Report of the ICAPP Mission to Bangladesh

(July 21-23, 2013)

Hon. Chung Eui-yong, Co-Chairman of the Standing Committee and Secretary General, visited Bangladesh during July 21-23, 2013. He was accompanied by the two Members of the ICAPP Women’s Wing, Hon. Dr. Park In-sook, Co-Chairperson, and Hon. Sujata Koirala, Vice Chairperson.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss with the leaders of the major political parties how to further promote cooperation between the ICAPP and political parties in Bangladesh, in particular for the future activities of the ICAPP Women’s Wing and the successful conclusion of the ICAPP Special Conference on Women’s Leadership and Empowerment to be held in Seoul, Korea during September 12-14, 2013.

The delegation had meetings with Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Awami League, Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia, Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and His Excellency Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Former President and Chairman of the Jatiya Party.

Hon. Chung Eui-yong, Co-Chairman of the ICAPP Standing Committee and Secretary General of the ICAPP, Hon. Dr. Park In-sook, Co-Chairperson of the ICAPP Women's Wing, and Hon. Sujata Koirala, Vice Cheairperson of the ICAPP Women's Wing visited Bangladesh during July 21-23, 2013 as planned.

During their stay in Dhaka, they had meetings with the leaders of the major political parties, including Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister and Chairperson of Bangladesh Awami League, and Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia, Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Both leaders welcomed the establishment of the ICAPP Women's Wing and accepted the request by the ICAPP Women's Wing to become Special Advisers.

The ICAPP delegation also delivered the invitations to the ICAPP Special Conference on Women's Leadership and Empowerment to be held in Seoul during September 12-14, 2013. Both leaders expressed great interest in, and strong support for, the conference, but said that, due to the forthcoming general elections in Bangladesh, they would need more time to take decision whether to participate in the conference.

During their stay, the members of the ICAPP delegation also discussed the plan to convene a small-scale workshop of the ICAPP Women’s Wing on one of the specific issues as a pilot project in Nepal in January 2014, which had been agreed at the 2^nd Meeting of the Bureau of the ICAPP Women’s Wing in Bangkok on June 17, 2013, and tentatively agreed as follows.

-The workshop will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal during January 23-25, 2014 under the auspices of the Nepali Congress Party and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML)

-The main topic of the workshop will be “girl trafficking” and three other sub-topics, such as “mapping of the trafficking routes, root causes of girl trafficking and regional initiatives to prevent trafficking.”

-The hosts will provide local accommodation for 40 to 50 foreign participants, and the invitations will be sent to representatives of key political parties in SAARC members, ASEAN members and Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Japan, Korea and Turkey.

-A limited number of special guests will be invited to deliver keynote speeches for the main topic and the sub-topics. The special guests will be selected through consultation among the Members of the Bureau of the ICAPP Women’s Wing and the ICAPP Secretariat. The Nepali hosts propose to invite President of Nepal, H.E. Begum Khaleda Zia, Chairwoman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and Hon. Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairwoman of the National League of Democracy of Myanmar, as special guests of the workshop.

-A limited number of experts will also be invited to make presentations on sub-topics of the workshop.

-The ICAPP Secretariat will cooperate with the hosts to find co-sponsors which will provide financial assistance for the workshop.