It is now definite. The UNESCAP will hold a High Level Intergovernmental Meeting in connection with Beijing + 10 on September 6-9, 2004. To prepare ourselves for it, we will hold the NGO Regional Forum on June 30 to July 03, 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand. About 500 women from across Asia-Pacific are expected to attend. (Download Brochure)

The 2004 Asia-Pacific NGO Forum will:

• Look at the highlights and trends in implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the Beijing + 5 Outcome Document, as found through GO & NGO monitoring reports from across the region
• Identify lessons learned and recommend strategies for fast tracking attainment of the Beijing strategic objectives
• Present women's analysis of the impact on them of recent developments - in the economy, in politics and in technology, including the rise of terrorism, fundamentalism and ethnocentricity

The main outputs are:

1. "The Purple Book" containing the NGO evaluation of the impact of the BPFA on women's lives, an appraisal of remaining major obstacles to achieving target outcomes under each of the 12 critical areas of concern, and analysis of emerging gender issues, or new dimensions to existing concerns, that require concerted action by development actors.

2. Catalog of Participating NGO Projects in the Gender and Development Marketplace showcasing successful interventions across the 12 critical areas of concern of the BPFA, as well as on CEDAW.

The planned NGO Forum for Beijing + 10 is a logical and important follow through by the women's movement of what, by far, has been an effective civil society engagement with official UN sponsored policy making processes.