Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship

Speakers

Guide to Panel Discussions

Keynote Presenter

Savitri Goonesekere is one of Asia’s most renowned scholars on the rights of women and children and as an UNICEF expert, pioneered the discourse on the linkages between the two rights agendas. She is Professor of Law Emeritus of the University of Colombo, and also Vice Chancellor of the University. As a distinguished scholar, she has made an invaluable contribution towards bringing about gender equality in Asia, both as an expert with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) from 1999-2002, and as Chairperson of the Asian Development Bank’s External Forum on Gender. Prof Goonasekere was also instrumental in the evolution of modern legal education in Sri Lanka, and has published extensively on Family Law, Human Rights, Gender and Development and Children Rights.

Moderator of the Conference

Anna Wu, a preeminent lawyer in Hong Kong, currently is adviser to the law school of Shantou University and is a member of the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission. From 1997 to 2002, she was chair of the Operations Review Committee of the ICAC, the official body that monitors all ICAC investigations. Ms. Wu was chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission from 1999 to 2003, and a member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council from 1993. During her time with the EEOC, Wu brought a groundbreaking case on the girl child’s equal access to education in Hong Kong.