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GEO/ICAE
1.- IALLA IV - Cape Town, South Africa, 2008
4.-Education in Prison / Éducation
en prison
1.- IALLA IV - Cape Town, South Africa, 2008
Dear
Voices Rising subscribers,
Deadline
to apply is July 31, 2008. Documentation must be sent to:
icaeialla@gmail.com
2.- CONFINTEA VI
Please
visit
www.icae.org.uy/eng/informationupdate_CONFINTEAVI_july08.pdf
,
to read the latest update on CONFINTEA VI. It includes the themes and dates
for the regional pre-conferences.
3.- II Regional Forum of the Popular Education Network of Women from Latin America and the Caribbean (REPEM)
The II Regional Forum of the Popular Education Network of Women from Latin America and the Caribbean (REPEM), was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on June 23rd. and 24th, 2008 with the objective of going deep into the debate sparked at the I Regional Forum “Along the paths to women’s empowerment” (April 2004) on REPEM’s contribution to the education and training of women for their political, social, economic and cultural empowerment. This II Regional Forum had 4 panels, and Celita Eccher, ICAE Secretary General and Sofía Valdivielso from GEO, participated in the first panel: “For a Non Sexist Education and a Peace Culture”. Please find more information below.
Within the framework of the II Regional Forum of the Popular Education Network of Women from Latin America and the Caribbean (REPEM), held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on June 23rd. and 24th, 2008, women from civil society organizations who work with adult women presented their experiences. Women from different organizations from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Dominican Republic, shared their work related to inclusion with gender perspective for a non sexist education and to build a peace culture throughout the education processes in their countries. The debate was also sparked within the preparatory process towards the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) VI to be held in Belem do Pará, Brazil, in 2009. The preparatory Regional Conference of CONFINTEA, in Latin America, will take place in Mexico, from September 10-13, 2008 and civil society participation is facing some difficulties.
Colombia Added to the discrimination context in which women live just for the fact of being women, poor and unable to complete basic education, the national context of violence caused by the armed conflict in Colombia, aggravates their situation because most of the displaced people are women, indigenous and afrodescendant who settle in the outskirts of the big cities. The Colombian government has not been able to solve the education problem of displaced adults. The programme to balance high school education for community mothers, youth and adults seeks to provide training for work to those who don’t have basic education and are vulnerable as a consequence of armed conflict in Colombia. The objective is to improve training of community educators, the quality of their lives and independence. Many of the community mothers are now educators of day care centers and receive wages, though modest, for their work.
Mexico Feminicide and violence against young and adult women in Mexico is increasing and has very strong cultural implications that link people to an imposed identity, it is embedded in institutions, perpetuating authoritarianism and oppression and reproducing a way of thinking where the winner is the strongest. Education for peace is not an end in itself, it implies taking a position on big social issues in favour of dialogue and justice.
The
education project not only involves learners but also their families and
educators. It is a programme that seeks to develop a training mechanism to
teach how to live with others, using a socio-affective methodology and a
socio-cultural concept. Although the panellist acknowledges the contribution of popular education to the training of adults, she thinks that this has remained at the margins of the public sphere and gender perspective has not been included. Adult education centers are still considered the trash of education and more than half of people attending those centers, are women.
Many times, when we talk about the inclusion of gender perspective in education, we are not including the perspective of afrodescendant women. In the case of Brazil, the levels of grade retention and drop-outs in the education system are higher in the case of afrodescendant people so they end up excluding themselves. According to official indicators, if things remain as they are in the middle grades, we should wait 17 years to balance inequalities in the education system, between white people and afrodescendants. In higher education levels, we see only 10% of afrodescendant people. For this reason, it is essential to change the perspective, which has to take into account gender, race and ethnicity, not only in training teachers but also in study and learning materials, and the implementation of affirmative policies for the inclusion of afrodescendant and indigenous women. In this sense, we have seen some progress since the Durban Conference in 2001 that placed a key role in the incorporation of the race issue into education. Another important step taken by the government of Lula in Brazil, in 2003, was passing an act to incorporate African and afro-brazilian history and culture into basic and middle education. This opened the doors to afrodescendant civil society organizations that saw winds of change in terms of policies. Later, came the programme “Diversity at University” with the financial support of the IADB whose objective was to promote the access of indigenous and afrodescendant young people to universities. Within the Diversity Secretariat created by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Brazil, when Lula took office, a specific coordination was created to deal with racial and gender issues in which Eliane Cavalleiro has participated during the last years. However, there are several actors that interfere and have found an ally in the racism of institutions, in the individual racism of State administrators and also of the different brazilian states and their municipalities. Long term policies with national scope have to be implemented to bring about significant changes that crosscut spheres beyond education.
The pilot project developed, focuses on the impact on the public education system in Dominican Republic instead of the alternative system. Public education in this country has deteriorated during the last years, particularly teachers who work more and more hours and earn less and less. Besides, violence is also seen in classrooms. The project had a first diagnosis to see how teachers deal with gender equality and stereotypes to further develop didactic materials for coeducation, inspired in the Asturian Women’s Institute of Spain.
To wrap
up the idea of this panel, Gina Vargas from “Articulación Feminista Marcosur”
(AFM, by its acronym in Spanish) said that in Latin America and the
Caribbean, non sexist education has not reached yet State Institutions that
have to be key actors to guarantee the right to quality, non sexist
education and with peace culture. On the other hand, she highlighted the
emergence of a new actor that promotes changes which is the students’
movement (clearly visible in the case of Chile) that has managed to put the
issue of education privatisation again in the agenda.
4.- Education in Prison / Éducation en prison
Observatório da Educação - Ação Educativa French version below – français ci-dessous
Dear
Madam/Sir, To request the Terms of Reference please contact: educacaonaprisao@acaoeducativa.org
___ Éducation en prison
Chère
Madame, Pour demander le Terme de référence pour l´envoi des informations : educacaonaprisao@acaoeducativa.org
5.- The Hunger Project / Celebrating Community Leaders Empowering Women By Jill Lester, President and CEO BREAKING NEWS! The Hunger Project featured on two major news networks in one day! Click here for full story and clip on CNN! Click here to watch the clip on NBC's Today Show! Sarah Longwe, 2003 Africa Prize laureate and pioneer of women's rights. In October, The Hunger Project will award its coveted Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger to honor Civil Society Leadership for the Empowerment of Women. We will celebrate community leaders, either individuals or organizations, who work tirelessly and selflessly to organize, advocate for, and provide opportunities to African women. The Hunger Project has awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership since 1987. The Africa Prize is designed as a strategic intervention to honor and shine a spotlight on the African leadership that is essential for the continent’s development The Africa Prize is awarded to Africans who exhibit exceptional leadership, exemplifying courage, vision and commitment to the well-being of the African people. These effective and dynamic leaders work in areas including science, agriculture, education, health and public policy. Their actions reflect initiative, creativity and, in some cases, personal sacrifice. The 2008 laureate will join the ranks of previous laureates, which include, among many others, the first elected woman president in Africa, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; human rights leader Nelson Mandela; environmental activist Wangari Maathai; and champion for children’s education, Graça Machel. A district official salutes the African woman food farmers who were honored with the 1999 Africa Prize. Caroline Akinsanmi, an African woman food farmer who took part in a series of "torch events" passing the Africa Prize from country to country in 2001. Celebrating Civil Society The civil society we will be honoring consists of ordinary people coming together, driven by their passion and commitment to create extraordinary changes. It includes nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, grassroots organizations, civic groups, labor unions, professional associations and philanthropic foundations. Groups of 10 women who come together to take an African Woman Food Farmer Initiative loan are part of civil society, as are global organizations such as Women’s World Banking, which was founded by our first woman Africa Prize laureate, Esther Ocloo. Civil society is at the forefront of empowering African women. Rural African women are among the world’s most hard-working people as food producers, processors and marketers. They are also mothers, daughters and wives responsible for the health, nutrition and well-being of their families. Day in and day out, they work every waking hour. Despite this, they go largely unsupported, unrecognized for their efforts, and denied their basic rights. Over the past several months, the international community has been focused on the world food crisis. While it is important that this devastating situation is in the news, its severe impact on women is not being publicized. Around the world, millions of people eat two or three times a day, but a significant percentage of women eat only once. And, now, many women are denying themselves even that one meal to ensure that their children are fed. These women are already suffering the effects of even more severe malnutrition, which inevitably will be their children’s fate as well. The impact of this crisis will be with us for many years. It need not be this way. The Hunger Project has a sustainable solution: support and empower the women who grow most of Africa’s food for household consumption. When women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves, and incomes increase. In short, communities become more resilient. Therefore, our decision to celebrate, honor and acknowledge Civil Society Leadership for the Empowerment of Women is absolutely right for these difficult times.
Meaza Ashenafi, 2003 Africa Prize laureate and founder of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, receiving the Africa Prize. More than 1,000 people from 30 countries around the world at the 2007 annual Hunger Project Fall Event. The Gala Award Ceremony The 2008 Africa Prize will be presented at a gala award ceremony on Saturday, October 18, at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. For the first time ever, The Hunger Project will not announce the winner until the night of the event. Do not miss this opportunity! Your attendance will send powerful messages to the world, that: civil society has a critical role to play in the empowerment of Africa’s women women’s empowerment must be central to international development approaches worldwide civil society is the very embodiment of self-reliance in action Through your attendance and visible support, civil society will obtain greater clout, prominence and empowerment. Moreover, you will deepen your commitment and feel the inspiration of being part of The Hunger Project. We are producing incredible results, but more must be done. Bring your friends and family to this event, and let us celebrate together! Purchase your tickets now at CALL FOR NOMINATIONS We invite you to submit nominations for the 2008 Africa Prize! Nominations may be submitted online in English, French or Portuguese at www.africaprize.org . Any individual may nominate. Eligibility criteria and more details about the Africa Prize can also be found on this website. The Africa Prize includes a cash award of US$100,000 to further the laureate’s work for the empowerment of women, and will be presented at The Hunger Project’s annual gala dinner on Saturday, October 18, in New York. The deadline for nominations is August 1, 2008. A rural woman in India learns to use a computer for the first time. A Hunger Project partner in Bangladesh. Moving to an Electronic Newsletter We are currently working on ways to make The Hunger Project more environmentally aware, and to ensure that we send as much money as possible to our programs. To help us meet this goal, we are planning to change to solely electronic distribution of our monthly newsletter. Over the next few weeks, we will be conducting a readership survey to seek feedback about our newsletter, and we will most likely be switching to electronic distribution as early as August! We hope that you will see the positive potential for having more money available for our programs, less impact on the environment, and more up-to-date and interactive communication with The Hunger Project! Remember to visit us online at www.thp.org ! To learn more about The Hunger Project or to make an investment click here and visit www.thp.org! |
