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Women's Learning Partnership

in partnership with 

The New School's Center for Public Scholarship &
Gender Studies Program  

 

Presents

 

From Fear to Freedom:
Stopping Gender-based Violence in a Transitioning World

 

February 29, 2012, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

John Tishman Auditorium at The New School 

66 West 12th Street, New York, NY

Seats are limited. Register Here.

Speaker Bios 

 

 

On February 29, 2012, WLP will premiere the documentary

From Fear to Freedom on eliminating violence against women.
 

In WLP’s new film, leading experts and activists from across the globe discuss the root causes of gender-based violence, share strategies to combat it, and provide inspiring accounts of the important milestones already achieved through the international women’s movement. 

 

Following the film, global leaders working at the national and international levels will discuss the relationship between advancing women’s rights, combating gender-based violence, and forming stable democratic societies during this crucial time of transition in the MENA region and beyond. 

Introductory Remarks:  Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/USA) Founder & President, Women’s Learning Partnership

 

Panel Discussion 

 

Moderator:  Ann Snitow (USA) Director of the Gender Studies Program, The New School

 

Speakers:

 

Lina Abou-Habib (Lebanon) Executive Director, Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action 

Lydia Alpizar Durán (Costa Rica/Mexico) Executive Director, Association for Women’s Rights in Development  

Sawsan Gad (Egypt)  Co-founder, Harassmap

Rabéa Naciri (Morocco) Member, National Human Rights Council of Morocco
Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (Iran/ UK) Co-founder, International Civil society Action Network
 

Film runs 35 minutes followed by panel discussion

 

 

"People make culture. And people can change culture…
There are good things in culture that can be used to bring about change,
and this change must be towards human rights.” 

       – Thoraya Obaid, Former Undersecretary General of the United Nations &

Chair of WLP's Board of Directors 

 

 

Seats are limited. Register Here.

Speaker Bios

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Social Media Saved Africa’s Oldest Community Station
By Davison Mudzingwa*

The advent of social media has been a welcome development for Radio Zibonele. Credit:Davison Mudzingwa/IPS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa , Feb 3, 2012 (IPS) - When a financial crisis threatened the existence of Africa’s oldest community station, Bush Radio, an outpouring of sympathy and appeals went viral on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. In the end, it was this outspoken support that showed financial backers that the station was worth saving.

It got the message out there to the decision makers, and because it was in their faces all the time… there has been offers of assistance," said Adrian Louw, programme integrator at Bush Radio.

The emergence of social media has opened new opportunities for community broadcasters in Cape Town, South Africa. Not only are they able to interact more effectively with their audiences, but they can now do so cheaply.

Bush Radio broadcasts to at least 260 000 listeners, predominantly in the poor Cape Flats, formerly an apartheid housing area for people of colour.

But thanks to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a blog, Bush Radio now maintains a strong presence in the community.

"The use of social media has been important for us because it has allowed us to do stuff without getting a specific designer on board that knows our internet protocols," said Louw.

The station has a rich history of defiance during the apartheid era. Back then it broadcasted illegally after repeated applications for a licence were turned down. Since the granting of a broadcasting licence in 1994, the station has evolved with the times.

"If blogging works, why do we have to pay thousands of (South African) Rands to get a designer to design a fancy website for news when a free CMS (content management system) works?" asked Louw.

Core to Bush Radio’s programming are issues that affect their audiences. These include HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, poverty and crime. Highlighting these issues through social media is convenient in several ways. "The nice thing about social media is that it really assists community media with its mission, in terms of increasing access to the station and really making people feel that they are owners of the station because they now can communicate with the station quickly," says Louw

"Even if you are not interested in something you get an alert, like ‘do not forget that Sakhisizwe (radio programme) is going to talk about HIV/AIDS at 12pm.’ In that way, a specialised audience will interact."

Bush Radio is also renowned for training young people in broadcasting. Social media has enabled them to spread the message quicker. "For instance we had a recruitement for news volunteers. We had a response from over sixty applicants within three days."

For Bush Radio, social media complements the weaknesses of radio – its immediacy and transient nature. With social media, the station can now relay important messages that have a presence on the internet.

"We seriously believe that technology must be used in bettering people’s lives," said Louw.

Across town in South Africa’s biggest single township of Khayelitsha, Radio Zibonele has a lot in common with Bush Radio. Radio Zibonele’s listenership has steadily increased with the station’s meteoric rise from its days of broadcasting under the bed of a shipping container truck in 1995.

With over 220 000 listeners, feedback grew and inundated the single studio phone line. The advent of social media has been a welcome development for Radio Zibonele.

Like most community media, Radio Zibonele traditionally interacts with its audiences through outreach programmes such as road shows and other sponsored community activities. However, of late, dwindling sponsorship has been a hindrance. Social media, said Ntebaleng Shete, the station’s programme manager, fills the gap by reconnecting with the community.

Radio Zibonele broadcasts mostly in the local language, isiXhosa. Its flagship programme discusses various social problems, and feedback peaks during this two-hour programme.

The high penetration of mobile phones with internet connectivity has also boosted the number of listeners who log onto social networks. According to latest figures provided by Cellular Online, a mobile portal, South Africa has a growing subscriber base of close to 20 million users.

"I think people are growing with technology…many of the people want to be on Facebook and Twitter," said Shete.

However, Chris Kabwato, the director of Highway Africa, a Pan-African programme at Rhodes University that focuses on research, education, media and digital technologies, said community media in Africa has a long way to go to utilise social media.

"(There are ) the perennial challenges of lack of internet access… and the general lack of technical knowledge around the use of new media on - mobile, internet, web-based social applications," said Kabwato of the factors that have hampered the full usage of social media.

He, however, believes that vast opportunities to develop more interactive programmes and to generate revenue from social media exist.

*This story was produced with the support of UNESCO.

Political and Economic Turmoil Threaten Women's Progress

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 (IPS) - As UN Women celebrated its first birthday, its executive director Michelle Bachelet stressed that political upheveal and shrinking budgets are no excuse to push back the hard-won gains made by the women's movement globally.

"My top priority for 2012 will be to make a renewed push for women's economic empowerment and political participation," Bachelet said at UN Women's one-year anniversary press conference Thursday.

Formally known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting women and girls' needs worldwide. Created by the U.N. General Assembly in July 2010, it became operational on Jan. 1, 2011.

Its six priorities are advancing women's political participation and leadership; improving women's economic empowerment; ending violence against women and girls; expanding the role of women in peace talks, peace building, and recovery; making budgets and plans benefit women and men equally; and increasing coordination and accountability across the U.N. system for gender equality.

"At this moment of historic change, we cannot afford to leave women out. Women's full and equal participation in the political arena is fundamental to democracy and justice, which people are demanding," Bachelet said.

"Without women, we cannot have a healthy economy. Yet today more than 800 million women lack the education, training, and opportunities to participate fully in economic life," she added.

Bachelet cited examples of UN Women's achievements on the ground: "In Liberia, women set up justice brigades and now the level of violence is lower and more perpetrators have been brought to justice.

"More than 250 women in Africa and Asia were trained to be mediators in conflict prevention, and peacekeepers were trained pre-deployment to prevent and respond to sexual violence. In Rwanda, gender budgeting is now used, more money is devoted to women's health and maternal mortality has declined.

"Obviously, this is not something that UN Women can do alone. Equality depends on global mobilisation, the support of decision- makers, the voice of the media, and a concerted effort by the entire U.N. system and other development partners."

In 2011, contributions to UN Women totaled 235 million dollars, representing a 33-percent increase from 2010 thanks to a wider donor base.

"However, we need more," Bachelet stressed, if the target of 700 million dollars for 2012 through 2013 is to be met.

"Today I call for stronger commitment for women's empowerment and gender equality. During this time of austerity and uncertainty, we cannot let budget cuts and political change cut progress for girls and women. Our challenge is not only to protect hard won gains, but to advance the rights of women."

Spain (48 million dollars) and Norway (22 million dollars) are the top two funders of UN Women, leaving traditional heavyweights like the United Kingdom (6.6 million dollars) and the United States (five million) far behind.

"Spain and Norway made serious commitments to UN Women and gender equality while other countries, such as the U.S., Germany and France, have not made it a priority in these times of budget constraint," Charlotte Bunch, of the Center for Women's Global Leadership and co- facilitator of the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign, told IPS.

Asked whether this gap signifies that gender equality remains a secondary issue, she said, "To make gender equality a greater priority in these economic times would require them to decrease funding in other areas, which they have not done and in this sense it does remain a secondary issue for most governments."

"The financial crisis did not so much cause cuts in the UN Women budget since it is a new budget, but it has prevented them from being able to move forward vigorously on the desired plans for expanding the presence of UN Women on the ground at the country level," Bunch added.

She said she hoped to see deeper cooperation with grassroots women's groups in the coming years.

"In this first year, the process of setting up the organisation - structure, staffing, policies, etc. - has taken a lot of UN Women's time, while civil society relations and programming have not been as strong a focus as GEAR would like to see.

"Now that the structure and personnel are in place, we hope that UN Women can be more effective in programmatic work and especially in listening to and working with civil society," Bunch told IPS. "For example, GEAR is disappointed that UN Women has still not created any of the proposed civil society bodies - at the national, regional, or global level".

"About the member states donations in this economic crisis situation, most of them still give the backing to UN Women in what they say, but until they put up more money, it is hard to say that many of them are strong supporters," she concluded.

An Appreal for Rio 2012

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio 2012, must change the dominant mindset  by:

Restoring public rights over corporate privileges after thirty years of strengthening the power of investors and big corporations through deregulation, trade and financial liberalization, tax cuts and exemptions, and weakening the role of the state; and after the market-driven financial meltdown.

The principles and values of the Rio Declaration and the UN Millennium Declaration, adopted by heads of states and governments, are threatened and urgently need to be re-established. They include Human Rights, Freedom, Equality, Solidarity, Diversity, Respect for Nature, and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. Corporate interests do not uphold these principles and values.

Taking equity seriously after thirty years of policies that further widened the gap between rich and poor and have exacerbated inequities and inequalities, not least regarding access to resources.

Unbridled market forces have favored the strong, thereby widening the economic divide. This requires the state to redress the imbalance, eliminate discrimination, and ensure sustainable livelihoods, decent work and social inclusion. Intergenerational justice requires restraint and responsibility of the present generation. It is urgent to establish more equitable per capita rights towards the global commons and to the emission of greenhouse gases, taking fully into account historical responsibility.

Rescuing nature after more than sixty years of global warming, loss of biodiversity, desertification, depletion of marine life and of forests, a spiraling water crisis and many other ecological catastrophes.

The environmental crisis is hitting the poor much more than the affluent. Knowledge-intensive solutions including technologies are available to restore natural systems, and dramatically reduce pressures on climate and the environment while improving human well-being. A “green economy” is attainable but must be embedded in a holistic concept of sustainability. What we need is a change of lifestyles.

The Rio 1992 Summit adopted legally-binding instruments and embraced Civil Society. The Johannesburg Summit 2002 celebrated partnerships relying on a self-regulated Private Sector. The Rio 2012 Summit must re-affirm the State as the indispensable actor setting the legal frame, enforcing standards of equity and human rights, and fostering long-term ecological thinking, based on democratic legitimacy.

This appeal was formulated by the following members of the Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives: Albert Recknagel, terre des hommes Germany; Alejandro Chanona, National Autonomous University of México; Barbara Adams, Global Policy Forum; Beryl d'Almeida, Abandoned Babies Committee Zimbabwe; Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network; Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, International Resource Panel; Filomeno Sta. Ana III, Action for Economic Reform; George Chira, terre des hommes India; Gigi Francisco, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era; Henning Melber, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation; Hubert Schillinger, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Jens Martens, Global Policy Forum Europe; Jorge Ishizawa, Proyecto Andino de Tecnologias Campesinas; Roberto Bissio, Social Watch; Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Tebtebba Foundation; Yao Graham, Third World Network Africa

New Resource Manual now out - for Grassroots Women

After three years in the making, the Huairou Commission is proud to present an essential guide for grassroots women-led engagement with local government and decision makers. 

The Local-to-Local Dialogue Resource Manual combines collective knowledge, evolved from nearly a decade of experiences around the world, into a series of practical tools and locally adaptable strategies for initiating and engaging in Local-to-Local (L2L) Dialogues. The manual will guide grassroots women's groups in negotiating a wide spectrum of development issues that affect grassroots women and their communities. 

You can download a free pdf of the manual or order a print copy for $15 by contacting  orders@huairou.org.

What is Local-to-Local Dialogue?

Through the L2L Dialogue process, women collectively identify priorities, develop action plans and carry out programs to enhance community participation. According to Ann Wanjiru from the Mathare Mother Center, a member of GROOTS Kenya:

"The Local-to-Local Dialogue is a long process [that] begins with the communities having a lot of problems continuously. Then they identify who has the solution for their problems. To mobilize the communities we come together, we sit down, and then agree- we identify the issues. Then...we identify...which relevant authority we can invite to help us get a solution...and who is the key person to call for the dialogue."

What makes L2L Dialogues successful?

The Local-to-Local Dialogue is a uniquely powerful tool for building grassroots capacity because it is initiated, developed and led by grassroots women and community members. The success of this approach is the result of sustained engagement between communities and decision makers.  

For nearly a decade, with the support and coordinated efforts of the Huairou Commission and UN-HABITAT, Huairou Commission member organizations such as GROOTS Kenya and Czech Mother Centers have initiated and engaged in L2L Dialogues in their own countries, as well as developed training resources to share the Local-to Local methodology. 

As stated in the manual: "When we document our own realities, build consensus, and form alliances, we build a power base to access resources and create solutions that we own and manage. Our engagement as grassroots women in local decision-making results in governance in which the state, civil society, and grassroots people work in partnership."

Who can use the manual?

The L2L Dialogue Resource Manual is designed for grassroots women's groups and community-based organizations, along with the local authorities and institutions that work with them.

NGO Consultation Day - program highlights

The NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York

Welcomes young women and men,
boys and girls and university students

To NGO CSW Forum Consultation Day
in preparation for the UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting


26 February 2012
9 – 5 pm
The Salvation Army
(120 West 14th Street, New York, NY)
 

• Learn about the international women’s movement and the United Nations
• Participate in advocacy training for youth
• Share your ideas on international issues such as rural women and economic empowerment, human rights, peace and security, and health

Program highlights:

• Michelle Bachelet, UN Undersecretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women
• Mirna Cunningham Kain, Chair, Indigenous Peoples Forum and NGO CSW Forum Woman of Distinction Awardee
•  Bineta Diop, Peace advocate and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world (invited)

Register online: www.ngocsw.org.
 The fee is $80 (includes lunch)
 

Order of Work for the CSW

It is good to know the order of work when following the CSW, and you can find it here.

If you look at the outline, (part way down the page) you will see many of the sessions are webcast.