Leading  Issues Journal  

International Women’s Day 8 March 2004

Statement by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM  

International Women’s Day 2004 marks a crucial year for women. Everywhere, women are confronting the challenges of our global world, from deepening poverty and economic uncertainty, the rising toll of HIV/AIDS on their lives and those of their children, to the violence they experience in everyday life. At the same time, in all regions, the gains that women have made over the last two decades are under attack. On International Women’s Day this year, we declare our determination to meet these challenges, and move forward.

This year marks the beginning of worldwide preparations to commemorate, in 2005, the 10^th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing. The largest conference in the history of the United Nations, the Beijing conference mobilized the global women’s movement in dynamic new ways, channeling the demands and protests articulated over the Decade for Women into strategic alliances and collective power. The result was the commitment of all nations to the advancement of women as outlined in the Platform for Action for Development, Equality and Peace. In 1995, women’s voices were heard. 

A decade later, these voices must be heard again. UNIFEM came into being because women worldwide demanded a voice at the United Nations As we prepare for Beijing +10, the voices of women in all parts of the world must continue to be sought out, to be heard and to be heeded. This has been the guiding principle behind all UNIFEM programmes since its inception.

Too often I have listened to women describe how their experiences are not part of the policy discussion. Whether talking about the unequal impact of globalization, the ravages of war and armed conflict, or the reality of living with HIV/AIDS, they feel marginalized and excluded from decision-making that affects their lives. And yet, it is well-known that the most effective policy approaches come from listening to those who have experienced such problems first hand, who can provide needed perspectives, improve understanding and offer creative solutions.  

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of women’s networks across the world, proof that women are banding together and fighting to be heard - on the frontlines in their communities, in government and national institutions, in schools, in international fora and through the media, their voices are not only those of victims, but of survivors, leaders, advocates, and change agents. 

This year, women are coming together at the CSW to make themselves heard on HIV/AIDS, which is increasingly affecting primarily women and girls. Ten years ago, women worldwide made up 38 per cent of people infected with the disease. Today they make up 50 per cent. In some regions this ratio has tilted further towards women: in the Caribbean it is 52 per cent, in Africa, 58 percent. Ten years ago, women seemed peripheral to the epidemic. Today, the disproportionate effects on women have put them at its epicenter. For young women the situation is particularly alarming. Young women in the developing world already outnumber young men among newly infected 15-24 year olds by two to one. Women, especially girls, are biologically more susceptible to HIV infection than men. In addition, the social impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls is greater—they are the ones who assume the burden of care when family members are affected by the disease, putting severe constraints on their access to education, employment, food cultivation, and often treatment. Violence against women, both a cause and a consequence of the epidemic, adds another major risk factor for transmission. Rape, sexual assault and women’s inability to refuse unwanted sex or to demand safe sex are serious factors in the rampant spread of the epidemic.  

Women living with HIV/AIDS are not suffering in silence however. Extraordinary work is being done by HIV-positive women’s networks such as the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS, a global network run by and for HIV positive women. These women are demanding that they be listened to and their needs taken seriously. Building on their own experiences, they are demanding visibility and understanding of the issues related to the epidemic, identifying innovative solutions and advocating for a future in which they can live without stigma and violence, where they have easy access to drugs and treatment, where they can continue to contribute to their national economies, and where they, and their children, can live healthy and meaningful lives.  

We know the power of women’s voices. This year we especially applaud the power of women in Africa, who succeeded in securing adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of African Women. Women now make up 50 per cent of the Commissioners of the African Union (AU), in line with the AU policy decision on equal participation of women in decision-making positions. Most recently in Rwanda, women succeeded in winning 48.8 per cent of seats in Parliament, ranking Rwanda among the highest countries in the world in terms of women’s shares of seats in Parliament. In addition, 50 per cent of Rwanda’s High Court judges are now women. Elsewhere, too, women are finding ways to be heard. In Afghanistan, at the recent Constitutional Loya Jirga, Afghan women succeeded in inserting a provision in the new constitution that safeguards and holds equal the rights of men and women.  

Women have also made their voices heard on the issue of violence against women. As a result of constant advocacy by women’s rights groups over the last 20 years, more and more countries have some type of legislation concerning violence against women. At least 45 nations have specific legislation against domestic violence, 21 more are drafting new laws, and many others have amended criminal assault laws to include domestic violence.  

To make a real difference, we have to transform words into action and results. This requires governments and the international community at large to stand by their commitments and to allocate resources to translate them into action. On International Women’s Day 2004, I call on the world community to pay close attention to what women are telling us about the situation they live in – their needs, hopes and visions of a better future. It is our responsibility to amplify their voices and to use them to guide our work and policies. Only then can we hope to achieve a world in which both men and women are able to lead the best lives they can.

Mary Robinson was President of Ireland (1990-97) and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). She is now honorary President of Oxfam International and Executive Director of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative which she founded. 

Further information:  Mary Robinson's Biography 

In this interview organised and conducted by OpenDemocracy.net, she talks about the 21st century human rights agenda – one that connects universal principles to the daily lives and needs of the world’s poorest people.  Her interview focuses on the following areas:

• Human rights and national sovereignty

• The American exception in not ratifiying three main instruments, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, or the Convention on the Rights of the Child, or the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women,

• Rights and civil society

• Human rights and faith

• Human rights and international trade

• Iraq

This interview forms part of an ongoing debate on the global forum website www.opendemocracy.net which is an online global magazine of politics and culture.

To view the interview see: Mary Robinson

 

At the Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) human security conference, "Clash or Consensus: Gender and Human Security in a Globalized World" on October 8-9 in Washington DC, Mary Robinson delivered the keynote address.

While the concept of security has been traditionally concerned with the security of states and the shoring up of borders, the notion of human security encompasses the social, political, economic, and cultural needs and rights of individuals and communities in our increasingly interconnected societies and provides a viable framework for achieving sustainable societal change.

Ms Robinson's address served as a call to action for individuals and organizations world wide who are working to implement human security. Ms. Robinson spoke about conflict and post-conflict situations such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, and Palestine and the particularly dire conditions they represent in terms of basic human security, particularly for women. She identified HIV/AIDS as a primary threat to human security, noting that women are the primary victims, yet they receive the least support at the communal, national, and international levels. As points of action to mitigate the gendered effects of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Ms. Robinson highlighted eliminating gender-based violence, fostering women's economic independence, acknowledging women's burden of care, and finally ensuring equal access to prevention and medical treatment. Ms. Robinson suggested that conference participants form a task force in order to generate innovative policy and programmatic recommendations for building human security around the world. She also spoke of the importance of holding governments accountable for re-defining human security and changing how they implement human security strategies. ( Source:learningpartnership.org)

To view the speech by Mary Robinson see: Clash or Consensus? Gender and Human Security in a Globalized World

Advocacy by Dr John Murphy

Advocacy, Workshop Paper by Dr John Murphy, Mornington Peninsula Community Connections, at the Network of Inner East Community Houses Inc, Victoria, 17th June 2003

Dr John Murphy worked in the printing industry for 10 years prior to obtaining a Bachelor of Social Work in 1981 and a PhD in 1992, both from Monash University. He is a former lecturer in management and community work at the Department of Social Work and Human Services, Monash University. Dr Murphy is manager of Mornington Peninsula Community Connections, an independent, non-profit and free management advisory service for grass-roots community groups in Australia. Together with Barrie Thomas, co-owner of the Australian franchise of The Body Shop, Dr Murphy founded the Mornington Peninsula Community Connections.

In this Paper,  Dr Murphy explains what 'Advocacy' is.

"For community workers, taking on an advocacy role generally means acting on behalf of the community, a group or an individual within the community. It means that the community worker is representing the interests of the person, the group or the community and putting their case for a better deal (Ife, 2002). 

Most commonly, this might involve appearing at hearings and tribunals, lobbying politicians or other people who have decision-making power, and lobbying government departments."

Murphy gives a range of advocacy examples and explains the methods of advocacy. When doing advocacy, groups can employ a number of methods such as writing letters to or having conversations with politicians, government departments, service provider groups and influential community people and organisations; public speaking and using the media.

A critical point made by Murphy relates to how effective you are with advocacy will depend on your "power to influence people."

To view Dr John Murphy's Paper see: Advocacy

 

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What are Tomorrow's Leaders Thinking Today?

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What are today's young people thinking and what are the implications for today's and tomorrow's leaders? Commissioned by Leadership Victoria and prepared by Quantum Market Research/YouthSCAN, a special Report on attitudes of young people to home and family life along with self-appraisal and aspirations was released in 2003. 

The Report featured Key Findings on the following areas:

Home and Family Life - 

Parents concern about young people; Parents and young people: discussion; How I’d like my family to change; How I’d like my parents to change 

Self Appraisal and Aspirations -

How happy are young people? How would young people change themselves? Who do young people admire?  Things to worry about; Important aspects of a job; Future expectations; Signs of success and accomplishment 

Confidence in Leadership Figures - 

Level of Confidence in Traditional Leadership Figures 

Social Values

To view this Report see: 

What are Tomorrow's Leaders Thinking Today?

        

V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.

Jane Fonda's Speech at the National Women's Leadership Summit Washington , D.C. June 12, 2003

In August 2003, 460 women gathered in Rhinebeck for the second annual Women & Power Conference to explore self-transformation and world healing. In a wellspring of enthusiasm, the group, featuring speakers from Alice Walker to Jane Fonda to Gloria Steinem, decided to hold a national convention next June. The purpose? To adopt a women's platform for the 2004 election.

The idea took root when a college student stood in the main hall of the Omega Institute and declared, "I want this to be the next Seneca Falls." The 1848 gathering in the Finger Lakes was a landmark convention that sparked the women's suffrage struggle.
"I feel like I've been searching for a movement," said Dina Pasalis, of Cleveland, echoing others' sentiments. "This is it. It's like we are starting a revolution."

For Alice Walker, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel "The Color Purple," the revolution is about peace, now, before the human species self-destructs. "We're too intelligent to think that war is the answer to anything," she told the group.

Each woman in the Omega meeting hall is a leader, says playwright Eve Ensler, who won an Obie for her modern female anthem, "The Vagina Monologues." "I believe, in my heart, mind, vagina and soul, that a new time is about to emerge."

It was Ensler who brought the conference to life and set the theme of a female approach to power. Having interviewed Pakistani acid-burn victims and African girls who suffered genital mutilation, Ensler said women react differently to violence than men. "They take that violation and they hold it in their bodies and they grieve it and they transform it," she said. "Rather than getting AK-47s (or) weapons of mass destruction, they go out and make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else."

The two-time Academy Award winner and exercise video magnate, Jane Fonda afraid that she has nothing to offer this audience, transformed the low-lit hall into a giant living room. Women began to share stories of marriages won and lost, of tension with daughters, of eating disorders and of smothering one's own voice.

"You did more than help (me) lose weight," Samu-t ShepRa tells her. A home health care operator from Trenton, N.J., ShepRa works out with her daughter to Jane Fonda exercise videos. "In my home," she says, "you are known as Sister Girl Jane."

Why not a female president? someone asks Fonda. "It's not about: When can we get a woman candidate?" Fonda replies. "It's about: When can we get the consciousness?"

Here is the core of that "female" consciousness: To lead with one's heart as well as one's mind, even in world affairs. It was Robert S. McNamara, defense secretary during the Vietnam War, who told The New York Times, "I try to separate human emotions from the larger issues of human welfare," Fonda noted.

Changing that consciousness will also save young boys from increasingly macho, violent American culture, she said. "It's the absence of heart that is at the heart of most of our conflicts." Empathy is the true revolutionary act.

  Jane Fonda announced the launch of a large-scale women's political convention for June 2004 that will serve to mobilize and inspire women and girls around the 2004 election. This WHP partnership with V-Day will ensure that women's concerns will be on the radar screen of Republicans and Democrats alike - and will build a spirit and energy that will hold the candidates accountable to women. We are inviting everyone to get on board and will keep you updated on developments.

 V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a palpable energy, a fierce catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sexual slavery. V-Day provides funding to create and nurture innovative programs to stop the violence.

The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.  

http://www.vday.org

Source: Women of the world A weekend empowerment conference inspires its participants to think big By KATE GURNETT 06/08/03 Times Union

To view Jane Fonda's Speech see:  Leadership Summit

United Nations Awardees for the 2003 Prize 

in the Field of Human Rights

On December 2nd, 2003, the UN announced six recipients for its quinquennial (5 years) prize in the field of human rights. The six awardees were honoured at ceremonies that took place at UN Headquarters in New York on December 10, 2003, International Human Rights Day. Three of the awardees were women and/or women’s groups. They are:

1. The Mano River Women’s Peace Network (MARWOPNET), a network of women’s organizations from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea working for regional peace and security through advocacy, conflict prevention and resolution and peace building. MARWOPNET has been active at both the grassroots level and the highest levels of government and in 2001 played an instrumental role in bringing the three leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to the peace table, thus averting the outbreak of hostilities between the three countries. More recently, MARWOPNET was a delegate, mediator and signatory to the Liberian peace talks in August 2003.

2. Ms. Shulamith Koenig, honoured for creating a global human rights culture through her establishment of the People’s Decade for Human Rights Education. Specific attention is drawn to her work to support the UN Decade for Human Rights Education; her initiation of the “Human Rights Cities” project, a 3-year global program to be implemented in 30 cities and train 500 young community leaders in strengthening human rights, civil society and democracy; and her tireless work with human rights advocates and community leaders in more than 60 countries to promote societal change through human rights education.

3. Sra. Enriqueta Estela Barnes de Carlotto for her work as President of the Association of Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers. The association was established in response to the forced or involuntary disappearance of hundreds of children following the military coup in Argentina in 1976 when children were either abducted with their parents, or born in clandestine detention centres for young pregnant women. Since then, Sra. Barnes de Carlotto and the Association of the Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers have located many missing and kidnapped children and restored them to their rightful families.

Source:www.un.org, IWTC Women's GlobalNet