“Women Resist WTO!” “Women say No to WTO!” These slogans were shouted and sang by a thousand women in purple marching in the streets of Hong Kong leading to the Convention Centre Kong where the 6th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Meeting was held.  The Purple March, joined by women from various countries, mostly from the Asia Pacific region, brought the message of women’s resistance against WTO to the Hong Kong public and the WTO ministerial conference.

Irene Fernandez was awarded the ‘Rights Livelihood Award’ in October 2005 at the Swedish Parliament in recognition of her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers in Malaysia. The Rights Livelihood Awards, founded in 1980, is the prize awarded to individuals for their outstanding vision and work on behalf of our planet and its people. It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and there are now over 100 laureates from 48 countries.

As UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women I received an element of global recognition, but my work as well as the work of all UN mechanisms and international human rights activists is fed and sustained by the bravery and courage of individuals at the local level. They are the true heroes. What I say today is to honour their sacrifice.

As part of the annual meeting, APWLD, Women’s Studies Center of Chiangmai University, and Foundation of Women, Law and Rural Development (FORWARD) co-organised a workshop on “Voices of Women in Development at Work”. It was aimed at acknowledging the work of the twelve Thai women who were nominated for the “Nobel Peace Prize 2005” among one thousand women from different parts of the world.

Malaysia truly Asia! is what greeted the APWLD Labour and Migration Task Force members and the Secretariat team when they gathered in Kuala Lumpur for its annual Task Force meeting in August.  Malaysia situated in the heart of Asia with many cultures, wonders and attractions, is a bubbling, bustling melting pot of races and religions where Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other people live together in peace and harmony. Indeed, it is perfect for a memorable stay whether for work or play. But meetings organised as part of an exposure trip with migrant workers and women workers in oil palm plantations gave a stark contradictory reality to this picture perfect tourist brochure image.

Kyrgyzstan is a small mountainous country with a population of 5 mln people in Central Asia. Before 1991 when it was a part of the Soviet Union, drinking water infrastructure was developed and maintained by the state. Even the most remote villages had clean drinking water supply pipes installed. Economic crisis followed the collapse of the Soviet Union resulting in breakdown of infrastructure, including drinking water supply systems. According to reports, many villages in Kyrgyzstan, which has one of the richest water resources in Central Asia, remain without access to safe drinking water. Sometimes people have to walk or go on horseback several kilometres to fetch water at the spring water source. In other cases, villagers have to drink from rivers and streams contaminated with sewage waste or take underground water. Breakdown of the drinking water supply systems also resulted in extra burden on women. In most societies, including Kyrgyz, fetching water is women’s and children’s responsibility.