ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) and ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW)


ASEAN leaders recognize and reaffirm the importance of women and their participation in development. Efforts towards establishing a regional mechanism on women issues began during the ASEAN Women Leaders Conference held in 1975 that led to the establishment of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Women (ASW) in 1976. It was renamed the ASEAN Women Programme (AWP) in 1981 and finally in 2002, this body was restructured into the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW). The AMMW carries out the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of ASEAN’s key regional priorities and cooperation in women’s issues and concerns.  Composed of ministers in-charge of women and girls in all ASEAN Member States, the AMMW sets the strategic policy direction on ASEAN’s regional cooperation on women.


The ACW is a subsidiary body of the AMMW composed of senior officials in the respective ministries in-charge of women and girls. The ACW supports the AMMW by recommending regional policies, developing and implementing the five-year regional work plan, and managing partnerships.


The ACW, which holds regular meetings annually, is guided by the  following  operational documents which have been updated:

  1. Work Plan for Women’s Advancement and Gender Equality (2005-2010)
  2. Work Plan to Operationalize the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (2006-2010)
    • Builds on existing national efforts, moves forward the priorities of the previous Work Plan and integrates all relevant priorities and measures into a consolidated action plan on violence against women.

It has identified the following priority areas in its Work Plan for 2016-2020:

  • Promotion of women leadership
  • Non-gender stereotyping and social norm change
  • Gender mainstreaming across the three ASEAN pillars
  • Elimination of violence against women (VAW)
  • Economic empowerment of women
  • Protection and empowerment of women in vulnerable situations.

The PCW is involved in the following projects under the ACW Work Plan 2016-2020:

  1. Establishment of ACW M&E Results Framework
  2. Affirmative Action for Women in the Civil Service
    • In collaboration with the ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM)
  3. ACWC-ACW Ad-hoc Working Group on the development of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategies across the 3 ASEAN Community Pillars

ACW PH is co-chair together with ACWC Malaysia

  • Sex-disaggregation of Indicators of Relevant SDG Targets of ASEAN Member States
    • In collaboration with the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS)
  • Adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on the Gender-Responsive Implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Sustainable Development Goals 

The Chairperson of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is the country’s representative to the AMMW and ACW.