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.