’s Rights

In solidarity with ASEAN Women, we ask that the ASEAN Ministerial whom going to meet in Phnom Penh in a couple a days, to ensure that the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) is shaped by a process founded in transparency, inclusiveness and accountability to the 600 million ASEAN peoples, with the aim to strengthen institutional understanding and capacity of states to implement its human rights obligations.

We recognized the effort of ASEAN in conducting the process with limited consultation with Civil Society Organization at the national and regional level, but however, only Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia have conducted national consultation. The Consultation conducted only on key principles of the AHRD, but didn’t release the first draft of AHRD to participants for review and comments.

The Cambodian Women Caucus, as a member of Southeast Asian Women Caucus on ASEAN, we hope that this process would be the step towards engaging with various communities. For the AHRD to be relevant to its people both men, women, and children; it must go further in the processes to be informed by the realities on the ground, which can be provided only with the feedback from practitioners, with genuine interest and effective mechanisms to engage grassroots communities included unions in meaningful dialogues, and offer all of us the sense of ownership and pride ASEAN.

But the previous consultations  lacks  genuine consultation , we are concerned that the AHRD will have the language and substance below the international human rights standards. The AHRD must refer to the treaties, legally binding documents, and Universal Declaration on Human Rights especially should refer to the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

We urge the ASEAN member states to fully incorporate state obligations to the international human rights treaties and agreed commitments of the various rights-based global policy documents in shaping the spirit and text of the AHRD. The AHRD must assure that the important gains and struggles of women’s movements around:

1.      the rights to bodily integrity;

2.      the sexual reproductive health and rights;

3.      the sexual orientation and gender identity;

4.      the rights in marriage and family life; and

5.      Freedom of movement and citizenship especially in a region. 

If these women rights are not guaranteed, women and girls are bearing dangerous consequences. The ASEAN region   must inspire to be model for the rest of the world on women’s human rights. As part of the bigger women’s movements, we forge on to keep these from being overlooked or diluted. As AHRD will set the tone for other human rights documents, including an ASEAN Convention on Women, for instance, this document are fundamental to the people in the region. 

We reiterate that women’s rights are ASEAN human’s rights!

This is the only way forward for ASEAN to shape an enabling environment for people-centered sustainable development, economic growth, peace and security!