Asian Regional Training

“Development of Culturally
Sensitive Programme”

9-13 July 2007

Chiang Mai, Thailand
 Asian Regional Training

“Development of Culturally
Sensitive Programme”

organized by
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on
Population and Development (AFPPD)

in cooperation with
United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA)

and
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

9-13 July 2007

Chiang Mai, Thailand
 message from
Chairman of AFPPD
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development
(AFPPD) has been experimenting with new strategies, themes and
concepts to inform, educate, motivate and involve Members of
Parliament about the importance of population, sexual and reproductive
health, and related issues in the development of nations.

It has implemented programmes through National Parliamentary

Committees, in most cases are parts of Parliamentary Committees in
the parliaments. The Parliamentary Committee full-time staffs are
most important agents of pursuing change. They are the facilitators
for parliamentarians to be motivated and active.

Therefore, AFPPD each year makes effort to enhance their capacity by

providing trainings under the guidance of selected UNFPA and other
experts. This year’s training not only covers a topic which is very
crucial for the success of any development programmes but also for
the governance of countries. Culturally sensitive programme, religion
and culture are parts of everybody’s life more so today than before.
Therefore, it is important that all our actions should be keeping in
view of the cultures, traditions and beliefs of the people. Some may
not be kept with time, this needs to be explained to parliamentarians
and their staff.

We, in AFPPD, consider linkage of our programme with culture is very

relevant and necessary. I wish the Asian Regional Training for the
Development of Culturally Sensitive Programme will be useful.

Yasuo Fukuda, MP (Japan)

Chairman, AFPPD
 message from
Secretary-General of AFPPD
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Thailand for the Asian
Regional Training Workshop on the Development of Culturally Sensitive
Programme (CSP). This training workshop brings more than 40 staffs
of National Committees and parliaments from over 23 Asia-Pacific and
Central Asian countries.

Culture plays an important role in the society, and shapes the views
and actions of an individual. Some cultural practices are useful but
some are so traditional and sometimes harmful. Even then, we have
to keep cultural sensitivity in mind when we deal with people or society.
Culturally sensitive approaches include carefully developed advocacy
programmes, closely tailored to the cultural context in which they are
launched, to make it easier to deal with sensitive subjects. These
programmes should reflect a clear understanding of the view of both
allies and potential adversaries, and draw from sources that are popular
within a given culture.

That is why AFPPD organized this training workshop to systematically

mainstream culturally-sensitive approaches into programming efforts.
This demands a greater emphasis on working with parliamentary staff
– engaging in dialogue, listening, sharing knowledge and insights, and
jointly planning the way to move forward.

Culturally sensitive programmes are a means by which AFPPD and its

development partners can more effectively make basic human rights
a reality in the countries we serve – especially those dealing with
gender equality and equity, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence and
reproductive health.

Prat Boonyawongvirot, MP (Thailand)

Secretary-General, AFPPD
 Background
Despite diverse histories, circumstances, experiences, and cultures, each country is
working towards common goals of, for instance, peace, poverty reduction, human
development, environmental sustainability, and gender equality, in order to achieve
a better future. Success in implementing some of these goals that touch on the
most sensitive and intimate spheres of human existence - reproductive health and
rights, gender relations, and population issues – will require patience, willingness
and ability to listen, and respect for cultural diversity. This is part of what we mean
by a culturally-sensitive programming.

As the name suggests, to be culturally-sensitive implies understanding each

other’s differences and respecting each other regardless of one’s sexuality, race,
color, or gender. In our day-to-day development work, it signifies underscoring the
importance of cultural sensitivity in effectively tackling change and development.
It means bringing in and drawing attention to the positive aspects of culture, and
benefiting from it in actual programming.

Changing attitudes, behaviors and laws - especially those dealing with gender
relations and reproductive health - have proven to be a long-term and complex
task; and changing mindsets can be even more difficult than providing services.
This is especially true when lives are bound by centuries-old traditions and cultures.
Different social and cultural realities create both challenges and opportunities for
achieving internationally-agreed goals. It is therefore crucial to understand the
importance of culture in the development world and how to integrate cultural
sensitivity and analysis in our line of work.

Numerous mechanisms, programmes, and instruments highlighting the key role

of culture in human and sustainable development are already in place. From
upholding human rights (including cultural rights) to respecting the plurality of
cultures, different legal and normative actions and tools have been endorsed by
the international community. Yet, in spite of this increased awareness, culture is
still a low priority in development policies, and the gap between discourse and
actual practice remains wide. Governments rarely apply a cultural dimension to
the resolution of key development issues.

In such a context, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and

Development (AFPPD), in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), is organizing an intensive training to national committee staffs on
programme development on culturally-sensitive matters. Entitled “Development of
Culturally-Sensitive Programme”, the training will be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand
on 9-13 July 2007.

The Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD),

founded in 1981, is the coordinating body of 25 national parliamentarian committees
with full-time staff support dealing with population, health and development
issues in the parliament. Over the past two decades, AFPPD has re-oriented its
advocacy efforts in line with the changes in paradigm of population policies and
programmes.

The training course will provide the participants with key knowledge, concepts,
tools and techniques on culturally-sensitive programming.

The course will focus on the:

• overview of culturally-linked frameworks and relevant standard-setting

instruments;
• understanding of the importance and interrelation of culture, gender, human
rights, and development;
• mainstreaming of cultural analysis in programmes; and
• use, application and development of cultural lenses.

Around 40 Staff of Parliaments and Parliamentarian Groups from 23 countries in

Asia and Pacific will be attending the training. They will be facilitated by UNFPA
and UNESCO officials as resource persons.

Quotes on Culture
The challenge for UNFPA is to help countries as we always
have with no agenda of our own, with sensitivity towards
unique cultural values, with an infinite willingness to work with
whatever is positive, and with a determination to help countries
and people turn universal principles into concrete action.
Thoraya Obaid
UNFPA Executive Director

UNESCO is participating in the building of an international

environment conducive to dialogue, and respectful of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular those of persons
belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples. Policies
fostering the integration and the participation of all citizens are
being promoted to avoid rifts and conflicts.
Koichiro Matsuura
UNESCO Director-General

People of different religions and cultures live side by side in

almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping
identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love
what we are, without hating what and who we are not. We can
thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and
come to respect their teachings.
Kofi Annan
former UN Secretary-General
 Asian Regional Training
“Development of Culturally Sensitive
Programme”
9-13 July 2007
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Agenda
DATE AND ACTIVITIES PRINCIPAL RESOURCE
TIME PERSON (S)
Sunday, 8 July - Arrival of Participants
Monday, 9 July
10.00 onwards Meeting of National Committee Staff: The Way Forward
19.00 onwards Dinner Reception
Tuesday, 10 July - Theoretical Background
Session 1: Opening
09.00–09.30 • Welcome remarks
Mr. Shiv Khare,
Executive Director of AFPPD
• Opening ceremony
Dr. G. Giridhar, Director of
UNFPA/CST, Bangkok
• Chairman’s remarks
Dr. Malinee Sukavejworakit,
Senior Adviser of AFPPD
09.30–09.40 Group photo
09.40–10.00 Coffee Break
10.00-10.10 Objectives of the meeting and Shiv Khare, AFPPD
presentation of the agenda
10.10-10.30 Activity: Getting-to-know one Maria Majella Rio,
another UNESCO + All
facilitators
10.30-10.45 Participants’ expectations Mere Kisekka, UNFPA
10.45-11.00 Setting up meeting “ground rules” Maria Majella Rio
Session 2: Overview of Culturally-Linked Frameworks and Relevant Standard-
Setting Instruments
11.00–11.30 International Conference on G. Giridhar, UNFPA
Population and Development
(ICPD) and Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
(With Q&A)
11.30–12.15 Relevant UN conventions and Vanessa Achilles,
standard-setting instruments UNESCO
(With Q&A)
12.15–13.15 Lunch Break
Session 3: Understanding the Importance of Culture, Gender and Human
Rights
13.15–13.45 Group activity: Perceptions on Maria Majella Rio
culture and gender
13.45–14.45 Definition of concepts: culture
Tensions between human rights, Mere Kisekka
gender, cultural norms and
traditions
14.45-15.00 Discussion, Q&A
15.00–15.30 Coffee Break
15.30–16.30 Linking the 3 concepts Vanessa Achilles
• Case studies
• Discussion
• Group report
16.30–16:45 General discussion Mere Kisekka
16.45–17.00 Wrap-up Shiv Khare + First
reporting group
Wednesday, 11 July - Using Lenses for Culturally-Sensitive
Programming
09.00–09.30 Feedback from the first day Shiv Khare + First
reporting group
Session 4: UNFPA Culture Lens
09.30–10.15 Group activity: Sharing success Mere Kisekka
and failure stories
Sensitization to culturally-sensitive
programming
10.15-10.30 Wrap-up activity and discussion
10.30–10.45 Coffee Break
10.45–11.30 Introduction to the culture lens Mere Kisekka
• What is a culture lens?
• Facets of the culture lens
11.30–12.00 Group activity: Case Study
12.00-12.15 • Group report
12.15-12.30 • Discussions
12.30–13.30 Lunch Break
Session 5: UNESCO Cultural Diversity Lens (CDPL)
13.30–14.00 Revisiting and broadening the Vanessa Achilles
culture lens
• UNESCO’s context
• Introduction to UNESCO
cultural diversity lens
• The 9 CDPL themes &
similarities with UNFPA lens
14.00–14.30 Group activity: Understanding the Maria Majella Rio
9 core themes of cultural diversity
14.30-15.00 Presentation and discussion
15.00–15.15 Coffee Break
15.15–15.30 Application of the UNESCO lens Vanessa Achilles
15.30-16.15 Group activity: Application of the Maria Majella Rio
CDPL to the morning case study
16.15-16.45 • Group report Shiv Khare
• Discussions
16.45–17.00 Group wrap-up Shiv Khare + Second
reporting group
Thursday, 12 July - Applications
08.30–09.00 Feedback from the second day Shiv Khare + Second
reporting group
Session 6: Application of Cultural Lens
09.00–09.15 Gender, and sexual and Mere Kisekka
reproductive health issues
09.15–09.45 Group activity: Sharing
experiences on RH issues and
needed cultural approaches.
09.45-10.15 Group report
10.15–10.30 Coffee Break
Using Cultural Aspects in Health
and Social Projects: UNESCO Case
Studies
10.30-11.00 Radio Soap Opera in minority Vanessa Achilles
language for HIV/AIDS prevention
- presentation
11.00-11.15 Post tsunami art therapy workshop Maria Majella Rio
11.15-11.30 Brainstorming
11.30-11.45 Wrap-up Shiv Khare + Third
reporting group
11.45–12.45 Lunch Break
Session 7: Field Trip to Project Sites
13.00 Bus leaves hotel
14.00–15.00 UNFPA AIDS and ageing project site, Wat Saket, Doi Saket
15.00-16.00 Return to Chiang Mai City
16.00-16.45 Briefing at Radio Thailand Chiang Mai, visit of the facility
17.00 Briefing by Ms. Cholada Montreevat, Project Coordinator,
UNESCO Soap Opera Programme, Radio Thailand Chiang Mai
17.40 Site visit: Interviews with local ethnic minority people -
Chiang Mai City
19.00 Back to the hotel
Friday, 13 July
09.00–09.30 Feedback from the third day, Shiv Khare + Third
including the field visits reporting group
Session 8: Developing a Customized Lens
09.30-09.45 Refresher on the main themes of Vanessa Achilles
both lenses
09.45–11.00 Group activity: Adapting the Maria Majella Rio /
newly learnt concepts to the Vanessa Achilles
participants’ context and work
11.00–11.15 Coffee Break
11.15–11.45 Review of participants’ initial Shiv Khare, Mere
expectations and discussion Kisekka and wrap-up
facilitation group
11.45–12.45 Lunch Break
12.45 –13.45 Lessons learnt Maria Majella Rio/
• Poster making Vanessa Achilles
• Gallery walk
Closing Session
13.45–14.15 • Introduction
Mr. Shiv Khare, Executive Director of AFPPD
• Closing remarks
Dr. Prat Boonyawongvirot, Secretary-General of AFPPD
• Remarks by resource persons
Ms. Vanessa Achilles, Programme Specialist of UNESCO
Ms. Mere Kisekka, Advisor for Gender and Socio-Cultural
Research of UNFPA/CST
• Vote of thanks by a participant
DEPARTURE
 Information
VENUE
Paris Room, 2nd Floor
Novotel Chiang Mai
 183 Changpuak Road, T. Sripoom A. Muang
Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Tel. (66) 0 5322-5500 Fax. (66) 0 5322 5505
http://www.novotel.com or http://www.accorhotels.com/asia
DATES
 Monday 9th to Friday 13th July 2007
(Participants should arrive in Chiang Mai on July 8 or 9, 2007 and
leave on July 13 evening or 14 July, 2007)
ACCOMMODATION
 All participants will have a superior single room booked for them
in Novotel Chiang Mai Hotel.
ROOM CHARGES
The single room charges will be borne by the organizers, excluding
incidental expenses charged to the room such as telephone calls,
$ room service, laundry, charges for additional person(s) etc. Please
settle your incidental expenses before departure. We understand
that person(s) accompanying the participants and observers will
take care of their own expenses.
DSA
Participants will be provided with a Daily Subsistence Allowance
(DSA) to cover expenses for meals not provided for during meeting
$ days, airport taxes and other incidental expenses. Any participant
who is unable to stay for the duration of the meeting is requested
to inform the Secretariat as soon as possible after arrival, so that
the subsistence allowance can be adjusted accordingly.
MEALS

 Breakfast starts at 6:00-10:00 a.m. at the Citrus Restaurant, 1st

Floor of the hotel. Lunch is also provided at the same Restaurant.
Breakfast and lunch are included in the hotel room charge.
VISA
Participants should obtain their visas before coming to Thailand.
You should bring the letter of selection as reference in your request

 for visa. As for Participants from countries that do NOT have a

Thai Embassy, please check the information online or contact
AFPPD Secretariat directly. To check visa information, you can log
on to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: http://www.
mfa.go.th/web/12.php.
AIRPORT TRANSPORT
 Transportation from Chiang Mai International Airport to
the conference venue will be provided by the hotel, please
 look for the Novotel Hotel sign in the arrival hall. If you
are staying for 1 night in Bangkok for transit, please
make a specific arrangement with the AFPPD Secretariat.
AIR TICKET REIMBURSEMENT
Please check who is funding your ticket. If AFPPD has arranged

 to pay for your flight, and air ticket which was purchased by you
or by your National Committee, please bring the official invoice
together with a photocopy of your air ticket for reimbursement
at the time of registration.
INSURANCE

 Participants are requested to obtain health insurance, as medical

treatment in Thailand is costly. AFPPD is not responsible for health
and accident insurance.
REGISTRATION
After checking in at the hotel, you are requested to register with
the Secretariat staff. Registration will take place at London Room,
2nd Floor of the hotel.

 Registration will take place on 8 July from 5 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At registration, you will receive your name tag, conference
information kit. Participants who arrive late are requested to come
down early to the London Room on 9 July to register before the
training commences.
LANGUAGE

A The training will be conducted in English and translation services

are not available.
WEATHER

 Thailand has a tropical climate. July falls in the rainy season

in Thailand. The temperature will range from 23 to 31 degrees
Celsius at this time.
TIME ZONE
 Bangkok and Chiang Mai are GMT +7 hours.

CURRENCY
The Thai Baht is freely convertible and exchange counters are open
at the airport and in the city. Normally, hotels give a lower rate

$
of exchange than the banks. Several private exchange counters
are open seven days a week. Banks located around the city have
the working hours of 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday. There are several banks that are walking distance from
the Novotel hotel. The current rate is US$ 1 to around THB34.
MOBILE PHONE
 The mobile phone network in Thailand uses GSM standard.
 EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBER
 Emergency call: 191
Tourist police emergency hotline: 1155
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, please contact:
AFPPD
Phyathai Plaza Building, Suite 9-C, Phyathai Road
Rachathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: (66-2) 219 2903/4, Fax: (66-2) 219 2905
Email: afppd@afppd.org
 Contact Persons:
Passawee Tapasanan Pariyaporn Sappapan
Programme Associate Administrative Associate
Mobile: (66-89) 121 0369 Mobile: (66-89) 138 3798
E-mail: passawee@afppd.org E-mail: pariyaporn@afppd.org

At the hotel, please contact the reception desk or the AFPPD

secretariat at London Room, 2nd Floor.

Quotes on Culture
The Programme of Action will require the establishment of common ground,
with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural
backgrounds.
International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD)
Programme of Action, para 1.15

The relationship between culture and development should be clarified and

deepened in constructive and practical ways.
Our Creative Diversity:
The UN World Commisssion on
Culture and Development Report
 Hotel Map

N
 Engaging Parliamentarians

Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development

Suite 9-C, Phyathai Plaza Bldg., Phyathai Rd.
Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: +6622192903-4 Fax: +6622192905
Email: afppd@afppd.org Website: www.afppd.org