A GENDER AGENDA: ASIA-EUROPE DIALOGUE

2001–2007

A Gender Agenda was conceived to facilitate a dialogue on broad gender issues between two major regions of the world, Asia and Europe. The project aimed to foster discussion on the issue of gender mainstreaming and to act as one forum for international exchange on gender issues at the civil society level. Mainstreaming a gender perspective in all types of interventions was established as a global strategy for promoting gender equality through the Platform for Action at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

The project involved a series of major conferences, where researchers presented case studies from countries in the three regions and discussed ways of improving gender equality and promoting economic and political empowerement of women.

CONFERENCES

New Visions and Perspectives for Women and Men
Chiba, Japan  |  May 23–25, 2001

The conference, held on May 23–25, 2001, in Chiba, Japan, aimed at promoting the inclusion of a gender perspective in policy-setting and decision-making processes and finding ways for women and men of Asia and Europe to work together toward more suitable social and economic systems coping with a changing environment. Because there has been little direct contact between Europe and Asia on the topic of gender that considers both the Asian and European ways of tackling this issue and the cultural influences behind each society, this dialogue offered the possibilities of discovering and sharing new visions and finding new perspectives.

Transformational Approaches to the Roles of Women and Men in Political Decision-Making and Economic Life
Tampere, Finland | September 15–18, 2002

Held on September 15–18, 2002, in Tampere, Finland, this second conference in the A Gender Agenda: Asia-Europe Dialogue program was co-organized by the Asia-Europe Foundation, the Japan Center for International Exchange, and the Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action. The conference focused on women and men as agents of change in political decision-making and in economic life. A plenary session addressing these themes was followed by working group sessions in the two areas of concern, a closing session on transformational approaches to the roles of women and men, and a symposium with presentations addressing (1) the findings and recommendations of the Tampere conference and (2) challenges for gender mainstreaming in Asia and Europe, and followed by a panel discussion by members of the Finnish delegation at Johannesburg 2002: The World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Today women’s participation in politics is still limited because of various obstacles such as gender stereotyping, the traditionally male-dominated power systems and authority structures, electoral systems, and the double burden of work and family responsibilities. Awareness of gender issues has been heightened by various women’s groups and promoted through partnerships among international organizations, governments, local governments, and women’s groups. Such groups continue to seek ways to awaken public awareness of the current gender issues and to promote integration of marginalized perspectives into the decision-making process. Female politicians or candidates often state that they could be actors in changing the established power structure that has so far not been wholly successful in addressing gender issues. Conference sessions devoted to this theme looked at such questions as, What structure and process can be proposed for women’s and men’s participation in addressing gender issues in the political arena? What systems are most effective in achieving balanced representation in politics or power structures? How can we empower women as representatives in decision-making places?

Economics tends to be a gender-blind subject, in which labor is seen as a tool for achieving individual and social well-being. Productive activities within the household have directly contributed to social well-being, yet they are not recognized as part of the market economy, nor are such activities considered to be employment despite the fact that they require a significant workload. Both in Asia and Europe, the household burden mainly rests on women, and tends to hinder them from working full-time or from rejoining the market after temporary withdrawal from it to address household needs. Meanwhile, some men are forced to work as the sole bread-winners although they may not find their job meaningful, and companies have traditionally seen this model as efficient and profitable. However, in a global age, structural adjustments often result in increased unemployment and generally women suffer most from reduced economic growth. To address these issues, “work” must be reexamined from the standpoint of social protection and viewed as a tool for improving quality of life amidst globalization. With the aim of considering how to restructure the market systems as more human-centered systems where women and men can be agents of change, this session focused on alternative work models that allow men and women to balance work with family and have flexibility in their choices. Also discussed was the need for reconsideration of the relationship between labor and social protection, and the roles of all the sectors in providing women and men with social protection.

September 15

OPENING DINNER HOSTED BY THE CITY OF TAMPERE

Moderator

SIRPA HERTELL, Steering Committee Member; Secretary General, National Council of Women in Finland 

Opening Remarks

ULLA LILJESTRÖM, Chief Education Officer, Tampere City 

 

KAARINA SUONIO, Member of the Board of Governors, ASEF; Managing Director of the Tampere Hall, Finland 

 

PÄIVI VARPASUO, President, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action 

 

TADASHI YAMAMOTO, President, Japan Center for International Exchange 

September 16

OPENING SESSION 

Moderator

 MIKKO LEHTONEN, Steering Committee Member; Professor of Media and Culture, University of Tampere, Finland

Speakers

JORMA SIPILÄ, Rector, University of Tampere

 

KAARINA DROMBERG, Finnish Minister of Culture

 

TAN SRI DATO’ MUSA BIN HITAM, Chairman, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia; Chairman, World Enterprise Institute; Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia

Conference Framework Presentation

LIZ BAVIDGE, Chair of the Steering Committee; Principal Consultant, EM Associate, UK

PLENARY PRESENTATION SESSION

Theme 1: Women and Men as Agents of Change in Economic Life

Moderator

LEE IN-HO, Steering Committee Member; President, the Korea Foundation 

Presentation of Overview

WILMA HENDERIKSE, Leader of the Study Group; Senior Partner, De Jong & Van Doorne-Huiskes, the Netherlands and other study group members 

Comments

CIELITO F. HABITO, Professor, Department of Economics; Director, Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, Ateneo Manila University, the Philippines 

 

JANE WILLIAMS, Managing Director, SIA Group, Ireland

Theme 2: Women and Men as Agents of Change in Political Decision-Making 

Moderator

ERNEST D. GARILAO, Steering Committee Member; Professor, Center for Development Management, Asian Institute of Management, the Philippines

Presentation of Overview

AZALINA OTHMAN, Leader of the Study Group; Head of Puteri, UMNO, Malaysia and other study group members 

Comments

ERNA WITOELAR, Co-Chair, the Partnership for Governance Reform, Indonesia 

 

ANA GOMES, Ambassador, Embassy of Portugal in Indonesia

PRESS CONFERENCE

Moderator

SIRPA HERTELl, Steering Committee Member; Secretary General, National Council of Women in Finland

Remarks

LIZ BAVIDGE, Chair of the Steering Committee; Principal Associate, EM Associate, UK

 

PÄIVI VARPASUO, President, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action

 

TADASHI YAMAMOTO

WORKING GROUP SESSION 1: ECONOMIC LIFE

 

 

September 17

WORKING GROUP SESSION 2: POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING

CLOSING SESSION (PLENARY): TRANSFORMATIONAL APPROACHES TO THE ROLES OF WOMEN AND MEN

Report on Working Group Discussions 

Moderator

INES ALBERDI, Steering Committee Member; Professor, Sociology Department, Madrid University, Spain

Rapporteurs

Economic Life: THANH-DAM TRUONG, Senior Lecturer, Women/Gender Development Studies, Department of Human Resources, Local and Regional Development, Institute of Social Studies (the Netherlands), Vietnam

 

Political Decision-Making: ELLA ANTONIO, Area Manager, Asia-Pacific Earth Council, the Philippines

Closing Discussion 

Moderator

YORIKO MEGURO, Steering Committee Member; Professor of Sociology, Sophia University, Japan

Concluding Remarks

LIZ BAVIDGE

 

PÄIVI VARPASUO

 

TADASHI YAMAMOTO 

Concluding Dinner hosted by the Finnish Ministry of Education

Speaker

HARRI HOLKERI, President, the 55th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN); Former Prime Minister of Finland

Closing Remarks

SIRPA HERTELL

 

 

September 18

SYMPOSIUM 

 

Opening of the Symposium

 

M.C.

TAINA RISKI, Secretary General, NYTKIS -The Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action 

A Gender Agenda: Findings and Recommendation of the Tampere Conference

General Presentation

LIZ BAVIDGE

Challenges for the Gender Mainstreaming in Asia and Europe

Presentation

Korea: IN-HO LEE

 

Spain: INES ALBERDI, Professor of Sociology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

 

Philippines: ERNEST D. GARILAO, Professor, Center for Development Management, Asian Institute of Management

Comments

ANITA KELLES, Independent Consultant, Finland

Q & A from the floor 

 

Johannesburg 2002: Women and Sustainable Development

Panel discussion

SIRPA HERTELL 

 

EEVA-MARIA VUORENMAA, President, UN Students and Youth Association of Finland; Secretary of the Finnish NGO Committee for UN World Conference on Women 2005

 

SAMI KONTOLA, Secretary for International Affairs, Finnish Youth Cooperation Allianssi

Q & A from the floor

 

Closing Remarks

 

 

Asia
Ellamelides S. ANTONIO Area Manager, Asia-Pacific Earth Council, the Philippines
Supang CHANTAVANICH Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Lanyan CHEN Gender Advisor in Northern Asia, UNIFEM
Antonio P. CONTRERAS Associate Professor, De La Salle University, the Philippines
Mikiko ETO Professor of Political Science, Hosei University, Japan
Ernest D. GARILAO Steering Committee Member; Professor, Center for Development Management, Asian Institute of Management, the Philippines
Cielito F. HABITO Professor, Department of Economics; Director, Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines
Yoshinori HIROI Associate Professor, Chiba University, Japan
Musa bin HITAM Chairman of the Malaysian National Commission on Human Rights; Former Deputy Prime Minister, Malaysia
HOANG BA Thinh Assistant Director and Scientific Secretary, Research Center for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED), Vietnam
Mitsuko HORIUCHI Director and Special Advisor on Gender Issues (Asia), ILO Tokyo Branch Office
In-ho LEE Steering Committee Member; President, the Korea Foundation
LIM Sang-Woo Professor, Sogang University, Korea
Bohong LIU Deputy Director, the Women’s Research Institute, All China Women’s Federation
Braema MATHI Manager, Corporate Communications, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore
Yoriko MEGURO Steering Committee Member; Professor of Sociology, Sophia University; the representative of Japan to the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Mayling OEY-GARDINER Executive Director, PT Insan Hitawasana Sejahtera, Indonesia
Azalina OTHMAN SAID Head of Puteri, UMNO, Malaysia
Supatra PUTANANUSORN Policy and Planning Analyst, the Thai National Commission on Women’s Affairs
Thanh-Dam TRUONG Senior Lecturer, Women/ Gender Development Studies, Department of Human Resources, Local and Regional Development, Institute of Social Studies (the Netherlands), Vietnam
Qi WANG Fellow, the Center for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (Sweden), China
Erna WITOELAR Co-Chair of the Partnership for Governance Reform; Former Minister of Settlement and Regional Development, Indonesia
WU Qing Foreign Studies University, China
Europe
Ines ALBERDI Steering Committee Member; Professor, Sociology Department, Madrid University, Spain
Patricia BARKER Registrar, Dublin City University, Ireland
Liz BAVIDGE Chair of the Steering Committee; Principal Consultant, EM Associates, UK
Gabriele BRUNS Manager, Forum of Politics and Gender, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany
Maria DAS DORES GUERREIRO Professor of Sociology, Instituto Superior de Ciencias do Trabalho e da Empresa, Portugal
Kaarina DROMBERG Finnish Minister of Culture (speaker)
Monique HALPERN President, the French Coordination for the European Women’s Lobby
Wilma M. HENDERIKSE Senior Partner, Van Doorne Huiskes en partners, the Netherlands
Harri HOLKERI President, the 55th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN); Former Prime Minister of Finland (speaker)
Gunnel KARLSSON Head, the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research
Anita KELLES-VIITANEN Independent Consultant, Finland
Riikka KIVIMÄKI Work Research Center, University of Tampere, Finland
Leena KROHN Former Secretary General, the National Council of Women of Finland
Heidi KUUSI Counsellor of Education, Ministry of Education, Finland
Mikko LEHTONEN Steering Committee Member; Professor of Media Culture, University of Tampere, Finland
Ana MARTINS GOMES Ambassador, Embassy of Portugal in Indonesia
Päivi MATTILA Advisor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
Marisa MÉNDEZ-VIGO CAMPOS Teacher, Industrial Relations School, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona; Director, ACTIVA, Spain
Regina MONTELL Senior Advisor, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Finland
Jouni MYKKÄNEN Vice Chairman, Council for Equality; Managing Director, the Finnish Film Foundation
Ritva NYBERG Managing Director, the Women’s Enterprise Agency Finland
Rosa Maria (Etta) OLGIATI Managing Director, Fondazione Regionale Pietro Seveso, Italy
Jorma SIPILÄ Rector, University of Tampere (speaker)
Helvi SIPILÄ Minister
Richard STEENBORG President, Commissie Dagindeling, the Netherlands
Kaarina SUONIO Member of the Board of Governors, ASEF; Managing Director of the Tampere Hall, Finland
Martina TIMMERSMANN Research Fellow; Head of Research Project, Institute of Asian Affairs, Germany
Janet VEITCH Director, Women’s National Commission, UK
Jane WILLIAMS Managing Director, SIA Group, Ireland
Co-organizers
ASEF
Delfin COLOMÉ Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation
JCIE
Tadashi YAMAMOTO President, Japan Center for International Exchange
Hideko KATSUMATA Steering Committee Member; Executive Secretary, Japan Center for International Exchange
NYTKIS
Päivi VARPASUO President, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action
Sirpa HERTELL Steering Committee Member; Secretary General, National Council of Women in Finland
Taina RISKI Secretary General, the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations for Joint Action
Secretariat
Caroline SAY YEN MAY Project Assistant, Intellectual Exchange, Asia-Europe Foundation
Tomoko SUZUKI Assistant Program Officer, Japan Center for International Exchange
Laura POTTER Program Associate, Japan Center for International Exchange
Economic Empowerment for Gender Equality
Manila, Philippines  |  October 8–9, 2005

October 8

WELCOME DINNER

 

Master of Ceremonies

NIEVES CONFESOR, Professor, Asian Institute of Management (AIM)

Opening Remarks

VICTORIA LICUANAN, Dean, Asian Institute of Management (AIM)

 

WONIL CHO, Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

 

TADASHI YAMAMOTO, President, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE)

 

MONIQUE HALPERN, President, French Coordination for the European Women’s Lobby

Keynote Speaker

MAGDALENA SRODA, The Polish Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men

 

 

October 9

OPENING AND PLENARY SESSION 1 

 

Opening and Moderator

MITSUKO HORIUCHI, Chair of the Steering Committee; Director, Committee for the Year 2001; Gender Expert (Director, ILO Office in Japan)

Overview Presentation

CHIA SIOW YUE, Director of the Task Force; Senior Research Economist, Singapore Institute of International Affairs 

Presentation of Case Studies

Case Study on Japan by TAKAYOSHI KUSAGO, Associate Professor, Research Center for Civil Society, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University 

Case Study on the Netherlands

HÉLÈNE LOUAPRE, Executive Secretary, General Management Kappa Packaging Group Companies

Case Study on Indonesia

FRANCIS X. WAHONO, Executive Director, Yayasan Cindelaras

Case Study on France 

ALAIN LAFERTÉ, Doctoral researcher, Lille Center for Politics (CERAPS), University of Lille 2 

Case Study on the Philippines

RUFA CAGOCO-GUIAM, Director, Center for Peace and Development Studies; Associate Professor, Mindanao State University, General Santos City

Case Study on Greece/ Turkey

MERAL EKMEKCIOOGLU, Founding member, WINPEACE Turkey 

Special Presentation: Exemplary cases of regional cooperation on gender: lessons from the EU

MONIQUE HALPERN

Breakout Session 1

In-depth discussions in small groups on factors of economic empowerment of women, sharing of other experiences, and dialogue on various mechanisms for empowerment.

Plenary Session 2

Group reports on breakout session discussions.

Moderator

FOTINI SIANOU, Vice President, Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE), Greece

Dinner Keynote Speaker

LOREN LEGARDA, Senator of the Philippines

October 10

Breakout Session 2

How to link economic empowerment of women to social change/gender equality.

Plenary Session 3

Group reports on breakout session discussions.

Moderator

NIEVES CONFESOR

Plenary Session 4

How can Asia and Europe work together to empower men and women to be catalysts for social change and gender equality?

Moderator

TADASHI YAMAMOTO

Wrap-up

CHIA SIOW YUE, Director, Task Force

 

MITSUKO HORIUCHI, Chair, Steering Committee

Discussions 

 

Closing remarks

VICTORIA LICUANAN, Dean, Asian Institute of Management (AIM) 

 

JAIME J. YAMBAO, ASEF Governor for the Philippines

 

TADASHI YAMAMOTO

Asia

 

Bellaflor J. Angara-Castillo

Governor of Aurora Province, Philippines

Rufa Cagoco-Guiam

Director, Center for Peace and Development Studies; Associate Professor, Mindanao State University, General Santos City, Philippines

Chia Siow Yue

Senior Research Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs

Nieves M. Confesor

Professor, Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Philippines

Chandavanh Dethrasavong

National Mekong River Commission, Laos

Hew Cheng Sim

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Mitsuko Horiuchi

Director, Committee For The Year 2001; Gender Expert (Director International Labour Organization (ILO) Office in Japan)

Jeanne Frances Illo

Gender Equality Advisor for CIDA, Philippine-Canada Cooperation Office

Hadja Bainon Karon

President, Federation of United Mindanaon Bangsamoro Women Multi-purpose Cooperatives, Philippines

Jee Hyeon Kim

Director of Publicity & International Solidarity, Korean Women Workers Associations United (KWWAU)

Romyen Kosaikanont

Lecturer/researcher, Women’s Studies Center, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiangmai University, Chiangmai, Thailand

Takayoshi Kusago

Associate Professor, Research Center for Civil Society, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Japan

Le Thi Quy

Associate Prof. Ph.D, Director of the Research Center for Gender and development, Hanoi University of Social Science and Humanities, Vietnam

Loren Legarda

Senator, Philippines

Braema Mathiaparanam

President, Association of Women for Action & Research (AWARE)/ Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of South East Asian Studies (gender studies); Manager, Corporate Communications, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore

Bernadette Mendoza

Principal Assistant for ASEM, Office of European Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines

Maria Cleofe R. Natividad

Executive Director, Office of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations (OUIER), Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines

Maria Lourdes V. Ramiro-Lopez

Assistant Secretary, Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations (UNIO), Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines

Carolyn Israel Sobritchea

Professor and Director of Center for Women’s Studies, University of the Philippines in Diliman

Teo Siew Yean

Lecturer, Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, Economics & Policy Studies, University Brunei Darussalam

Maria Aurora F. Tolentino

Executive Director, Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium

Amaryllis T. Torres

Commissioner [representing academe], National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

Gisela Velasco

Consultant, AIM-Mirant Center for Bridging Societies Divides, Philippines

Francis X. Wahono

Executive Director, Yayassan Cindelaras, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Wu Qing

Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Chuth Leang Vanny

Deputy Director General of Gender Equality and Economic Development, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Cambodia

Emmeline Verzosa

Executive Director, Office of the President, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

Jaime J. Yambao

ASEF Governor for the Philippines

Mryna T. Yao

Chairperson, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)

Zhang Ye

Regional Director, Asia Foundation, China

Europe

Bam Bjorling

Working Chairwoman, Kvinnoforum; Sociologist, Sweden

Ausrine Burneikiene

Ombudswoman for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Lithuania

Rosheen Callender

National Equality Secretary for SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional, Technical Union); Vice President, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Ireland

Eileen Drew

Senior Lecturer, Center for Gender and Women’s Studies, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Meral Ekmekcioglu

Founding Member, WINPEACE Turkey

Des Geraghty

Former President of SIPTU, Ireland

Françoise Goffinet

Institut pour l’ égalité des femmes et des hommes, Belgium

Monique Halpern

President, French Coordination for the European Women’s Lobby (CLEF), France

Hanneke Kamphuis

Executive Director, Mama Cash, Fund for Women, Netherlands

Maria Kazmukova

Vice President, Association of Business and Professional Women APM BPW, Czech Republic

Alena Kralikova

Director, Gender Studies, o.p.s., Czech Republic

Erika Kvapilova

Gender expert; National Programme Officer, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Slovakia

Anu Laas

Researcher and Head, Unit of Gender Studies, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Tartu, Estonia

Alain Laferte

Doctoral Researcher, Lille Center for Politics and Administration (CERAPS), University of Lille 2, France

Sine Lehn

Project Manager, The Danish Research Centre on Gender Equality, Roskilde University, Denmark

Sten Lindeberg

External consultant to Kvinnoforum; Executive Director, Step Up business learning, Sweden

Helene Louapre

Founder and Managing Director of C.O.S.E.; Regional Branch Leader of Arborus, France

Katie Maclean

University of York Centre for Women’s Studies; UNA International Service, UK

Fotini Sianou

Vice President, Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE); President of the Women’s Committee and Member of the Steering and the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Greece

Karen Valeur Sjørup

Director General, The Danish Research Centre on Gender Equality, Roskilde University, Denmark

Magdalena Sroda

Under Secretary of State; The Polish Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men The Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Poland

Laima Vengale

Adviser, Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, Lithuania

Mag. Manuela Vollmann

Director, ABZ Austria

Linda Wirth

Director, Bureau for Gender Equality, ILO Geneva

Co-organizers

Victoria Licuanan

Dean, Asian Institute of Management, Philippines

Wonil Cho

Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

Bertrand Fort

Director of Intellectual Exchange, ASEF

Tadashi Yamamoto

President, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE)

Hideko Katsumata

Managing Director and Executive Secretary, JCIE

Secretariat

AIM

Armi Cortes

Executive Managing Director, Institutional Marketing

Anna Alba

Institutional Marketing

Jaqueline Antonis

Institutional Marketing

Kitty Chanco

Institutional and Investor Relations

Rose Orbigo

Institutional Marketing

Mhel Samera

Institutional Marketing

ASEF

Caroline Say

Admin/Project Executive, Intellectual Exchange

JCIE

Tomoko Suzuki

Program Officer

Lucy van der Wall

Assistant Program Officer

PUBLICATIONS

This project was cosponsored by the Asia-Europe Foundation and the Japan Center for International Exchange.