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GEO/ICAE
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1. - 1st. Adult Learning Festival in Uruguay 2. - 34th General Conference closes Friday, 2 November 4. - AWID Friday File: Concerns about Financing for Development presented to High Level Dialogue 5. - Women Watch Online Discussion: Women in Leadership Roles 6. - Movement for the Independence (MIND) 7. - Social Watch launched the Report 2007 8. – 8th CIVICUS World Assembly 9. - Call for Applicants - IRW Global Scholars
1.- 1st. Adult Learning Festival in Uruguay
7- 8 December, 2007
2.- 34th General Conference closes Friday, 2 November
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39369&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The 34th General Conference in figures:
Speeches delivered at the Plenary Meeting of the 34th Session of the General Conference: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=40600&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
3.- World Social Forum - Global day of action in 2008
Mobilisation in favour of children’s rights worldwide
Mobilisation Day 26 January 2008 – mobilisation in favour of children’s rights worldwide As member of the WSF IC, Terre des Hommes – International Federation reiterate its support to the Mobilisation Day 26 Jannuary 2008 by inviting all others associations, social movements, NGOs dealing with child rights issues to create a network so that the WSF Mobilisation Day becomes also a mobilisation for the Rights of the Child. As international network, Terre des Hommes will promote local initiatives with others actors in favour of child rights aiming at supporting a successful Mobilisation Day and will invite each of those local network initiatives to use WSF website to give visibility to the Mobilisation Day. We therefore invite you to circulate that invitation and support your respective network to contact Terre des Hommes offices in several countries to explore possible common actions to promote child rights related issues. For any further information, contact Terre des Hommes – International Federation secretariat at: Brussels@terredeshommes.org (Salvatore Parata, European office). In solidarity Raffaele K. Salinari, President Terre des Hommes – International Federation Member of the WSF IC.
4.- AWID Friday File: Concerns about Financing for Development presented to High Level Dialogue
By resource@awid.org, Friday November 2, 2007
AWID Friday File: Concerns about Financing for Development presented to High Level Dialogue Friday November 2, 2007
1) Concerns about Financing for Development presented to High Level Dialogue
As part of the UN's Financing for Development process, the General Assembly recently held a High Level Dialogue. AWID's Cecilia Alemany gave a speech on behalf of civil society organizations presenting some points for consideration.
Today's Friday File highlights some of the concerns raised in the presentation.
By Kathambi Kinoti ________________________________________________________________________
Last week, the United Nations General Assembly held a High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development. The Dialogue was one stage in the process leading up to the review of the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus which will be made at the High Level Conference to be held in Doha, Qatar in late 2008. [1] The greater part of the Dialogue was discussion by government delegates about the implementation of the Consensus, but civil society and the business sector were allocated a brief slot to make presentations on the topic. Civil society was represented by the International Facilitation Group on Financing for Development, New Rules for International Finance and the Committee of NGOs on Financing for Development.
One of the concerns raised by the civil society representatives was that their voices are sidelined within the Financing for Development process. They said that hearings with government representatives are not sufficient and in some cases civil society is not included at all in round table meetings. The representatives demanded greater involvement in the preparation for the Doha Conference, and stressed that the UN should take a leadership role in involving civil society. Without their full involvement, the financing for development process is likely to remain unrepresentative and largely a technical issue that does not translate into a real improvement in the lives of the majority of the world's poor, most of whom are women.
The civil society representatives voiced their concern that the current international financial and trade structures are restrictive to developing countries and maintain inequalities. They also highlighted the poor implementation so far of the pledges made in the Monterrey Consensus.
Given the implementation deficit, and the fact that there have been changes in the context and configuration of actors in the development field, the representatives called for a new Summit to be held, that would give rise to new commitments negotiated at the highest level.
Developed countries have previously pledged to allocate 0.7 per cent of their gross national product to official development aid, but they have failed to live up to their commitments. In fact, aid actually decreased in 2006 and according to civil society this demonstrates a lack of political will to make development aid more effective. They urged the delivery of more and better aid.
They also made reference to the new aid modalities that developed countries are now focussing on, which are set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. They pointed out some of the problems in the implementation of the Declaration. The principles are defined by developed countries and they are evaluated on the basis of data from the World Bank. The civil society representatives reiterated that the United Nations should be the space that guarantees that the voices of civil society and the countries of the South are heard.
Another concern raised was the fact that gender equality and women's rights issues are not effectively integrated into the Financing for Development and Aid Effectiveness agendas. This makes the imposition of conditionalities on developing countries even harsher on women. Civil society stressed the importance of women's organizations as agents of development, and the need to promote new mechanisms to finance initiatives by these organizations.
They also called for governments to give greater support to the gender equality architecture within the United Nations in order for it to make greater progress in ensuring the fulfillment of women's rights.
The participation of civil society in the High Level Dialogue presented an important platform for advocacy around the agenda of financing for women's rights. While the meeting was going on several women's organizations exchanged ideas to identify common advocacy opportunities to strengthen women's voices within the Financing for Development process and the Aid Effectiveness agenda. The upcoming 2008 Commission on the Status of Women, whose theme is Financing for Gender Equality, was identified as one such opportunity to build on the process of Financing for Development.[2]
By participating in the High Level Dialogue in New York, civil society organizations demonstrated their commitment to ensuring that the voices of those most affected by underdevelopment are heard at the highest levels, and efforts to occupy and enlarge such spaces should continue. ____________ Notes: 1. More information about the Financing for Development process can be found at www.un.org/esa/ffd. 2. AWID is involved in the UN Expert Group on Financing for Gender Equality, as part of the preparation for the next year's Commission. For more information about this and other related issues please contact Cecilia Alemany at calemany@awid.org --------------------- RESOURCE NET is brought to you by The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID). Announcements posted on this discussion list do not necessarily reflect the opinion of AWID, but are meant to provoke thought, generate solutions and inspire action. AWID, please visit our web site at www.awid.org to find out more.
The Association for Women's Rights in Development 215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 150 - Toronto, ON M5T 2C7 - CANADA Tel: 416-594-3773 - Fax: 416-594-0330 Email: awid@awid.org - Web: www.awid.org
5.- Women Watch Online Discussion: Women in Leadership Roles
Division
for the Advancement of Women
You are invited to participate in an online discussion on Women in Leadership Roles hosted by WomenWatch, the UN Internet Gateway on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. The discussion, which will take place from 19 November to 15 December 2007, is organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in its capacity as Task Manager of WomenWatch, with support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
You are encouraged to register before 16 November 2007. You will receive an email with your username and password before the start of the online discussion. If you have any questions about the registration process, please contact us at womenwatch@un.org
Please feel free to circulate this invitation widely.
We look
forward to your participation in the online discussion.
6.- MOVEMENT FOR THE INDEPENDENCE (MIND)
Dear
Friends, IALLA III graduate
MOVEMENT FOR THE INDEPENDENCE (MIND) OF JUDICIARY, MEDIA, CIVIL SOCIETY
All the sections of the civil society Lawyers, students, journalists, traders, transporters, doctors, engineers, businessmen, professionals, NGOs employees, human rights activists, government servants , retired soldiers, politicians, housewives, labour unions, and Conscientious citizens
FINAL BATTLE Between human rights and martial law Between civilization and barbarism Between rule of law and rule of army Between going ahead or going back to dark ages
WHOEVER WILL WON, WILL SURVIVE
Give up criminal indifference Stand up and be counted Change the course of history Or history would never forgive you Convince your family and friends Convince everyone Time to give up selfish personal interests And also to give up individual differences Stand Up and be counted Make yourself, your family and your generations safe Struggle for Rule of Law Struggle for the Independence of Judiciary
Forward this message to everyone you know through Emails SMS Word of mouth Posters Phone calls
Time to wake up The judges who said no to PCO Have been made hostages in their own houses They have been fighting for your liberties Now it's your turn to fight for their liberation
We don't ask much from you Do at least the minimum
Against the state oppression Against the suspension of civil rights Against the martial law Against the treatment meted out to defiant judges Against the nation being treated as herd of animals Against being the one of the two countries in the whole world to be ruled by Army Against the "sab se pehle sadr-e-Pakistan" concept Against the "Sadr-e-Pakistan First concept" Against those who took oath under PCO Against the suspension of transmission of private tv channels Against the curbs on media AND BRING A FLOWER TO PAY HOMAGE to the judges who said no to PCO to the judges who have been put to house arrest to the lawyers who have been put behind the bars to the media who is fighting our case and is facing blackout and business losses to the journalist raising awareness to the politicians and the political workers who have been arrested to the human rights activists who have been apprehended to the teachers and students in the forefront of protests to anyone who is listening to his conscience
He promised to give up his uniform by November 15 And even submitted an affi davit to the Supreme Court to this effect This time we would not let him go back from his promise yet again We would silently remind him of his promise on November 14 REMEMBER To be right on time We have to readily assemble there and protest Before the police arrives They wouldn't allow us No matter how peaceful we will be So be religiously in time!
If you have any friend or relative or acquaintance in Print and electronic media Ask him to join us in the protest And also cover the same for his or her newspaper or media channel
Read this mail over and over again Take a print and use it as posters Paste it everywhere you can Circulate it as handbills And Above all LET THIS MAIL SPREAD AS WILD FIRE
Forward it to as many people as you can Forward it to everyone you know Ask others to do the same Individual and small protests cannot do much We need networking We cannot afford delay The time is already running out Hurry up And come into action as soon as you receive this mail!
7.- Social Watch launched the Report 2007
Social Watch launched the Report 2007 within the framework of the Civil
Society Interactive Hearings and the High Level Dialogue on Financing for
Development.
PRESS RELEASE SOCIAL WATCH: World Bank's social security reforms hamper fight against poverty
NEW YORK (0ct 23 ) - Social security, a historically proved method to reduce poverty, is being decimated all over the world through World Bank-promoted privatization reforms, states the 2007 Social Watch Report launched here Tuesday in the context of the United Nations High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development.
The World Bank’s policies have targeted the reform of public social security institutions, including privatization of old age pension systems, which reduces the role of the state to compensate for market failings, adds the report.
The reforms have shifted the balance of social risk away from state institutions while transferring to the individual the responsibility for having sufficient personal savings to cover their needs during retirement.
Therefore, mandatory savings accounts and voluntary pension plans known as the ‘multi-pillar approach’ of the World Bank have substituted public pensions systems.
The World Bank has provided loans and technical assistance to developing countries that have privatized their social security systems, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Eastern European countries.
In developing countries such as Chile, US firms like Merrill Lynch have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of social security privatization.
However, voices of dissent have emerged from the World Bank itself. In 1999, the then chief economist Joseph Stiglitz pointed out that many of the reasons given for preferring privatized social security systems based on individual retirement accounts were not supported by evidence.
Similarly, Antonio Tricarico, one of the authors contributing to the Social Watch Report and a member of the Campaign to Reform the World Bank, says that “the single-mindedness of the World Bank in promoting privatized systems has been peculiar, since the evidence, including data in World Bank publications, has indicated that well-run public sector systems, like the social system in the United States, are far more efficient than privatized systems.”
Besides, the extra administrative expenses of privatized systems come directly out of the money that retirees would otherwise receive, lowering their retirement benefits by as much as one third, compared with a well-run public social security system, the report points out.
The World Bank’s current ‘social risk management’ approach aims at reducing the role of risk-pooling state provision while encouraging a greater role for private sector delivery of individual risk mitigating instruments.
Within this framework, those individuals without sufficient financial means to purchase commercial insurance products are more likely to have to face greater degrees of risk. Therefore, the actual aim of the new approach is to lessen the risk, not to meet the needs, says Social Watch.
To help lift older people out of poverty and help mitigate life-cycle risks, especially in the least developed countries, the best solution are policies that prioritize a strategic role for tax-financed universal pension provision.
Universal services and social assistance are distribution mechanisms that channel resources from those who have more to those who need more. In this case, individual contributions in the form of taxes have no direct relation with the benefits received; in fact, most of the beneficiaries are persons living in poverty who have therefore contributed less.
A system in which benefit depends on the risk cannot help reduce poverty simply because it does not redistribute wealth. Its rationale is not different from that of the market. Within the risk/benefit relation (i.e., investment/revenue, contribution/quality of social security) the gaps between the poor and the rich tend to grow rather than diminish.
Differently from the public systems which partially distribute wealth – since contributions are proportional to income and social benefits to social needs – in the World Bank’s approach the state has no way to help fight poverty and diminish the differences among the wealthiest and the poorest of the world.
According to Social Watch, the state remains the only feasible institutional mechanism for social protection for marginalized, poor older people with no access to either labour market opportunities or alternative risk mitigating assets, even if financial limitations make this task quite difficult.
For this purpose, the state does not have to rely solely on income transfers and traditional forms of social security. Policies that promote livelihoods and reinforce informal systems of social protection are equally fundamental in the establishment of efficient forms of social security in developing countries.
The stress placed by the 'social risk management approach' on the need of an increasingly risky role for the individuals –which will have to overcome poverty through their own effort– will only lead poverty to be perceived more as a ‘personal failure’, at least from a neoliberal perspective.
This view is unacceptable because it undermines the principle that social protection is a fundamental right of all citizens, states the Social Watch report.
www.socialwatch.org Jackson 1136, Montevideo 11200, Uruguay – Tel: + 598 2 419 6192 – socwatch@socialwatch.org
8. – 8th CIVICUS World Assembly 18-21 June 2008, Glasgow, Scotland
8th CIVICUS World Assembly – Register Now!!
CIVICUS is inviting all members of civil society, donors, government, business and media to register to attend the 8th CIVICUS World Assembly. This year’s programme promises to be dynamic, exciting and will analyze major issues confronting civil society and jointly seek solutions through cross sectoral collaboration to promote sustainable change.
Registration for the World Assembly has officially opened and participants who register early to attend the World Assembly will receive reduced rates. The deadline for Early Bird Registration is 1 February 2008
To register please visit the World Assembly website www.civicusassembly.org
The overall theme of the 8th World Assembly is ‘Acting Together for a Just World’ and this will be explored through the focus theme of ‘People, Participation and Power’. The Programme will comprise plenary sessions, workshops, learning exchanges, film screenings, various social activities, exhibitions and numerous networking opportunities. The programme participants will include a diverse group of knowledgeable speakers from every region of the globe who will provide an expert perspective and insight. Further programme information and updates can also be found on the World Assembly website The CIVICUS Youth Assembly will be held immediately prior to the World Assembly, from 16th -18th June 2008 in Glasgow. It has rapdily established itself as a unique global youth forum encouraging young people to engage with critical challenges facing their communities, countries and the world. Please visit the CIVICUS youth website (www.civicusyouth.org) to find more details on how to apply
For any enquiries, please email worldassembly@civicus.org
9.- Call for Applicants - IRW Global Scholars. Theme: The Culture of Rights/The Rights of Culture
CWGL: cwgl@igc.org
Dear
Colleagues-- We're soliciting applications for Global Scholars (formerly
known as our Visiting Scholar program) and ask for your help in distributing
the attached call to domestic and international colleagues, listservs etc.
for whom our 08-09 theme "The Culture of Rights/The Rights of Culture" may
be appropriate. The IRW Global --
2008-2009 Call for Applicants - IRW Global Scholars Theme: The Culture of Rights/The Rights of Culture Institute for Research on Women (IRW) - Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
About the IRW
The Institute for Research on Women (IRW) promotes innovative scholarship on women and gender through interdisciplinary forums, lectures, and conferences. The IRW is an ideal place to situate individual projects within a community of scholars who meet at a weekly seminar to discuss their work-in-progress as it addresses a common theme. In addition, our Global Scholar Program provides an opportunity for postdoctoral scholars and activists to benefit from Rutgers' unique resources in the study of women and gender, which include the Center for American Women and Politics, Center for Women and Work, Center for Women's Global Leadership, Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Institute for Women and Art, and Institute for Women's Leadership.
IRW Global Scholars
IRW Global Scholars typically hold jobs or academic appointments elsewhere but wish to be in residence at the Institute for a semester or a year. Although Global Scholar appointments are unsalaried, they include access to libraries and recreational facilities, private offices, and participation in university lectures, colloquia and seminars. Scholars also receive university email accounts and modest photocopying and long-distance telephone support. We invite applications from prospective scholars whose individual research or activism is compatible with the theme of our interdisciplinary research seminar. We expect that Global Scholars will participate in the weekly seminar along with Rutgers faculty and graduate students whose work explores the seminar theme from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. A description of the 2008-2009 seminar is on our webpage (http://irw.rutgers.edu/seminars/08-09description.pdf). Located within the Women’s Scholarship and Leadership Complex at Rutgers, our Global Scholar offices provide networked PCs with internet access and a shared laser printer. The offices surround an open conference room which is available for scholars’ meetings. Next door to the Institute, the Wittenborn Scholars Residence offers gracious accommodations reserved for scholars affiliated with the IRW or the other Rutgers units focused on women and gender.
Application Procedures
Postdoctoral scholars working in any discipline may apply. Applications should include the following: --letter of intent specifying project title and proposed dates of visit; --project description (five pages maximum); --curriculum vitae, fax number and email address; --contact information for four professional references. Prospective global scholars are invited to discuss the relevance of their project to "The Culture of Rights/The Rights of Culture" as part of their application. DEADLINE for applications is January 15, 2008. Applicants interested in further information about this program or the IRW are invited to contact the Institute.
Institute for Research on Women Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 160 Ryders Lane New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8555 11/13/07
10.- WEDO News & Views
WEDO News & Views now available in Spanish, French, or English!
Dear Friends, Amigos y Amigas, Amis et Amies,
We are delighted to announce that our bimonthly e-newsletter is now available to subscribers in three languages! Sign up to receive WEDO News & Views in English, French or Spanish and stay up-to-date on women's issues like climate change, United Nations reform, and corporate accountability.
Click here <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp? &m=1101575055163&ea=> to receive important updates from our Economic and Social Justice, Gender and Governance, and Sustainable Development programs in English, French or Spanish!
** Nos complace anunciar que nuestro boletín electrónico, el cual es publicado cada dos meses, está ahora disponible a nuestras/os suscriptoras/es en tres idiomas. Suscríbete para recibir WEDO News & Views en español, francés o inglés y te enviaremos información actualizada sobre asuntos relacionados con las mujeres tales como cambio climático, reforma de las Naciones Unidas y responsabilidad corporativa.
Pulsa aquí <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp?&m=1101575055163&ea=> para recibir importantes novedades de nuestros programas de Justicia Económica y Social, Género y Gobernanza, y Desarrollo Sostenible, en español, francés o inglés!
** Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que notre newsletter électronique bimensuelle est maintenant disponible aux abonnés en trois langues! Veuillez vous inscrire pour recevoir le WEDO News & Views en anglais, en français ou en espagnol. Vous serez informés sur les questions d'actualité qui préoccupent les femmes telles le changement climatique, la réforme des Nations Unies et la responsabilité sociale des sociétés.
Cliquez ici <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp?&m=1101575055163&ea=> pour recevoir les importantes mises à jour concernant nos programmes sur la justice économique et sociale, le genre et la gouvernance ainsi que le développement durable, en anglais, en français ou en espagnol!
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