A total of 18 representatives working in women protection and gender equality promotion gathered early this month at Mekong Institute for the International Training on ‘Gender Equality and Women Empowerment: Sharing Good Practices and Experiences of Thailand.’ The representatives came from countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. On its second year of offering, the training was organized with the support of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and was designed to further promote gender equality and women empowerment through the sharing of experiences from Thailand as well as those of other countries.

The intensive two-week course, which opened on October 1, 2018 at the MI Residential Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand, featured session discussions and group workshops on developing leadership skills of women, participation of women in economic activities and in the labor market, gender-based violence, as well as case studies and examples of mainstreaming gender in policies and gender-responsive planning.

The training culminated in structured learning visits to various organizations and groups in Khon Kaen and Bangkok including the One-Stop Crisis Center (OSCC); Rattanapa Women and Family Development Learning Center, Women group in Nam Phong District, Office of Women’s Affairs and Family Development, and UNESCO Bangkok.

“Coming to Thailand for this training has been a very, very good experience,” shared Ms. Dinah Martha Akirapa, a participant from Uganda. “This training has been very, very rich, and we are taking knowledge back home. Surely we have a lot to do to ensure that we address the issues of gender equality and how best we can solve them.”

The participants committed to furthering efforts in advocating gender equality and strengthening mechanisms to protect victims of all forms of violence through the action plans they are expected to carry out in their respective countries as part of the training.