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GEO/ICAE
VOICES RISING
YEAR V - Nº229
July, 20, 2007
Content
1.- World Social Forum 2009
2.- Dishonoring the markers of cultural
heritage
3.- DEMOCRACY FELLOWSHIPS - National
Endowment for Democracy
4.- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION JULY
23 & 30, 2007 - GENDER ONLINE EVENTS
5.- 8th Training on Making
Governance Gender Reponsive (MGGR)
6.- Women Deliver: A Global
Conference
7.- PREPARATION OF SPECIALISTS
IN REDATAM+SP
1.- World Social Forum 2009
Towards
to Belém (Pará) - Amazon
Adilson
Vieira
adilsonv@vivax.com.br
Dear comrades,
We are trying to start the process to prepare WSF 2009 in the Amazon region,
after the decision from the last WSF IC meeting, held in Berlin on past 30
and 31st, to host next WSF in the Amazon region, in the city of
Belém (Pará), in Brazil.
It is a task of all of us to build a WSF that has the face of our Amazon –
multiethnic and multicultural. In this way, organizations and networks from
Amazon have to play a fundamental role on building this event, which will be
a mark on the history of this region. Given the importance of that, we are
taking the initiative of holding a preliminary meeting in Belém, with the
participation of representatives from Pan Amazonian countries and from
regional networks and forums that already contemplate this multidiversity.
Besides that, we think it is important the participation of representatives
from the governments of the Pará state and the city of Belém, as well as
from the WSF Brazilian facilitation group and office.
Our proposal is to held this meeting on August 9-10th,
with two days of work because we need to debate both, the objective
conditions for WSF 2009 and how to think the process of the Global Action
and Mobilization Day – on 26 of January 2008. We need as well to discuss
what to do on the Amazon countries, states/provinces and cities in order to
create an ambiance of Amazonian WSF.
We request to all of you to urgently confirm your participation so we can
arrange the logistics of the meeting. Soon, we will be sending details about
the agenda and the meeting venue.
For confirmations and further information, please get in touch with:
Adilson Vieira –
adilsonv@vivax.com.br
Tel: (+55 92) 9623-1415 – celular - and (+55 92) 3622-5658
Aldalice Otterloo –
aotterloo@unipop.org.br
Tel: (+55 91) 9994-4974 – celular - and (+55 91) 3224 9074 / 3261 4334
Greetings,
Adilson Vieira
GTA General Secretary (WSF IC member organization)
Aldalice Otterloo
ABONG executive board (WSF IC member organization)
2.- Dishonoring the markers of cultural heritage
The
Zanzibar Arts and Music Council (BASAZA) recently held a festival at the
famous Ngome Kongwe amphitheatre to mark the life of a legend of Taarab
music Sitti binti Saad whose melodious voice and sonnets revolutionized
Taarab and public speech.
The event
held almost a week after the Festival of the Dhow Countries, ZIFF, attracted
far less local and international participants. The audience comprised of
Zanzibaris living abroad, home for the holidays, as well as small number of
tourists. At the official level the Deputy Minister for Culture Hon. Mahmoud
T. Kombo graced the event accompanied by his wife. The Mayor of Zanzibar
Town was also present and was joined by Hon. Mohammed Seif Khatib, the Union
Minister for Sports and Culture and also a patron in the Zanzibar Media
Corporation part sponsors of the event.
For about
three hours the musical world of Sitti Binti Saad was recreated. The
arrangement of singers and songs very much reflected the Taarab experience
of the times with female singers concealing their faces, as they sang, with
the back flap of their buibui pulled over their face. The covering
restored respectability considering that women singing in a Taarab ensemble
defied local public- private sensitivities of the time. However, when a
woman had a voice such as Siti’s, such conventions could be relaxed to allow
the high and mighty to indulge in a spectacular acoustic sensation in the
languages of the time- Kiswahili, Arabic and Hindi.
I felt a
great sense of sadness watching the event as soon after ZIFF I would not
have imagined that only a handful of locals would attend an event to
recognize the life and music of a Taarab legend who was and continues
to be a cultural ambassador of her region. Surely, Siti’s audacity on the
Taarab stage did not only prove defining for upcoming female Taarab
singers but to local artists generally. After all she made it possible for
any ‘commoner’ to claim the stage (or airwaves) to wide acclaim and enjoy
super star status hitherto impossible by virtue of their social
positioning.
In my
view, the low turnout is a reflection of a deeper malaise in our cultural
appreciation as well as in how we view and value local talents and
productions. To contextualize what I mean I wish to demonstrate using the
example of Fatuma binti Baraka popularly known as Bi. Kidude, one of the
singers who paid tribute to Siti binti Saad. Bi. Kidude, well in her
nineties, gave a thunderous performance. Her song lasted over ten minutes
and unlike much younger singers, who also sang at the event, her voice did
not falter. She sang verses in both Kiswahili and Arabic clearly, loudly and
rhythmically.
There was
a small mishap when trying to fold the song: poor communication between the
lead instrumentalist and the singer resulted in the latter missing the cue
to end the song. In all fairness, Bi. Kidude tried to make contact on two
occasions but no one paid her adequate attention. Thus, as a true performer
that she is, she instinctively saved the situation by continuing with the
verse to its completion rather than end prematuarely eliciting laughter from
the crowd.
While
this laughter was innocent and prompted by what was happening on the stage
it is not isolated. Numerous conversations and observations indicate that a
section of the general populace do not see Bi. Kidude as the cultural icon
that she is but as a kituko (an anomaly). The reaction she elicits
from the crowd therefore tends to be a mix of pleasure and scorn: generally,
there is more kumsanifu than there is genuine praise. Many do not see
the entertainer but want to be entertained at her expense. Her age and
liberal personality is the basis of ridicule she attracts.
Now well
into her nineties she can be anyone’s great grandmother but she chooses to
continue with her passion performing with rigour and keeping her spirit
alive instead of leading a reclusive existence acting out the social
expectation of her age and sex. Bi. Kidude does not conform to any standard
of social expectation: she refuses to be defined by any one. Her rebellion
makes people uncomfortable and rather than accept or respect her choice,
they would rather dismiss her behaviour as a rowdy (or spoiled) old woman’s
‘antics’. At most she is something you put on a show to amuse the crowd and
in many cases you try to create a situation where she will act up and live
up to public expectation of irrational behaviour. There is little attempt to
appreciate that at her age she is sharper and more in touch than people half
her age. But because the assumption is to view old people as senile and
unstable many relate to her as such.
Bi.
Kidude is a cultural attraction who has not only marketed Zanzibar
internationally, the way Siti Binti Saad did before her, but as a performer
who continues to inform a cultural form across generations. She epitomizes a
living tradition with all its greatness and contradictions. At another level
she is testament to the official and public neglect our cultural heritage
endures surviving by the sheer will and dedication of individuals who single
handedly develop and fund it with imagination and love. And what do the
likes of Bi. Kidude get for their service? Scorn, jeers and periodic
tributes?
How can
it be that a cultural icon revered internationally is negatively perceived
locally? How could it be that a figure of Bi. Kidude’s caliber is not
supported and her dignity protected. Indeed, allegations abound about how
scrupulous individuals and promoters use her to market their business
ventures with very little credit or benefit to her. This was clear when she
recently performed in the closing of the women’s panorama.
I was
aghast by how a throng of local and international photographers descended on
the center stage, as she performed, sticking long and short camera lenses up
her face, denying her the space to perform her art as they tried to capture
her from different angles. It mattered little to them that we were in a
middle of a sacred function. The message from their actions was clear: Bi.
Kidude was an attraction and everyone wanted a piece of her but at what cost
to her? To us? To what she represents?
3.- DEMOCRACY FELLOWSHIPS - National Endowment for Democracy
AmCenterND@state.gov
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) invites applications to its
Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program. Established in 2001 to enable
democracy practitioners and scholars from around the world to deepen their
understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic
change, the program is based at NED s International Forum for Democratic
Studies, in Washington, D.C.
Program: The program offers five-month fellowships for
practitioners to improve strategies and techniques for building
democracy abroad and five- to ten-month fellowships for scholars to
conduct original research for publication. Practitioners may include
activists, lawyers, journalists, and other civil society professionals;
scholars may include professors, research analysts, and other writers.
Projects may focus on the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural
aspects of democratic development and may include a range of methodologies
and approaches.
Eligibility: The fellows program is intended primarily to support
practitioners and scholars from new and aspiring democracies.
Distinguished scholars from the United States and other established
democracies are also eligible to apply. Practitioners are expected to have
substantial experience working to promote democracy. Scholars are expected
to have a doctorate, or academic equivalent, at the time of application. The
program is not designed to pay for professional training or to support
students working toward a degree. A working knowledge of English is an
important prerequisite for participation in the program.
Support: The fellowship year begins October 1 and runs through July
31, with major entry dates in October and March. All fellows receive a
monthly stipend, health insurance, travel assistance, and research support
through the Forum s Democracy Resource Center and the Reagan-Fascell
Research Associates Program.
Application: For further details, please visit us online at
www.ned.org.
For instructions on how to apply, please download our most recent
Information and Application Forms Booklet, available at
www.ned.org/forum/R-FApplication.pdf
or visit us online at
www.ned.org/forum/reagan-fascell.html.
All application materials must be type-written and in English.
Deadline: Applications for fellowships in 2008 2009 must be received
no later than November 1, 2007. Notification of the competition
outcome is in April 2008.
For more
information please contact:
Program
Assistant, Fellowship Programs
International Forum for Democratic Studies
National Endowment for Democracy
1025 F Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20004
E-mail:
fellowships@ned.org
Internet:
www.ned.org
4.- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION JULY 23 & 30, 2007 - GENDER
ONLINE EVENTS
WUNRN
http://www.wunrn.com
Contacts:
info@equalinrights.org
pdarooka@pwescr.org
Monday, 23 July 2007
Topic: What is dignity? Definitions/understandings. Is dignity universal
and/or is it individualistic? What is the utility for a concept of dignity
in social justice work? What are measurable manifestations in life that tell
us whether dignity is realized in a particular context? What measurements
constitute failure? What is the role of the State in ensuring right to
dignity for all? (Register by Thursday, 19 July)
Facilitator: Priti Darooka (India) is Founder and Executive Director of the
new intíl Program on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (PWESCR).
Previously at the Ford Foundation in the New York Human Rights unit, her
work has focused on promoting women and ESCR. Prior to the Ford Foundation,
she worked with UNIFEM on violence against women indicators & assessment and
coordinated UNIFEM’s work in Afghanistan. As a consultant to the Center for
Women's Global Leadership, she organized women’s human rights hearing at the
UN conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa. She was National
Campaign Coordinator with UNITE for their Global Justice for Garment Workers
Campaign. Priti has also worked with Manavi, a South Asian women’s
organization working with women and children who faced violence in their
lives. At Urban Justice Center (UJC), she worked with the NYC Welfare Reform
& Human Rights Documentation Project, where she developed policy briefs on
welfare reform and women, which were used as a media and advocacy tool by
welfare advocates of NYC to expose human rights violations. She was also
involved in the Stop FTAA (Free Trade Area of Americas) campaign and focused
on different aspects of trade, and women’s lives, from a feminist and human
rights perspective.
*This
is event is hosted by equalinrights in cooperation with PWESCR. PWESCR is a
new international initiative in the area of gender and economic, social and
cultural rights (ESCR). PWESCR works with its partners in the region (South
Asia) and internationally to develop new strategies to focus more
effectively on building capacity and strengthening women’s research,
analysis and activism on ESCR. PWESCR’s
mission
is to promote women’s human rights, especially in the context of economic,
social and cultural rights, by bringing a gender framework to policy, law
and practice at the local, national, regional and international levels
through continually-evolving strategies and activities in both the
conceptual and the practical realms. We are requesting funding for the first
year of activities.
In
order to get conceptual clarity and to learn from experiences globally,
PWESCR plans to facilitate several e-discussions on the Right to Dignity in
the next 6 months. Additionally, we have personally invited 20 individuals
from various parts of the world to comment on the paper, Thoughts on
dignity. We plan to conduct some additional interviews and continue our
research on the issue. Based on what kind of responses we get, PWESCR plans
to organize a 2 day international consultation in early 2008 on Dignity and
how to make it real. We plan to capture all our learning and various
conversations with some thought
on
indicators, and forward strategies in a paper/report that we will publish in
2008. For PWESCR, dignity is crucial as we have realized in South Asian
context given how severe the impacts of poverty are that we cannot talk
about women’s ESC rights without talking about dignity.
Monday, 30 July 2007
Topic: Have human rights-based strategies been successful in ensuring more
grassroots voices are heard and listened to during local and national policy
development processes? (Register by Thursday, 26 July)
Facilitator: Aye Aye Win (Burma) is the Co-founder and Executive Director of
Dignity International and responsible for the organisation's overall
operation. Dignity International works to: support human rights advocacy of
the communities in the frontline of the struggle for survival - people whose
basic human rights are denied; connect the different struggling communities
across national borders; and build a global family for lasting social
change. She has initiated a number of programmes including the Linking &
Learning Programme on Human Rights in Development. She is involved in
facilitating learning programmes and developing participatory learning
materials on human rights based approaches. Previously, Aye Aye worked with
the Council of Europe (1997-2002), the London-based NGO International Alert
(1993-1996) and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Japan on secondment.
5.- 8th Training on Making Governance Gender Reponsive (MGGR)
Nov.
12-19, 2007 in Manila, Philippines
Governance and Leadership (CIGGL)
capwip.trainings@gmail.com
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Greetings from the Center for Asia Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP)
Institute for Gender, Governance & Leadership!
We are pleased to invite you to the 8th training on "Making Governance
Gender Responsive (MGGR)", which will be held on November 12-19, 2007 in
Manila, Philippines.
The course is designed for parliamentarians, middle and senior level
government executives and officials, women and men in local governments,
political parties, research and training institutes and civil society
organizations and non-government organizations who are leading or
participating in governance reform initiatives in their respective
countries.
The objectives of the training are the following:
- Enhance their understanding of Gender and Development
(GAD) and governance concepts;
- Gain appreciation of gender-related and governance
issues and concerns;
- Identify gender biases in governance;
- Acquire skills in identifying and analyzing gender
biases and concerns through case examples of strategies and practices to
address gender biases;
- Identify gender biases in the participant's sphere of
influence-A Change Management Approach; and
- Formulate Action Plans: Institutional and Individual
The course is composed of modules developed to enhance the participants'
understanding of the link between gender and governance as well as increase
their awareness of gender biases in governance.
This is the eight-time (8 time) that we are offering this course in the last
three (3) years. The seven (7) batches of MGGR trainings were successfully
held last February, June, October of 2004, January and October of 2005,
February and June of 2007 at the CAPWIP Institute for Gender, Governance and
Leadership (CIGGL) located at Hostelling (HI) Manila, 4227-4229 Tomas
Claudio Street, Baclaran, Paranaque City, Philippines. These trainings were
attended by participants from different countries in Asia, Pacific, Africa
and Europe. In all the seven (7) trainings that we have conducted, the
participants have continually rated the training highly and useful for their
organizations.
The 7th MGGR course was held last June 24-30, 2007 with 41 participants
coming from 18 countries representing almost all the continents. It was
rated “excellent” by almost all the participants. There were many applicants
in the June 2007 training that were refused participation due to lack of
time to process their application and lack of space. Thus, CAPWIP has
scheduled this 8th MGGR course to give everyone a chance to attend.
This training course has been revised and redesigned based on the feedback
from previous trainings. The course has been expanded to an eight-day course
(originally designed for 3 days) and the course is now heavy on case studies
and field trips.
The registration fee for the eight-day training is US$1,950 for single room
accommodations and US$1,650 for twin room sharing accommodations (two
persons in one room). We are sending you the detailed information sheet and
registration form as an attachment to this email. The training will be held
on November 12-19, 2007. However, the participants will be requested to be
in Manila the day before, November 11, 2007 and leave Manila only on
November 20, 2007. These extended stay are already included in the fee.
You can also download the full information sheet and registration form for
this training at our website,
http://www.capwip.org/training/mggr.htm.
We hope that your organization can send participants to this training. Let
us join hands in promoting gender responsive governance through
transformative leadership and citizenship. We are looking forward to your
participation.
Very truly yours,
(signed)
Dr. Jung Sook Kim
President
Center for Asia Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP)
Center for Asia Pacific Women in Politics
CAPWIP Institute for Gender, Governance & Leadership (CIGGL)
Hostelling International Manila, YSTAPHIL Building,
4227-4229 Tomas Claudio Street Baclaran, Parañaque City, Metro Manila,
Philippines Tel.
(632)
8516934
Tele Fax :( 632) 8522112
Mobile +639189403711
E-mail: trainings@capwip.org
capwip.trainings@gmail.com
Web:
www.capwip.org
www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org
6.- Women Deliver: A Global Conference
Women
Deliver is a landmark global conference that will focus on creating
political will to save the lives and improve the health of women, mothers
and newborn babies around the world. It will be held October 18-20, 2007, at
the ExCel Centre in London.
Register Now:
womendeliver@profileevents.com
www.womendeliver.org
7.- PREPARATION OF SPECIALISTS IN REDATAM+SP
Rosa.FIGUEROA@cepal.org
Continuing with the support given to national and international institutions
in the use of the socio-demographic and sectorial information of each
country, as well as in the design and development of applications for its
diffusion, CELADE extends an invitation to all the community of REDATAM
users to participate in the second cycle of courses to prepare specialists
in Redatam +SP.
This
cycle of Redatam+SP will consist of three courses:
-
The
first course will be focused in the creation of data bases in Redatam
format,
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The
second one will be focused in the design and development of applications
for distribution in CD and through the Web page,
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And
the third course will be centered in the use and processing of census
data and other information sources for the generation of
socio-demographic indicators.
During
October 2007 the Course II: Development and applications for its
diffusion with Redata +SP (creation of applications using Redatam+SP
xPlan and using Redatam+SP WebServer) will be given. This course was
conceived as a tool for developing computational solutions oriented to the
dissemination of the existing data in Redatam format through an interactive
CD or on-line processing in Internet or Intranet.
This
course has been planned in two stages, each of one week duration: the first
week will be an introduction to Redatam+SP Process and to the development
of Redatam+SP xPlan applications, which include the basic function of the
module statistical processing and the revision of various files associated
to an application
(metadata, file inl, front page, etc.). The second week will be focused in
the creation of xPlan creation with an introduction to more complex nodes of
maps and Web environment. The development of these applications will
include at the end of the course, the creation of a distribution CD and the
installation of the same application in a Web site.
Participants can assist to both weeks or only one depending on their
interest and previous knowledge of Redatam+SP xPlan and Redatam+SP Webserver
tools.
CELADE
invites all users, as well as the technical counterparts and experts on
Redatam to participate in this new cycle of courses with the aim to form
specialists in Redatam+SP which later on will provide technical assistance
and train other users in their respective countries.
Place of
the course:
All the courses will be held in ECLAC’s Headquarters, Room Giorgo Mortara,
CELADE, Santiago, Chile.
Dates:
15-19 October 2007, First Week: Introduction
Level
22-26 October 2007, Second Week: Advanced Level
Participation costs:
The cost
of each course is of US$ 250 (two hundred and fifty dollars) per week.
Assistance to the two week course has a cost of US$ 500 (five hundred
dollars) per participant. One week has a cost of US$ 250 (two hundred and
fifty dollars) per participant.
Note:
the
mentioned values do not include transport, lodging or food. These items are
responsibility of each participant or sponsoring institutions.
Please
confirm your interest by mail to
redatam@eclac.cl
indicating your name, institution, country and e-mail address. We
also request you to please fill in the
registration form and send
it to Fax N° (562) 208 0196. For any question previous to apply please
contact:
alejandra.silva@cepal.org
We take
the opportunity to reiterate our best disposition to answer doubts, comments
and suggestions.
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