1PIE Global Collaboration Portal

The first Asian Indigenous Women’s Conference was held in Baguio City in the Cordillera region, Philippines on January 24-30, 1993. The conference brought together 150 women from 13 Asian countries and a few others from Europe and the Americas with the bulk of the participants coming from local organizations in the Cordillera. Its theme was “Sharing Commonalities and Diversities, Forging Unity Towards Indigenous Women’s Empowerment.” Its general objective was “to convene Asian indigenous women to share their various situations, fully understand how global developments impact on them, and collectively define what they can do to address common concerns." The conference gave birth to the Asian Indigenous Women’s Network (AIWN), which the participants then envisioned as a loose network that would help organize indigenous women in the region. The Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center (CWERC) was the key organizer of the conference.

 

On March 4-8, 2004, AIWN held its 2nd Asian Indigenous Women's Conference with the theme: “Heightening Empowerment and Solidarity of Indigenous Women in Asia.” The successful conference was attended by 108 participants from 37 indigenous peoples’ organizations (11 indigenous women’s organizations and 26 indigenous peoples’ organizations with women committees) and 32 support organizations (non-government, academe and government agencies) from 13 Asian countries. The conference resulted to the Baguio Declaration of the Second Asian Indigenous Women's Conference which outlines indigenous women's concerns/ issues and recommendations.