VOICES RISING
YEAR III - VOL 3. NΊ148
August 5, 2005
CONTENT
1.- PROPOSED LANGUAGE AMENDMENTS TO THE JULY 22 DRAFT OUTCOME DOCUMENT FOR THE WORLD SUMMIT, 14-16 SEPTEMBER 2005
2.- 3rd GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2005
3.- ADVOCACY WORK IN THE RUN UP TO M+5 SUMMIT
4.- 10TH LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN FEMINIST ENCUENTRO WILL EXPLORE CONTRIBUTIONS OF FEMINISM TO DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLES IN THE REGION
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1.- PROPOSED LANGUAGE AMENDMENTS TO THE JULY 22 DRAFT OUTCOME DOCUMENT FOR THE WORLD SUMMIT, 14-16 SEPTEMBER 2005
Alejandra Scampini
REPEM/DAWN
iniciativa@repem.org.uy
25 July 2005
Prepared by the Center for Womens Global Leadership (CWGL),
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN),
United Methodist United Nations Office
Womens Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and
Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Womens organizations and networks welcome the improvements brought to the revised version of the Draft Outcome Document dated July 22 (A/59/HLPM/CRP.1/Rev.1), to reaffirm the critical importance of gender equality, womens empowerment and the promotion and protection of the human rights of women in achieving sustainable development and peace. However, there are still elements crucial to women that have been left out of the July 22 Document.
In accordance with previously-made governmental commitments, we urge governments to ensure that national statements and the final Outcome Document integrate a gender perspective and incorporate calls for the full participation of women in the implementation of commitments to development, peace, human rights and UN governance:
The General Assembly,
Emphasizes that the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the promotion of gender equality and of womens empowerment and participation, together with the mainstreaming of a gender perspective, are among the essential elements for advancing the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, with a view, in particular, to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration and the outcomes of United Nations summits, conferences and special sessions;
(A/RES/59/168, para 19)
For more information contact:
Charlotte Bunch, CWGL, at cwgl@igc.org ; Franηoise Girard, DAWN, at fgdk@aol.com ;
Vina Nadjibulla, United Methodist-UN Office, at pnadjibu@gbgm-umc.org
June Zeitlin, WEDO, at june@wedo.org ; Kara Piccirilli, WILPF-UN Office, at kara@peacewomen.org
We urge Member States to strengthen the text contained in the following paragraphs:
II. Development
paras: 25, 32, 34(1), 35, 36, 43
III. Peace and Collective Security
paras: 55, 65B, 69
IV. Human Rights and Rule of Law
paras: 104, 108(4)
V. Strengthening the United Nations
paras: 152(3), 154
We urge Member States to retain the text contained in the following paragraphs:
I. Values and Principles
paras: 2, 10, 11
II. Development
paras: 22(4), 26, 30, 34 (2-7)
III. Peace and Collective Security
paras: 49, 50
IV. Human Rights and Rule of Law
paras: 97, 98, 99, 101, 112, 113, 115
V. Strengthening the United Nations
para: 131A (chapeau), 148
II. Development
Quick Wins
25. We agree to support the establishment and implementation of country led sustainable quick win initiatives consistent with long-term national sustainable development strategies so as to realize major immediate progress towards the development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals through such measures as the free distribution of malaria bed nets and effective anti-malaria medicines, the expansion of home-grown school meals programmes using locally produced foods and the elimination of user fees for primary education and health services, universal access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, expanded use of effective drug combinations for HIV/AIDS, national campaigns to stop violence against women, and the collection and disaggregation of data by sex.
(Millennium Project Overview Report, p. 26).
Employment
32. We [delete : strongly support a fair globalization and] resolve to make the goal of productive employment and decent work for all, including for young people, a central objective of our national and international macro-economic policies as well as poverty reduction strategies. These measures should also encompass the elimination of child labor, and labour protections as agreed in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights to Work. We resolve to protect the human rights of workers.
34 (1) Ensure that the resources needed for prevention, treatment, care and support, the elimination of stigma and discrimination, as well as enhanced access to affordable medicines, reduced vulnerability of affected persons in particular women, girls and orphan children, and an expanded and comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS, and for full funding of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as UN system agencies and programmes engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS, are provided universally by 2010
Gender equality and empowerment of women
35. We reaffirm that the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is essential to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration; and resolve to promote gender equality and to eliminate pervasive gender discrimination by:
· Eliminating gender inequalities in primary and secondary education by 2006 and at all educational levels by 2015
· Guaranteeing the rights of women to own and inherit land and property [delete : and inheritance laws] and ensuring secure tenure of property to women
· Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and protecting reproductive rights
· Promoting womens equal access to [delete : labour markets,] sustainable employment as well as adequate labour protections
· Ensuring the protection of women in armed conflicts in accordance with the obligations of States under international humanitarian law
· Investing in the environementally-sound infrastructure necessary to reduce womens and girls time burdens to access water, wood, fuel and other necessities
· Taking active measures to ensure [delete : Promoting] equal participation of men and women in government decision making bodies and political institutions at all levels; and
· Supporting [delete : direct] actions and providing resources to protect women and the girl child from violence, including by ending impunity, in particular in situations of wars and civil strife and to implement comprehensive national plans;
36. We recognize the importance of gender mainstreaming as a tool for achieving gender equality. To this end, we undertake to actively promote mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic environmental and social spheres and we further undertake to strengthen the UN systems capabilities in the area of gender, and to elevate the status of and provide resources for women-specific entities in the UN system.
Meeting the special needs of Africa
43. Welcoming the substantial progress Africa has made in recent years in addressing its challenges and realizing its opportunities, and also the recent decisions taken by African partners, including the G8 and the European Union, in support of Africas development efforts, we reaffirm our commitment to urgently meet the special needs of Africa, which is the only continent not on track to meet any of the goals of the Millennium Declaration by 2015, to enable it to enter the mainstream of the world economy, we resolve to:
Support all efforts to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Africa, including through the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms of Action, which is essential to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals;
Provide, as a priority, assistance for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in African countries on a grant basis, taking into account the specific concerns, needs and leadership of African women and girls, and to encourage pharmaceutical companies to make anti-retroviral drugs affordable and accessible in Africa and ensure increased support for bilateral and multilateral assistance to combat malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in Africa
III. Peace and collective security
Role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts
55. We stress the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding. We also underline the importance of the integration of gender perspective and womens equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security, as well as the need to increase their role in decision-making at all levels. We strongly condemn all violations of human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflicts and the use of sexual and other forms of exploitations, and violence and abuse, and commit to elaborating and implementing strategies to prevent and report on gender-base violence.
Peacebuilding
65 B. Additional members, invited to participate when the PBC discusses a country-specific matter, namely:
i. national authorities of the country under consideration, as appropriate;
ii. countries in the region as well as relevant regional and sub-regional organizations;
iii. the major financial and troop contributors involved in the recovery effort;
iv. the senior UN representative in the field, and other relevant UN-representatives;
v. regional financial institutions as may be relevant;
vi. civil society organizations involved in the recovery and development effort;
vii. other parties directly relevant for the country under consideration.
69. We request the President of the General Assembly, assisted by the Secretary-General, to conduct consultations with Member States and civil society organizations, and in particular, womens organizations, in order to develop the necessary modalities for the effective operation of the Peacebuilding Commission including its rules of procedure, financial arrangements for its functioning, and selection of the Chairs, so that the body can begin operations no later than 31 December 2005.
104. We recognize the need for special attention to human rights of women and children and undertake to advance them in every possible way, including by bringing [move : gender and] child protection, youth and gender perspectives in the human rights agenda.
108. Recognizing the need for universal adherence to and implementation of the rule of law at both the national and international levels, we:
Call upon States to continue their efforts to repeal laws and eradicate policies and practices that discriminate against women and to adopt laws and promote practices that protect the rights of women and promote gender equality
V. Strengthening the United Nations
Regional organizations
152 We support a stronger relationship between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations pursuant to Chapter VIII of the Charter as well as in all [delete: the] areas of human rights, especially economic and social rights [move: human rights], and therefore resolve to:
Strengthen cooperation in all [delete : the] areas of human rights, especially economic and social rights and [move : human rights]
OR
152 We support a stronger relationship between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations pursuant to Chapter VIII of the Charter as well as in the areas of economic and social affairs and human rights, and therefore resolve to:
Strengthen cooperation in the areas of economic and social affairs and human rights.
Participation of non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector
154 We welcome the [delete : positive] contribution of non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector in the promotion and implementation of development, security and human rights mechanisms and programmes, and stress the importance of their continued engagement with Governments, the United Nations, in particular through enhanced interaction with and access to General Assembly and Security Council deliberations and decision-making, and other international organizations in these key areas.
[Move to a separate paragraph : Encourage responsible business practices such as those promoted by the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and the Global Compact initiatives in order to ensure private sectors contributions to the MDGs].
Civil Society Organizations in Support of Proposed Language Amendments on the Draft Outcome Document for the World Summit
1. ActionAid,
2. Action
3. AFASDA (Association Women Sun Haiti),
4. AIDOS - Associazione italiana donne per lo sviluppo (Italian association for women in development),
5. All African Conference of Churches (AACC)
6. American Association of University Women,
7. Anglican Consultative Council (office in US)
8. Armenian International Womens Association
9. Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre on Women (ARROW)
10. Association of Handling and Preventing Violence in the Family,
11. Associazione Donne e Ambiente,
12. Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH)
13. Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
14. ASTRA Central and Eastern European Womens Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
15. Australian Reproductive Health Alliance (ARHA)
16. Autonomous Women's Center, Belgrade,
17. Beyond Beijing Committee,
18. Catholics for a Free Choice
19. Center for Legislative Development International,
20. Center for Reproductive Rights,
21. Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi,
22. Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC),
23. Coalition of Women from Asia and the Middle East (CWAME)
24. DamaD, Novi Pazar,
25. Dominican Leadership Conference,
26. Engender,
27. Esperanca, Novi Sad,
28. Family Care International,
29. Federation for Women and Family Planning,
30. Feminist Publisher 94, Serbia
31. Fundacion para Estudio e Investigacion de la Mujer (FEIM), Argentina
32. FOKUS - Forum for Women and Development,
33. Forum of Women's NGOs,
34. GIRE (Information Group on Reproductive Choice),
35. Global Rights: Partners for Justice,
36. Gray Panthers,
37. Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Council,
38. Hora, Valjevo,
39.
40. International Alert,
41. International Alliance of Women,
42. International Federation of Business and Professional Women
43. International Federation of University Women
44. International Grail
45. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission,
46. International Womens Development Agency Inc. (IWDA),
47. International Womens Health Coalition,
48.
49. Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP)
50. Japan Womens Watch (JAWW),
51. Kebetkache Women Development & Resource,
52. K.U.L.U. Women and Development,
53. Loretto Community (Sisters of Loretto and Co-members),
54. MADRE, USA
55. Mouvement franηais pour le planning familial, France
56. Naripokkho,
57. NGO Coalition for the 5th WCW,
58. Pacific Institute for Women's Health,
59. PPSEAWA (Pan Pacific and S.E. Asia Women's Association)
60. Population Action International, USA
61. Sancharika Samuha, Nepal
62. Reconstruction Women's Fund, Belgrade, Serbia
63. Red Nacional de Adolescentes en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva - RedNac- (National Youth Coalition), Argentina
64. Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, USA
65. Riverdale Women's Immigrant Centre (Canada)
66. Sahiba Sisters Foundation,
67. Sisters In Islam,
68. Social Watch
69. Soroptimist International,
70. SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence, Belgrade,
71. Taboo, Zrenjanin,
72. Voice of Difference,
73. WAND,
74. WiLDAF/FeDDAF, West Africa
75. WOMANKIND Worldwide,
76. Women's Center, Uzice,
77. Womens Global Network for Reproductive Rights
78. Women's Health and Rights Advocacy Partnership,
79. Women in Reform Judaism,
80. Women in Black, Belgrade,
81. Women In Europe for a Common Future (WECF)
82. Women for Womens Human Rights- New Ways,
83. World Federalist Movement,
84. Youth Coalition
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2.- 3rd GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2005
Dear colleagues,
The European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) has decided to invite projects dealing with "Active Citizenship in a Democratic Society" for this years Grundtvig-Award.
Active citizenship can be defined as citizens taking opportunities to become actively and democratically involved in defining and tackling the problems of their communities and improving their quality of life.
Many people have problems or feel inhibited of participating actively in society.
You may have found ways of motivating them or you may have developed activities:
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Further details and entry forms are available at:
http://www.eaea.org/news.php?aid=5758
If you know of any highly motivated persons who would be interested in the Grundtvig Award, and you therefore require further sets of competition documents, just write to
eaea-main@eaea.org
Entries must be received until Monday, 3 October 2005, at the EAEA main office
Kind regards
Valentina Chanina
EAEA
Rue de la Concorde,60
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 513 52 05
Fax: +32 2 513 57 34
eaea.office@tiscali.be
www.eaea.org
3rd GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2005
Active Citizenship for a Democratic Society
The EAEA invites all organisations active in adult learning to submit projects that focus on active citizenship.
What is active citizenship?
Active citizenship can be defined as citizens taking opportunities to become actively and democratically involved in defining and tackling the problems of their communities and improving their quality of life. Many people have problems or feel inhibited of participating actively in society.
You may have found ways of motivating them or you may have developed activities:
- to learn about ones rights and duties as a citizen
- to value prior learning and experiences to get more self-esteem
- to get involved in environmental issues in the community and beyond
- to engage in further learning about their position in society
- to help migrants to get included
- to engage in intercultural learning
- to bring generations together to learn from each other and/or work together
- to explore ways of advocacy for learning of disabled people
- to establish a new life on their own
- to work for social inclusion in a multicultural society
- to break down barriers between residents and foster a sense of belonging through community involvement and volunteering
- to provide and support services, independent on public authorities, for hard-to-reach groups
- to commit themselves to work in their community
- to commit themselves to working for gender equality
This list is not exhaustive. You may consider other examples (of active citizenship) in the light of the criteria outlined above.
What do we expect?
- A transnational project or initiative on active citizenship with at least three countries involved
- A transnational project or initiative that has been completed or is close to completion
- A description of your project:
What were the main goals of the project
What you actually did and how you did it
Which was (were) your target group(s)
What was special about your way of working and what processes or partnerships were important
Which aspect of active citizenship you focused on How you got people involved
- Some explanation about the impact:
What the impact for the participating organizations and the target group(s) was
How you recognised and how you tracked success
What you have learned from this piece of work what would you do again or differently next time
If the project would work without partners from other countries
And finally: The Wow! Factor:
What made this project special and what could others learn from it?
A special Prize will be awarded for an outstanding out-of-Europe project on Active Citizenship for a Democratic Society
Conditions:
Entries must be received until Monday, 3 October 2005, at the EAEA main office
To the attention of Ms Ellinor Haase
Rue Liedts 27
B-1030 Bruxelles
Tel. + 32 2 513 52 05
Fax + 32 2 513 57 34
e-mail: eaea-main@eaea.org
Send your project description together with the completed form to the EAEA.
You may submit a description of your project in one of the following languages: English, French, German, and Spanish.
What do we offer?
- The Award a specifically designed piece of art for the coordinating organisation and certificates for all partners
- An invitation to 2 persons of the winning organisation to the EAEA General Assembly 2005, including travel and accommodation; an invitation to the partners, 1 person per organisation, to the EAEA General Assembly, covering either travel or accommodation. The EAEA General Assembly this year takes place in
Publicity for the winning project and for all other projects submitted via the EAEA website, the mailing list to more than 100 organisations in 34 European countries, and reports.
3rd GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2005
Active Citizenship in a Democratic Society
Name of the submitting organisation
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Address
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Phone
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Fax
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e-mail
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Partner(s)
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Title of the project/initiative
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Start and completion dates
Summary (max 4 pages)
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3.- ADVOCACY WORK IN THE RUN UP TO M+5 SUMMIT
Dear all,
Many of you are involved in advocacy work in the run up to the M+5 summit and we would like to invite you to share intelligence on your national process with the wider GCAP. This will help us all to shape our media and advocacy strategies towards the summit. The categories below are indications, you do not have to report on all of them and if you find something missing, please feel free to add. The key success factor for this instrument is that people take the responsibility to inform others about their national process. Please send your response to the GCAP policy group (lobbyandpolicy@whiteband.org). We will analyze the different inputs and provide the global action forum with further information on the processes and ideas for national advocacy work.
Thanks for your support!
Who is responsible in government, which ministry(ies) are involved, who will form the delegation to NY?
- Government position on key GCAP demands (debt, trade, aid, transparency and accountability on the national level)?
- What have been the key demands of the national GCAP?
- Where are areas of convergence between the national GCAP and Gov?
- What are the main controversies between the national GCAP and Gov?
- What will be the particular focus for your government at the summit?
- Is your government planning to present any particular initiative at the summit?
- Has there been any regular consultation with CSOs in the run up to the summit?
- How have they been organised which sectors have been involved?
- What have been the main results of the meetings so far?
- Will there be CSO representatives on the government delegation? If yes, which sectors? If at all possible provide contact details of the people so that they can be included in GCAP meetings in NY.
- Are any other sectors participating in the delegation (in particular business)?
- Will your government provide CSO briefings in NY itself?
- What are key features of the national report (particularly in the context of the national GCAP s demands)? What are the areas in which the government says it has booked progress/failure and the reasons?
- Was civil society consulted during the drafting process? If yes specify how and which sectors of civil society where included.
- web-link to the national report
- Is there a shadow report/shadow reports
- What are key features of this report/these reports?
- Who did the report(s) and how widely and deeply have they been consulted in civil society?
- web-link(s) to the shadow reports
Background information on the national GCAP
- What is the membership of the national GCAP?
- Do you have a website?
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4.- 10TH LATIN AMERICAN & CARIBBEAN FEMINIST ENCUENTRO WILL EXPLORE CONTRIBUTIONS OF FEMINISM TO DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLES IN THE REGION
Press Release
By Radio Feminista/Feminist International Radio Endeavour/FIRE
August 3, 2005
?Feminism and Democracy? will be the theme of the 10th Latin American &
Caribbean Feminist Encuentro, expected to bring 1,500 women to Sγo Paolo
focus on the contributions of feminism to the struggle for social and political
democratization throughout the region.
The event will be covered by Radio Feminista/FIRE along with a pool of women
journalists and communicators from different Latin American & Caribbean
countries. Also linked to media coverage of the event will be the Women?s
Media Pool, a news collaboration of over 60 women?s media and other
organizations from around the world that was originally created during Beijing
+10 in February, 2005. Overall, the 10th Encuentro communications strategy
will be based on the 9th Encuentro strategy, and will incorporate collective
production efforts for community radio, live broadcasting in Internet by Radio
Feminista, an online chat room, and printed press reports. Media coverage will
be produced in three languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
The 10th Feminist Encuentro will feature panels, ?complex dialogues,? and
discussion groups related to feminism and the radicalization of democracy,
including issues of racism, ethnocentrism, sexuality, youth, poverty, violence
and power. Also featured will be workshops and cultural activities. The
overall methodology is designed to enable participants to meet and exchange
experiences and strategies, to engage in discussions and debates, and to form
or further develop coalitions and networks.
According to the 10th Encuentro Organizing Commission, ?We live in a crucial
and historic moment for reflection about feminism and democracy in the Latin
American and Caribbean region?[and because of our need to focus on other
tasks in recent years], feminism has not been a strong presence in critical
thought and political action?? but feminism plays a key role in the
construction of democracies and the democratic process.
Feel free to use this press release, but please give credit to Radio
Internatiocional Feminista/FIRE.
For further information, go to Radio Feminista?s website at:
www.radiofeminista.org or write to oficina@radiofeminista.net.
For further information about the 10th Latin American and Caribbean Feminist
Encuentro, see their website at: www.10feminista.org.br.