Challenges for ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms: the case of Lao PDR from a gender perspective: Irene Pietropaoli

The creation of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (‘AICHR’) in October 2009, followed by the ASEAN Commission on Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (‘ACWC’) in April 2010, is a milestone in the evolution of ASEAN as a regional community. The new institutions represent a bold step forward that has officially legitimized human rights discourse in the region for the first time.