VOICES RISING
YEAR III - VOL 3. Nº149
August 12, 2005
CONTENT
1.- IALLA II CLOSING CEREMONY
2- A GLOBAL CALL FOR JUSTICE: "ENOUGH WITH POVERTY" CAMPAIGN IN
3.- INTERNATIONAL ADULT LEARNERS WEEK 2005
4.- THE 10TH AWID INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT: How does change happen?
5.- 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM, 25 NOVEMBER TO 10 DECEMBER 2005: FOR THE HEALTH OF THE WOMEN, FOR THE HEALTH OF THE WORLD: NO MORE VIOLENCE
6.- CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
7.- CIVIL SOCIETY VOICES FOR PEACE, PARTNERSHIP AND RENEWAL TO BE HEARD AT THE 58TH ANNUAL DPI/NGO Conference, 7 – 9 September 2005
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1.- IALLA II CLOSING CEREMONY
Speech by Robert Hill
On behalf of the International Council for Adult Education, I would like to welcome you here today and to extend a sincere thanks to the many people who have made our Academy possible.
I apologize for any exclusion: Thanks to Buskerud Folkehogskole, Ovre Eiker Kommune, NORAD, SIDA, NIACE, the European Commission-Grundtvig 3, IIZ-DVV, and our friends and dear supporters at the Norwegian Association for Adult Education (VOFO), for making this the success that it was. Thanks are extended to ICAE staff, Celita, Cecilia and Marcela for their tireless efforts, and to Claudia for documenting the process and producing the CD we will get.
But all of this would have been impossible without one key ingredient, you, the participants. The emerging new leadership of a global network of adult educators who are helping to regenerate ICAE. Each week you applied yourself to the unfolding, sustained, sequential and systematic process.
We came to Buskerud already steeped in the quest for justice and we leave all the richer for the knowledge acquired, and with new or further developed skills to advocate for social transformation through education for all.
We came as strangers and leave as friends, having shared the secret journeys of our lives with each other. Our paths that brought us to this place are indeed varied but share some commonalities, including the conviction that our response to globalization must be through
intercultural dialogue, conviction that it is absolutely necessary to acquire new skills in these radically challenging times, conviction in the belief that adult education is paramount in our search for peace, sustainability, human rights for all.
We leave here now as a global team committed to working with ICAE and with others to network deeply and critically lifelong learning strategies, committed to seeking new forms of democracy, committed to principles of intersectionality, committed to building a new and
better world beyond the explosive tensions and injustices that characterize our times.
We thank you for joining us in our response to the complex situations we all face. We thank you for coming along with us to build a world in which everyone can be, become, belong, act. It is impossible for us to do these things without you.
We would like to give you these certificates as evidence that you have been part of an international team work. Don´t put them on your walls, put them into action!
Thank you.
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IALLA II
Walker, there is no road, you make the road by walking.
By Cecilia Fernandez and Marcela Hernandez
ICAE
Today took place the closing ceremony of the second edition of ICAE Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy held in Buskerud Folk High school of Norway.
Together with the persons that participated in the course, the following persons were also present: Astrid Thoner, from the Norweggian Association for Adult Education; Arid Mikkelsen, Principal of Buskerud Folk High school, and Bob Hill, Acting ICAE Vice President for North America and member of the Executive Council of ICAE.
We opened the ceremony by quoting a phrase of a very well-known Spanish writer, Antonio Machado: “WALKER, THERE IS NO ROAD, YOU MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING”.
We feel that the above words reflect the spirit of this adventure we started two years ago, this International Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy - IALLA.
The course has arrived to its end and we leave feeling very happy. We expect that this will be, at the same time, the starting point of new creative projects together.
We are sure that we will be able to keep in touch through the e-list that we have already created specially for the group, which will enable the development of new strategies, at all levels, with your organizations and, hopefully, with ICAE.
Although Marcela and I feel a little bit tired after three intense weeks, we are, at the same time, full of energy to go on with our work, feeling that now we will have more colleagues from different regions of the world, working side by side with us.
Thanks for that.
globalactionforum@whiteband.org
The International Facilitation Group of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, having met in Bangkok from July 18-20, 2005 and having deliberated on the difficult circumstances surrounding the activities of G-CAP campaign by Civil Society Organizations in Ethiopia have made the following observations.
G-CAP has noted with deep concern that Civil Society Organizations in
We are deeply saddened to learn that the government of
The group has also received reports that indicate the continuation of systematic attack on the campaign and the national facilitating groups. Various members of the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations have faced harassment, random arrests and other forms of intimidation in connection with the political animosity that prevailed since the election.
We are extremely baffled to learn that "Enough with Poverty" was not given the appropriate political space to develop and disseminate its messages even though the Prime Minister of Ethiopia has served as commissioner of the Commission for Africa Report, which, amongst other things, calls for free and democratic space as well as empowerment and participation of civil society in political life.
The International Facilitation group therefore calls upon the government of
Global Call to Action against Poverty
International Facilitation Group
GCAP supporting organizations present in Bangkok, July 18-20, 2005
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3.- INTERNATIONAL ADULT LEARNERS WEEK 2005
Education for All in an Era of Increasing Mobility: The Implications for Adult Learning
Following the tradition established by
The theme chosen for the event is “Education for All in an Era of Increasing Mobility: The Implications for Adult Learning”. It aims to provide a forum for exchange, policy dialogue and advocacy on the importance of adult and lifelong learning. Mobility will serve as the overall background against which the role of adult learning will be examined, on the one hand, through the lenses of the EFA agenda – with a focus on life skills – and, on the other hand, in the perspective of increasing participation as embedded in the CONFINTEA framework.
While the notion of mobility refers to geographical movements of individuals and groups – both undertaken on a voluntary basis as well as with a view to forced migration – mobility here also includes social, cultural and economical fluctuations and the rapid transformations of our physical and societal environments. From an educational perspective, mobility is marked by a constant path of learning and re-learning within a context of growing complexity. This means above all learning to change, and thus requires the acquisition of learning skills and access to ongoing learning opportunities for all.
Three major thematic blocks will be tackled during the meeting:
1) Bridging Gaps through EFA in the Context of Mobility,
2) Acquisition, Recognition and Transferability of Life Skills in the Perspective of Increasing Mobility, and
3) Shaping Mobility: Adult Learning for Diversity and Participation.
Aside from presentations and debates, the event aims to strengthen the international movement of learning festivals as advocacy instruments for learning and participation. Learners, being at the heart of learning festivals, will take part in the meeting, and their achievements will be honored. Together with policy-makers and education stakeholders, they will present, discuss and analyze experiences in EFA and adult learning.
For further information, please contact: Bettina Bochynek, UIE, b.bochynek@unesco.org
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4.- THE 10TH AWID INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT:
Dearest colleagues,
How does change really happen? How can we ensure the gains for women's rights on 'paper' are realized on the ground? What have we been able to change? How do we need to change to address the major issues in the future?
These are just some of the major questions we'll be addressing at the AWID International Forum on Women's Rights in Development to be held in Bangkok October 27th to 30th. We hope that you'll be able to join hundreds of activists, researchers, funders and policy makers from around the world for what is shaping up to be a milestone event.
Registration rates go up on Monday August 15th -- so register now!
We look forward to seeing you in Bangkok,
With my warmest regards
Joanna Kerr
Executive Director
Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 150
Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 2C7
Tel: + 416 594 3773 Fax: + 416 594 0330
Email: jkerr@awid.org
www.awid.org
The 10th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development:
October 27-30, 2005 | Bangkok, Thailand
Early Registration Deadline: August 15, 2005
Registration Closes: October 14, 2005
www.awid.org/forum
Change is not only possible, it is inevitable
At a time of unprecedented global conflict and corporate power, devastations wrought by ecological disasters and pandemics, and conservatisms and extremisms on the rise, women's movements around the world find themselves facing some of the most daunting challenges in recent memory. Powerful political and economic forces are mobilizing not only to block further gains for women, but to erode the rights already secured. We are at a crossroads, embattled on all sides.
And yet, even in these difficult times, the world continues to witness remarkable acts of defiance. From Nigerian women occupying an airstrip to hold a powerful, multinational oil company accountable to their villages, to Asian Comfort Women waging a decades-long battle to force governments to atone for their war crimes, women around the world are seizing opportunities for change in moments of crisis. And they are doing so with the clarity that the world belongs not to the wealthy and the powerful, but to them - the millions struggling for a different kind of world, one built on economic justice, clean environments, and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls.
How do we harness these moments of defiance into a strong and coordinated transnational women's movement? What are the success stories we need to hear, and what can we learn from them? Where have we failed, both individually and collectively, and what can we learn from these failures? What other urgent work remains to be done, and who is going to do that work? How can we strengthen our fledgling alliances, and where do we go from here?
Join us for the 10th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development: How does change happen? Learn about how others are making real change in their regions, and share with others the changes you have made in yours. Analyze your successes and failures, and participate in what many are calling the most important global agenda-setting meeting for the women's movement this year. Be stimulated, be provoked, be inspired. Become involved and be transformed. Because the AWID Forum is not just another conference ...
Be stimulated, be provoked, be inspired
From October 27-30, up to two thousand activists, academics, policy makers, funders, students, researchers and practitioners working for women's rights and gender-sensitive development will converge upon Bangkok in an unprecedented global meeting to discuss the urgent question, How does change happen?
What is AWID? The Association for Women's Rights in Development is an international membership organization that connects, informs, and mobilizes people and institutions committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development, and women's human rights.
What is the AWID Forum? The AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development is both a conference and a call to action. The largest recurring event of its kind, the AWID Forum brings together women's rights leaders and activists from around the world every three years to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions, sustained personal and professional growth, and unprecedented opportunities for alliance-building and global networking.
Delegates to the Forum participate in four days of plenaries, interactive sessions, workshops, debates, and creative sessions geared to powerful thinking on gender equality and women's human rights. These sessions delve deeply into the issues affecting women today - from HIV/AIDS and trafficking to reproductive rights and poverty - in order to deepen analysis and develop solutions that not only work, but are realistic and sustainable.
Who can participate? Participation in the AWID Forum is open to anyone who has an interest in women's rights, international development, and social justice. AWID particularly welcomes women and men from the global south, young and emerging women leaders, and marginalized groups and organizations that have had difficulty getting their agenda heard on an international stage.
What can I expect from the Forum? As a delegate to the AWID Forum, you can expect to be enlightened, provoked and inspired by an exceptional group of thoughtful, forward-looking and fiercely committed women and men. You can expect to move beyond simply talking, to getting involved in global action plans and campaigns that will emerge out of the Forum, but will last well beyond it. You can expect to gain an abundance of new skills, information, tools, experiences and ideas. And finally, you can expect to be welcomed, nurtured, fortified and challenged by a group of like-minded activists, academics, practitioners and allies.
Not just big names, but big ideas
The AWID Forum is anchored by daily plenary sessions with big ideas to provoke, stimulate, challenge, enlighten and inspire. Each plenary offers new visions and strategies from some of the most dynamic and innovative leaders in the global women's movement today, in dialogue with each other and with a vibrant group of emerging leaders, supporters and their allies.
Plenary Sessions
Day 1: What have we changed and how? The Forum will open with a plenary that takes stock of what we, as women's movements and feminist activists, have achieved so far through our work and our activism. Speakers will reflect not only on the successes we've had, but they will also probe our key failures and some of the unintended consequences of our work. The best strategies will be highlighted and explored, and mistakes and challenges will be examined with an eye to avoiding the same mistakes and pitfalls in the future.
Day 2: What is the change around us? Most of us are so occupied with day-to-day challenges that we are ill-prepared to face the future. The second plenary will begin with a screening of AWID's "future trends" documentary, which will open participants' minds to some of the biggest and most daunting challenges we will face together in the future. The screening will be followed by a wide-ranging discussion that spans everything from the emergence of new global governance regimes to the problems of climate change and its fallout.
Day 3: How should we change? While celebrating our achievements is important, analyzing our challenges and shortcomings is even more critical. This plenary will focus specifically on the sustainability of our movements, with an emphasis on financial sustainability and leadership. During this plenary, AWID will launch its new "Where's the Money?" campaign, followed up with a frank and thoughtful critique of our current leadership capacities, intergenerational challenges, and organizational development needs.
Day 4: How does change happen: wrap-up. What have we learned at the Forum? What were the big ideas that emerged, and what was everyone talking about in the hallways? AWID will have "trackers" working throughout the Forum, noting and analyzing the big conversations, ideas, meetings, and events. These trackers will close the Forum with their insights and findings, so that everyone leaves with not only their own experiences, but the fullness of having been a participant in a collective learning and growing process.
Breakout Sessions + Workshops
In addition to the plenary sessions, the AWID Forum also hosts over a hundred different breakout sessions and workshops on provocative and urgent issues for women's rights and development. Some examples of sessions include:
General Sessions on Change: Examples*
Issue-based Sessions: Examples*
Regional Session: Examples*
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5.- 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM, 25 NOVEMBER TO 10 DECEMBER 2005: FOR THE HEALTH OF THE WOMEN, FOR THE HEALTH OF THE WORLD: NO MORE VIOLENCE
IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #280
Activities and Initiatives of Women Worldwide
August 10, 2005
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign, now in its fifteenth year, is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. Participants at that first institute chose
the beginning and ending dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This sixteen-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre -when an enraged gunman killed 14 female engineering students at Montreal's École Polytechnique, screaming, "I hate feminists.
The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels, establishing a clear link between local and international anti-violence work, providing a forum in which organizers can develop and share strategies, demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against gender-based violence, and creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women. Since 1991, the 16 Days Campaign has included the participation of over 2,000 organizations in approximately 130 countries.
To join the 16 Days listserve, and/or to receive a 2005 Take Action Kit (available in September) which includes 16 Days campaign information, e.g. history and mission, a list of participating organizations, resources, suggested actions, and other supplementary materials, please
contact: Sara Nordstrom, Coordinator, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL), 160 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. USA. Tel: +1-732-932-8782. Fax: +1-732-932-1180. Web: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/. Email:
<cwgl@igc.org>
Please send information on your activities for 16 Days to CWGL for inclusion in the 2005 International Calendar of Activities.
IWTC Women's GlobalNet is a production of:
International Women's Tribune Centre
777 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017,
Tel: (1-212) 687-8633
Fax: (1-212) 661-2704
Email: <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Web: <http://www.iwtc.org>
PLEASE NOTE:
For back issues of IWTC Women's GlobalNet, go to our website at <www.iwtc.org> and click on Women's GlobalNet under Resources.
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6.- CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL: MONTHLY NEWSBULLETIN - August 2005
NEWS Dignity International
news@dignityinternational.org
We are pleased to announce that Call for Applications for the two new learning programmes is now open:
Linking and Learning Programme on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for the Latin America Region – Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, 7 to 15 November 2005
This programme is organised by Social Watch and Dignity International in partnership with Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) - Americas Programme and DECA Equipo Pueblo, counts with the support of Primate's World Relief and Development Fund of the Anglican Church of Canada -PWRDF and under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay.
The objective of the programme is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate human rights in their daily work. The programme is aimed at activists from social and economic justice movements and at those working directly with persons living in poverty. The programme will bring together ‘catalysts’ from different countries of Latin America. These persons will be in a position to spread knowledge and skills they have acquired from the programme and to introduce/implement what they have acquired within their own organisations or environment.
For the Information Document please see: http://www.dignityinternational.org/A/P1/cursoDESC_documento_informativo.pdf (Spanish)
http://www.dignityinternational.org/A/P1/cursoDESC_informative_document.pdf (English)
For the Application form, please see: http://www.dignityinternational.org/A/P1/cursoDESC_formulario_inscripcion.doc Documents also available for download at: www.socialwatch.org
If you have difficulties accessing the documents from the website and would like the documents to be sent via e-mail, please send a mail to: curdesc@socialwatch.org
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 5 SEPTEMBER 2005
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New Global Programme on Human Rights in Development – Nairobi,
This programme is organised by Dignity International in partnership with Hakijamii (Centre for Economic, Social Rights,
This global programme is aimed at experienced development activists from the different world regions working either at the grassroots or at the international advocacy levels. The programme will be based on the rich development experience of the participants themselves who, in a non-formal and participatory learning framework, will explore together the meaning of human rights in development work and how integration of human rights into development work translates into concrete strategies and development programming at the grassroots and international levels.
For the Information Document, please see: http://www.dignityinternational.org/A/P1/HRD_InfoDocument.pdf
For the Application form, please see: http://www.dignityinternational.org/A/P1/HRD_applicationform.doc
If you have difficulties accessing the documents from the website and would like the documents to be sent via e-mail, please send a mail to: applications@dignityinternational.org
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 5 SEPTEMBER 2005
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7.- CIVIL SOCIETY VOICES FOR PEACE, PARTNERSHIP AND RENEWAL TO BE HEARD AT THE 58TH ANNUAL DPI/NGO Conference, 7 – 9 September 2005
United Nations, New York, 8 August 2005 (DPI/NGO Section) -- A week before the 2005 World Summit, more then 2,000 Non-governmental Organization (NGO) representatives and other civil society partners from over 80 countries are expected to voice their views on implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), peace and security, human rights and strengthening the United Nations. They will meet from 7-9 September 2005 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, during the 58th Annual DPI/NGO Conference entitled Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal. The three-day gathering of NGOs is organized by the Department of Public Information in cooperation with associated NGOs.
An interactive web site at http://www.undpingoconference.org will allow for worldwide participation and encourage social activists and advocates from around the world to join the discussions before, during and after the Conference. The discussion forum will be launched on 15 August 2005. The web site also provides information for participants and the media, and offers links to related documents.
The Conference aims to raise public awareness of the Secretary-General’s report In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, which outlines the agenda for the 2005 World Summit. Civil society perspective on peace and security, development, human rights and United Nations reform will be the focus of the Conference. The President of the Fifty- ninth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Secretary-General, and United Nations high- level officials will address the Conference, joining representatives of civil society and Member States.
The Conference will address the challenges of forging effective partnerships for development. The first panel session In Larger Freedom: The Challenge of Partnerships will look at the efforts of governments, global corporations, and civil society to build capacity in developing count ries, promote political stability and good governance, and encourage innovative solutions to common problems.
Another panel, A Focus on Human Development: Implementing the MDGs will highlight the role of NGOs in implementing the MDGs at the national and international level. The Collective Security: The Priorities of Civil Society panel will focus on respect for human rights as the driving force behind peace, security and development; and A Dialogue: The Future of the United Nations will be followed by three roundtables on envisioning a secure world, eradicating poverty, and the United Nations and civil society.
The Conference web site will host live webcast of the panel discussions, which will feature Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Winner; Ann Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF; Juan Somavia, Director-General, International Labour Organisation; Anwarul Chowdhury, United Nations High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States; Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, International Criminal Court; Gareth Evans, President and Chief Executive, International Crisis Group; Paul van Tongeren, Executive Director, European Centre for Conflict Prevention; Bill Pace, Executive Director, World Federalist Movement.
In addition to seven plenary sessions and three roundtables, there will be thirty Midday Interactive Workshops sponsored by NGO partnerships and coalitions from around the world with participation by governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society representatives. The themes of the workshops will focus on four clusters of the Secretary-General’s Report: Freedom from Want (two sessions), Freedom from Fear, Freedom to Live in Dignity, and Strengthening the United Nations. The Conference will also provide thematic networking sessions for NGO representatives. Other initiatives include media and exhibition projects that will explore NGO voices in implementing the 2005 World Summit agenda.
The workshops will feature representatives from civil society, the United Nations and governments, such as Frederico Mayor, President, Foundation for Culture of Peace and former UNESCO Director General; Catherine Kinney, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer, New York Stock Exchange; Betty Bigombe, Chief Peace Negotiator in Northern ganda; Görel Bogarde, Save the Children; Rev. Dr. Chung-Ok Lee, Representative of Won Buddhism, Co-President of WCRP, Secretary General, World Culture Open.
Workshop summaries will be available on the web site.
As an annual meeting of NGOs, civil society and private sector with United Nations representatives, the Conference provides an established forum for networking and exchange of views, opinions, expertise and best-practices on relevant issues. In light of the General Assembly Informal Hearings with Civil Society in June as well as the Millennium +5 NGO Network of NGOs formally associated with the United Nations, the Conference provides a platform for NGOs to contribute to the 2005 World Summit and beyond. Drawing on the outcome of the plenary and round table session, a set of recommendations for the future work of the civil society with the United Nations and the Member States will be reflected in the final summary report of the Conference.
For further information on the 58th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, please visit
http://unngodpiconference.org/.
For media-related questions and events, and to set up interviews with Conference speakers, please contact DPI/NGO Section, Sasa Gorisek, Tel: +1-212- 963-1859, E-mail: gorisek@un.org
For NGO media-related question and events, and to set up interviews with Workshop speakers, please contact Shamina de Gonzaga at shamina18@yahoo.com or Carol Zinn at carolzinn@earthlink.net
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United Nations, DPI/NGO Resource Centre, Room L-1B-31
Tel: (212) 963-7233, 7234, 7078 * Fax: (212) 963-2819 * E-mail: dpingo@un.org