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VOICES RISING This activity took place on January 27, within the framework of the World Social Forum, convoked by the Women’s Roundtable on Women and Armed Conflict in Colombia: REPEM, ILSA, CODACOP. It aimed at: . submitting a report and analysis on social-political violence against, girls, young and adult women in Colombia (María Eugenia Ramírez- ILSA) . showing the impact of armed conflict and its implications on women’s lives (Isabel Martínez – REPEM) . showing the impact of armed conflict on the security of indigenous women North of Cauca (Dora Villaquirán- CODACOP)
.
Linking
Millennium Development Goals and Armed Conflict (Alejandra Scampini: DAWN) The objective of this report is to visibilize war’s impact on women and generate public opinion about the situation of women in Colombia. The various chapters gather the testimonies of what means for Colombian women to coexist with the different armed actors: the army, the paramilitary groups, and the guerrilla groups. Women tell about how they coexist with the generalized fear resulting from the social control exerted by the armed actors, from the different kinds of violence suffered by them and their sons and daughters, and the constant violation to the human rights of women in situation of displacement”. What does security mean for women? is the central question raised by this report, the meaning of security within the context of the “democratic security” and the paramilitary groups. For women, security is associated to the recognition of their human rights. The report also presents a balance of the Law on Justice and Peace, which sustains the demobilization process (this law is part of the Defense and Democratic Security Policy), understanding that it “favours and prolongs impunity because it ignores the responsibility held by the Colombian State and its Armed Forces in the origin and development of the paramilitary groups; it disregards completely the responsibility of other sectors of the country that support them; it does not oblige the responsible parties to be accountable for the crimes they commit and have committed, violating the right of the people victimized by these groups to the truth, justice and amendments. The Law on Justice and Peace does not contemplate either, in a holistic way, conflict’s effects on women’s lives, leaving aside matters such as, for example, sexual violence - an extended practice within the context of armed conflict and which transforms women’s bodies in a battlefield.” The Report is organized in the following chapters:
1 –
Impunity and security for women in Colombia.
This
report is available online at:
www.mujeryconflictoarmado.org
Important milestones such as the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Security Council Resolution 1325, the Beijing Platform for Action, and Women’s Action Agenda 21, will be featured. Women’s historical struggles for their adoption, their potential as resources for social change, and effective ways of using them as tools for education and practice will be explored.
Quality in family literacy is the theme of a QualiFLY project, supported by the European Union in the framework of the Socrates/Grundtvig programme for two years. Seven institutions from 6 countries are part of the project which is coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Education. The project started with a first meeting in Istanbul in November 2005 and will run until summer 2007. The website of the project www.unesco.org/education/uie/QualiFLY has been launched and will be continuously updated and filled with best practice and informational materials from the partners and the work in the project. The partner from Bulgaria, the foundation Ethnocultural Dialogue, an NGO working in the field of education and social integration of Roma, is involved in the programme “A Second Chance: Social Integration by Adult Literacy” which gives adults access to new employment opportunities by teaching them reading and writing. The partner from Ireland, the National Adult Literacy Agency, is concerned with national co-ordination, training and policy development in adult literacy work. In the last number of years NALA has researched and promoted the use of family literacy programmes in Ireland. The partner from Italy, the Università Popolare di Roma is a non-profit cultural organization offering education to people of all ages.The partner from Malta, the Foundation for Educational Services, is closely linked with the Ministry of Education in Malta. It was founded in 2001 to provide a range of innovative educational initiatives, including the field of literacy and family literacy. The partner from Turkey, AÇEV (Mother-Child Education Foundation), is an NGO with the aim of empowering people through education. It conducts research and develops and implements programmes in early childhood education and adult education, especially for disadvantaged preschool children and their families. AÇEV has also set up nationwide mother-child education programmes. Germany is represented by the UNESCO Institute for Education and the Institute for
Teacher
Training and School Development of the City State of Hamburg.
Both Family literacy is an approach to learning that focuses on intergenerational interactions within the family and community which promote the development of literacy and related life skills. Family literacy links elements of adult education, parents’ education and pre-school or primary education – to enhance the literacy of both adults and children and support teachers and parents in preventing future drop-outs. While a few European countries have a long-standing experience with family literacy programmes, other European countries have only little experience with the approach. The QualiFLY project aims at promoting family literacy, and especially good quality in family literacy programmes by observing and monitoring best practice in a range of cultural settings; disseminating best practice through the project’s website; reviewing monitoring and evaluation methods to identify quality indicators and promoting new approaches for effective programmes; creating a core group of expertise in each partner country through the active involvement of tutors in the project; and doing advocacy work for the family literacy approach. Contact: Maren Elfert, UNESCO Institute for Education, m.elfert@unesco.org
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