In regard to the article “Rape Cases Up 64% in First Half of 2015, Adhoc Says” (August 6), the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) would like to clarify a few points.
MoWA never promised any women and children’s rights committee, as Adhoc claimed. The Ministry would like to emphasize that existing mechanisms—Women and Children Consultative Committees at the provincial and district levels, and Commune Committee for Women and Children—should be used instead of creating new mechanisms leading to overlapping missions and inefficiency.
It is unfortunate that Adhoc didn’t know the existing mechanisms, which have been effectively functioning for more than a decade.
In addition, we have other mechanisms where NGO consultations are possible, such as the Technical Working Group on Gender and two steering committees established under the framework of Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW), one in charge of EVAW and another in charge of Ending Violence Against Children.
Phon Puthborey, communications and media officer, Ministry of Women’s Affairs
