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Gender Focal Point Network

  

The Gender Focal Point Network (GFPN) provides a mechanism to integrate gender considerations into APEC activities. It promotes issues that support gender equality where relevant to the APEC process. To achieve full and equal participation of women and men the GFPN provides policy advice on gender issues to APEC fora. The GFPN assists APEC fora to identify and address gender issues within their work; promotes and reports on women's representation across APEC and within individual fora; assesses and reports on the use of gender criteria in project proposals; collects and shares good practices in gender integration among fora; supports the implementation of gender integration within individual fora and across APEC economies; facilitates the provision of gender expert advice; assists in developing project proposals; and proposes recommendations on advancing gender integration in APEC.

The GFPN is comprised of focal points that represent economies and fora. ABAC (APEC Business Advisory Council) and the WLN (Women Leader's Network) serve as advisory bodies.

In 1998 APEC Leaders endorsed the recommendations of the First Ministerial Meeting on Women (Makati, Philippines), and this resulted in the formation in 1999 of the "Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) Ad-Hoc Advisory Group on Gender Integration (AGGI)". The AGGI was tasked to assist with the implementation of the "Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC" within fora, and to provide recommendations on gender integration. Its mandate expired in 2002 and Ministers then endorsed the establishment of the GFPN (Los Cabos, Mexico), to continue to advance the implementation of the Framework and to sustain AGGI's achievements in maintaining awareness on gender issues. Terms of reference that reflect the purpose, structure, functions and implementation strategy were developed in 2003.

Achievements

The Gender Focal Point Network (GFPN) held its 6th meeting on 17-18 May 2008 in Tacna, Peru and recognized the need for closer collaboration with all appropriate APEC fora in order to ensure that gender considerations are central to all relevant APEC processes, including reform, policy and project development and reporting.

To this end, the group issued recommendations to the Senior Officials' Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE). Among these recommendations:
  • To assist women with access to markets and benefits from free trade and globalization, the provision of support to the economies for trade capacity building assistance for women across the APEC region, particularly in developing economies;
  • The inclusion of the gender implications of trade as a key policy issue to be considered by APEC Economic Leaders and Ministers.
The key issues arising from the meeting included:
  • Preparation of gender and trade issues for consideration by APEC Economic Leaders and Ministers.
  • Provision of working group specific awareness training.
  • Creation of an evaluation group to assess APEC project proposals for consistency with APEC project gender criteria.
  • An annual report to the Womens' Leaders Network summarizing the GFPN's work and achievements in 2007.
  • Sustained support to economies and APEC fora for new project proposals that address critical issues related to women's economic integration and empowerment

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Current Activities

  • The Philippines will spearhead the research on the economic impact of migration on the women.

  • Additionally, GFPN held the following activities:

  • "Third Gender Analysis Workshop" trained APEC officials to train them in incorporate gender contents into their policies, proposals and strategies.

  • "Women in the Digital Economy Forum" was held in Arequipa, Peru, 9-10 May 2008 (an ECSG project endorsed by GFPN).

  • Co-sponsored by Singapore, the "APEC Digital Economy Forum for Women", held on 19 April 2008 aim was the promotion of women access to ICTs for business purposes including the formulation and dissemination of best practices for women's participation in e-business and in the digital economy.

  • To improve gender responses to natural disasters and other emergencies, Australia participated in the "Emergency Management CEO?s Seminar" held by the Taskforce for Emergency Preparedness in August 2007,

  • Development of a gender and trade database to be posted on the APEC/GFPN website is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008. It is expected that the database will assess the current state of knowledge about gender and trade, to inform the development of policy in this area based on existing literature and on information from selected organizations, including international agencies and NGOs.

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Gender Focal Point Network (GFPN) - Key Contacts
Chair
Mr. CHEW Hock Yong
Deputy Secretary
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
512 Thomson Road, MCYS Building, Singapore 298136
Tel : (65) 6354 8379
Fax : (65) 6354 8384
E-mail : chew_hock_yong@mcys.gov.sg

Assistant to the Chair
Ms. TAN Hwee Seh
Coordinating Director/ Corporate Management
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
512 Thomson Road, MCYS Building, Singapore 298136
Tel : (65) 6354 8168
Fax : (65) 6259 0149
E-mail : tan_hwee_seh@mcys.gov.sg

APEC Secretariat
Luis Tsuboyama
Director (Program)
E-mail: lt@apec.org
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