Delegates from ASEAN member countries gathered at a workshop in the central city of Da Nang on August 19 to discuss ways to promote nationality right for women and children.

It was part of the implementation of the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The workshop aimed to share information on ASEAN’s operations relating to the guarantee of the right to a nationality of women and children in the association’s member countries, as well as lessons, experience and efforts of the countries in promoting the right.

Participants also updated information and the roadmap of implementing related conclusions and recommendations, while introducing good examples and models as well as challenges in the field.

The event offered a chance for the CEDAW and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to strengthen their coordination in protecting women and children’s rights and their nationality right in particular.

The promotion and protection of the rights of women and children have been a top priority for ASEAN member states. This has been shown in the commitments of the grouping’s leaders, the ASEAN Charter, as well as the master plan on the Culture-Social Community of ASEAN for the 2009-2015 period and the Hanoi declaration on promoting social welfare and development for women and children in ASEAN.

To date, all member countries have ratified the CRC and the CEDAW and made significant efforts to ensure the legitimate rights of women and children.

The CRC and the CEDAW, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and 1979 respectively, have been integrated into national development plans, policies and laws of all ASEAN member states.

The workshop, jointly organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the UNHCR, saw the participation of representatives from the UN, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and regional countries.-VNA