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VOICES RISING 1. Report and analysis on socio-political violence against young/adult women and girls in Colombia (Maria Eugenia Ramírez-ILSA) 2. The impact of armed conflict in Bogotá and Cazucá: impact on women’s life (Isabel Martínez: REPEM) 3. Gathering up courage. The impact of armed conflict on the security of indigenous women from North of Cauca (Dora Villaquirán: CODACOP) 4. Millennium Development Goals and Armed Conflict (Alejandra Scampini, DAWN)
MESA DE MUJER
Y CONFLICTO ARMADO EN COLOMBIA: REPEM, ILSA.
CODACOP
LOTS OF RUM AND CHARM January 26, 2006 On the way out from our hotels to the venues of our workshops, seminars, etc, we walk along the streets, or take a taxi, feeling the atmosphere of the Forum, more and more with each passing day. Cecilio, the taxi driver who drove us upon our arrival, made the long trip and traffic jam much nicer for us; he knew who we were, why we were coming, and during that time we learned a lot how Venezuelans are feeling. The organizers mention more than 80,000 people coming to take part of this event, to feel those winds of change, and there is a general concern to make people feel comfortable, and assist them with the lodging, transport, etc. The Forum is scattered everywhere: universities, airport, La Carlota, high-schools, squares, the Central Park and other venues. Yesterday marked the opening of the activities, and people were coming and going because several workshops’ venues were changed at the last minute. Yesterday we were most of the time at the Andés Bello High School. Some boys and girls were still having classes, merging with the Forum’s workshops. There were teams of young volunteers eager to participate, collaborate and very enthusiastic with the presence of people from all over the world. For us, educators, it is always very gratifying to see students from different levels of the education system so interested in these issues. Something we noticed is the tight security. We had been previously informed by the organizers of this fact during the days of the WSF, something that was highly noticeable during the Opening March. An entire transport system has been established for people’s mobilization. At the airport there are more than 100 buses that drive people to the city free of charge. Besides, the subway in the city is free by submitting the WSF registration. There is much concern in relation to the collapse of the Caracas-La Guardia highway. Jacobo Torres expressed that they are expecting the return trip to be “less traumatic”. Regarding logistics, many efforts are being made to make things easier and have the necessary infrastructure. If one reads the figures of the Forum, one can understand that it will always be difficult for a city to prepare itself, for the first time, to receive so many people. As we said yesterday when we found out that the venue of our workshop had been changed: PATIENCE, WOMEN, BE VERY PATIENT! The Forum’s figures according to the organizers are the following:
-2.300
activities and 500 cultural events EDUCATION FORUM: For a Free and Quality Public Education During the long wait in the Andrés Bello High School we went from one room to another, and met informally with many Venezuelan educators working in that space. Several women educators spoke about their enthusiasm around the literacy process in Venezuela and asked us about how these processes take place in other Latin American countries, as many of them noticed the similarity of the political proposals of their government with those of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia. Many of them commented on the need to have more opportunities to exchange visions about education. The issues that concerned these educators the most are those we mentioned in our workshop and during the WEF: the right to education, social inclusion, and the need to create public policies for a free public education. The issue of laicism regarding education is still a pending debate that would be important to readdress. Proposals: the conversion of external debt resources in investment on education; the need of a more propositive World Education Forum; the demand for courage and confidence to defend the right to education, and the need for educators to articulate more with other movements. They remained very interested in understanding the concept of intersectionality –the issue addressed by our workshop- and the passion for being part of the construction of another possible world, with education as the main pillar. Issues such as the marketization of education, the educators’ role, and the erosion of professionalism marked by this marketization are also concerns that appeared in the informal dialogues with these educators. We were in agreement about the belief that the defense of free public quality education has to go through a propositive road, nurtured by different civil society’s groups.
The World Education Forum will issue a statement in which it will highlight
the exchange points and the future proposals for the upcoming events, which
will take place in Nova Iguazú and Buenos Aires, in March and May 2006,
respectively. The area in which the investment is largest is that of meals. “Between 4 and 5,000 meals must be prepared daily for volunteers. These stands are set in the La Carlota airport, the youth camps and the debate rooms where volunteers are working. Moreover, there are food stalls with solidarity prices for the forum’s participants, in every space of the event. Social Forum for Sexual Diversity
The Social
Forum for Sexual Diversity opened yesterday, the 25th, and will close on
January 28th. (Museo de Bellas Artes, Los Caobos, Sala Experimental). This
open space for the debate and exchange of ideas and cultural expressions
addresses the development of inclusive and pluralist approaches, as well as
the issue of equality in the discourse and in the practice, as integral part
of the generation of alternative proposals to neoliberalism. The Forum
intends to expand the analysis and foster critical thinking, particularly
around the issues related to neoliberal globalization and its interrelation
with the exclusion based on sexual orientation, sexism, racism, class, and
other forms of discrimination. In this opportunity, the Social Forum for
Sexual Diversity is convoked by the South-South Dialogue, LGBT, FEDAEPS, Red
de Mujeres Transformando la Economía (REMTE)(Women’s Network Transforming
Economy), Women’s Global March and the Latin American Information Agency -
ALAI Mujeres.
………………………………………………………. · Education as a fundamental human right, as an enabling right for the exercise of other rights.
· Full
and active citizenship, readdressing the definition of citizenship by Hannah
Arendt, as the right to have rights.
· A
non-confessional space
anajairo@mweb.co.za One of the activities that took place on the last day of events was a round table called “Experiences of the Polycentric Forums” and it aimed at analysing what had happened with this new experience of holding Forums in three continents and how will they contribute on the way to Nairobi. The participants at the round table were Mamadou Goita, coordinator of the Bamako organising committee; Wahu Kara, from Kenya, member of the All Africa Council of Churches and of the organising committee for the WSF 2007; Taoufik Ben Abdallah, from the Africa Social Forum; P.K. Murty from IOC, India; two representatives from the European Social Forum, Christophe Aguilton from France and Natascha from Greece; Francois Houtard, from the Centre Tricontinental (CETRI) in Belgian; and Sergio Haddah, from the Association of Brazilian NGOs and member of the WSF International Council. The views of what had happened in Bamako and what could happen in Nairobi were diverse and in some cases contradictory, but hope and enthusiasm prevailed, mainly among the public that constantly thanked the Malians for all their efforts and the fact that they made the first WSF in Africa possible. Mamadou Goita shared the difficulties encountered for fund-raising which impacted mainly on the number of people from Mali and other African countries who could attend. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 thousand participants were at the Forum, only 5.000 of them from Mali. He also mentioned that most NGOs in Mali struggle daily to keep their activities running, so there was a fatigue in the social movements due to the efforts to get funds and to be able to mobilise resources for various activities simultaneously. He added that if the problem of resource mobilisation is not overcome “the Forum might disappear”. In spite of all the difficulties 800 activities were presented during the three days. But that did not keep Goita from concluding that if the social movements of the region and Africa in general do not get more involved, it will be difficult to run a successful WSF in Nairobi. He added, in fact, that if the same problems arise in terms of lack of funds and mobilisation of social movements, “the WSF in Nairobi, which will be more important because it will be a world version, will be ridicule”. The next speakers were more positive and in fact thanked Goita for what they called tremendous efforts done by the Malians to ensure the success of the Forum. Wahu Kara said in fact that the Malians had proved that it is possible to have a Forum in Africa and that economic resources should not be the main concern, strengthening the fact that social movements in Africa should find alternative ways to ensure that many Africans reach the Forum and that the logistics, contents and all other aspects are worked out in cooperation with as many movements in the world as possible, throughout the year. The other members of the round table highlighted some of the challenges for the Nairobi Forum, not just in terms of logistics but looking at the expected outcomes: - how to move from development of consciousness to the construction of actors that could interact among each other, and in relation to this, how to build a new historical subject; - need to build convergences between the different movements of the WSF; - the Forum must become a place “for transformation, not just for encounter”, and this should include transformation of policies; - how to ensure the presence of “the poor and marginalised”; - how to make certain that national demands are not overshadowed by global issues; to use Taoufik Ben Abdallah’s words: “the Forum needs to be rooted in the countries and regions where it is held”; he put some examples such as the struggles for land and peace in many African regions, issues of spirituality, the role of people living in shacks, etc.; he also added “in Africa we have not tried to identify our own tools so as to develop ownership at the local level”, and this is a challenge for the preparations towards Nairobi; - how to deal with the strategy of the adversary “who uses the same language and tries to co-opt us”; - the WSF started in response to particular issues; six years later these ones need to be re-discussed and others that are emerging be included in the debate; - the Forum territory needs to abide to environmental rules, gender balance, diversity, etc. Sergio Haddad said that it was important to remember that this was the first experience of polycentric forums so it was bound to have shortcomings. He added “we are building a new way of doing politics from civil society” and highlighted some of the successes already achieved by the WSF like a growing resistance to neoliberal policies and the clear impact on the movement against war. He said, though, in agreement with the challenges mentioned by the other panellists, that the Forum needs to move forward in terms of building collective actors, and that this requires a new working methodology within the Forum. He added that the International Council of the WSF has a methodology committee and that they are developing three main points for what he called a “radicalisation in the methodology”:
All participants –panel members and public- agreed upon that the preparations for Nairobi must start now and that there is a need to commit a maximum number of players, prioritising African players. Many of the challenges and suggestions made at the round table show some of the shortcomings that the Forum in Bamako had. There were clearly very few participants from Mali, but beyond that, it did not seem that the Forum affected life in Bamako besides maybe providing some opportunities for tourism related activities such as hotels, taxis, restaurants and tours. While as at the Porto Alegre Forums one had the feeling that the whole city was involved in one way or another, in Bamako it seemed that very few people knew that it was taking place and what it meant. The issue of language is a serious barrier and unless in the “radical methodology” Haddad talked about a lot of thought is given to the issue of language, Nairobi is going to face the very same difficulties. Although French is the official language in Mali, 80% of the population use Bambara as the means of communication and other African languages are also spoken. In some workshops, particularly in the venue called “Universe of Women”, when Malian women did join the activities, there was translation from English (if that was the language of the presentation) into French and from French into Bambara. By the time the words in Bambara reached the women, many of them were already without interest, or half of the meaning had been “lost in translation”. Dialogues and debates under these conditions were almost impossible and one had the feeling that the worlds we had tried to bring together “to build collective actors” had been put further apart. The issue of anchoring the Forums in local realities is therefore, as many speakers said, crucial, and how to deal with the multiplicity of languages in Africa -that give such richness to the continent and at the same time make communication a big challenge- needs to be thoroughly thought. In the same way, the balance between global and local issues demands a lot of attention. When women spoke in Bambara at a workshop organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, they said they needed running water, schools, transport for their produce and related many other difficulties of their day to day lives. There had been a presentation on the main areas of work of GCAP (Debt, Aid and Trade) and of the negotiations at the WTO. But that did not motivate the women. Maybe because it reached them after three translations, or maybe because those international organisations and issues and abstract concepts do not relate to their lives. It is not that they are not in a position to understand complex issues. It is most probably we –the NGOs and international organisations attending the Forums around the world- the ones who do not seem to be in a position to talk about relevant things that can help them unleash all the potential local populations have to transform their lives. Radical methodology? Yes, for us, for the Forum to reinvent itself on the basis of the local realities. A Forum in Africa is certainly different than one in Latin America and than one in India. Therefore, as Taoufik Ben Abdallah said, in the same way that the Forum aims at social transformation, “there is a need also to transform the Forum”. This is maybe the biggest challenge, bigger than finding economic resources and mobilising thousands of Africans to reach Nairobi next January. It is a big task we all have for 2006.
Ana
Agostino
GENDER PERSPECTIVES AND MDGS
by HEIDI
MARIE BOELLINGER The upcoming morning was very busy. We had to leave early to find the venue for our first workshop “Gender Perspectives and MDGs” that was organized by GEO/ICAE, UNESCO, UIE, Jeunesse &Développement. Arriving at the “Palais de la Culture” we realized that there was no room at all. But the problem was solved by building up tents and attaching handwritten papers with figures to identify the rooms. We also had to deal with the translation for English or French speaking people. But we solved it successfully.
Panellist: The first speaker M. Faye talked about GCAP advocacy activities. He mentioned key events to advocate gender issues within MDG, as well as work done during the millennium summit and their demands and outcomes. Violence against women and girls as well as reduction of learning gaps to overcome. Invest in infrastructure (water access, access for girls to primery education). Although some results within reproductive health, peace, security, women rights, HIV achievements and commitments in education could be mentioned, there are still a lot of challenges to face in terms of advocacy to reach MDGs. Margaret C. Wambete was talking about her personal experience of women` s discrimination in Kenya suffering from HIV. The discrimination is suffered in multidimensional ways. Students are attacking teachers, refusing to study, colleagues and parents neglect contact and support, institutions refuse salaries or even worse fire them. Today Kenepote supports more than 1000 teachers and helps them to be reinstated in their work or to get their salaries. Ms Wambete` s personal target is to give back to the women their self-consciousness: “ Women felt like ghosts but now they can feel like human beings again!” Irene Yamaego was talking about her experience to establish literacy classes for women living with HIV. In Burkina 63 % of the female population is considered to be positive. More than 40 % of them are illiterate woman. For them the sickness is an additional discrimination. They don’t dare to talk about their illiteracy as well as they don’t talk about their positive status. These women are not able to get drugs for retroviral treatment, for the treatment of secondary infections. They also can not read prescriptions or information about how to avoid infections or how to deal with them. Establishing alphabetisation classes for four days a week helps affected women to rebuilt their personal integrity and dignity. Women groups that finish alphabetisation feel more confident in their jobs and are able to share their experiences with other women: One young lady proudly mentioned that she is now able to read the size of the shoes instead of comparing them with her own shoes and she is also proud to write and read the bill. Regardless individual benefits women in Burkina do not intend sufficient educational activities and it must be said that the MDGs to be achieved is still a vision. Tina and Josephine were talking about women dailies experiences in the context of HIV. Within the relationships women are facing much more dangers to get infected with HIV. They are economically and psychologically dependent on their husbands who often live in promiscuity. Often women know about their husband’s sickness but they don’t dare to refuse having unprotected sex with them. Also husbands refuse women’s access to information how to avoid to be infected. As soon as women feel sick and weak they avoid to get tested in order to hide the illness fearing the consequences and so course a vicious circle of speechlessness, infection, loneliness and death that is transmitted from one generation to the next. Diarra from “Jeunesse et Développement“referred to their civic education initiatives through adult literacy programs and to their work on micro credit with women groups. It was a pleasant and warm atmosphere within the workshop. People were highly interested and were asking questions, giving comments or sharing their own experiences from their home countries.
………………………………………………… Paper Title: What does multi-party politics really offer to women?
by Salma
Maoulidi To my sheer delight a significant number of my own networks members tried to run for local government seats. And while most did not win seats, they scored personal as well as societal victories. In many ways, by running, these women already won in my eyes, as in the few years I have known them they have evolved from shy, uncertain souls to bold and confident women who are not afraid to take risk and what comes with the risk. I am sure that they do not see themselves as having failed but on their way to becoming victorious- learning the ropes through doing. Yet it is clear to myself and to them one of the reasons they failed to progress further than they did in the electoral race is on account of their low levels of education and not so much of their leadership qualities. Alas, increasingly the political landscape is being determined by three factors that are beyond the purview of most ordinary women and that is money, education and sectarianism. Similarly, political campaigns are fast becoming expensive affairs. There are the publicity campaigns, the voters to be brought and the country to be traversed to meet potential voters. One has to have considerable amount of money or have influence to facilitate access to money to even consider running. It is common knowledge that like in the west, this year’s elections was won mainly by the ruling’s party financial clout. How can poor rural women compete in such an expensive playing field? Then there is the issue of education, which has now being included in the law such that only the highly educated qualify to serve other citizens or assume public office. MPs have been busy upgrading themselves, secretly or openly, lest others single them out as being “semi-literate”. Public service is, therefore, no longer about the ability of public officials serving their constituencies but it is about their ability to impress one another and foreigners on their command of colonial tongues. One’s ability to converse in English and one’s collection of certificates is the prevailing criteria to become an MP. The same would qualify a house member’s application to other legislative appointments like the Pan African Parliament. Indubitably, representing the masses becomes a preoccupation with the outside rather than making oneself relevant to the masses. The aspect of education and qualifying for office has resonance for us in Sahiba since our core mission is to build leadership capacities of women. Our intention is through the building of leadership capacity we will create enough women in different parts of the country to offer alternative leadership. Alas with the current criteria many of our women will not qualify since most (over 80%) do not have a secondary school education, and those who do, a significant number did not finish their education! This corresponds to national statistics stating that 45% of rural women are illiterate. This is the case in a country that barely two decades ago had one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Thus while many have leadership qualities and demonstrate high levels of leadership skills, they will only be viewed as “activists” or philanthropists, at best, in their midst since they do not qualify, under the new, more democratic criteria, that only speak to the very rich or the very learned and urbane. Forget hoping for a peasant to lead the masses to a popular revolution since it is no longer chic to be a peasant in origin, form and thought. Rather, one can be a peasant in origin but sophisticated in thought and form. This leads me to the point of sectarianism where increasingly we see the resurgence of ethnic, religious, partisan and similar politics. Patriotism and nationhood is tossed aside while politicians try to gain influence by dividing people using hate speech. Nowhere is this most obvious as with womenfolk who come across as being loyal followers of the doctrines of their “prophets”. Thus at no time have we seen scores of women partake in political acts that were understood to be outside their domain. This includes participating in the Iraq invasion, suicide bombers, lobbying the highest office in the world (the McCarthy Sisters) or over international Diplomacy (Pakistani rape survivor). In many ways loyalty to ones “culture” and family obligations serves to keep women in check within the confines of the familiar. In turn, these cliques provide protection to their groups and sympathizers. What then does such a scenario spell for an informed and engaged citizenry? Why is it that while we live in an age of information and the tools to facilitate information are a click away, that is less than a second from our grasp, yet we continue to experience high levels of ignorance, illiteracy and misinformation? Why is it when the world is much closer we experience alienation and apathy? Why is it that while we experience so much abundance in many respects we continue to witness wide inequalities, presented to us as “norms”, or better, as goals to aspire for so that we also can drive the big car, have the nice woman or man and have good reason to be happy? Yes, such fallacies in rationalizing our existence in the world persist despite our activism. We have invested in legal literacy programs, training and outreach but our “beneficiaries’ ” sense of empowerment comes from being able to acquire and consume as neo liberal dictates warrant. And we seem to be busy teaching them how to fit in the bigger picture of capitalist exploitation not to resist it. If we want to create a new discourse and build alternatives, certainly we need to change the essence of our discourse and method. Only then can we claim applying transformative pedagogy. Therefore, how can we as activist and educators take charge of the situation and redress some of the undemocratic systems that are flouted as a peculiar form of democracy? How can we be models of resistance by creating our own alternative like Scandinavian countries did with study groups and night schools to better our selves continuously, and in so doing improve our life prospects and not just political ambitions. Faced with a multi million-dollar industry the task is humungous. We therefore need to ascertain if we have the will, courage and resources to endure. We also need mechanisms on the ground to ensure that all efforts are coordinated and followed up. This is becoming difficult now as donors and their different and shifting development prescriptions confuse national development priorities. In Tanzania for example, adult education is no longer a national priority and it exists by sheer will and because it has historical legitimacy. This being the case how do we propose to mobilize over 90% of the youth who fail to pursue a secondary school education since illiteracy is increasingly a concern not of rural populations but more so for the youth. Do we also have the requisite capacity on the ground to lead this movement? Already we fail dismally in mobilizing the masses for single, short-term events. Would we manage for sustained and more demanding engagement? The task is equally challenging at the institutional front: I paid a visit to the Adult Education Offices for some GEO/ICAE follow up and found they not only did not have an independent e-mail account but they had no concept of free e-mail services. Yet, this is the institution that is tasked with emancipating the masses? Lastly, the challenge rests in identifying opportunities for progress and mass empowerment. Building on the unfolding political landscape many see multi party democracy as expanding the electoral system and enabling citizens to participate in governance. Certainly local governance structures give some room to citizen’s to exercise self-governance on the ground without delegating the same to Parliament but many do not take on this opportunity because they don’t know as they don’t read and discuss such matters seeing it as a concern of parliamentarians. Also, the concept of representation and participation becomes irrelevant when the Constitution demands allegiance not to the electorate but the party. Effectively, this limits key good governance requirements of transparency and accountability. It also limits the possibility of opening up the political process beyond partisan interest. But it is our partisan fever that has got us where we are and it is our inability to interrogate with the big picture in mind and assessing the consequences in the long run that makes reaching even the most basic of goals arduous. Certainly, education for all is not about primary school education, but it is about learning through life. It is about applied knowledge and evolving praxis that can have not only individual but also transnational impact. Surely, if those of us who are here today take back this concept of holding regular study groups and broadening our alliances on issues that affect us everyday such as the choice of leaders, how budgets are allocated and spent, the quality of health care, the economic policies we adopt, social practices etc we will be redefining governance and building a new cultural movement of citizens who act and engage with their destinies.
Salma Maoulidi
---------------------
by Salma
Maoulidi The federation called the press briefing in an effort to give visibility to the numerous human rights violations in the African continent that otherwise fails to receive the coverage they deserve.» We want to end this culture of Impunity” asserted Halid, “and we want the national and international media to put this Africa protest on the front pages instead of just covering acts of impunity committed elsewhere”. Halid delivered the call surrounded by other members from the West African Federation of Human Rights. Particular attention was given to the situation in the Congo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Farso where the masses are held hostage by the acts of regimes that but serve personal interests and that of big capital. He emphasized that what was happening in countries like Ivory Coast is not solely an Ivorian problem but an international problem. Halid was however adamant that the problems of the continent would only be solved by Africans. “It is time for the Ivorian people to reject the interference of the outside world and resolve to go to the ballot to resolve the constitutional crisis in their country. Only they can put an end to the impunity prevailing in their country” Yassine Fall of the African Women’s Millennium Initiative reminded that it is not only notable journalists that get killed or abused in the African continent. “African women face daily incidents of violence against their person committed by governments as well as the military and militias with impunity yet because many of these women are poor these violations hardly attract national and international scrutiny”. Yassine talked about the women in Congo many of whom are raped by as many as fifteen men and which crimes go unpunished. “These women are now afraid to go out and in many cases are so hurt. When will you send a mission to investigate these crimes?” she questioned. A heated discussion ensued about the propriety of calling for the extradition of former President Habre of Tchad to Belgium to answer human rights abuses. Some felt that it is but a continuation of imperialist racist tendencies that only seeks to punish blacks for crimes they committed in full collaboration of western nations. The question for many was not that figures like Charles Taylor or Habre should not be punished for their excesses but that they should be punished in Africa. In response Halid pointed out to the hypocrisy that plagues African governments in so far as putting one of their own to task. “In Togo, the police and peace soldiers fired on protesters and the AU said nothing something if done by the UN forces in Rwanda would have been unacceptable”. Instead African communities are paying the price of the inaction of governments to put in place the necessary infrastructure to try human rights abuses. “We created the African Court of Human Rights but it is not yet functional because governments will not commit funds towards its realization”. It is precisely this kind of situation that makes human rights defenders access any legal mechanism globally to put human rights offenders who hide under the guise of presidential immunity or other arrangement to pay for the crimes committed. This is the only way a strong message against impunity will be communicated. “Exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures. We have to be vigilant against human rights abuses. This is a legal issue, not a political issue and we refuse to dance to political consideration and say what needs to be said even if this amounts to political incorrectness. We simply want to restore a people’s consciousness, which forms the essence of human rights and good governance”, asserted Halid. **************************************** 2 Events Against Corruption: < Are you and your organization interested in fighting against corruption? In the VI Poly centric World Social Forum in Caracas
Invite you
to the talk on forming a: Panelists· Inés Arias, Peru Solidarity Forum, lawyer, specialist in the repatriation of funds, Coordinator of the Transparency and Human Rights Area. · Mercedes De Freitas, Executive Director, Transparency Venezuela
28 January
2006, Av. México
In the VI Poly centric World Social Forum in Caracas
Invite you
to the talk on forming a: Panelists· Inés Arias, Peru Solidarity Forum, lawyer, specialist in the repatriation of funds, Coordinator of the Transparency and Human Rights Area. · Mercedes De Freitas, Executive Director, Transparency Venezuela
25 January
2006
______________________ ================================= And finally we arrived in Caracas after a long flight! We landed late at night, and volunteers were expecting us with their red t-shirts to assist us in filling in forms, find transport, money exchange, etc. We went through the mountains in the dark, going across neighborhoods and blocked roads, arriving at last to our lodgings. We saw familiar faces, new faces, and I must admit, on the one hand feeling nostalgic for our beloved Porto Alegre, but on the other hand, feeling the expectation of having the venue of the Polycentric WSF in Venezuela, on account of those winds of change blowing in that land, as in many other countries of our Latin America.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ World Education Forum For Planetary Citizenship for Universal Right to Education The World Education Forum has been taking place since 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Every year we witnessed a more significant participation that tells us of that need of having a space to generate debates about the possible alternatives to the neoliberal education project, built upon a pluralist approach of ideas, methods and concepts. Moreover, this WEF has been based since its foundation on another fundamental pillar: to be a plural space, non confessional, non governmental, attached to no political party, truly international. For us, REPEM and ICAE members, is essential to support this space, underline these pillars that lie at its foundation, and establish links with other movements in order to contribute to the critical reflections from a gender justice perspective, which allow to study in depth the issue of another possible education, to think about education policies, plans and programmes at every education level. In that spirit and from that perspective we arrived in Caracas on the 23rd of January to participate in the World Education Forum 2006, which this year is organized under the title American Integration and the fight for an emancipatory education project: a big title and a big responsibility to approach it and organize a Forum that can contribute in this sense. The opening and morning session aimed at giving a balance of the situation of education and debate about education as a public good and about how the struggles for the right to education in a globalized work have taken place. This last issue is very important if we bear in mind the recent WTO debates, where education is seen as a service under the GATS, and private education providers are increasingly emerging; today the privatization of education is discussed and implemented, and there is talk about the need to regulate those forms of privatization in a space such as the WTO, where the language of rights does not exist. There is a tension between the established objectives in 1986 related to access, equity and quality, and the importance linked to the public provision of education and the recent tendencies of commodification and internalization of education. Despite the significance of these debates, the presence of these issues lacked strength. We wish to highlight the participation of Gentili, FLAPE Brazil, who spoke about the right to education, saying that in relation to this right, the diverse ways in which persons do not access this right must be considered, enumerating one by one every form of discrimination, most often invisibilized. He also emphasized the issue of strengthening quality public education. Salete Valsean, Paulo Freire Institute, said that the WEF was important because every sector of the formal, non-formal, informal, higher education, as well as the social movements, the trade unions, etc, are coordinating and advocating for an education platform that vindicates quality public social education for all. Many of us highlight the participation of Aristóbulo Isturiz of the Ministry of Education and Sports of Venezuela. It was very interesting because he presented clues of clear and possible strategies in a context such as Venezuela’s. He underlined that in the neoliberal model there are two strong tendencies: privatization and exclusion. In Venezuela, he said, the State did not invest in public school. The voucher system was extended, as in many other countries of the region, and as a result no one attended public school. Teachers used to go on strike, not even sending their own children to school. Then he shared the steps taken by the government: firstly, they freed the registration fees in public schools; they organized school canteens and Bolivarian schools (“full time schools that take children out from four hours of TV, which teaches violence!). In the bolivarian school meals and room libraries are secured: “From Colon to Chávez 10,000 libraries were built; from 2004 up to this date 72,000”. The current challenge for the government is the universalization of pre-school education. The Venezuelan government allocates currently 7% of their GNP to education, and they aim to reach 10%”. He continued saying that exclusion is the consequence of the capital accumulation model, where “having” is prioritized over “being”, …promoting individualism and consumerism.” He concluded his presentation by pointing at the need of new teachers with pedagogical formation which enables them to respond to the new needs. To know, to do, to coexist, lifelong education and learning. The morning session contributed to our knowledge of the reality of this country, as there were many inputs in this sense. But it also convinced us that it is urgent that the WEF can really be this space for deepening and reflection, as there were many questions left unanswered and many perspectives that were neither heard nor approached. THIS IS AN IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE. The afternoon session heightened this concern. A debate took place, which was neither deep nor plural, with low visibility in terms of the complexity of the education issue. At some point, it seemed we were frozen in time, and that since Freire we haven’t been able, as movement and as educators, to work on ways of thinking about education and that the contributions to education can only come from Freire’s or Simón Rodríguez’ proposals. Are there any other ways of thinking of an alternative pedagogy to that imposed by the neoliberal model? How is emancipatory pedagogy seen in other realities? How can Freire’s proposal be considered in the new contexts, facing the new challenges posed to the citizens? What do other contributions to education, such as Boaventura de Souza Santos’, Morin’s, say? As WEF participants we have a clear challenge. How do we re-enchant ourselves? How do we call on more people to engage? How do we revive these discussions without ending up in what we criticize from our own discourses? Are Freire and Simón Rodríguez the only benchmarks we can resort to? We know that the education movement does not limit itself to the ones present here today, and that all of us constitute the WEF, built by all the people that are part of the education movement. On this account, it is a collective challenge and a shared responsibility to go back to the spirit that created the WEF. From a perspective of looking ahead of us, and seeing the WEF in the future, we would like to remark some challenges that we, from REPEM and ICAE, though of:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< January 23rd. 2006
By Alejandra Scampini and María Adelaida Entenza Within the framework of the VI World Social Forum, the workshop-seminar “Civil Society, information and communication in a globalized world. New challenges” was held today in the Caracas Hilton Hotel. Different representatives of communication means, civil society, government, social movements and alternative communication means, attended this seminar where debates and reflections took place on some of the challenges posed in the present context, and we have listed some of the key inputs and contributions:
IV World Education Forum
Caracas 2006
The American integration and the struggle for an emancipatory education project Monday, January 23rd.
Time: 2 pm
By Ana Agostino During the first day of the Forum, on January 19, Registration took place at the Gardens of one of the venues from the Forum’s territory: the “Palais de la Culture”. Like in many other editions of the WSF, confusion prevailed: where exactly to register; where to obtain programmes that at the registration site had already run out; who to ask about the venues where workshops will take place because no rooms in any of the venues had yet been marked. But that was only one side of the coin. The other one was the lively singing and dancing of the Malian women, the hospitality of our partner organisation in Mali, Jeunesse et Developpement, willing to go back and forth as many times as necessary, driving us around and making efforts to communicate to most of us in English though their mother tongue is Bambara and their working language is French. So in a couple of hours we had managed to register, to enjoy the Malain music played by the women with their instruments made with natural materials and seeds and even to have lunch, and talk about Mali and its culture and its recent political transformations. In the afternoon we went to the opening ceremony that took place at the Bamako stadium where the march that opened the WSF converged. Several thousands of people were there, mainly from Mali and other West African countries, but also from other parts of the continent and Europe. Latin Americans were not easy to find, but there were also there, and so were some North Americans, and some Asians, though in very low numbers. There is no doubt, the feeling is of an African Forum, and particularly of a West African one. At the opening ceremony there were few speeches and many cultural performances. The programme was taking place on the grounds, but the display of a rich and proud culture was everywhere!! The 20th of January was the beginning of all workshops and panels. GEO/ICAE had been working for a long time in preparation of two activities we proposed in coordination with UNESCO, ANCEFA and Jeunesse et Developpement. To our concern, both activities were programmed for the morning of the 20th, in two different venues of the Forum’s territory. At 8.30, when the first workshop was supposed to start, none of us had the slightest clue where Room J6 at Palais de la Culture, the one assigned for our workshop, was. What we managed to find out pretty soon was that, actually, there was no such room J6. But by 9 o’clock, there it was, standing with metal poles under a white cloth roof, surrounded by trees and very near from the shores of the river Niger. Posters announcing the workshop and the traditional ones from GEO/ICAE: Education for Inclusion, were hanging from trees. One of the trees announced proudly with a small piece of paper and written by hand: J6! Maybe it was the colourful decoration of the improvised tent, or the intense movement of so many people undertaking several tasks at the same time to get the venue ready and going. The truth is that by 9.30 our workshop was running and we had over 100 participants! And not only that, unexpectedly we had simultaneous translation provided by the organisers of the Forum which made the workshop run more smoothly and allowing for participation of English and French speaking people on an equal foot. The details of the workshop were: “Gender Perspectives and MDGs: practices on Literacy, HIV Preventive Education and Women's Empowerment” Organisers: GEO/ICAE, UNESCO, Jeunesse et Développement (Mali) Chair : Ana Agostino, GEO/ICAE Panellists: Gender perspectives on MDGs and poverty reduction, incl. GCAP’s action Moussa Fiyiei, Action Aid International and member of GCAP Practices on Literacy, HIV Preventive Education and Women's Empowerment Margaret Wambete, Kenya Network of Positive Teachers Stigma and discrimination of teachers living with HIV in Kenya Irene Yameogo from Burkina Faso; Literacy classes for women living with HIV and AIDS Josephine Kamisya, Program Officer, Raising Voices, Uganda and Tina Musuya, CEDOPIV, Uganda Gender-based violence and HIV prevention Jeunesse et Développement, M |