On 14th November the Chair of the 12th WLN Meeting, Ms Heather Ridout, released a letter to the delegates to this year's meeting outlining actions that have been taken since June. In it, Ms Ridout indicated progress in several fronts:
- The WLN Reference Group, through Ms Alison Terry, made an invited presentation to the Meeting of the Ministers Responsible for Trade in Cairns on 7th July on the set of recommendations from this year's Meeting.
- In September Ms Ridout herself did a similar presentation to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). Mr Geoff Brennan, Executive Director of the ABAC Secretariat, had previously spoken about the potential for links between ABAC and WLN.
- One of the key recommendations from this year's Meeting revolved around the the trade liberalisation agenda. Peru has since indicated that this issue will be a key focus of next year's meeting. A workshop will be conducted at the Meeting on the impact of free trade agreements on women in micro, small and medium enterprises.
- Ms Ridout wrote about WLN's work in The Australian Financial Review, Australia's principal business journal. In it, she explained the depth of WLN's experience and thinking on key economic issues facing our region, such as climate change, sustainable trade and business practices. A copy of the article can be downloaded from here.
- It was proposed at the Meeting to undertake research on the nature and extent of any differential impacts on women of regional trade liberalisation and Free Trade Agreements within the APEC region. The Australian Government Office for Women, in consultation with the Australian WLN Reference Group, is mapping the scope of this research with the view of securing funding to progress the research and present the findings in Peru next year.
- In its role as 2007 Chair of the Gender Focal Point Network, the Australian Government Office for Women is liaising with th APEC Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Working Group on its work to develop a 4-year strategic plan that will include support for women, youth and minorities as a strategic priority.
- The Australian Government Office for Women website for the 2007 Meeting has been updated and now holds all the materials from this year's meeting.
Ms Ridout's letter is available for download from here.
