GEO/ICAE

VOICES RISING
YEAR V - Nº240                               
November, 1 , 2007

Content

1. - ICAE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 

2. - First Sub-Regional Meeting on Citizens´Watch 

3. - North-South Exchange on Family Literacy

4. - The Power of Movements 

5. - Afghanistan: Peace and Security Undermined: Suspension of Malalai Joya from Parliament

6. - Legal Tools - CEDAW Case Bank

7. - 29th International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP)

1. - ICAE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
 

The next ICAE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING, will take place in Bonn, on November 17-18, 2007 within the framework of the International Conference “Right To Education In The Context Of Migration” that will be held on November 15-16, 2007.

2. - First Sub-Regional Meeting on Citizens´Watch

21, 22 & 23 November, 2007 – Maputo, Mozambique

Within the framework of ICAE 2008/2010 Strategic Plan and of its Programme 1: "The right to Education and Lifelong Learning the new Global Agenda”, ICAE is organizing the “First Sub-Regional Meeting on Citizen’s Watch”.

The general and specific objectives of the programme are:

To draw the attention and promote action of decision-makers and the public opinion on the right to learn of women and men, at national and global levels, through a policy of advocacy, while highlighting the key role of alternative adult education and lifelong learning in the new global agenda

•       Follow up the implementation of the commitments on the right to learn of men and women agreed upon in the UN conferences: CONFINTEA, EFA, MDGs.

•       Develop a proposal based on the inputs from ICAE World Assembly towards CONFINTEA VI to achieve main benchmarks.

•       Promote the reflection on educational policies for a full citizenship, linking education for inclusion and social development.

The meeting will be held between November 21 and 23, 2007, in Maputo, Mozambique, with the participation of our national members, GEO members and IALLA graduates of the following countries of Southern and Eastern Africa: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda; and special invitees from Mozambique.

The main objective of the meeting is to provide advocacy tools for citizen´watch.

The working languages will be Portuguese and English, and ICAE has provided more than 20 scholarships to enable the participation of people from the above-mentioned countries.

3. - North-South Exchange on Family Literacy

UNESCO - Institute for Lifelong Learning Announcement, 30 October 2007

North-South Exchange on Family Literacy

Family literacy bridges formal and non-formal education and has proved to be an effective approach to promote literacy and encourage adults and children to become lifelong learners. Family literacy is widely perceived as an educational approach of the North, where the notion generally describes centre-based programmes involving children and their parents. However, the concept of intergenerational learning exists everywhere in the world, even if less institutionalized and often more community-oriented in the South.

From 5 to 7 November 2007, 20 family literacy practitioners and researchers from all world regions will meet in the premises of the UIL in Hamburg for a North-South exchange of experiences and information, focusing on five areas that are especially relevant in family literacy programmes:

Multilingualism, teacher training, research, best practices and community outreach.

The objectives of the seminar are to:

• take stock of policies, practice and research in the field of family literacy worldwide;
• explore the relevance and potential of intergenerational learning within adult education and lifelong learning;
• create an international network of experts and institutions working in the area of family literacy;
• prepare a report on this issue in preparation for the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), to be held 2009 in Brazil;
• build capacities in family and intergenerational literacy programmes, especially for LIFE countries.

The strategy includes holding two international seminars. This first seminar in 2007 will bring together countries with a wide variety of experience in setting up family literacy policies and/or programmes.

Some have already gained substantial expertise in this area. A second seminar in 2008 will bring together countries with little or no experience in family literacy – with a focus on LIFE countries – that are interested in learning more about it and developing their own programmes. It will focus on capacity-building, relying on the expertise of some of the participants in the first seminar.

All participants have submitted reports on intergenerational literacy learning and family literacy policies, practices and research in their countries, based on a questionnaire. The questionnaires and other materials about the seminar are available on the UIL website (www.unesco.org/uil).

Contact: Maren Elfert (m.elfert@unesco.org) or Rika Yorozu (r.yorozu@unesco.org)

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning

Maren Elfert, Public Relations

Feldbrunnenstr. 58, D-20148 Hamburg, Tel.: +49-40-448041-17, Fax: +49-40-4107723, E-mail: m.elfert@unesco.org   - www.unesco.org/uil

4.- The Power of Movements

The 11thAWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development :
“The Power of Movements”  

November 14-17,2008
Cape Town, South Africa
www.awid.org/forum08   

When people struggle together, what was once unimaginable suddenly becomes possible...

Some of the most profound changes in our world have come about as a result of struggles in the form of social movements. Often, these movements germinated in a handful of people who rose up against an entrenched injustice or for a pressing need, then blossomed into mass mobilizations that have ended up toppling governments, deposing powerful leaders, ending military occupations, and bringing rights and freedoms to millions of people.

This is the power of movements - what people without access to power cannot accomplish alone, they can accomplish together through collective action.

From November 14-17, 2008, up to 1,500 women's rights activists from around the world will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to debate and strategize about how to build stronger women's movements globally.

We invite you to contribute to this urgent discussion by submitting a proposal to organize a session at the 11th AWID Forum:

The Power of Movements

Submit your proposal online: www.awid.org/forum08  

Email or call us for more information or a Word version/hard copy of the application form: forum08@awid.org   / +1 416 594 3773

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:  JANUARY 28, 2008

5. - Afghanistan: Peace and Security Undermined: Suspension of Malalai Joya from Parliament

Women's Action 21.5
October 2007

Afghanistan: Peace and Security Undermined: Suspension of Malalai Joya from Parliament

Malalai Joya entered Afghanistan’s new Parliament in September 2005 pledging to “protect the rights of the oppressed and safeguard women’s rights.”  She won the second highest number of votes in Farah province, taking her seat in the Lower House (Wolesi Jirga).  A staunch critic of the warlords and defender of women’s rights, Malalai has consistently been stopped from speaking in Parliament or had speeches cut short, has survived a number of assassination attempts and is forced to sleep in different places every night in order to stay alive.

On 21 May 2007 Malalai was suspended from Parliament for an interview she gave to a private Afghan television station in which she lamented that the Afghan Parliament was worse than a stable of animals.  She was suspended under Article 70 of the Rules of Procedures of the Wolesi Jirga.  These rules were undergoing revision at the time and had not yet been approved by Parliament.  Article 70 proposes that a Member of the Assembly will be subject to disciplinary procedures in the event of a number of offenses, including “intimidation and threatening of a member, defamation and accusation of others, insult and desecration against the administrative board government officials and the staffers of the general secretariat”.  Under Article 70, the Member can be suspended for one day and for a further unspecified number of days at the request of the administrative board (comprising of central government and local offices) and approval of the Wolesi Jirga.  Malalai’s conduct was not referred to the administrative board.  Instead, she was suspended following a majority show of hands by the Wolesi Jirga.  Malalai wrote directly to the Supreme Court to protest her suspension and the procedure used to secure it.  The Afghan Constitution protects freedom of speech and gives immunity from prosecution for views expressed during the performance of parliamentary duty.  She subsequently heard through a television announcement that her case would be referred to the appropriate court.  However, there is still no official indication as to how or when her case will be dealt with.  In the meantime, she remains suspended from Parliament, leaving her constituency without proper representation.

Malalai has been continually threatened and abused both within parliament and outside.  She has recounted Members of Parliament calling her a “prostitute” or “whore.”  On 7 May 2006 Member of Parliament Almas Khan spoke about the anniversary and achievements of the day that freedom fighters (Mujahidin) seized power from the Afghan communist regime, which was followed by civil war among various groups.  Malalai on this occasion was given the opportunity to speak.  She commented on Mr. Almas’ claim that the atrocities committed during this time were mistakes, condemning them instead as criminal acts.  Her speech resulted in members of parliament hurling water bottles at her and it has been widely reported that some parliamentarians called for her to be raped and killed.  According to another Member of Parliament, it was also reported that Rasul Sayyaf, a former warlord who has himself been accused by human rights organizations of war crimes, ordered someone to wait by the door and stab Malalai as she walked out.  Malalai was protected by other Members of Parliament who formed a human ring around her and enlisted the protection of security forces.

Since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Afghan women have been calling for equal rights and highlighting the urgent need for human security.  At the Afghan Women’s Summit for Democracy, organized by Equality Now in coalition with other women’s organizations in December 2001, 40 Afghan women leaders recommended the central inclusion of women in decision-making and all peace processes, endorsed principles of non-discrimination based on gender, age, ethnicity, disability, religion and political affiliation, and called for assurance of a safe and secure environment for women and girls.  Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in March 2003 and adopted a new Constitution in January 2004, which provides for equal rights for women and men before the law.  However, women continue to be violently targeted in Afghanistan and denied equal rights and equal protection of the law.  The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) published research in 2006 documenting systematic abuse of women’s rights in Afghanistan, including violence against women instigated by state actors such as the army and police, including forced prostitution, forced marriage, rape, kidnapping and sexual assaults.  In June 2007 two women journalists were murdered with many others receiving death threats.  On 25 September 2006 Safia Ama Jan, the southern provincial head of Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs, was murdered outside the front gate of her Kandahar home.  In recent months a large number of schools for girls have been forced to close after being attacked. 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 recognizes the critical role of women in promoting peace and security and calls for increased representation of women in decision-making.  Malalai Joya was duly elected to Parliament and has been consistently and courageously speaking out for human rights, recognizing that respect for human rights is fundamental to peace and security.  Her suspension undermines democracy in Afghanistan and is a violation of her rights, as well as the rights of those she represents.

Recommended Actions

Please write to the officials below calling for the reinstatement of Malalai Joya and a full investigation into the way she was excluded from representing her constituency and participating in parliamentary proceedings.  Remind them of the provisions of the Afghan Constitution that guarantee freedom of speech and women’s equality.  Insist that the right of Malalai Joya and all other Members of Parliament to peacefully express their views be protected and that procedures be put in place to prevent the suppression of free speech and democracy.  Call on these officials to ensure the personal safety of Malalai and all others seeking to protect and promote their full equal rights under the Constitution.

President Hamid Karzai
Gul Khana Palace
Presidential Palace
Kabul, Afghanistan
president@afghanistangov.org  

Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi
Afghan Supreme Court
Charai Seahat Hama
Microyana
Kabul, Afghanistan

Yunus Qanooni, Speaker of the House
Afghanistan National Assembly
Wolesi Jirga
Kabul, Afghanistan

Please send copies of your letters to: 

Dr. Husn Banu Ghazanfar
Minister of Women’s Affairs
Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Shar-e-naw
Kabul, Afghanistan

Please keep Equality Now updated on your efforts and send copies of any replies you receive to:

Equality Now P.O. Box 20646, Columbus Circle Station, New York NY 10023, USA
Equality Now Africa Regional Office, P.O. Box 2018, KNH 00202, Nairobi, KENYA
Equality Now P.O. Box 48822, London WC2N 6ZW, UNITED KINGDOM
info@equalitynow.org

6. - Legal Tools - CEDAW Case Bank

The Global Justice Center continuously compiles cases from domestic and international courts that cite to CEDAW or CEDAW-OP as persuasive precedent for their decisions. These cases represent modern advancements in women's rights jurisprudence throughout the world. We hope this casebank proves useful for advocates or researchers in learning how to better advocate and argue for women's rights in domestic and international courts. Website: 

http://www.globaljusticecenter.net/casebank/

7. - 29th International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) www.equitas.org

Call for Applications for the 29th Annual International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP)

Equitas will be holding its 29th International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, Canada, from June 8 to June 27, 2008. This annual, intensive three-week program brings together around 120 participants from approximately 60 countries.

The International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) is at the heart of Equitas activities. Now in its 29th year, this annual three week education event brings together over 120 participants from approximately 60 countries. The IHRTP is an intermediate-level program. It provides a unique opportunity for human rights workers and educators to deepen their understanding of human rights and of the essential role of human rights education in effecting social change.

Application deadline: December 3rd, 2007

The International Human Rights Training

For more information: http://www.equitas.org / info@equitas.org