The General Assembly (GA) of APWLD was held on 21 – 23 June 2021. Due to the travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly took place on a virtual/online platform for the first time in APWLD’s herstory. The overall General Assembly was facilitated by the General Assembly Committee members – Azra Talat Sayeed from Pakistan, Govind Kelkar from India, and Joan May “Joms” Salvador from the Philippines.
A total of 93 APWLD members from South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and the Pacific registered and attended the three-day meeting. APWLD’s General Assembly was convened by APWLD’s Regional Council for the purposes of strategic planning and selecting the Regional Council members.
On the first day of the General Assembly, the Regional Council (ReC) and Secretariat presented to the members of APWLD’s collective work, achievements, challenges, and institutional responses for the period of 2017-2020. The General Assembly elected the new ReC members for the term of 2021–2024 with 21 members from 16 countries, representing all five sub-regions across Asia and the Pacific. The newly elected ReC subsequently elected 4 members of the Programme and Management Committee (P&M) for the term of 2021-2024.
On the second and third days, members had strategic discussion to establish APWLD’s plan for 2022-2026 as a feminist, membership-driven network. Members’ discussion at the GA was building on from the five sub-regional convenings APWLD organised with its members and strategic allies during March – May 2021. A draft report consolidating the sub-regional convenings was presented
to facilitate the GA discussion in analysing socio-economic and geopolitical context of women’s realities, and APWLD’s responses to generate a structural change for women’s human rights and Development Justice.
Members at the General Assembly appreciated the collective work of APWLD and celebrated our nearly 35 years of herstory as the region’s leading feminist, membership-driven network. The General Assembly took a moment to remember and appreciate all APWLD’s founding members, including Virada Somswasdi who passed away in March 2020. The General Assembly mandated the Regional Council and Secretariat to translate members’ discussion, analysis and recommendations to a concrete strategic plan for APWLD’s work in 2022-2026 to achieve women’s human rights and Development Justice.
You can download and read the full APWLD General Assembly Communiqué here.
