| Association
for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW)
2005 was another exciting year for APSW.
Many signs for positive gains for women children were witnessed
during 2005 and APSW was a part of those efforts.
The highlight of the year was in November 2005 when Her
Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali graciously presided over
the event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Emergency
Home at the Siam City Hotel in Bangkok.
The
event was organized to express appreciation to supporters
of the Emergency Home and to present the awards for selected
individuals / groups who have been the role models in successfully
fighting their life crisis as well as in serving as inspiration
to women.
The awardess included the followings :
Thanpuying
Sumalee Chartikavanich
A devotee for the cause of women
Ms Chamaiporn Sangkrachang
A quality novelist who has reflected women’s issues
through her novels
Mr Cheewin Kosiyapong
A song writer whose song lyrics are inspirational to those
who are unhappy
Ms Thitinart Na Patthalung
A woman who successfully survived the life crisis and has
been inspirational to many women
Dr Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan
A medical doctor who devoted herself in the Tsunami incidence
Ms Patravadi Sae So
A movie star who stands up successfully as a single mum
Koo Sang Koo Som Magazine
A magazine which portrays family life crisis and solutions
JSL Company
The Program “Chaw Jai” produced by JSL reflects
realities in life of many disadvantaged groups in the society
TV
Channel 3
The TV Channel which have many programs for women
The event also highlighted two talk shows. The first was
by the famous 4 women anchorpersons, Ms Pimolwan Supayang,
Ms Meesuk Changmeesuk, Ms Kulnadda Pachimsawad and Ms Pacharasee
Benjamas who presented issues related to discriminatory
laws and violence against women. The second talk was the
sharing by two of the awardees, Ms Thitinart Na Pattalung
and Ms Patravadi Sae So on how they survived the life crisis.
In between the talks was the singing of a few inspirational
songs by the renowned socialite, Ms Kamala Sukosol.
Another
important event was the launching of the Childhood-APSW
Project (Teens for Teens Project) in Tsunami affected area
in Takua Pa District, Pangnga Province. The project forms
one component of the program of the Learning for Healing
Center which is catered for children and youth affected
by Tsunami, targeting at teenagers from 13-18 years of age.
The launching of the project was presided over by Her Majesty
Queen Silvia of Sweden and HRH Princess Soamsawali on 18
February 2005.
The
project period is set at two years for the initial build
up of the local youth working teams and youth leaders; thereafter
providing long term teen establishments in the areas. The
short-term objectives of this project were to provide immediate
assistance to teenagers affected by the tsunami. The project,
in its longer term perspective, seeks for sustainability
of youth activities and hence, has placed a great emphasis
on establishing youth groups and youth leaders.
The
process started after the school started in June 2005. Working
with 10 schools where selected students are trained as youth
leaders in a series of training ensures that teen issues
reach out to the targeted youth. It could be expected that
future risks of drug abuse, teen prostitution and pregnancy
as well as teen violence are diminished through constructive
activities and supportive environment.
Setting
the main purpose of changing the crisis into opportunities
for youth affected by tsunami, the project is expected to
have opened up a larger range of options for youth and to
set the stage for local youth groups to actively play leading
roles for youth and serve as role models for others in the
nearby communities.
Teens
Convention, another important activity received much publicity.
The event was organized on 29 – 30 August 2005 at
the auditorium of the Medical Council of Thailand, with
the World Childhood Foundation as the main supporter. APSW
was the main focal organizer, working in collaboration with
the Supporters of Teenagers Network, comprising 14 organizations/groups.
It was well attended by over 1,000 teenagers and teachers.
The focus was on reproductive health and rights where group
activities and plenary sessions were held, enabling wide
exchanges. The teenagers submitted their requests to the
Bangkok Governor who was chairing the closing of the event.
EMERGENCY
HOME
The Emergency Home, through its social workers and psychologists,
provides temporary shelter, food, physical and mental rehabilitation,
counseling, and life skills for women and children. Hot
line services for consultation on women’s reproductive
health problems and others are also offered The Emergency
operates 24 hours each day.
On any given day, there are about 150 women and children
sheltering at the Emergency Home.
Programs
and Activities in 2005
1.
Number of women and children seeking help
The
Emergency Home served 2,642 women and children in 2005.
Among these, 662 cases sought shelter, 59 came only for
counseling and 1,980 persons received hotline counseling
services.
2.
Profile of women and children at the Emergency Home
Unwanted pregnancy
Assistance was given to 149 pregnant women. Of these, 30
were below 18 years old. The main reasons for unwanted pregnancy
were abandonment by their partner, followed by rapes mostly
by acquaintances or those known to them.
HIV/ AIDS cases
There were 27 women seeking help during 2005. The majority
contracted it from their partners. Fifteen women received
retroviral medicine.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence cases numbered 68.
Rape cases
Thirty nine victims sought help from our Kanitnaree Center
or the Rape Crisis Rehabilitation Center, 20 were students
aged 8 – 18.
3.
Problems consulted through hotline services
The problems consulted through telephone services centered
around unwanted pregnancy, abortion and extramarital affairs
problems.
4.
Other services / activities provided to the women and children
Apart from the main services offered which include accommodation
and food, health care, psychological and emotional rehabilitation
,individual and group counseling, the Emergency Home also
conducted a number of awareness raising and training sessions
for its members. These included :
•
Skill building on emotional handling
• Strengthening understanding on reproductive health
• Awareness raising on women’s legal rights
5.
Follow-ups
Follow-up was made to 181 cases who had left the Emergency
Home to ensure that they adapt appropriately and to determine
if they can stand on their own feet and to further assist
if required.
CHILDREN’S HOME
The
Children’s Home looks after the children aged 2 –
6, who accompany their mothers sheltered at the Emergency
Home as well as those who are victims of violence and abandonment.
In 2005, there were 60 children, 30 boys and 30 girls, who
received care from Children’s Home. On average, each
day there were about 15 – 20 children under care.
NURSERY
Nursery provides temporary care for infants of the Emergency
Home members which can be classified into two categories.
The first group consists of infants whose mothers decide
to raise them on their own but need some help at the initial
stage while they are settling in their job and their life.
The second group are infants whose mothers decide to put
them up for adoption. The Nursery takes care of these children
at the initial stage of adoption process.
In 2005, there were 137 infants taken care by the Nursery.
Thirty two were sent to the adoption center while the remaining
stayed temporarily.
Support of the World Childood Foundtion
Assistance to the under eighteen years old members of the
Emergency Home was specially provided by the World Childhood
Foundation.
WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTER
Women’s Education and Training Center offers opportunities
for enrollment in the non-formal education programs at elementary
and secondary levels, in collaboration with the Ministry
of Education. Vocational skills training in different fields
is offered all through the year. All these services are
for both the Emergency Home members and for the general
public.
The
special feature of the programs offered by the Center is
that information regarding women’s issues is integrated
in all the programs. The purpose is to raise their awareness
on the problems women face and what the APSW does to lessen
them.
Programs / Activities in 2005
1.
Short term vocational training
Vocational
training courses that were offered lasted from 15 –
200 hours. There were altogether 20 courses including hairdressing,
dressmaking, massage, computer, baking and cooking among
others. Among 898 trainees, 158 were from the Emergency
Home. The remaining were interested people from the communities
mainly within the vicinity. The training which was exclusively
for the Emergency Home members and continually supported
by the Norwegian Women and Family Association was Nurse
Aid for Child Care.
2.
Adult education programs
The
Center collaborates with the Non-formal Education Department
of the Ministry of Education and provides adult education
programs for adults over 16 years old. The programs were
at primary and secondary school levels, with 10 and 111
students enrolled respectively.
3.
Community services by vocational training students
For
hairdressing and barber courses, the students provided free
haircutting services to different communities in the vicinity.
There were altogether 7,571 people, 2,101 women and 5,470
men receiving free haircut.
4.
Follow-up on vocational training students
Follow-ups
were conducted on students completed the training and it
was found that 80 percent of those completed the training
were able to apply the skills in their jobs. Those undergoing
training on Nurse Aids for Child Care were offered jobs
soon after their completion. There were 15 hairdressing
students opening their own salon.
YOUTH CENTER
Youth Center is another major activity of the APSW. Established
almost a decade ago, the Center caters for activities for
youth in the vicinity of the APSW as a means to instill
in them proper attitudes towards gender equality, social
responsibility and abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Among
the APSW youth activities that have been organized include
youth camps and training youth leaders in the area of reproductive
health and rights through working with schools in Bangkok.
The
latest youth program that has been launched since 2002 is
the provision of reproductive health information and reproductive
rights awareness raising activities as well as counseling
in reproductive health matters through Teen House, the Resource
Center for Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights among
adolescents. The Teen House is situated in the downtown
area of Bangkok.
Project : Informed Choices on Reproductive Health for Adolescents
The Youth Center completed the last year of the three year
Project on supported by the World Population Foundation.
The activities carried out in 2005 were as follows:
1.
Pi Chuay Nong (Helping the Younger Ones) Activities
The training of the peer educators had already been completed
in 2004 and the year saw awareness raising activities conducted
by peer educators in the remaining 6 schools, with 441 students
participating. Pi Chuay Nong were activities conducted by
students leaders to raise an awareness on one selected reproductive
health issue such as HIV/AIDS.
2.
Support to schools in reproductive health matters
Support was given to schools participating in the project
to set up facilities within the school for awareness raising
and counseling on reproductive health supervised by school
counselor.
Project : The World Starts with Me
The project was a continuation from the Project on Informed
Choices on Reproductive Health for Adolescents supported
by the World Population Foundation. The evaluation and feedback
from the 60 schools that APSW was working with showed that
one of the main obstacles in sex education are the lack
of teaching materials as well as the methods of teaching.
The project was conceived out of such findings. The computer
base curriculum “ The World Starts with Me”,
developed for Uganda teenagers by the World Population Foundation
has been adopted. The modification to suit the Thai context
was carried out by a team of teachers and students from
6 schools under the jurisdiction of the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration. The launching of the program in pilot schools
was aimed for the year 2006.
Project : Teens for teens (project in Tsunami affected area)
The youth team had a busy schedule for the year as the Teens
for Teens Project in the South took shape. The project under
the support of the World Childhood Foundation worked with
10 schools and the focus was on sexual and reproductive
health and rights, modeled after the project carried out
in Bangkok schools. The Unilever Australasia Foundation
also was keen in supporting youth activities and supported
the construction of the Youth Center, which started in September
2005. The Youth Center is a multipurpose building and is
located in the compound of Bangmuang Subdistrict Organization.
The completion was expected in early 2006.
GENDER
AND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Gender and Development Research Institute (GDRI) is the
research arm of the APSW. Established 15 years ago, the
Gender and Development Research Institute carries out action
research on policy issues including advocacy to advance
the status of women and to promote gender equality
Programs / Activities in 2005
1.
International Women’s Week Event
The event, organized on 3 March 2005, comprised two parts.
The first part was the award presentation ceremony in which
10 outstanding women and two outstanding organizations received
the Prime Ministers’ plaques for their outstanding
contribution to the national development and for women’s
cause. These awardees later shared their experiences in
discussion sessions. The second part covered two activities.
The first was to congratulate women who had won in the national
election in February 2005. The second entitled Strategies
to improve the status of women featured panel discussions.
The event was participated by about 1,400 government officials,
NGO representatives, academics and women leaders, women
and men from communities in Bangkok and different regions
of the country and the media.
2.
Continuing with the gender responsive documentation system
on violence against women and children.
The year saw the continuing effort on the establishing a
systematic documentation center on violence cases, as requested
by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
A seminar was organized with the network on the documentation
system and procedures. The data compiled are expected to
be utilized for further research and study on violence,
awareness raising as well as public policy formulation.
Presentation of data and information on violence against
women can be viewed on the GDRI website. (www. gdrif.org)
3. Access to justice seminar
The Gender and Development Research Institute, as a member
of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
(APWLD) organized a seminar on Access to justice in domestic
violence problem on 7 October 2005. The seminar was attended
by about 100 participants from different organizations and
offered a rare opportunity for an exchange with Dr Yakin
Ertuk, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women.
4.
Following the footsteps of outstanding women Project
With the support of UNICEF, the Gender and Development Research
Institute organized a series of activities to enable school
students to learn from outstanding women on how they have
become successful. Field visits to the site where outstanding
women were stationed were also made. The activities were
organized from 30 July to 20 September 2005, participated
by 2,048 students, 651 boys and 1,397 girls form schools
in the four regions .
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FUND RAISING
Public
Relations
Dissemination of news and information on the activities
of the APSW to the media was carried out regularly. Case
studies from the Emergency Home were sent to 14 popular
magazines to provide lessons learned to the readers. Exhibitions
were also organized on numerous occasions e.g.; International
Women’s Day, Stop Violence Month Campaign, Mother’s
Day, and other specially organized functions.
Fund Raising
1.
Donation boxes
There were 964 donation boxes placed at different places
in Bangkok and some provinces. These include banks, which
account for about one third of the boxes, government offices,
hospitals and corporate/business enterprises. The remaining
were boxes installed in state enterprises, educational institutions
and hotels.
2.
Postal campaigns
There were two main target groups in the postal campaigns.
One group included organizations in the corporate and business
sector. The other were those whose birthdays are known to
us. In this latter case, birthday greetings would be sent
to them and suggestions on ways to celebrate birthdays at
the APSW were made. Returns from these postal campaigns
on average was about 4 percent and the revenue representing
about 3 percent of the total donation received.
3. Charitable activities /fund-raising by donors
Funds were raised by many organizations for APSW. Among
those included Cosmopolitan Magazine who launched a special
event to commemorate their 100 th issue where proceeds were
given to the Emergency Home. Many organizations such as
the Government Savings Bank and a popular publisher, Yai
Mai, also organized activities to the members of the Emergency
Home and provided donation to APSW. Proceeds from such events
were given to the APSW.
VISITS
AND SUPPORT TO THE APSW
1. Visits
Visits to the APSW by interested parties included 91 groups
of 3,452 persons which can be classified as follows:
Categories
Number of groups Number of persons
Students
(Thai)
Non-students (Thai)
Non-students (Foreign)
56
22
13
2,659
644
149
Total 91 3,452
1. Media Coverage
Different media covered the activities of APSW. Twenty four
interview sessions were featured both in TV and radio programs
and in magazines.
2.
Assistance and Support
As a charitable organization, APSW received assistance and
support from many organizations in both the public and the
private sectors. Among these included the followings:
Organizations in the public sector
•
Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Ministry
of Public Health and the Medical Office of the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration provided support for selected programs of
APSW to provide assistance to women and children, accounting
for about 6.7 percent of the revenue of the APSW.
•
Health Center 60, Bamrasnaradoon Hospital, Nopparatrajathani
Hospital, Bhumibol Hospital, Vajira Hospital and Sritanya
Hospital provided services to women and children seeking
medical assistance. This was in-kind support, worth about
Bht 1,000,000.
Private sector
Many private/business organizations provided cash support
including Siam Cement, Volvo, The Body Shop, Srifuengfoong
Foundation, Ladies Mission Group, Oriflame Cosmetics among
others.
Organizations in foreign countries which provided financial
support for activities included :
World Childhood Foundation
Norwegian Women and family Association
World Population Foundation
UNICEF
In-kind contribution was received from different organizations
such as Nestle, Premier Marketing, Poh Teck Tung Foundation,
UnileverThailand Group, Packfood among others.
Donation from the general public
Generous support was received from the public. A wide range
of contribution including cash, non-cash items, used clothing,
books, food items was received throughout the year.
Special contribution for Teens for Teens Project in Tsunami
affected area
The APSW received very kind contribution from World Childhood
Foundation and Unilever Australasia Foundation for working
with the youth in Tsunami affected area and the construction
of the YouthCenter in Takua Pa District in Pangnga Province.
CONCLUDING REMARK
The
overall effort of the APSW in 2005, whether it was on a
welfare or proactive end, was successful through the good
cooperation rendered by various organizations both in the
public and the private sectors. Equally
important was the trust and faith the public gave to the
APSW to pursue its activities to assist disadvantaged women
and children.
For
the days ahead, the Association for the Promotion of the
Status of Women still adheres to its mandate to advance
the status of women and will remain a part of the effort
to build a non-violent and equitable society for Thai women
and men.
Association
for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW)
under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Soamsawali
APSW Committee Members 2006 – 2009
1. Dr Suteera Vichitranonda President
President, Gender and Development Research Institute
2.
Associate Professor Wimolsiri Jamnarnwej Vice President
Dean, faculty of Law, Saint John’s University
3.
Khunying Nathanon Thavisin Vice President
Former Permanent Secretary, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
4.
Dr Yuwat Vudhimethi Vice President
Election Commissioner, Ayudhya Province
5.
Professor Emeritus Dr Pensri Bhichaisanit Secretary-General
President, Promoting Women’s Health Foundation
6.
Miss Pranee Niemsakul Treasurer
Finance Manager, Women’s Friends Company
7.
Miss Jaruwan Kasemsup Assistant Treasurer
Business Enterpreneur / Owner
8.
Miss Prapapan Poovachensathit Registrar
Managing Director, Brain Asia Company Limited
9.
Police Major-General Pojanee Sunthornket Member
Assistant Director of Health, Royal Thai Police
10.
Mr. Arj Wichiencharoen Member
Managing Director, Progress Information Company Ltd
11.
Mrs. Nitaya Chanruang Mahabhol Member
Committee member, Engineering Council of Thailand
12.
Mr. Sumit Mekraksa Member
President, Sam Por Concrete Company Limited
13.
Mrs. Reunkaew Kuiyakanon Brandt Member
Former President of the National Women’s Council of
Thailand
14.
Mrs. Anik Amarananda Member
Former Senior Executive from Royal Dutch Shell Group
15. Mr. Lek Yambuppha Member
President, International Law Consulting
16.
Mr. Wasant Pheemuechang Member
Managing Director, Wasant Law Firm
17.
Police Major Pimol Punwilai Member
Lecturer Nursing College,, Police Royal Thai Police
18.
Mrs. Pongtip Phutesa Member
Director, Corporate Relations
UNILEVER Thailand
___________________
Ms Maytinee Bhongsvej Secretary to the APSW
APSW Executive Director Committee
Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women
501/1 Dechatungka Road
Donmuang
Bangkok 10210
Tel:
02 929 2301–5
Fax: 02 929 2856, 566 3481 press 0
Email : admin@apsw-thailand.org
Homepage: www. apsw-thailand.org
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