Projects and Campaign in the year 2004 covered a broad range of topics and issues. Read on and discover what a busy year it's been for all of us here at AWARE. Singapore and Population Workgroup.

The workgroup was formed in April 2004 for the sole purpose of presenting a position paper to the inter-ministerial committee on marriage and procreation headed by Mr Lim Hng Kiang. The group organised a seminar cum focus group discussions in May 2004. A survey form was given out during the seminar and was also accessible online at the AWARE website. Results from the survey and feedback from the focus group discussions were collated and analysed.

The volunteers and a paid researcher also did extensive research into the history and background of pro-natalist policies of Singapore, and two Asian and two Scandinavian countries. All these were compiled into a position paper entitled Beyond Babies: National Duty or Personal Choice? This Position Paper was submitted to the relevant government bodies and a press conference was held in July 2004. The executive summary of the Position Paper is accessible online at the AWARE website, and hard copies were available for sale at the AWARE office.

Older Women

The Beyond Youth Sub-Committee was formed in the fourth quarter of 2004 with the objectives of reviewing the issues faced by older women and to advocate for changes to address these issues.

Its immediate objective was to convert the report Women and Income Security in an Ageing Singapore Population (the Report) prepared by Dr. G. Shantakumar and commissioned by AWARE and the TSAO Foundation into a Position Paper. The AWARE TSAO Position Paper entitled Beyond Youth: Women Growing Older And Poorer was released on 14th February 2005.