Jakarta (VNA)💎 – Representatives of the 10 ASEANmember countries discussed gender equality and empowerment in ASEANmine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) action at a regional workshop inVientiane, Laos, on October 21 – 22.

The event was held by the Lao Government incoordination with the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre and the GenevaInternational Centre for Humanitarian Demining, according to the ASEANSecretariat. The participants analysed their work in mine/ERWaction through a gender and diversity lens, assessing how mine/ERW actionprojects and programmes are implemented to ensure that the priorities andcapabilities of women, girls, boys, men and diverse groups are highlighted, andtheir needs are met. The Mission of Canada to ASEAN emphasised thecountry’s commitment to developing and implementing gender-responsive approachtowards mine action, as it is aligned with Canada’s National Action Plan onWomen, Peace and Security for the period 2017-2022. In addition to building the member nations’capacity on gender mainstreaming in mine/ERW action, the workshop also provideda platform for them to share experiences, best practices and lessons learnt onintegrating gender into their work. Founded in 1967, the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) groups 10 member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand andVietnam./.