ESCAP organized an Expert Group Meeting at Bangkok from 22 to 24 March in preparation for the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to be held in September to review the implementation at the regional level of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995).

Attended by gender experts from eight countries in the region, the recent Meeting provided a conceptual framework for the upcoming High-level Meeting. The framework will help governments discuss and analyse specific country experiences in the implementation of BPFA and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in 2000, also known as Beijing+5. It will enable and facilitate a discussion on the major achievements and obstacles encountered by governments and other partners in their efforts to promote active and visible gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes.

The Meeting placed a special emphasis on the reporting of good practices and effective strategies employed by the various actors involved and identified new approaches to address persistent and emerging challenges facing the region, including the social and economic impact of globalization, trafficking in women and girls, violence against women, women and governance, human rights, information and communication technology, HIV/AIDS, and peace and conflict resolution.

The output of the High-level Meeting to be held at Bangkok in September will be the regional input into the global Review and Appraisal of the implementation of BPFA coordinated by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women and to be carried out by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-ninth session in March 2005. ESCAP is coordinating the review of Asia-Pacific regional responses to the questionnaire addressed by the Division for the Advancement of Women to governments in the region on BFFA and Beijing+5.

The global review and appraisal will identify achievements, gaps and challenges and provide an indication of areas where actions and initiatives, within the framework of BPFA and the outcome of the special session (Beijing +5), are most urgent to further implementation.
Nine gender experts from eight countries (Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, New Caledonia, Thailand, Nepal and Viet Nam) attended the Meeting, together with representatives from UNICEF, FAO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNIFEM and IOM.