AWEsome Women Leaders Assemble in CALD Training

“Here’s to women of the world! May we lead with courage, compassion and conviction.”

This were the jubilant words of Min Cheong, a Singaporean politician, after she completed the 4-day virtual training course on women’s leadership spearheaded by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD). Dubbed as Asian Women Education (AWE) for Transformative Leadership, the innovative and transformative training programme lays the foundational knowledge, transformative attitudes, and critical skills deemed strategic for strengthening women’s leadership among the members of the CALD network.

“In the past year, we have all stood witness to the extraordinary strength of women in facing a crisis that is testing the resolve of even the most advanced countries”, said Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo in her solidarity message. “We have seen women emerged as leaders and decision-makers, as frontliners, and as community mobilizers. And clearly, without women leaders sitting at the decision-making table, our COVID-19 responses would be less effective at meeting the needs of women and girls.”

In her opening address, Jayanthi Devi Balaguru, CALD Women’s Caucus Chairperson, echoed the vice president’s message by saying that women fought hard for their seat at the table, so they should not allow anyone to tell them that they don’t belong. “Let us claim our seat… so that we can turn the tables for the benefit of future generations”, she said.

In the course of the training, the more than a dozen participants from East, Southeast and Central Asia came to the conclusion that many tables still need to be turned in order to make the Beijing Platform for Action, the landmark document for advancing the rights of women and gender equality agreed during the 1995 World Conference on Women, a reality.  To make matters worse, the Asian political and cultural contexts appear to be generally unsupportive of, if not hostile to, women empowerment.

The participants, however, also realized that women leaders are also more likely to exhibit feminist-transformative-generative leadership which “promotes connectedness, care for one another amidst differences, and the valuing of life-affirming and life-enhancing relationships.” Moreover, the participants also learned about how they can position or reposition themselves so that they can challenge the dominant, oftentimes oppressive, discourses in their respective societies.

“Gender equality and women’s  empowerment should not be seen in isolation as a women’s issue.” said Patricia Licuanan, former chairperson of the UN Commission on the Status of Women that ushered in the Beijing Platform for Action. “It is a matter of human rights, a condition for social justice, and the only way to build a sustainable, just and developed society.”

AWE, which took place on 9/10 and 16/17 April 2021, was co-organized with the Miriam College’s Women and Gender Institute (WAGI), Southeast Asia Women’s Watch (SEAWWatch) and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF).