|
The World of Women
an NGO Newsletter during the Commission on the Status
of Women 2004
Issue #1- 3 March 2004
PDF | Issue
#2- 5 March 2004 PDF |
Issue #3- 9 March 2004
PDF | Issue
#4 -12 March 2004 PDF
Strong, Solid, Savvy
NGO Recommendations to the Commission on the Status of Women
More than 500 NGO representatives met on 29 February,
2004 at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York City
to prepare, inform and educate one another on the themes of the
48th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
The consultation, organized by the NGO Committee
on the Status of Women, was a resounding success, with specific
recommendations developed for the Committee. These recommendations
followed the two themes of this year’s CSW- the Role of Men
and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality, and Women's Equal Participation
in Conflict Prevention, Management and Conflict Resolution and in
Post-conflict Peace-building. Each theme was opened with a plenary
session (see article on page 4), followed by small group sub-thematic
meetings. The recommendations developed were then brought back to
the plenary and summarized in the closing. The recommendations are
summarized here again, for the full list see: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/csw/csw04ngo_recs.html
Theme one: the Role of Men
and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality
The
issues of Education and Socialization need to be looked at with
a global perspective, and a holistic approach must be utilized.
Changes
should be made in the Private Sector which includes the home environment
as well as the community.
Institutions
must also recognize their responsibility to promote gender equality
through education, governance, law and the media.
Working
from a Cultural Perspective is exceptionally important and factors
such as the approach and implementation, use of language, and primary
education must be taken into consideration.
The
advantages of education and socialization for both genders include
increased community health, economics and a true balance of power.
The
issue of HIV/AIDS - Prevention was one of the larger breakout sessions
and came up with these specific language recommendations:
-Promote
all HIV/AIDS related initiatives with the leadership of politicians,
religious leaders, business leaders (especially pharmaceutical companies)
and other prominent male role models
-All
member states, UN bodies, and NGO’s –including faith based
groups, should create comprehensive education programs targeting
all people, especially young people at as early an age as possible,
with messages that stress the sexual responsibility of men and boys
and promote the respect, dignity, equality, integrity, and human
rights (including the right to be free from gender-based violence
and exploitation) of women and girls. Education must also target
parents informing them of what’s being taught in such programs
and reach out to include community centers, youth groups, and rural
areas.
As regards
Accountability:
-Ensure
accountability of men and boys, including in particular members
of “transmittant groups” (e.g. taxi and truck drivers,
migrant workers, the military, and peacekeepers) and groups that
exhibit high risk behaviors (men who have sex with men and intravenous
drug users) by strengthening government response, vis-a-vis legislation,
policy, and the implementation of laws and policies that combat
physical, psychological, and economic coercion and violence against
and the sexual exploitation of women and girls.
Capacity
Building is also a necessary component in order to eliminate economic
inequalities and mitigate war, conflict, and violence to reduce
women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, support economic development
and provide women with alternatives to sexual exploitation, including
economic opportunity and access to education and social services.
Support
capacity building in all necessary areas by encouraging the sharing
of good practices that aim to change attitudes and behaviors, especially
countering traditional, social, cultural, and religious practices
that increase women’s vulnerability, and that aim to change
male sexual behavior so that they do not use coercion, violence,
or exchange of money to obtain sexual services. Capacity building
should mainstream gender and HIV/AIDS in NGO/CSO/CBO capacities,
public sector and transectoral response.
The
issue of HIV/AIDS – Care/treatment recommended the following:
-Engage
men and boys as advocates in the process of ratification, implementation,
and enforcement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW,
and the Millennium Development Goals, particularly #6 in order to
provide equitable HIV/AIDS care and treatment.
-Ask
CSW to request from member states empirical data, disaggregated
by age and sex of individuals receiving care and treatment.
We recommend
a change in language for programs emphasizing prevention for maternal-to-child-
transmission to emphasize parental-to-child- transmission language.
This language transformation would help to take the blame away from
women. This should not however, take support away from programs
specifically addressing the needs of women in regard to maternal
transmission and post-natal/HIV/AIDS care.
The
breakout group dealing with Spiritual Values, noted that human rights
are greatly influenced by spiritual values, it is important to see
that governments promote human rights.
They
also recommended that the CSW ensure that official religious leaders
promote gender equality first within their own institutions and
then the larger society, and; governments should establish partnerships
with religious / spiritual organizations to promote gender equality.
The
issue of Gender Violence relates to culture, where the interests
of men and boys needs to be emphasized in combating gender violence,
especially, but not exclusively, in reference to honor killings,
we must end the culture of impunity and violence sanctioned by religion,
tradition, and custom.
Gender
violence should also be dealt with through the education of both
genders with respect to human rights and possible alternatives to
violent behavior. Communication with all stakeholders including
home, community, schools, governments, law enforcement is also a
key element in preventing gender based violence. It is also important
to keep cultural norms in mind, and appeal to the self-interest
of both genders
The
enforcement laws regarding gender based violence should be dealt
with by strengthening accountability in justice systems for all
violent offenders including law officers and military personnel,
and by identifying gender violence as a crime.
In order
to balance power as regards gender based violence there is a need
to understand gender inequalities in connection with other inequalities
of class, race, sexualities, religions, castes; to move beyond binary
understanding of gender to include transgenders.
There
also ought to be a mapping exercise of men’s groups and organizations
working on gender equality; the creation of gender curriculum, and
private sector and state policies to reflect and lead to gender
equality
Donors should also fund dialogues between men and women of varied
generations an ways to support gender equality.
2004
is the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family.
The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality could be advanced
if policy makers listen to families of diverse types and dedicate
funding to advance the Convention on the Rights of the Child to
also achieve a family-friendly society.
The
breakout group on Trafficking came up with recommendations based
on three themes: accountability and monitoring, education and socialization,
and community awareness.
In regards
to accountability and monitoring it was recommended that a special
rapporteur in the UN on trafficking be appointed and that measures
should be taken to ensure good data on all violence against women,
including data on those who traffic and purchase women or young
girls.
Prevention
programs in schools founded by governments that include, parents,
girls, men, and boys are a way to prevent trafficking through education.
Developing media standards of portrayals of men and women is a way
to deal with this issue through socialization.
Community
awareness is a key mechanism in the prevention of trafficking, and
it was recommended that the following actions be taken to do so:
ensure that policies are coordinated so that women are not re-victimized
including laws on trafficking and immigration and economic structures;
create guidelines for parliamentarians and UN officials; decriminalize
women and criminalize purchasers; make NGO & UN partnership
policies easier to access; all nations should ratify the protocol
on trafficking, and; national laws on prostitution should be adopted
in accordance with Swedish laws.
The
group working on Economic Development developed specific text recommendations
based on the draft Agreed Conclusions:
(f) including recognition for unpaid parenting and care work within
family community
(n) rewritten Encourage and support men in leadership positions,
including political and economic leaders, community and faith leaders,
musicians and athletes, to form partnerships with women’s organization,
educational institutions at all levels, and the media, to provide
and promote not only positive role models on gender equality, but
also the acceptance of women in the traditional leadership roles
that men have held in these same areas
Mobilize
men and boys to join with women and girls to reevaluate, educate
for change around cultural practices that deprive women of economic
resources such as property, ownership rights, inheritance, dowry/bride
price, and education for economic power.
In order
to create gender equity in the Workplace education should be promoted
that transforms values with the strong emphasis on developing a
sustainable work place. This includes promoting educational efforts
that help men and boys understand the cost of present unequal gender
relations and the benefits of a “gender just” society
and with the recognition that mainstreaming gender into organizations
makes solid economical sense with clear bottom line benefits.
This
breakout group also recommended that working in partnership (men
& women) and in solidarity among workers and civil society organizations
worldwide will achieve a globalization that delivers a just and
fair workplace and sustainable jobs.
Recommendations on Theme
2:
Women's
equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict
resolution and in post-conflict peace-building.
Women, Good Governance, and Conflict Prevention
-Add
stronger language and at least meet Beijing Platform for Action
standards of women’s participation in governance.
-By
2004 achieve gender balance in all decision making processes in
post-conflict settings.
Peacekeeping Operations
The
UN Security Council, Troop Contributing Countries should ensure
that all peacekeeping missions include gender aware leadership,
clear lines of accountability in particular with regard to Violence
Against Women and sexual exploitation.
The
Secretary General must increase the number of women as Special Representatives
to the Secretary General, 30 % minimum by 2005 and gender parity
by 2015.
Peace Negotiations and Peace Agreements
-Negotiating
parties should contain 40% women or the UN should not participate.
-Facilitating
parties - eg UN - should contain 40% women.
-5 UN
special rapporteurs for 5 regions to monitor peace agreements and
negotiations, nominated by grass root process and based out of OHCHR.
-Funding
- dedicate funds to prepare women for participation in peace processes.
Security Sector Reform (Justice system, DDR, Constitution process)
There
must be full consultation with all of a post-conflict society on
people’s priorities for how funding is allocated for post-conflict.
Women must be fully involved in such consultation. Money must be
forthcoming for rebuilding of national justice systems.
Women’s participation is required in every stage of DDR
design and implementation.
Resources
must be allocated from the assessed peacekeeping budget for DDR.
Elections, Reconstruction and Peacebuilding
Privacy
- women should be able to run and vote for women for leadership
positions.
Education
- need to educate both young girls and boys to accept that women
can take leadership positions.
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Peacebuilding
Language
must be broadened to ensure all references to refugees and IDPs
are more inclusive and take into account refugees and IDPs living
outside of camps including returnees, urban refugees and asylum
seekers.
Participation of Older Women in Peacebuilding
Older
women must be included in all aspects of the post-war electoral
processes with assurance of security, protection and confidentiality.
There
must be funding for electoral processes administered by an impartial
multi-lateral body.
Participation of Young Women and Girls in Peacebuilding
There
must be capacity building for young women and girls to precede their
participation in peace processes; this includes education on their
rights, content of peace agreements and subsequent implementation.
Culture of Peace and Peace Education
Sustainable
and durable peace is not possible without a culture of peace. Peace
therefore requires formal and community based education on conflict
and prevention.
In regard
to peace processes which include conflict prevention and reconciliation
… [para 6 AC]
Information, Innovation, Inspiration
NGO Consultation on the CSW Exceeds Expectations
Entrenching Gender Equality,
Mushrooming Gender Literacy
Emily Regan Wills- WILPF
The
morning plenary session of the NGO Consultation was an exciting
and informative session, packed with women and men from around the
world enthusiastic to learn about and advocate for the topics presented.
The consultation began with welcoming remarks from Bani Dugal, chair
of the NGO Commission on the Status of Women in New York. H.E. Kyung-wha
Kang, the chair of the 48th session of the CSW, then welcomed NGO
participants, recalling her days as the head of the NGO delegation
to the Beijing conference, she emphasized the uniqueness of the
CSW because of its constituency and its willingness to incorporate
the voices and perspectives of NGOs, who she cited as the real impetus
for progress in the Commission.
Following
Ambassador Kang’s remarks, Assistant Secretary-General Angela
King and the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Gender
Issues and the Advancement of Women spoke to welcome NGO participants.
In her remarks, she expressed delight both at the number of men
participating in the session and in the fact that the first female
president of ECOSOC has been elected, although she also noted that
both the GA and the Security Council have already had female presidents.
She stressed repeatedly the importance of the upcoming anniversaries
of Beijing (tenth anniversary in 2005), the Mexico City process
(thirtieth anniversary in 2005), and the ratification of CEDAW (25th
anniversary in 2004), and that NGOs must be diligent in not allowing
member states to renegotiate the text coming out of these and other
international agreements on women’s rights; similarly important
was the inclusion of gender dimensions and a clear view of gender
equity and equality in the upcoming conference on the Millennium
Development Goals.
After
these heartening and informative opening remarks, the session shifted
to focus on the first topic of the CSW, the role of men and boys
in achieving gender equality. Carolyn Hannan, the Director of the
UN Division for the Advancement of Women, opened the panel by stressing
that it is impossible to move forward on women’s equality without
engaging men and boys, and also that this knowledge is not new to
activists from around the world, or to individual governments, many
of whom have been emphasizing mixed-gender groups to encourage gender
equality.
After
Ms. Hannan’s opening speech, Magda Elsanousi of OXFAM GB –
Yemen, spoke about her experience working with men and boys to combat
violence against women and to improve women’s status in what
she identified as a profoundly conservative society. She noted that
the process of incorporating men and boys into gender work is particularly
difficult because most organizations working on these issues are
women only; it is important to encourage these organizations to
enter into partnership with men and partner NGOs that include men
to build on common goals, highlighting men’s influence on other
men, both as individuals and as powerful members of the community.
In addition, the social reinforcement of masculinity and the misinterpretation
of religious texts in misogynist ways must be addressed through
socialization of new generations of men and boys.
Ms.
Elsanousi was followed by Linden Lewis, a professor at Bucknell
University and a native of Barbados, who researched Carribean masculinities.
His emphasis throughout his speech was on the importance of gender
equality for achieving any real democracy in the world. He noted
that globalization and changes to the economic structure, in an
environment where global capital is heightening distinctions (and
tensions) between men and women through its economic practices,
are undermining the traditional masculine role as breadwinner and
provider, leaving space for a self-redefinition of masculinity,
In addition, women’s issues are, as never before, firmly placed
on the agendas of many of the countries of the world, by women’s
movements or governments themselves. Gender provides a coherent
way of approaching issues such as environmental destruction or poverty
which are constitutive of the social justice picture. While the
socialization of children to support gender equality is important,
he pointed out that those changes can only be effective in a context
of broader societal change. Professor Lewis also stressed the importance
of transforming public policy to support women without marginalizing
men, supporting family-friendly policies and gender audits within
governments and organizations, and the importance of the trade union
movement tackling these issues.
The
final panelist was Njoki Wainaina, a gender trainer and programme
advisor to FEMNET in Kenya. She described FEMNET’s model of
holding its gender trainings with equal numbers of women and men,
although she noted that it was difficult to get men to continue
to participate unless they were compelled to do so. Her project
focused on getting men to work on issues of gender based violence,
in addition to its relationship with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.
Men, coming out of men’s groups, often began working on these
issues by mobilizing during important days of action for women’s
rights, but would then retreat into the woodwork for the rest of
the year. Ms. Wainaina explained some of the important problems
facing the men and boys with whom she works, including the fact
that boys lack male role models who model gender equality, and that
men are frighteningly unaware of gender issues. She stressed that
men, in their personal capacities as sons, fathers, brothers, and
husbands, need an awakening to be able to work for women’s
equality. Women’s groups need to do sensitization training
with men, in order to educate them, as well as encourage men in
leadership positions and in the media to support women who have
been victims of gender based violence.
After
a brief question period, where panelists engaged in dialogue with
NGO delegates, the morning plenary session adjourned to allow the
delegates to engage in constructive, small-group dialogue around
specific topics on the issue of men and boys in gender equality.
Issue #2-
5 March 2004
Protection, Participation, Prevention
Constituent Advocacy at CSW- The Caucuses
NGO Caucus on Women’s
Equal Participation in Conflict Prevention; Management and Conflict
Resolution; and in Post-Conflict Peace Building
Statement to the 48th Session of the CSW
3 March 2004
In an
environment when international human rights and humanitarian law,
collective security and multilateralism are being challenged by
unilateralism and the aggressive use of force, we affirm our commitment
to the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action. This human rights
framework provides the basis for conflict prevention and sustainable
peace.
Armed Conflict is preventable and women have a key role to play!
Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted by consensus, calls for
the greater inclusion of women at all stages of conflict prevention,
mediation, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding.
We call for a Security Council body to monitor the implementation
of SC Resolution 1325. We further call for annual reports from all
governments and the UN Secretary General measuring progress and
reviewing challenges to the implementation of 1325.
Women’s
participation in conflict prevention and transformation cannot be
achieved without significant economic and human resources. Capacity
building of women’s organizations is a prerequisite for their
meaningful participation. In order to enhance women’s participation
in conflict prevention:
1. There
is a need to improve the collection, analysis and inclusion of information
on women and gender issues for conflict prevention and early warning
efforts of the UN, regional organizations and member states.
2. There
is a need for improvement in the collection, analysis and inclusion
of women and gender issues in reports of the Secretary General to
the Security Council.
3. Women’s
participation and inclusion of gender issues is required in all
stages of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration- a key component
of prevention the re-escalation or resurgence of conflict.
Participation of women in great numbers at all stages of decision
making, should help ensure that nations’ resources are directed
to the promotion of human security- the freedom from want and fear.
Resources wasted on armaments and conflicts must be redirected to
the provision of basic security needs such as access to adequate
food, clean water, shelter, health care and education. A warrior
culture, promoted daily by mass media, needs to be transformed through
socialization and education for peace.
Sustainable
and durable peace is not possible without a culture of peace. The
Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice in the 21st Century and the Program
of Action for the Culture of Peace adopted by the United Nations
calls for comprehensive disarmament, peace education, human rights,
democracy, and a world society that moves towards the abolition
of war. Governments must prioritize the immediate implementation
of the Hague Agenda for Peace and the Program of Action for the
Culture of Peace. It is time to move from rhetoric to implementation.
Sustainable peace and justice can only be achieved with women’s
equal participation and representation at the highest levels of
decision making.
Proposed European Women’s Lobby Amendments to
the CSW Draft Agreed Conclusions
On Men and Boys
The European Women’s Lobby would
like to add the following elements to the draft agreed conclusions:
On Point
2: add after “increased involvement of men and boys in the
critical reflection on gender relationships and in developing...”
Point
2, after the last sentence: “The increased involvement of
men and boys in the policies and programmes for achieving gender
equality must go hand in hand with the continuation of women-centered
strategies, including specific bodies and programmes, which remain
essential to counteract and address the systemic structure of inequalities
between women and men”.
Add
point a: “Take measures, including prosecution, where needed,
to address all forms of male violence against women”.
Add
point b: “Adopt legislation, which puts an end to men’s
right to by access to women’s bodies by criminalizing the buying
of sexual services, in parallel, establish programmes and funding
to promote alternatives for women in prostitution;
Develop rules for employees of international and national institutions
serving in military or civil capacity abroad, which prohibit male
sexual exploitation of women [by] their employees, especially in
peacekeeping and humanitarian aid missions. Put an end [to] sex
tourism through legislation and through programmes and actions that
increase men’s awareness about the human rights and dignity
of all women.
Point
d: “All media should adopt a code of conduct for gender
equality”
Point
d: “Sexism in both advertising and the media should be prohibited”
Point
e: add “gap between women and men’s pay and other forms
of discrimination against women in the labour market”
Add
point k bis: “Put in place campaigns and laws breaking with
patriarchal ideologies to ensure that men fully recognize and
respect women’s rights to decide if and when to have children,
and that women have access to the contraception of their choice,
and access to safe and legal abortion
Add
in point l: “... to adopt safe and responsible sexual and reproductive
behavior, including zero tolerance for all forms of male sexual
violence”.
On Women and Armed Conflict
The European Women’s Lobby would like
to add the following elements to the draft agreed conclusions:
Include
a gender perspective in asylum and immigration policies. Grant women
asylum by recognizing gender based violence as a legitimate reason
within the existing UN Geneva Convention of the Status of Refugees
(1951) and include gender based violence within the interpretation
of the existing five criteria (race, religion, nationality, political
opinion, or membership of a particular social group) of the aforementioned
Convention.
Provide
rape victims with appropriate medical care and treatment for trauma
and the possibility to give birth or terminate the pregnancy according
to the women’s wish[es].
Invest
funds directly into specialized services for the women and girls
victims of rape and trauma.
Adopt
a gender budgeting approach to military expenditure in particular
with regards to conflict prevention and in situations of post conflict
resolution and peace building.
Adopt
a gender perspective in the planning and managing of refugee camps,
including training of staff in refugee camps.
Women in Islam
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
Human
Rights of Women in Islam turned out to be a very lively session
with a packed house on Monday at 3 PM in spite of the fact that
the panel did not materialize. The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace,
observing how much apparent interest there was in this session,
stepped forward to facilitate a lively and informative session.
This resulted in extensive participation from the women who were
there, who shared their stories based both on scholarship as well
as on direct personal experience. This included interpretations
of the Koran, the caution not to confuse culture and religion and
the suggestion that human rights abuse has everything to do with
political leadership with largely male governance.
There
was a diversity of opinion but the one area where there appeared
to be consensus agreement was that there should be separation of
state and religion. The beautiful sharing of information between
a large number of women, many from Arab countries such as Iran.
Kuwait and, Iraq among others, was refreshing and could be characterized
as a model way to achieve global peace.
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace will be hosting two sessions at
CSW:
1. War is Not Good for Women and Other Living Things:Toward Delegitimizing
War, March 8 at 1:15 Church Centre 8th fl Boss Rm;
2. A Force More Powerful video and discussion, March 9, Church Centre
UN 2nd Floor
Submitted by Marion Pape and Hannah Hadikein
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Statement from the African Women’s Caucus
at the 48th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
In
the last decade, nearly all the sub regions in Africa have witnessed
and continue to witness one form of armed conflict or another in
varying degrees. As the well-known African proverb goes, “When
two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.” This is
so true for the African women and their children who bear the brunt
of conflicts, even thought they are not initiators of the conflicts.
As a result of these conflicts, African women constitute one of
the largest percentages of refugees and displaced persons in the
world. They experience the most heinous war crimes and gender violence.
The cases of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan,
Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Central African
Republic, and Angola, just to mention a few, are still rife in our
memories.
African
women, as in the case of Sierra Leone, DRC, Burundi and Liberia
or Mano River Union Women Peace Network (MARWOPNET) have played
pivotal roles in bringing warring parties to the negotiating tables,
but needs support to participate in peace negotiations and decision
making positions in post-conflict peace building. To quote the Secretary
General’s statement of 24 October 2000, “Women who know
the price of conflicts so well are also often better equipped than
men to prevent or resolve it.”
The
African Women’s Caucus encourages the women in Africa to take
their rightful places and continue to be actively involved in peace
processes and post-conflict peace building. They further demand
all those involved in the peace process to be gender sensitive and
take necessary steps to protect and involve women. Political mechanisms
created within peace agreements should clearly specify and ensure
women’s equal participation at all national levels. Settlements,
disarmament programs, transitional justice mechanisms and economic
revitalization should be more about women as much about perpetrators
of war and sufferers.
Madame
chair, Africa of the 21st century has new institutions, policies,
and initiatives such as the African Union and the New Economic Partnership
for African Development (NEPAD), just to name a few. This new vision
should also include gender mainstreaming in the area of peace and
security, but most of all, African states in line with the United
Nations Security Council resolution 1325 MUST adopt and implement
national legislations which promote women’s equal peace building
through inclusion of affirmative action in the national constitutions
and operational regulations.
As
African women are informed, educated, and encouraged to participate
in their national electoral processes, national electoral laws and
political party constitutions must be reformed to reflect the importance
for equal participation of women in the hierarchy of political parties
and in elective positions at all levels.
Underlying these conflicts are the problems of poverty, disease,
debt burden, lack of security and lack of democracy and good governance,
which exacerbates lack of women’s equal participation in conflict
prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post conflict
peace building.
Reinforcing
the importance of implementing the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), the African Women’s Caucus gathered at the 48th session
of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) calls on:
1. The international community
a.
to relieve African states of the debt burden
b.
to aggressively move to improve the conditions of and protect the
internally displaced women and young girls, who are being abducted,
sexually violated and mentally traumatized.
c.
should emphasize and monitor the implementation of diamond importing
as quoted in the UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/1306 (2000).
2. African governments to:
a.
accelerate measures to alleviate poverty, disease (especially HIV/AIDS
and malaria) and entrench good governance that is gender friendly
in the continent
b.
ensure full and equal participation of all its women from the grassroots
to the African Union levels.
c.
drastically reduce military spending and divert financial resources
to education, the provision of primary healthcare, and women’s
capacity building for sustainable peace in the Continent of Africa.
AND FROM THE LINKAGE CAUCUS:
African caucus
The
major questions discussed on conflict situations were how to sustain
participation in peace negotiations, how to support local initiatives
include funding, and transition justice. On the role of men and
boys, the focus was on training and materials available for training
for new initiatives as well as on socialization. The consensus on
Beijing was to focus on evaluating where we are at, the production
of a political declaration, and no new language negotiations (for
strategic reasons). There is also a focus on the African Beijing+10
conference planned for next year.
The Optional Protocol to CEDAW
There
was a panel discussion on 2 March 2004 on the subject of the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination
Against Women. Hosted by the International Service for Human Rights
and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, the
panel featured four experts addressing the history, ratification,
implementation and future of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
An
international treaty on human rights, CEDAW promotes the universal
rights of women through the elimination of gender discrimination.
Since its drafting in the 1970’s, CEDAW has been ratified by
174 countries, which is the second largest membership to a Human
Rights treaty today. In the 1990s, in a response to the growing
awareness of the magnitude of violence against women, the CEDAW
committee recognized the desire to create a separate body to hear
individual complaints of violations against the rights established
in the treaty. Over the next decade, a text was drafted, now known
as the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, which was adopted by the General
Assembly in December 1999, in General Assembly Resolution 54/4.
The
Optional Protocol entered into force on December 22, 1999, and has
been ratified by 60 states. The Protocol provides a mechanism through
which the rights contained in the CEDAW Convention can be interpreted
and applied. With a state's ratification, that nation’s citizens
may submit claims of violations of their rights as enumerated in
CEDAW, and find redress for their suffering. Headed by a Committee
of 23 experts, nominated and elected by the member states but who
act independently of their governments once in office, the council
provides a forum for individual claims along with initiating inquires
without individual impetus into grave and systematic violations
of women's rights.
The
first speaker, Christine A. Brautigan, chief of the women’s
rights section of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW),
gave a detailed history of both CEDAW and the Optional Protocol.
Ms. Brautigan celebrated the Protocols 60 state membership, but
stressed the paucity of claims brought before the committee (so
far only three cases are under review).
Anne
F. Bayefsky, law professor and creator of a website to provides
individuals the documents and aid in bringing claims in accordance
with the Optional Protocol, compared the CEDAW protocol with the
other Human Rights treaties’ protocols including- the Convention
on Civil and Political Rights, the Convection on Racial Discrimination
and the Convention against Torture. Bayefsky highlighted the specific
nature of CEDAW's adjudicating bodies, and offered the Protocol's
scope as a plausible explanation for the few cases under its consideration.
In a telling comparison between the United Nations treaty bodies
that supply redress for violations and the European Court on Human
Rights, Ms. Bayefsky contrasted the 200 cases under UN consideration
with the more than 250,000 cases brought before the European court.
Citing the UN failure to encourage the initiation of suits, Bayefsky
suggested improvements in the inquiry procedures and advocacy for
the project.
Ms.
Shanti Dairiam, director of the International Women's’ Rights
Action Watch, Asian Pacific, addressed the need to promote ratification
of the protocol under a campaign entitled “Our Rights Are Not
Optional.” In addition she applaud the specified nature of
the Optional Protocol's committee for its sensitivity and expertise
on issues relating solely to women and the violations of their rights.
Lastly,
Jessica Neuwirth, founder and president of Equality Now, identified
practical obstacles in the implementation of the committees findings,
specifically the weak follow up procedures which require states
only to report on their remedies of violations. She spoke of her
personal experience in trying to bring a case regarding the large
number of women disappeared in Mexico.
The
panel was followed by a series of questions, mostly concerned with
the implementation of the Protocol's provisions and the encouragement
of more individuals violations. More information on the CEDAW, the
Optional Protocol, and the panelists can be obtained at the following
websites:
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/daw/wru.htm (CEDAW
and Optional Protocol)
www.iwraw-ap.org/protocol/what.htm
(Optional Protocol)
www.bayefsky.com
(Prof. Anne Bayefsky)
www.iwraw--ap.org
(Ms. Shanti Dairiam)
www.equalitynow.com
(Ms. Jessica Neuwirth)
---article by Anna-Martine Salick, WILPF
NOTES FROM THE LINKAGE CAUCUS
Women and Conflict
The
taskforce is working on draft agreed conclusions, statement, and
resolution topicsWe are waiting to hear the US position; the G77
does not have a position. EU and JUSCANZ are bringing in language
on prevention and gender equality. No one is worried that it is
going to fail, although there is concern over the topic of occupation.
There is a conflict about the Sec-Gen’s report; DAW wants it
accepted wholesale, but the governments are saying no. NGOs must
decide how to incorporate report. Governments don’t like concrete
connections between actors and actions; NGOs will keep pushing.
Role of men and boys
The
task force is looking into thematic issues. From the draft language,
they’re hoping for more language on education and socialization.
They have heard there will be conflict around dealing with cultural
and religious change, but plan on trying to work within that while
still pushing those issues. Meeting 8:30 AM on Friday, outside conference
room 2 in UN headquarters.
Where do states stand on Beijing?
Canada: expecting not to reopen BPFA, focus on implementation,
high-level meeting
UK: no statement until better sense of US policy
Tanzania, S. Africa, Nambia: no position yet. Where review/celebration?
CSW? GA (visibility)?
EU (generally): no new negotiation, want to see a political
declaration (some outcome)
Latin America: no negotiated text, some want political declaration
(as of 2 days ago)
Reminder-
The next issue of the CSW NGO Newsletter will be published on Tuesday,
9 March and will focus on International Women’s Day. If you
would like to have your information published, the deadline is 6pm
on Monday 8 March. Submissions can be sent by email to susi@peacewomen.org
or can be dropped off at the WILPF Office on the 6th Floor of the
Church Center.
Issue #3 -
9 March 2004
International Women’s Day
HIV/ AIDS, Women and Girls
The panels held during the morning session of the
Commission on the Status of Women provided an opportunity for speakers
to address the issue of HIV/ AIDS and women and girls.
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan opened the session. Noting that
“All over the world, women are increasingly bearing the brunt
of the epidemic. Today, in sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of
all adults living with HIV/AIDS are women. Infection rates in young
African women are far higher than in young men. In the world as
a whole, at least half of those newly infected are women. Among
people younger than 24, girls and young women now make up nearly
two thirds of those living with HIV. If these rates of infection
continue, women will soon become the majority of the global total
of people infected. As AIDS strikes at the lifeline of society that
women represent, a vicious cycle develops.... What is needed is
real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to
women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at
all levels of society. Change that will strengthen legal protection
of women's property and inheritance rights, and ensure they have
full access to prevention options -- including microbicides and
female condoms. Change that makes men assume their responsibility
-- in ensuring an education for their daughters; abstaining from
sexual behaviour that puts others at risk; forgoing relations with
girls and very young women; and understanding that when it comes
to violence against women, there are no grounds for tolerance and
no tolerable excuses. ”
The full statement can be found at: http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=806
In a stirring statement, Queen Noor noted that genuine security
is more than arms, borders and treaties, it is human-based security.
That the challenges women face are as monumental as their contribution
could be, and that HIV/AIDS has become a human rights issue.
Angela King closed the first panel by noting that the CSW in its
history, has been able to bring forth issues which were formerly
taboo- like HIV/AIDS.
The panel immediately following the opening featured Noerine Kaleeba,
George Alleyne, Ndioro Ndiaye, Dean Peacock and Dr. Linda Distlerath.
Noerine Kaleeba spoke of her personal experience as the wife of
someone affected. She mentioned The AIDS Support Organization (TASO)
whose motto is: “to be living positively and dying with dignity”,
and the need for those infected to create networks of support for
one another, and for those not infected to support those networks.
She had two practical recommendations: that girls be taken to school,
because once you educate a girl child you educate a family, and;
sponsor at least one woman who is positive so that she may get treatment.
George Alleyne spoke of the cultural and social stigma attached
to being positive, and the impact this has on data collection, treatment
and other areas. People are afraid of identifying themselves as
infected, and do not want to be counted. This also prevents the
formation of support groups.
Ndioro Ndiaye spoke about the 87 million migrant women in the world.
She mentioned the prevalent rumour that sexual intercourse with
a virgin or baby cures infection and how this is creating a market
for young women and girls to be trafficked, not just in Africa,
but all over the world. Connecting the rise in trafficking of women
to the rise in women infected with HIV/AIDS is important link, as
is linking violence against women- physical and sexual, with the
spread of this pandemic.
Dean Peacock described working with men in South Africa in the Men
as Partners program. He brought attention to the issue of contemporary
gender roles and the way that they compromise women’s health.
The last speaker was Dr. Linda Distlerath, of the Merck Corporation.
She highlighted three ways Merck is working to fight the spread
of HIV/AIDS- research, facilitating access to treatment, and through
partnerships to build healthcare capacity.
While all the speakers highlighted important aspects to the global
effort to end the AIDS pandemic, not one of them mentioned the spread
of infection through the systematic use of rape as a tool of war,
and while Mr. Peacock mentioned the way all men are effected by
the pervasiveness of violence against women, it was not mentioned
in the context of armed conflict. It is necessary that this often
taboo subject be discussed openly if the UN is to meet the Millennium
Development Goal of reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
Susi Snyder, WILPF
Women from Around the World
Celebrate International Women’s Day,
March 8 with
A Stand for Peace
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, Corner 47 and First Avenue, 1 - 3pm
As the UN-Commission on the Status of Women explores women, peace
and security issues, we gather because:
We are witnessing the proliferation of wars, conflicts and the militarization
of our entire society, born of patriarchy. The notion that differences
can be resolved through violence or overt power is prevalent at
all levels, from our homes, to our workplaces, to our communities,
to nations. Peace is not only the absence of war. It requires the
presence of justice, all human rights and full inclusion.
Women are affected by war and conflict in different ways than men--through
lack of security; increased sexual violence; displacement; and lack
of basic services. It is not sufficient to call for the inclusion
of women in peacemaking. We need to address conflict prevention
through confronting the economic, political and cultural causes
of war. Women’s voices must be included in determining macro-economic
policies and political decision-making to bring about a lasting
peace.
War and intervention cannot be justified in the name of “liberating
women,” and “bringing democracy,” as has been done
in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Last year on March 8, women
gathered before the UN to protest the impending invasion of Iraq.
One year later we call for an end to Iraqi occupation, full participation
of women in creating a secular, democratic Iraq, and no imposition
of religious law that restricts women’s lives (Iraqi Governing
Council Resolution 137).
We call for an end to the construction of a separation wall in Palestine
that divides families, threatens jobs and food security, intensifies
violence and violates international law.
Conflicts from Haiti to Colombia, from Kosovo to Philippines, from
Sri Lanka to Liberia, are born of economic and political realities,
but are often fed by foreign political, military and economic intervention
that serve external interests. We stand for full sovereignty, the
right to self-determination, and a culture of peace for all nations.
Sponsored by the Women’s International Coalition for Economic
Justice (WICEJ); www.wicej.org; For more information, and to endorse,
contact info@wicej.org
Endorsed by:
WICEJ member organizations--
CRIAW, Canada
The Grail, International
Human Rights Project, Urban Justice Center, US
KULU Women and Development, Denmark
MADRE, US
Network Women in Development Europe (WIDE), Europe
Public Services International
United Methodist Office for the UN, International
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom- UN Office
Women’s Environment and Development Organization/WEDO, US
Other organizations--
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic-CUNY
And other women’s organizations...
Submitted by Carol Barton, WICEJ
NEW FROM OXFAM PUBLISHING
GENDER EQUALITY AND MEN
Learning from Practice
There is increasing agreement that working with men and boys is
a key element of efforts to promote gender equality. But documented
examples of positive policy and practice in this field remain relatively
scarce. To fill this gap, in June 2004 Oxfam GB will publish ‘Gender
Equality and Men: Learning from Practice’, which explores how
work with men can be developed to promote gender equality and poverty
reduction. Highlighting practical evidence in several fields (e.g.
livelihoods, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health,
fatherhood, work with young men), it shares learning from programmes
run by Oxfam GB and other organisations.
At a packed side event in the first week of CSW, chaired by Phil
Evans from the UK Mission to the UN, four of the contributors to
the book shared lessons arising from their work with men and boys.
The editor, Sandy Ruxton, outlined the reasons why Oxfam GB is seeking
increasingly to engage men and boys through its programmes (whilst
maintaining its existing commitments to supporting women). Magda
El Sanousi described her effective efforts in the highly conservative
context of Yemen to build gender equality through alliance-building
between men and women. Based on a series of interviews and group
discussions with men who work for Oxfam GB in India and Bangladesh,
Sharon Rogers highlighted how gender issues have become visible
to these men, and the importance of exploration of gender issues
both in the office and in the home. Dean Peacock concluded by describing
the work of Engender Health’s ‘Men as Partners’ programme
in South Africa, which has been working with men in community settings,
especially in relation to HIV/Aids and gender-based violence.
Reviews
‘Building gender justice requires women’s and men’s
shared commitment and involvement. This cutting-edge collection
of international case studies provides an invaluable account of
the benefits, and challenges, of working with men to foster gender
equality’
Dr Michael Flood, the Australia Institute
‘Around the world, there is an explosion of interest in how
we can effectively address and involve men and boys in promoting
gender equality and challenging-gender based violence. As this fine
collection attests, Oxfam GB is one of the organisations at the
forefront of these efforts.’
Michael Kaufman, White Ribbon Campaign
Contents
Index: Introduction (Sandy Ruxton, Oxfam GB, UK); Transforming Our
Interventions for Gender Equality by Addressing and Involving Men
and Boys (Michael Kaufman, independent consultant, Canada); How
do we know if men have changed? Promoting and Measuring Attitude
Change with Young Men: Lessons from Program H in Latin America (Gary
Barker et al, Instituto Promundo, Brazil); Strategies and Approaches
to Enhance the Role of Men and Boys in Gender Equality: A Case Study
from Yemen (Magda El Sanousi, Oxfam GB, Yemen); What Do Men Think
about Gender Equality?: Lessons from Oxfam GB staff in Delhi and
Dhaka (Sharon Rogers, Oxfam GB, South Asia); Men as Partners: Lessons
Learned from Engaging Men in Clinics and Communities (Manisha Mehta,
Dean Peacock, Lissette Bernal, EngenderHealth); Evolving the Gender
Agenda: The Responsibilities and Challenges for Development Organisations
(James Lang, US/ Sue Smith, Oxfam GB, UK); Masculinities, Resistance
and Change (Benno de Keijzer, Salud y Genero, Mexico); The Things
They Didn’t Tell You about Working With Men in Gender Workshops
(Maree Keating, Oxfam GB, UK); Fatherwork in the Caribbean: Examples
of Support for Men’s Work in relation to Family Life (Janet
Brown, University of the West Indies, Jamaica); Addressing Men’s
Role in Family Violence: The Experience of Sakhli (Rusudan Pkharkadze
and Nana Khostaria, Sakhli Women’s Advice Centre, Georgia);
Taking the Bull by the Horns: working with young men on HIV/Aids
in South Africa (Gaetane le Grange, Targeted AIDS Intervention Project,
South Africa); ‘Liberation for Everyone, not just Men’:
A case study of the Men’s Association against Violence in Timor
Leste (Mario de Araujo, AMKV, Timor Leste); Mainstreaming a Male
Perspective into UK Regeneration (Cinnamon Bennett, South Yorkshire
Objective 1 Programme, UK); Conclusion (Sandy Ruxton, Oxfam GB,
UK).
To order a copy of the publication in the US, go to: www.styluspub.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=93598
If ordering outside the US, please contact: publish@oxfam.org.uk
For a copy of Oxfam GB’s submission to CSW, which summarises
the main conclusions from the book, go to: www.oxfamgb.org/ukpp/resources/index.htm#gender
For further information, contact Sandy Ruxton on sruxton@oxfam.org.uk
Transitional Justice and Women's
Rights
The panel on "Transitional Justice and Women's Rights"
organized by International Alert (IA) and Femmes Africa Solidarite
examined the challenges to gender justice and the efforts undertaken
to secure women's rights in transition processes.
Rose Macarthy, Chairperson of the Manu River Peace Project, reported
on the situation of women in Sierra Leone. She said that gender-based
violence was rampant during the nearly 10-year long conflict. Rose
mentioned also that discrimination has been prevalent before the
war and still continues today. She urged for mechanisms to be put
in place to secure the protection of and justice to women, such
as compensation to victims, stiffer penalties, and appropriate legislation.
Paul Higate, lecturer at Bristol University, reported on research
he conducted among peace-keepers in DRC and Sierra Leone regarding
prostitution. Gender-based violence is not common for all members
of peace-keeping missions, however Paul said that in some situations
"the presence of peace-keepers is for some women like the continuation
of the conflict". His research shows that the abuse of prostitutes
is extensive, that the concept of gender is little understood, that
gender training is allotted minimal time-slots, and that codes of
conducts exist, yet are frequently ignored.
Sanam Anderlini, Director of Women Waging Peace (WWP), said that
women are actively contributing to the transitional justice process
by, for instance, stepping forward in truth commissions or by having
female judges change the way rape-cases are discussed. Sanam also
reported about the Tool-Kit that WWP and IA are putting together
to assist communities in the transition process. The launch of the
Tool Kit will be in October of this year.
The open debate following the panel addressed prostitution, the
education of young girls to protect them from sexual-based violence,
the contents of the tool kit, and the training of peace keepers.
Julika Erfurt, WILPF
MEN WORKING ON GENDER
March 4, 2004
Conference Room no. 8
Speakers: Robert W. Cornell, Dean Peacock, Jorge Lyra, Magda Essanousi,
Wjoki Wainaina.
The panel discussion “Men Working for Gender” was focused
on a number of issues such as: men sharing responsibilities of caring
and support activities, men and women’s work on HIV/AIDS prevention,
division of labor, resources and power from gender perspective.
Two main question of what has been done to involve men in gender
work as well as what could be done in the future to increase role
of men in promoting gender equality, were posed.
Different ways of involvement through numerous activities with the
direct contribution to gender equality were brought up by Robert
W. Connell. “Youth work” encouraged by local churches
in Germany as well as Japanese public education groups that aimi
to develop higher level of intervention in domestic care among Japanese
men, and India’s “traveling seminars” on men and
masculinity – all are examples of men active work on gender
equality. Mr. Connell came up with five significant conditions under
which men can be successfully involved in work for reaching gender
equality:
1) existing nucleus of men with orientation for gender equality
and social justice
2) support from the top (political support)
3) women’s movement must be open to alliance politics with
men
4) the statement with reasons why men should work to reach gender
equality must exist
5) approach of work must be compatible to some of the beliefs and
interests of men
Dean Peacock addressed obstacles that are on the way of men’s
involvement in caring and support activities referring to the survey
on men in South Africa such as:
1) lack of skill
2) feeling of being excluded by women
3) afraid of standards of the society they live in
According to Mr. Peacock, the solution to this involves work on
policy, organization education, individual knowledge and skill building.
Public information campaigns involving the media are recommended
to be engaged in as well.
Wjoki Wainaina shared her experience of working with men involved
in campaign against Female Genital Mutilation which is a problem
in 48 African countries to this day. According to Mrs.Wainaina,
in Kenya and Uganda, men are succeeding in persuading men against
FGM. It was emphasized that men that have experienced violence become
powerful advocates of non-violence.
Both, Jeorge Lira, who organized “Young Father’s Group”
in Brazil, and Magda Essanousi, who worked in Yemen with men on
issues of masculinity and socialization process, addressed the importance
of government support for their work on gender equality.
Ekaterina Mihailova, WILPF
1325 on Trial:
A Tribunal Investigating the Implementation of UN SCR 1325
Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security was
the first piece of binding international law to address the issues
of women in conflict zones. However, there are concerns about SC
1325’s implementation: how seriously have member states take
it? What steps are being taken to move the process forward? The
“1325 on Trial” side event convened a tribunal to address
just these issues, with Isha Dyfan of the International Women’s
Tribune Center as presiding judge.
Hattie Babbit of the Hunt Alternatives Fund/Women Waging Peace,
acting as counsel, argued that SC 1325 has not been well implemented,
held that the document had been shown to be mere rhetoric. Without
structures within the resolution to compel implementation, monitoring,
and oversight, member states and the UN system have let the mandate
of the resolution slip away. On the other hand, Mobina Jaffer, a
senator in the Canadian Senate, also as counsel, argued that SC
1325 is being implemented in some places, including her country,
Canada, and in the recent Cote d’Ivoire resolution. SC 1325
was ground-breaking, the first time that there was any mandate for
civil society to participate in the security process. She concluded
with a strong argument that it is not SC 1325 that should be tried,
but those ‘law-breakers’ who refuse to implement it.
The witnesses offered testimony about women’s experience in
conflict zones and how they have used SC 1325, or how they could
have used it had their governments been more receptive. Noeleen
Heyzer, the Executive Director of UNIFEM, argued that SC 1325 is
a work in progress, and that it is important to move beyond the
ad hoc incorporation of gender into UN programming. Lily Thapa of
Women for Human Rights in Nepal argued that SC 1325 has had no effect
for women in Nepal, although the government purports to be following
it with regard to the upcoming peace talks. Patricia Guerrero of
WILPF and the League of Displaced Women in Columbia argued that
there is no security or democracy for Columbia women, and pointed
to the need to implement points 8, 9, 10, and 11 of SC 1325 in the
Columbia context. Kerstin Grebäck of the Kvinna till Kvinna
Foundation talked about her successes implementing SC 1325 with
Swedish peacekeeping troops. Sinam Anderlini of Women Waging Peace
applauded the NGOs who worked for the passage of SC 1325, but decried
member states for their unwillingness to implement it. Zaineb al-Suwaij
of the Iraqi Women’s Higher Council spoke of the successes
of the Council in combating anti-women policies, and said that SC
1325 would be an instrumental tool in helping to build women’s
NGOs in the future. Audience members also mentioned the importance
of SC 1325 in the East Timorese context, the necessity of getting
the UN to not participate in peace processes without women’s
full participation, and other topics.
Finally, the audience voted resoundingly that SC 1325 had not been
well-implemented. Ms. Dyfan closed with recommendations for progress,
including emphasizing to member states that compliance with 1325
is their responsibility, that civil society must serve as the monitoring
body for Sc 1325, that the role of men and boys is particularly
important in the implementation of SC 1325, that more awareness
of 1325 among individual women, NGOs, and governments was necessary,
and that best practices, such as those used by Canada, Sweden, and
the U.K., be shared worldwide. The session closed with those in
attendance better educated about SC 1325 and the activism necessary
to move implementation forward.
WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA)
WOZA means Come forward‚ By women for women and with women,
across race, colour, creed, class or political persuasion. Empowering
women to be courageous, caring, committed and in communication with
their communities.
---------------------------------------------------
Women in Zimbabwe are not celebrating, they are crying because they
are being stripped of their rights.
Our protest message is: DIGNIFY US WITH A NEW CONSTITUTION. DO NOT
STRIP WOMEN OF THEIR RIGHTS.
Ndebele: QAKATHEKISA OMAMA. UNGABAHLUBULI AMALUNGELO ABO! QAKATHEKISA
ISISEKELO NGOKUSEMBESA UBUNQUNU BASO BULIHLAZO ESIZWENI SEZIMBABWE!
Shona: REMEKEDZAI MADZIMAI. MUSAVA- BVUTIRA KODZERO DZAVO! REMEKEDZAI
BUMBIRO RE MUTEMO NOKURI VHARA KUSHAMA KWARO, KURIKUNYADZISA MHURI
YESE YE ZIMBABWE
We, the mothers of the nation, would like Zimbabweans to realise
that the Constitution is supposed to be the mother of all laws.
Zimbabweans no longer respect this mother and have neglected her
badly before and after Independence. We believe that this is the
reason this mother is now giving birth to abnormal children. Public
Order & Security Act, POSA and Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act, AIPPA are two of her notorious children. POSA is
mad and out of control and AIPPA makes us dummies. It is from a
woman’s body that life begins and this is also true of the
Constitution. We appeal to Zimbabweans to respect and dignify the
constitution as they would any mother. This mother of ours was only
half dressed in Lancaster and her clothes are now tattered and torn
leaving her naked and open to abuse by evil men. We, the Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) are saying that the Constitution of Zimbabwe
is being gang raped and forced to produce the most notorious kinds
of children. As mothers, we are calling for the nation to respect
us and dignify us with a new Constitution. Only then can good and
clean laws be birthed and nurtured for growth.
DIGNIFY US WITH A NEW CONSTITUTION.
DO NOT STRIP WOMEN OF THEIR RIGHTS.
For more info on WOZA, write: Box FM701, Famona, Bulawayo Telephone
(+263)
11-213-885 / 91 300 456 / 23 514 895 Telefax 9-63978 Email: woza@mango.zw
APWW (ASIA PACIFIC WOMEN’S
WATCH)
Speaker: Dr. Young Hai Park (Korea)
Madam Chairperson, distinguished delegates---
For many women across the Asia Pacific region substantial implementation
of the Beijing Platform for Action is not yet a reality.
We are 60% of the world’s women spread over a region ripped
apart by armed conflict, civil unrest and political instability.
While there are pockets where women enjoy equal participation, most
of our women face in their daily lives, widowhood, rape in war,
trafficking, violence and abuse, homelessness and denial of basic
human rights. For many their condition has deteriorated since the
Beijing Conference. Change has often been for the worse. Humanitarian
aid is hopelessly inadequate.
The challenge at this 48th session of the Commission on the Status
of Women is how to bring improvement in those countries dominated
by an entrenched male culture where resort to arms is viewed as
the best approach to power building.
This morning at the NGO briefing, we all shared heartfelt sorrow
to our Iraqi sisters having one widow per household.
We have just two weeks to set a framework for a process of identifying
experienced women peace advocates who will be peace negotiators
at the highest international level and peace brokers at the national
level. They will also be role models for gender equality as they
sit alongside men at peace negotiating tables.
The two agenda items at this 48th Commission on the Status of Women
call attention to wide gaps for women of Asia and the Pacific in
gender equality and peace resolution which are core issues of the
Beijing Platform for Action. We must not fail to agree on some concrete
progress for closing the gaps. We must move forward with the agenda
to close the gaps in gender equality through a balance for women
and girls with men and boys and in equal participation for women
in conflict prevention, management and resolution.
Thank you.
submitted by: Yukiko Oda (yodakfaw@yahoo.co.jp)
and Eriko Tanno (etanchan@yahoo.com)
War is Not Healthy for Women
and Other Living Things:
Toward Delegitimizing War
The seeds for deligimitizing war had been planted throughout the
UN Charter and through 50 years growth of UN instruments. For years
member states have incurred obligations under the charter, treaties,
conventions and covenants, made commitments under conference action
plans, and created expectations through UN General Assembly Resolutions.
These, if implemented and enforced would give substance to the delegitimization
of war. When will this happen?
We could now urge the CSW to condone the Charter’s conditional
legimitization of war in Article 51, Chapter 7, to reflect more
accurately the purpose of the Charter to end the scourge of war.
To render war illegitimate would be a tool to help prevent violent
conflict. Or, will pre-emptive aggression be our future? This and
numerous other ideas were brought forward at a panel discussion
hosted by Canadian Voices of Women for Peace, WILPF, Hague Appeal
for Peace, Anglican Consultative Council.
For more information on the outcome of this panel, please contact
Janis Alton at: vow@ca.inter.net
-Janis Alton, Canadian Voices of Women for Peace
Beijing +10 and a Fifth World Conference on Women
NGO Perspectives
The NGO Commission on the Status of Women held
caucuses on Friday and Saturday to discuss the upcoming review process
for the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the possibility of
a Fifth World Conference on Women. From the UN perspective, next
year in the CSW there will be a focus on reviewing the implementation
of the BPFA, but no Fifth World Conference is being planned. Issues
under discussion by member states for the CSW include the possibility
of having a high-level meeting, including possibly a 2 day session
of the GA during CSW next year, having a large and enthusiastic
celebration, and holding roundtables in the manner suggested by
the DAW, which would include civil society representation.
Regional caucuses stated their positions on Friday, and repeated
them on Saturday. The consensus was that NGOs do not want to renegotiate
the text of the BPFA, and want to move forward, not backward, on
the language of women’s rights. They want to stress an evaluation
of the implementation of the BPFA and best practices next year,
along with a focus on emerging issues and mobilizing women. The
EU stressed the importance of gender mainstreaming and women’s
issues committees existing side by side; the African caucus emphasized
regional processes, while the Asia/Pacific caucus emphasized cooperation
among regional NGOs; the West Asian caucus emphasized the need for
basic women’s rights in the BPFA.
The caucuses drew up a number of goals at the two caucuses. The
major goals were to celebrate the Beijing +10 and International
Women’s Year +30 anniversaries, and to ensure that there will
be a 10 year review of the BPFA, focused on implementation, which
holds governments and multilateral institutions responsible for
gaps in both information and implementation, and strengthening their
commitments. Concrete goals were time-bound, implementable goals
for states, an assessment of the impact of and problems with gender
mainstreaming, possibly including a permanent monitor of gender
mainstreaming at all levels, linkage between the BPFA and the Millennium
Development goals, CEDAW ratification, SC 1325, the world conferences
of the 1990s, and other areas/processes of the UN, identifying new
issues and challenges for women, and putting the review in the context
of global forces affecting women, such as militarism and globalization.
Finally, there were calls for mobilizing and reenergizing women’s
movements at all levels, particularly the grassroots with a focus
on young women, providing access for those engaged in parenting
and caring, a focus on striving for equal voice in all areas of
global and regional policy of the UN and other institutions, like
the WTO, and the need to link multiple oppressions to the gender
agenda.
Many strategies were discussed for achieving these goals and for
organizing the international women’s movement over the next
few years. Countries will be filling out DAW questionnaires over
the next few months to prepare for the review; NGOs should participate
in the preparation of the governmental reports, in addition to drawing
up alternative NGO reports and implementation studies on the local,
national, regional, and international levels; it is a priority to
find funding and structural support for these reports. Other suggestions
included: roundtables which did not include prepared presentations
and NGO hearings where member states listened to our presentations
at the review next year; strategically using the Millennium Development
Goals and the upcoming integrated conference review; holding NGO
forums on implementation and global forces affecting women; creating
a single document summarizing women’s issues in the UN and
estimating funding necessary to implement; using both new information
communication technologies and old ones; working to reform the CSW
process to give NGOs more voice and to encourage high-level participation;
encouraging women in our local communities to run for office; ensuring
that documents are available at CSW in more languages than just
English; and celebrating the anniversaries with the message of moving
forward and never going back.
After the debate on the Beijing +10 process, there was a discussion
on the possibility of a Fifth World Conference on Women. There was
strong consensus among the speakers for a fifth world conference,
at least at the NGO level. Although there had been a proposal floated
for a conference in Brazil next year, Brazilian delegates at the
meeting stressed that this was not a majority proposal, and while
they were investigating the possibility, no conference is currently
planned. Delegates pointed out that there will be space at the World
Social Forum for women to meet, and suggested that, in the time
between now and the fifth world conference, this space might be
useful for addressing women’s issues in the global system.
Emily Regan Wills- WILPF
Issue #4 - 12 March 2004
Negotiating Language, Forgetting the Point?
As negotiations continue today on the Agreed Conclusions,
it seems that many of our diplomatic friends are forgetting the
point. A document doesn’t exist simply for the sake of existing,
so that we can clap ourselves on the back and toast to what a good
job we’ve done- these documents exist as a tool to create a
more secure human environment by including more than half of the
planetary population in all levels of decision making and in all
discussions.
But delegates seem to be going beyond flexibility on points of language
to flexiblity in topics addressed, bending and twisting their mandate
to allow them to neglect the purpose of their meeting. We did not
come here to regurgitate routine objections, and reject outright
or undermine principles and programs, already in motion or work
that is already being done. Women are working under threat of harassment,
violence, and death in and out of conflict zones around the world;
the tools we develop here are meant to make that work just a tiny
bit easier. From the first days of this CSW, NGOs have been advocating
for basic principles to be included in the agreed conclusions in
order to ensure that we are making real progress for women everywhere.
If delegates want their time in New York City to mean more than
a stamp in their passports and a few good lunches, they must include
language in the agreed conclusions that address the following topics:
Women’s Participation: The theme of the agreed conclusions
is not women in conflict zones or the prevention of harm to women
during armed conflict: it is WOMEN’S EQUAL PARTICIPATION in
conflict prevention, management, and conflict resolution and in
post-conflict peacebuilding. The language of the agreed conclusions
needs to address directly the issue of women’s participation,
in addition to dealing with the prerequisite of protection to ensure
women’s ability to participate.
Commitment to Acting on the Conclusions - Intentions and
consideration are fine, but there need to be commitments to collaborating
with women and providing resources for women’s organizations
and their capacity building.
Accountability- It needs to be clear which actors are meant
to ensure women’s participation and how mechanisms will be
put in place to monitor, evaluate, and report on implementation.
Regardless of the final text of the agreed conclusions, and whether
or not they include these essential, substantive points, NGOs can
still take many things from this CSW: the Secretary-General’s
thematic reports, the reports of the Expert Group Meetings, the
first UN agreed language on women in peace processes, exposure to
new tools and resources, and the experiences of networking and sharing
with other NGOS. Still, this does not excuse delegates from their
responsibility to include the points outlined above, which have
yet to see sufficient inclusion in agreed language.
Marie Diemer & Emily Regan Wills, in our personal capacity.
International Women’s Day Activities Worldwide
The staff of the International Women’s Tribune
Centre wishes all our readers a very celebratory International Women‘s
Day. Following are brief descriptions of a selection of the numerous
and diverse activities taking place around the world on and around
International Women’s Day (March 8) many of them reflecting
on the 2004 global theme of Women and HIV/AIDS.
AUSTRALIA- Melbourne
A rally at the Public Library and a march to the headquarters of
the State Parliament will be part of the Melbourne IWD Collective’s
"Women against war, racism and sexism" gathering on March
8. For more information, write to: IWD_Discussion_List@yahoogroups.com
CANADA- Toronto:
A panel, "Shari'a court in Canada and women's rights"
examining the role of Shari’ia law on women and children is
the IWD event sponsored by the International Campaign for the Defence
of Women's Rights in Iran. Sunday March 7, 2004, 11:00 am- 7:00pm.
For more information, contact homawpi@rogers.com.
Woodbridge: International Women’s Day Film Festival: „Gender
and HIV/AIDS‰ organized by the Female Eye Film Festival. la@femaleeyefilmfestival.com
or info@femaleeyefilmfestival.com
FIJI- Suva
Celebrations around the theme "Women United for Peace, Security
and HIV/AIDS Free Fiji" include a march of solidarity at 10am
on March 8th culminating at the Suva Civic Centre for the official
opening and launching of the week. Business houses, community groups
and schools are encouraged to 'sport colors' for the week: purple
(women), white (peace) and red (HIV/AIDS), to demonstrate their
solidarity with women in Fiji. For additional information, contact:
femLINKpacific: Media Initiatives for Women Also on the agenda is
a book launch, 'Profiles of Pacific Women': This publication consists
of a collection of profiles of Pacific women from the 1950's - 1980's,
written by friends, colleagues and those that have been inspired
by their strength and dedication to progressing women's rights and
gender equality throughout the Pacific region on March 8, 2004 from
5.00pm - 8.00 pm. For more information contact registry@unifempacific.com
ITALY- Rome
World Food Programme: WFP will celebrate IWD with an Awards Ceremony
for agency staff and partners who have helped reduce the impact
of the pandemic through food aid. Awards will be given on March
8 in Rome to six women and organizations from Burundi, China, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Rwanda and the Southern Africa
region. For more information: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/UNID/0E4A07A4DB6CDDE0C1256CE20036B9F4
SOLOMON ISLANDS
“Women in Solomon Islands: working to combat HIV/AIDS, promote
democracy and increase participation" is the national theme
for IWD and panel discussions include: Confronting HIV/AIDS in Solomon
Islands; Participation, Elections 2006; Women's Role in Making Democracy
work in Solomon Islands; Education and Literacy; Making Career Opportunities;
Kastom does not have to stop Achievement and the Way Ahead for SI
women. For more information, contact Rose Wale, National Gender
Focal Point (National Council of Women)
SOUTH AFRICA - Johannesburg
"Women and AIDS” is the theme for a two-hour internet
broadcast in English and French organized by AMARC Africa's Women
and Gender Programme. The broadcast will cover topics ranging from
mother to child transmission, the impact of AIDS of teen sexuality,
income generation projects for HIV positive people. Transmission
will begin at 0800hrs and 10hrs00 GMT on Monday March 8. The broadcast
will be carried live at http://www.amarc.org:8000/wsf For submission
of programmes please contact c@global.co.za
“Strip the Back Page": The South African National Editors
Forum (SANEF) has committed itself to get South African newsrooms
to evaluate their performance on gender sensitive reporting. This
evaluation will happen on March 8. In line with SANEF's plans to
engender the media, South African gender and media activists propose
that all newspapers commit to leaving out their back page or page
three "babe" section from the 5th to the 8th March 2004.
Instead, content for these pages will be generated by members of
the South African Gender and Media Network (SAGEM) around the theme
of International Women's Day. In order to help this evaluation take
place, sign the petition online http://womensnet.org.za/MediaPetition.shtml)
UNITED KINGDOM - London
A demonstration and solidarity event with women in Iraq will take
place in London in conjunction with a protest against the Ruling
Council in Iraq, which has decided to change IWD from 8th March
to 18th August. The demonstration will take place on Friday 5th
March 2004, at 11:00am -1:00pm outside 10 Downing Street. The solidarity
event will be held on: Saturday 13th March at 6.00 - 11.00pm. Coordinated
by Organization of Women‚s Freedom in Iraq - UK representative.
For more information contact: houzan73@yahoo.co.uk;
www.equalityiniraq.com
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - New York
Demonstration: Women Stand for Peace, Women Against War and Violence.
March 8, 1:00 pm at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th St and 1st Avenue.
Organized by WICEJ. Participants are asked to bring posters and
banners. Contact: info@wicej.org
Washington DC: What Women Really Want - For Our Communities, Our
Country and Our World! A weekend rally, events and an informational
teach-in organized by CODEPINK and WEDO. March 6-8. For information:
http://www.codepink4peace.org
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
5th Global Women‚s Strike: Stop the World and Change
It!
Invest in Caring Not Killing! The Global Women‚s Strike has
extended from taking joint action every 8 March. It is now a global
network that strengthens the ongoing daily struggle of grassroots
women and men. Participation is expected in over 60 countries. www.globalwomenstrike.net
-compiled by the International Women’s Tribune Center
Securing a Peaceful Future:
Trade Union Women in Peace Building Initiatives.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) headed
a NGO side panel event on March 4, 2004. The panel addressed the
obstacles facing women trade union members as well as the connection
between trade unions and the eradication of poverty and construction
of peace and security. On the ICFTU website, Guy Ryder, General
Secretary of the ICFTU stressed the importance of women's participation
in reconstruction, stating “women trade unionists play a key
role towards conflict prevention and peace building, and have made
a wide range of important initiatives.”
The ICFTU panel featured three women trade union activists: Hawa
Jilo of the Sierra Leone Teachers' union, Marie Mbayabu of the Solidarity
Union of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a representative
from Columbia. Speaking to their specific experiences as trade unionists,
the women called for international solidarity between all trade
unions, especially women members, to bolster their lobbying power
against powerful governments and multinational corporations.
Additionally the women called for greater corporation between local
trade unions and the International Labor Organization (ILO), and
the implementation of educational programs to bring information
about human rights and worker rights to rural and illiterate women.
Emphasizing the importance of raising the awareness of women who
are without knowledge of their rights under international law, the
three panelist agreed that only with the participation of women
in all level of labor organizations can the reconstruction of post-conflict
areas and peace building efforts be launched. Lastly the women cautioned
the international community to maintain pressure against governments
who break humanitarian law under the auspices of national security
and anti-terrorist agendas.
For more information visit:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991219010&Language=EN
Support Of The Family
We support the family as “the natural and fundamental group
unit of society.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article
16(3)). We recognize the need for mutual respect in the familial
bonds, which are achieved by:
(1) Equal opportunities for both sexes regarding education, employment
and career development, and protection from abuse;
(2) Responsibility of women and men regarding reproduction in which
they are co-partners in decisions that affect the number and spacing
of children. As abortion is harmful to the health and well-being
of women, we oppose it as a method of birth control.
This statement is supported by the following NGOs:
World Wide Organization for Women
World Family Policy Center
Catholic Women’s League of Australia, Inc.
Focus on the Family
International Islamic Committee for Women & Child
International Islamic Charitable Organization
International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations
Africa Muslim Agency
Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria
International Muslim Women’s Union
Qatar Charitable Society
Soul
Scouts Musulmans Algeriens
Charitable Society for Social Welfare
Recommendations from Workshop:
“Many Faces of Torture” : Ritual Abuse-
Torture
We recommend ritual abuse- torture (RAT) be identified as an emerging
human rights violation; that RAT be recognized as a newly recognized
form of torture that is inflicted by non-state actors. RAT is inflicted
upon girls and boys, as young as infancy, and women. It involves
planned and organized family and group rituals, abuse and torture
as well as “off-street” in-home, regional, national and
transnational trafficking and sexualized exploitation and modern
day slavery. RAT has the capacity to destroy the personality of
the infant, toddler, child, youth or adult victim.
For contact and information: Persons Against Ritual Abuse –
Torture
Jeanne Sarson, RN, BScN, Med.
Tel/ Fax: 902-895-2255 Email: flight@ns.sympatico.ca
http://www.ritualabusetorture.org
361 Prince Street, Truro, NS Canada, B2N 1E4
Workshop sponsored by: Human Lactation Center, Ltd.
Dana Raphael, PhD.
666 Sturges Highway, Westport CT 06880
Tel: 203-259-5995 fax: 203-259-7667
Statement presented by WiLDAF/FeDDAF
on March 4th 2004 at the general debate during point 3 of the agenda
on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to
the special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women
in 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first
century"
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF/FeDDAF) is a regional
network of non–governmental organizations and individuals in
all the sub-regions in Africa. WiLDAF/FeDDAF is committed to the
promotion of the rights of women and is concerned in particular
with the status of women’s rights in the African region.
Women from almost all the sub regions in Africa suffer from various
abuses as a result of conflicts which have pervaded the African
continent in the past years. Fortunately, the African Union has
risen up to the challenges by adopting the Protocol to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women
in Maputo in July 2003. We wish to seize this opportunity to commend
the African heads of States for adopting this landmark instrument
which has created a legal framework for the protection of rights
of women in Africa.
This protocol recognises the rights of women to participate in the
process for prevention, management and resolution of conflicts and
peace building. It is therefore important that the Protocol should
not be allowed to die as a mere document but should be a virile
instrument which firmly puts in place the legal framework for all
African States for the implementation of women’s rights. We
therefore call on all the African States to sign and ratify this
protocol without further delay so that the Protocol can come into
force.
We appreciate that the Protocol will be a toothless bulldog if it
is not implemented. But we recognise that men are the majority of
those judicial and extra judicial stakeholders who administer justice
and are the gatekeepers or custodians of law and customs which tend
to degrade and create gender disparity.
We have found in one of our projects in West Africa, which was funded
by the European Commission, that it is possible for this category
of men to better protect the rights of women when their capacities
are built through education and sensitisation as agreed in the Beijing
Platform for action. Consequently, all African States should take
measures towards educating and sensitising men and boys at all levels
to appreciate, respect and implement the rights of women.
We also wish to seize this opportunity to call on all African States
to remove those constraints and impediments which constitute blockade
to the effective implementation of women’s rights by the key
judicial and extra judicial stakeholders. Therefore African States
should create condusive environment for the protection of women
rights through provision of proper equipments, improvement of conditions
of work for those administering formal and informal justice, proper
assistance to victims of violence, adequate national legal framework
and adequate funding of institutions that protect women.
By -Women in Law and Development in Africa/ Femmes, Droit et
Développement en Afrique (WiLDAF/FeDDAF)
For more information:
Wildaf@cafe.t |
PeaceWomen 