Reflections on the 24th Triennial Conference of PPSEAWA

Release Date

I was honoured to attend the 24th triennial Conference of the Pan Pacific and South East Asian Women’s Association (PPSEAWA) in Bali May 18-23 2010. The theme of the Conference this year was “Fostering Peace through strengthening unity in diversity” with a follow up discussion on “Our young women – our future.” PPSEAWA International was very pleased to have reestablished contact with Pakistan.

Founded in 1928 and having a current membership in 23 countries, PPSEAWA retains its objective namely, “to strengthen the bonds of peace by fostering a friendship and better understanding among women in all areas of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, to promote cooperation among women of these regions for the study and improvement of social, economic, and cultural conditions.”

As the sole representative from Pakistan, I endeavoured, through intervensions, and in my paper on “Young women in Pakistan,” to highlight the current issues we face, attributing particular relevance to the Conference theme, given the present conflict at Pakistan’s borders.

With delegates from The United States, New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tonga, Russia and Pakistan, it was highlighted that given today’s climate, diversities needed to be celebrated and not underplayed.

During the Session on “PPSEAWA – the way forward,” it was gratifying to hear the APWA website be quoted as an example of how user friendly and informative a website can be. In addition, the PPSEAWA International website now has a link to APWA’s website.

At the end of the 5 day Conference, PPSEAWA International President Mrs. Theresa Hinzke and its International Council nominated me as a member of the International By-laws and Review Committee, which I accepted.

The next PPSEAWA mid-term Conference is to be held in Taiwan in November 2011.