VISION

        God has revealed to us  the true value and dignity of women through Jesus.
        We take Jesus’ to be our exemplar in the way  he accepted and recognized  women's dignity and giftedness,  his attitude and sensitivity towards women and his courage to treat women with equal dignity and respect.
        The highest honour bestowed on any human person was bestowed on a woman – Mary.  In  the history of salvation, God himself chose a woman to be the Mother  of  Jesus.
        In the renewed Church in Asia women will play a significant role her life and mission for the service of the people.

SITUATION

        Cultures and traditions have had a strong influence on the way in which society and communities treat women. Women continue to experience violence and discrimination in the family and society.  We acknowledge that there is a growing awareness in the church and society in this regard,  and that some steps have been taken to correct the imbalance in gender relations and discrimination.  Yet much remains to be done….
        We acknowledge that the cultures of Asia value the family and family relationships.  Yet there is widespread discrimination against the girl child, destruction of the female foetus, violence and abuse to women and the girl child in the family and a general lack of respect for life.  There is a weakening of the long term commitment of spouses. The strong influence of the media which portrays wrong images of women, glorifies violence and spreads a culture of selfishness and materialism is having a negative influence on the family.
        Single parent families are on the increase and deserve pastoral attention.  We discovered that boys can learn to become nurturing and take the responsibility for domestic chores.
        Women domestic, unorganized  and migrant workers continue to be exploited by their employers.
        Religious women are also being impacted with the trends in society and there is a weakening of long term commitment to religious life.
        Our academic institutions stress academic excellence but are weak on forming students for life.

RECOMMENDATIONS

        We reiterate our endorsement of the recommendations of the 1993 Consultation on Women, BILA I & II on Women among which we would like to specify that priority be given to facilitating the implementation of our vision of a participatory Church by

• The setting of a Women's Commission/Desk in each country and efforts to be made to have corresponding Commission/desk in Dioceses and parishes.
• Ensuring that 30% of all Church councils, committees, or bodies, comprise women
• The formation of priests should include:
• 1. A healthy interaction with women
• 2.  Gender sensitivity training
• 3.  Re-reading, re interpretation and re discovering scriptures to include the women's perspective
• 4. Courses of theology and the  papal teachings on women
• 5.  The presence of Women professors & women students in seminaries

• In the  Church's mission for justice, dioceses and parishes should encourage initiatives to form women's groups for education,  empowerment and advocacy.  Networking with   women's groups both secular and of other faiths.
• Since the Church has powerful resources among women,  these can be identified and utilized as is already being done in all spheres of society.
• Bishops cannot know the signs of time unless they dialogue with women.  There is a need for Bishops/pastors to dialogue with, listen to and understand women.
• Women need to be heard in all bodies of the church, to bring in their experiences of life to bear on decisions taken.  Therefore there is a need to create an atmosphere for dialogue at the level of  the diocese & parish.
• At the level of the parish and in rural areas, women be organized into groups for empowerment through imparting knowledge of their rights, awareness of their dignity, and skills for participation in social, economic and political life.
• Advocacy for women domestic workers, migrant workers, and other unorganized workers for humane laws regarding their rights, their dignity
• Marriage preparation courses should stress  the role of complementarity, mutuality, co responsibility and the covenant bond in the marriage relationship.  It should include the  catechesis of the marriage sacrament, papal documents on women/marriage to enrich and support married and family life.
• Network with other groups to promote advocacy for upholding the sanctity of  human life especially that of the girl child from conception to death.  (# 35 Ecclesia in Asia.)
• Educational institutions should include elements that impart an education for life, where girls are given self confidence, self respect, discover their personal dignity, and boys are taught to respect women, develop correct attitudes and given gender sensitization.
• Sex education given to boys and girls in schools should be revised to include the sacredness of women's capacity to be co creators with God.
• Our educational institutions should make available their facilities to impart education, income generating skills, professional training, and personal development for girls/women.
• Student's catechesis should include social outreach through field experiences.