Since Its Establishment Almost a Quarter of a Century Ago, the ACWO Has Played a Very

Message from Dr. Anamah Tan

Congratulations to all members of the ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organisations (ACWO) on your Silver Jubilee.

It has been a quarter of a century since ACWO was inaugurated in Indonesia in 1981, to bringtogether recognised national women’s organisations within the ASEAN region to work concertedly towards the full participation of women in the national and regional decision-making processes. Today, ACWO also has international influence through its Special Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Since ACWO’s First General Assembly Conference, which adopted the theme, “Maximising and Equalising Women’s Familial Political and Civic Responsibilities”, ACWO has gone on to tackle numerous gender issues in its plans of action, which include trafficking of women and girls, women’s economic empowerment, and poverty alleviation.

Today, we are here at ACWO’s 12thGeneral Assembly to weigh issues on ‘ICT Empowerment e-Commerce and e-Government – to Bring a Higher Quality of Life in ASEAN’.

Indeed, ICT offers important opportunities for communication and inclusion into society wherever one is.ICT has made the conduct of businesses so easy and relatively cheap to work with. It has made it viable for many more women to work from home, empowering them to balance their work and family life commitments.

But ICT can be more than a facilitator. It is a resource in itself that can be used by women to generate income. I am referring to ICT-based enterprises. Getting women to set-up ICT-based enterprises is a way of actively bridging the digital divide between men and women while addressing issues of women’s poverty, employment barriers and other aspects of women’s socio-development. Such projects have been successfully nurtured in, for example, India.

In our goal for ICT empowerment, we should be mindful to look for sustainable and replicable models that are grounded in the needs and interests of the communities we are targeting.

The benefits that ICT can bring to women and girls in ASEAN can be very direct and immediate. It is my hope that, as a regional NGO grouping, ACWO members will continue with a firm commitment to look into how to translate our vision for ICT use to a reality for the communities on the ground whoneed to cross that digital divide.

Dr. Anamah Tan PPA(G); PBM; BBM; JP

Advisor and Past President, ACWO

President, International Council of Women

Member of the UN CEDAW Committee

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