Mr. Chairman,
At
the outset, I wish to congratulate you on
your resumption of the chairmanship of the
forty-seventh session of the Commission
on the Status of Women. I am confident that
under your leadership, our deliberations
will come to a fruitful conclusion. I also
wish on this occasion to congratulate the
other members of your Bureau and thank the
Secretariat for the reports under our consideration.
The
panel discussions and the high-level roundtable
held over the past two days were very useful
to our deliberations. The roundtable, in
particular, provided a valuable opportunity
for the exchange of views and experiences
among national machineries dealing with
the advancement of women. We support the
continuation of such practices.
Mr.
Chairman,
We
are living in an increasingly globalizing
world where media and information and communication
technology (ICT) have played an important
role in the development of our societies,
particularly since the advent of the Internet.
Yet, the benefits of globalization and technological
advancement are, unfortunately, unequally
shared. The gap exists not only among countries
but also within a country and between genders.
Hence, it is very timely that this year,
in light of the World Summit on the Information
Society to be held later in December and
then in 2005, the Commission takes up the
question of women and media and ICT as one
of its thematic issues. The discussions
by the Commission on the issues of women’s
human rights and violence against women
are also very pertinent to achieving gender
equality, which is cross-cutting and critical
to reaching broader development goals set
out by various major UN conferences and
summits, including the Millennium Development
Goals.
Having
said that, I wish to take this opportunity
to share with the Commission Thailand’s
efforts relating to the two thematic issues
in a following up to the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action and the Beijing+5
outcome document.
Mr.
Chairman,
Since
the Internet was introduced in Thailand
a decade ago, significant progress has been
achieved in both policies and practices
to make ICT accessible and beneficial to
the general public.
Thailand’s
efforts to improve governance and public
services through ICT are embedded in Section
78 of our 1997 Constitution, which stipulates
that “The government shall support
the development of infrastructures that
enable universal and equitable access to
information and communication technology
by all local communities in Thailand.”
Our Ninth National Economic and Social Development
Plan also recognizes ICT as instrumental
to improving the collaboration and communication
between the private and public sectors to
enhance the effectiveness in both management
and services.
In this regard, Thailand’s ICT policy
focuses not only on the development of physical
infrastructures, but also the development
of human resources at all levels. In the
public sector, strategies formulated on
a basis of ICT-related policy researches,
such as IT for Good Governance in 1998,
have led to the appointment of Chief Information
Officers (CIO) for every ministry and government
agency and to the approval by the Cabinet
of several ICT training programmes, particularly
for the executives, including members of
the parliament, CIO and high-level government
officials. Such training programmes have
contributed to the development of many ICT-related
projects aiming at promoting good governance
and public services.
Mr.
Chairman,
Our
efforts to bridge the digital divide cover
various levels of the society and involve
both public and private sectors. While the
public sector promotes ICT education and
access in schools for young people through
such projects as SchoolNet Thailand by the
National Electronics and Computer Technology
Center (NECTEC), the private sector offers
ICT training courses for older citizens,
such as OPPY, or Old People Play Young,
course by Loxinfo Company Limited which
teaches computer skills to people aged 45
or above.
A
number of projects are undertaken to promote
the rural access to ICT. For example, the
Communications Authority of Thailand has
set up CATNET Public Internet Booth to provide
a pre-paid Internet access at public PC
booths installed at over 1,100 post offices
nationwide since 1997. The Ministry of Interior
has also equipped over 7,000 sub-district
administrative offices nationwide with computers
and Internet access. The TOT on-line service
was launched by the Telephone Organization
of Thailand in 2002 to provide free Internet
access for all telephone subscribers in
Thailand. The Telecenters for Community
Products and Tourism Promotion pilot project
has also been implemented since 2002.
As
a result of Thailand’s ICT policy
and programmes, the number of Internet users
in the country has been doubling each year.
In 2002, the number of Internet users in
Thailand is estimated at six millions.
Mr.
Chairman,
Efforts
have been made to mainstream the promotion
of greater access of women to media and
ICT into Thailand’s ICT policy and
strategies, including our IT 2010 Policy,
which puts an emphasis on strengthening
the domestic economy from the grassroots
level using ICT as a vehicle. A number of
initiatives have been expeditiously implemented
to ensure that the benefits of ICT reach
local communities and contribute to economic
and social development. As one example,
under the “One-Village-One-Product”
initiative, several Internet websites, such
as “thaitambon.com, thai.com and siamvillage.net”,
have been set up to link information on
outstanding products and places of interest
in communities in all 7,200 tambons, or
villages, throughout Thailand. All kinds
of supportive infrastructure have also been
provided to support
these programmes, with a view to strengthening
the competitive advantage of rural Thai
entrepreneurs, a significant proportion
of whom are women.
Thailand’s
efforts have also been complemented by those
of the international community, particularly,
with regard to the development of gender-sensitive
ICT indicators for analysis of Internet
usage behavior, which have been published
annually since 2000 by NECTEC as Internet
User Profile of Thailand. According to these
reports, the percentage of women with access
to Internet increases every year, and as
of 2002, women constituted about 53% of
Internet users in Thailand. There is also
an increase in the interest among Thai women
to use ICT as a tool for economic empowerment.
Currently, over two-third of OPPY students
are women and over one-third of these women
are business owners.
The
establishment of the new Information and
Communication Technology Ministry in October
2002 not only demonstrates the importance
which the Government attaches to ICT, but
also its strong support for the role of
women in ICT. Indeed, the first permanent
secretary of the ICT Ministry is a woman
(Khunying Thippawadee Makesawan).
Thailand
is committed to continuing our efforts to
bridge the digital divide and providing
universal and equitable access to ICT for
both men and women. Our National ICT Plan
for 2003-2008 includes strategies to use
ICT to develop Thai industries, improve
the quality of life in the society, enhance
the capability in ICT research and development,
enable business owners to compete internationally,
promote the use of ICT in small and medium
enterprises and for good governance and
quality public services.
Mr.
Chairman,
Media
and ICT are not only important instruments
for greater employment, educational and
other opportunities for women. They are
also effective tools to promote women's
human rights and prevent violence against
women and girls.
Thailand
is committed to the promotion and protection
of human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all and, as the State Party to the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women and to its Optional Protocol,
we are committed to upholding women's human
rights. Gender equality is enshrined in
our Constitution, which states that women
and men are equal and that their human dignity,
rights and liberty must be protected irrespective
of their origin, sex, or religion. Our efforts
to meet that goal encompass both legislative
and administrative measures to address women’s
concerns from both prevention and assistance
perspectives.
At
the legislative and policy level, the Government
has put under review existing laws and regulations
which may discriminate against women. New
laws have also been proposed. In particular,
the Criminal Procedures Code on Interrogation
of Victims has been amended to allow for
a more child-friendly interrogation process
for persons under 18 with the participation
of a psychologist and social worker, using
video as a medium to avoid confrontation
between the perpetrators and the victims
or witness of violence. A draft law on the
Elimination of Violence against Women and
Children is also now under the consideration
by the Cabinet.
In
addition, the Cabinet has also approved
the policy and plan for the eradication
of violence against children and women along
with specific measures to solve the problem,
addressing the issues of safety, suppression
of pornographic media, reproductive education,
and assistance to victims of violence.
Education
and implementation of awareness-raising
campaigns are key to our efforts to prevent
violence as well as empower women and girls.
In the area of assistance, the Thai Government
has established 28 one-stop service centres
for women in crisis at hospitals in Bangkok
and other provinces; a 24-hour hotline center
for counseling services and complaints under
the Social Development and Welfare Department;
and the Centres for the Protection of Children,
Youth and Women under the Royal Thai Police.
More emphasis has also been given to the
strengthening of the networking between
the National Women's Machinery and media
institutions and the implementation of different
forms of awareness raising campaigns through
various types of media. All these efforts
are supported by a strong network among
governmental agencies as well as local authorities,
in partnership with non-governmental organizations.
Institutional
capacity-building is also key to ensure
effectiveness of policy implementation.
Hence, Thailand's strategy to promote women's
human rights continues to focus on the strengthening
of the national women's machinery, the creation
of linkages among all ministries and departments,
and the strengthening of partnership and
cooperation among all concerned organizations
at all levels.
The
recent establishment of the Ministry of
Social Development and Human Security illustrates
the Thai Government’s commitment to
addressing social concerns in an effective
and integrated manner as well as ensuring
the mainstreaming of the particular concerns
of social groups, including women, into
the overall national social development
agenda. I wish to note also that the first
and current permanent secretary of this
new ministry is also a woman (Ms. Panit
Nitithanprap).
At
the same time, to ensure the integration
of gender concerns in all policies, programmes
and administration, Chief Gender Equality
Officers (CGEO) have been appointed in all
ministries and departments. A unit of Gender
Focal Point (GFP) is also set up in each
government agency to coordinate with the
national women's machinery.
Mr.
Chairman,
Trafficking
of women and girls is one of the worst forms
of violence against
women and a condemnable transnational organized
crime. It must be tackled from both demand
and supply sides. Its root causes, which
include poverty, must be addressed.
On
our part, Thailand has undertaken national
action through amending and enacting of
legislation and adopting measures to prevent
and suppress the trafficking as well as
protect the human rights of the victims
by ensuring their access to protection and
justice and imposing heavy penalties on
perpetrators involved in sex trades, labour
exploitation, forced beggar as well as other
immoral acts. The National Committee on
Trafficking in Women and Children was set
up in 1998 and introduced a Memorandum of
Understanding among Concerned Agencies in
Case of Women and Children are Victims of
Human Trafficking with a view to ensuring
coordination, common understanding and standard
practices, including in the protection of
victims of trafficking. The MoU was signed
by concerned organizations, including the
Royal Thai Police and NGOs. At the same
time, poverty eradication is always high
on our national priority and is one of the
three pillars of the policy of the Royal
Thai Government.
Trafficking
of human beings, especially women and girls,
is a global problem. All countries concerned
must be actively involved in tackling it.
In this regard, Thailand has been working
with partners within bilateral and multilateral
frameworks to address the problem of trafficking
in persons, particularly women and children.
These include our cooperation with Cambodia
towards a memorandum of understanding on
Bilateral Cooperation for Eliminating Trafficking
in Children and Women and Assistance for
Victims of Trafficking, which we hope will
soon be finalized. We also join force with
other countries in enhancing cooperation
to combat trafficking in such frameworks
as the UN Inter-agency Project on Trafficking
in Women and Children in the Mekong Sub-regional,
ASEAN, ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) and ARIAT
(Asian Regional Initiative against Trafficking
in Women and Children). A national committee
has been established to oversee the implementation
of projects against trafficking of women
and children in the Mekong sub-region.
Given
the gravity of the problem of trafficking,
Thailand welcomes the holding of a thematic
discussion by the Commission on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice at its twelfth session
on the issue of trafficking in human being,
especially women and children, at its twelfth
session this year.
Mr.
Chairman,
Promoting
women’s rights requires not only national
efforts but also intensified cooperation
at regional and international levels as
well as strengthened partnerships among
all stakeholders. The international community
must act with stronger resolve to implement
our commitment towards achieving gender
equality.
Thank
you.
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