UNIFEM co-chairs the United Nations Gender, Women and Development Working Group (GWAD) in Bangkok, on behalf of the United Nations System in Thailand. GWAD aims are to:

• foster collaboration between UN agencies supporting the advancement of Thai women
• support the Royal Thai Government and NGOs in implementing the Beijing Platform of Action for the Advancement of Women
• provide advice and support on gender issues and the advancement of women in the UN Thai Country Program

Each year, a GWAD-NGO Task Force organises seminars, displays and product sales to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD). In 1996, several hundred women from all over Thailand participated over two days of discussions on Thai Eighth Plan. In 1997, the GWAD-NGO IWD celebration focused on Women and the New Thai Constitution. In 1998, the GWAD joined celebrations at Government House on the theme of The Status of Thai Women and Solutions to the Economic Crisis Affecting Women. On 9 March 1999, GWAD staged a seminar that brought together the UN System, bilateral donors and NGOs to discuss Government-NGO collaboration to eliminate Violence Against Women and the impact of the economic crisis on women.

GWAD also coordinates participation in other UN events related to the advancement of women. On Saturday 31 October 1998, GWAD joined the rest of the United Nations System in Bangkok to celebrate the Fifty-fourth Anniversary of the United Nations with a Street Fair in Bangkok's Convent Road. Women's NGOs working with the various UN agencies that form GWAD were invited to set up stalls to inform the public of their activities and to sell products from their projects. Displays by GWAD members also highlighted UN activities and projects supporting the advancement of women in Thailand. The Thai-language UNIFEM T-shirts promoting the Campaign to Eliminate Violence Against Women were a popular sales item.

On 10 December, GWAD joined the National Council for Women of Thailand (NWCT) in a very impressive street march to mark the end of the Sixteen Days Against Gender Violence and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Resident Coordinator of the UN System, Mr Michael Heyn, began the march at the UN Convention Centre (UNCC) in Rajdamnern Avenue by lighting a ceremonial torch and passing it to the President of the NWCT. Escorted by an 80-member uniformed school band and police, Mr Heyn, UNIFEM and other members of GWAD, members of the NWCT and more than two thousand young women from schools and factories accompanied the torch from the UNCC to Manangkasila Mansion, the headquarters of the NWCT. During the forty minute walk, some of the police carried banners calling for women's human rights and an end to violence against women. Many of the marchers carried bright blue balloons carrying the UNIFEM logo, adding colour to the gay parade. In the grounds of Manangkasila the parade enjoyed a picnic meal, an entertainment programme highlighting women's rights and a moving closing ceremony in which candles were lit to symbolise the theme of Women Lighting the Way toward a Life Free of Violence.

UNIFEM, acting as the Chair of GWAD, also organizes popular Brown Bag lunches, held in a very casual atmosphere in the UNDP Conference Room, on topics particularly relevant to the advancement of women. The "BBs" usually draw an audience of between 35 and 55, attracted by the interesting line-up of speakers from government, NGOs, the private sector and UN agencies.

Topics for the 1997 Brown Bags were:

• Who's Counting? Women's contribution to the economy [13 March]
• Trafficking in Women and Children [26 March]
• Women's Business and Women in Business in Thailand [9 October]

The 1998 topics were:

• Thai Women and the Economic Crisis [18 May]
• Violence Against Women: Breaking the Silence and Taking Action [25 November]

The first topic for 1999 was:

• Women and Drugs: From Hard Realities to Hard Solutions [31 March]

Dated: 7May1999