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He expressed the concern that gender equality can not be achieved solely by theory
but needs practice. WSC, hence, focused not only on institutionalization of womenûs
experiences and their knowledge but also advocacy in collaboration with womenûs
organizations and civil society. WSC started a colloquium, almost 10 years ago with judges

from various levels of the courts and public prosecutors in Thailand on the issue of gender
sensitivity, gender justice and womenûs human rights. However, sharing those issues with
judges from other countries is happening for the first time with the help of UNIFEM and
the Supreme Court of Thailand, so that this workshop is truly significant, he mentioned.

Dr. Angkasith ended his remark expressing happiness and appreciation in having a chance
to work with the members of the judiciary and NGOs from Southeast Asian countries to eliminate
discrimination against women.

Ms. Shoko Ishikawa, Programme manager of CEDAW SEAP of UNIFEM, gave the welcoming
remarks on behalf of Dr. Jean DùCunha, UNIFEMùs Regional Program Director of East
and Southeast Asia Regional Office.

UNIFEM has provided technical and financial assistance to programmes and strategies
that foster womenûs empowerment and gender equality and works in the areas of reducing
feminized poverty, ending violence against women, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among

women, and supporting womenûs leadership. Currently, UNIFEM has an ongoing regional
programme called CEDAW SEAP which focuses on the implementation of CEDAW in 7 countries
in this region.

There are still gaps in the implementation of the CEDAW and the achievement of gender
equality in Southeast Asia. In particular the role of the judiciary is crucial. Based on the belief
that deeper knowledge of the judiciary on gender equality can have strong impacts towards
fair and equal treatment of women and the protection of their rights, UNIFEM hopes to
expand its partnership with the judiciary in this region and support the establishment of a

mechanism for equality education focused on gender.

UNIFEM has supported the initiative of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Judicial Education
on Equality Issues in South Asia and has seen the impact of this initiative in the gender
sensitive judgment. Given the positive impacts in South Asia, UNIFEM considered it a good
practice model that other regions can learn from. Therefore, UNIFEM planned this meeting
as the first initiative of such learning processes in this region and invited the key persons that

have contributed to the establishment and successful running of the Forum to share their
knowledge and wisdom in this colloquium.