12 July 2004 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert signed together with other ASEAN Foreign Ministers the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the ASEAN Region in a ceremony held at the sidelines of the 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“The Philippines has always been a strong advocate of women’s rights and our signing of this Declaration, together with our ASEAN colleagues, manifests our firm interest in protecting women against all forms of violence,” the Secretary said.

The Declaration commits the ASEAN member countries to apply eight bold measures aimed at eliminating violence against women throughout the region.  Among the measures that the Declaration calls for are enhanced regional and bilateral cooperation in research on the nature and consequences of violence against women and children and the promotion of integrated and holistic approaches in policies and programmes.

The Declaration also calls on ASEAN member countries to enact or reinforce domestic legislation to prevent violence against women, to provide appropriate services for survivors, to eliminate discrimination against women, and to put in place mechanisms that would help change societal norms and attitudes that tend to tolerate violence against women.

The Secretary said that the Declaration further strengthens the Philippines’ commitment to the protection of women’s rights, which goes back to its initiating role in the formulation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  END.