GEWR+English+Subgroup+Page

English SubGroup Summary Page
Return to Event Main Page

//We'll copy in summaries of the discussions from the English group here. This will be the same for each small, language-specific group (which each have their own page on the wiki). Then you can use "Google Translate" to make machine translations and get at least a rough sense of what was said in the other conversations.//

Please note, the discussion messages are further down the page, beneath the invitation.
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Event Invitation
Dear friends and colleagues,**
 * 16 January 2008

Welcome to our online event on Women's Rights and Gender Equity and the 2008 World Social Forum. This email contains some advance information about the event, plus news of a slight date change. Our main interaction tool, D Groups, will be down for maintenance 24-27 January so we are going to start a bit early and run a bit later with a break in the middle. **So our new dates are Sunday 21 January - Monday 28 January.**

So read on! I also suggest you keep this email as reference during the event. There are quite a few details! :-)

In 2007 the World Social Forum (WSF) took place in Nairobi, Kenya. This global venue offered a key opportunity to explore strategies for achieving social justice, international solidarity, gender equity, peace and defense of the environment on a global scale. In preparation for the WSF, a number of development organizations, human rights networks, and other civil society groups formed the Human Dignity and Human Rights Caucus (HDHRC). Several members of the HDHRC worked together to prepare events on “Human rights and the struggle for gender equity”, one of the six themes of the HDHRC programme in 2007. Information about the HDHRC's past and present activities is available on its blog: [|http://hdhrc.over-blog.com] as well as on equalinright's website [|http://www.equalinrights.org/content/WSF_2008.html.]
 * Background**

This year, no global WSF meeting is being organized. Instead, organisations are invited to plan local activities. The Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO) and equalinrights, two organisations who participated last year in the “Gender Equity Coalition” are now coordinating our global online conversation.The conversation is open to any individual or organisation working for gender equity/women’s rights, especially those that have participated in past WSFs and/or plan to attend WSF 2009 in Brazil.

The objectives of our online conversations are:
 * Online Event Objectives**
 * Sharing information about local plans and results for 26 January 2008.
 * Identifying opportunities for continued sharing and networking.
 * Collective brainstorming about how to bring gender and women’s issues more to the forefront at the next centralized WSF, to take place January 2009 in Brazil.
 * Concrete action planning for shared initiatives to take place at the WSF 2009. A possible example is to establish a platform or coalition on gender equity.


 * Online Event Agenda**
 * Pre-event preparation: We'd like you to post a brief self introduction on the wiki and post project information on the wiki (or send to me, Nancy and I will do it). The wiki main URL is [|http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Gender+Equity+and+Women%27s+Rights] and our introductions url is [|http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/GEWR+Participant+Bios] You can always go to this page and get the latest information about the event.
 * You can also CREATE information! All you have to do is click the "edit this page" button towards the middle top of each wiki page. Check back and see who else has added their name. Use the machine translate tool at the top of each page to read it in YOUR language - it won't be perfect, but it's pretty good.
 * **Need help?** There will be a technology tips page to help you use the wiki and our other tools [|http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/GEWR+Tech+Tips]. You might find it useful to read through these tips, because we have a slightly complicated set of tools to enable us to work in English, Spanish and French. You can even put yourself on a map of participants [|http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/GEWR+Map] You can also email me, Nancy, at any time. I'm happy to help. Nancyw@fullcirc.com
 * **Day 1-2, Sunday 20 Jan - Monday 21 Jan:** Welcome and "get to know." We invite each member to post that they have "arrived" on our shared D-Group and what you are most excited about for this year's World Social Forum in terms of Gender Equity and Women's Rights. This will be in our shared D-Group (The one this mail is coming from). You are each encouraged to post in the language that is most comfortable for you. We'll copy all the messages at the end of the day on the wiki for both auto translation and community members offering their own translations where possible.
 * **Day 3-4, Tuesday 22 Jan - Wed 23 Jan - Language SubGroups:** During these two days our conversations will focus on your ongoing work, especially projects for the WSF 2008 Global Week of Action that focus on Gender Equity and Women's Rights. We have set up three subDGroups - one in English, Spanish and French. We have subscribed you to one of these groups based on what we know. (Let us know if we put you in the wrong group after the welcome message!) Each group will be asked to summarize their conversation to share with the group on Day 5 and to post for translation on the wiki.
 * **24-27 January:** Starting 15:00 GMT on the 24th, DGroups will be down as it move to a new server home! Don't worry, your messages won't be lost
 * **Day 5, 28 January:** Reconvene on the "all languages" DGroup and reflect on the range of activities. What might this suggest for 2009? Messages will be reposted on wiki for auto translation. We'll discuss if we want to consider coming back to this discussion space after Global Week of Action to report on event outcomes and further reflections/learnings for 2009.
 * **Wrap up/Catch up on 29 January:** An extra day, because we always run out of time! Feel free to offer any closing reflections and good byes.
 * **Post event:** We'll send out a short reflection/evaluation survey to notice how we might get better and better and collaborating like this, both in terms of Women's Rights and Gender Equity and this "online stuff!"


 * Need help?** Email Nancy at nancyw@fullcirc.com

See you online! //Nancy// for the Event Team

English Group Messages
Here the brief summary as promised:
 * From Blanca Dole:**

COFEMUN (Feminist Group of University Women of Honduras) started working on promotion of Women's Rights since the 1990's. We started as a group of young students at the National University of Honduras, where we did investigations and organized meetings, and launched proposals within the University, but then we realized we also had to look outside the university, at the broader world, if we wanted to reach more people.

One of our important values is "knowledge is power", and from this departure point we started meeting with differents groups of women, from poor neighbourhoods, but also peasant women, members of cooperatives, students, members of labour unions… and we tried to link the issues we discussed with the international agreements to which the Honduran government has committed itself. We met with feminists at the local, regional and international level and exchanged experiences, ideas, etc.

We also developed a methodology to involve illiterate women in our discussions and activities. The instruments we use are the international agreements and conventions, national agreements, investigations, music, video, theater, radio programmes, story telling, etc.

Over the years we started to incorporated emotional health as a fundamental point for the women of our team and also for the women we work with. We have developed a lot of experience in alternative health therapies, which help us to understand that our bodies, minds and spirits form an integrated unity, which has to be taken into account within the integraty of our projects.

For six years we have been working with a group of rural women leaders in one of the poorest regions of our country. This work showed that through processes you can develop capacities and empower women in order to exercise their responsibility as citizens. These 30 women leaders, who represent 5.000 women, now some of them pose as candidates for municipal elections, they attend national women's movement meetings and train younger omen in their communities.

Tomorrow we will inform you of our plans for the future and of what we did with our experience of having participated during the WSF in Porto Alegre and Nairobi.

Blanca Dole

COFEMUN

Dear Friends,
 * From Tran Thi Lanh**

Thank you very much for your translation of this very unique processess that the smaller team who can create the new worlds where poor women can standing and sharing their powers whenever the opportunities are willing to offer.

My work in Vietnam, seems to be similarity with you, but different levels.

We starting from most difficult vulnerable women without reading and speaking, they only smilling. They always smilling and smilling to help them to over all the suffered that the socity, the family, the institutional behave imposed to them.

Their smilling is moving our hope from :

The first step:

A very group of women at 5 to 10 seating and gathering chicken eggs, all chicken egg will provide for 2 or 3 poorest women.

Learning together how to make chicken egg to be come a chicken, then from the chicken to be come chicken mother to bring another eggs and then helping each other to processing from egg to babychicken....

The second steps: women among, sharing the way how they develop from several egg become baby chicken, and how to promote from on baby chicken in to 20 - 25 baby chicken;

The third step: Women share the challenges that they deal with how to manage the original egg which was given by the groups

The fourth step: How to manage the risk during nurturing the baby chicken

The fiveth step: how to calculation the prices, inflation and management fees between egg and chicken for the whole processess

The sixth step: They start to connection among poorest women from different communities; they together to share how is the best coordination among themselves

The seven step: They together to voice their concerns for help and consulting them in order to footing further to pig, cow and bufferlows...

The eigh step: They want to make garden with manuals from pig, chicken, cow and bufferlow

They gardenging by their own experiences, knowledges in their geographical condition, then their garden become very nice,

The nine step: They asking for the Rights to Land and Forest, as they realized that, Land is their life and their future rights to nurture their culture, their livelihood, and their environment;

One day, the local government imposed the Sugarcan program in to their communities, the women do not like the surgarcan as they analysed that, the surgarcan is not fit with their natural and soil condition and such seasonality in their land, they together to fighting against the program.

Then 3 years later, all Surgarcan of the government is failured. Surgarcan factories could not running because surgarcan is not good enough. Farmer who were obey to follow surgarcan became very poor. The factories could not pay back money when they bough surgarcan from their farms.

The group of women become very uniques. Their image became very inspiring in the surrounding communities.

Some of the women became a leader in their communities, some of them became local parliamentarians, they still keep sharing and exchanging among at larger scales across communities, identities, geographical localities....

They voiced their concern in to local government, local tivi that they need to dialogue their ways of working together in order to share with all poorest women in different localities in Vietnam how important women at the same situation and the same suffered who seat together and shared from an chicken egg.

They develop amomong themselve saving trust to credit account to welcome any women who can access with very confident pround.

Many teacher at the local, citizen trust the group of women and they deposit money in to their trust.

One day, they discovered that, the plantation since 10 years ago from State Forest Enterprise in their land. These land used to belong to their ancestral. This plantation used to be rent women as the labors, now the time to harvest. They start to argue with the State Forest Enterprise about "fair behave in the benefit which the plant to sell to the buyer". The story starting from that point of view???!!!

The ending of the processes is:

The women start to analyse the historical context of the imposed plantation program to their ancestral land and after 10 years harvesting and benefit sharing in fair behave.

Story became very headache for many stakeholder included local authority, especially the story expanding to larger scale where many other women faced similarity situation.

The story is movingforwards in to conflict over the lands for livelihood security, for biodiversity... and so on...

The women asking to openning a forum for their dialogue. During forum, alots of situation hepenning, landless and the reason why landless, how ancestral land taken aways by who, why so... so on...

The women come up with impressive question to all different stakeholder who were involving in to the black game:

Why our children have to leave our community to looking for their surrvival?

Why our children becoming a social evil???

Why our land now belonging to anothers???

Why and how we lose our cultural practices???

Why beside or house, land belonging to people from the cities???

The whole above stories, telling you that, when the women have equal opportunity and rights, they can move the world from one to another in a vey wise and inspiring processes.

Many of them now become leadership in offcial at loca and they integrated the way to participate, facilitate in peace and real democracy.

That is our SPERI witness so far many years working with poorest women in isolation and not ownership so far.

Thanks and regards

Dear Ms Nancy White,

Herewith our local women action for change and making change in the future behave step by step. I am available onlie skype under "ttlanhsperi" is my username

Regards

Dear Nancy and friends,

A world without discrimiation and inequity between men and women, between majoriy and minority, between human and nature.

SPERI's findings so far, are calling for connection among minority indigenous female old and young, promoting the link between Civil Society Activist who are engaging life with the women.

Pictures of our SPERI' action together with grassroot women may share with all of you in the world.

Together we will moving the world in to the women's hand and head and footing all in a better behave

God blessing our Genderequity@dgroups.org online and make this week become an unique conversation for women

See file attach of our pictures

Regards Why SPERI wants to focuss on such issues:

Young female at the age of 16 to 34, there are "about 15 millions" in Mekong River, if they are become a workers in the industrial factories, it means that they will cutting the link betwee their Ancestral Land and their own identity, religion values that their Ancestral Spiritual have been adapting with their surrounding natural and environmental friends.

Without the "Opportunities and Rights to Lands, forest and environment, how they could maintaining and improving their cultural and behave's practices in their life???!!!

So, the common issue will be "young female and the rights to equal to Land - Forest and Environmental practices" which will will contribute direct to Ancestral Religion and Traditional Ethical Behave of the women

regards

Dear Ms Nancy,

Actually we are already for fulltime online per the week January 21 to 27 - Genderequity@dgroups.org mission.

Please feel free to self - decision making of what you see effectiveness during the week online as our understanding that the week become very unique opportunity for all of women activist on the women issue and by, for and for women in all overal of the worlds.

My skype username is "ttlanhsperi" and please not that, between Asian - Latin American and European are always different time. For example: Asian are different 12 hours with Latin American, 7 hours from African and 6 hours with European, so on.... So if we Skype, please clarify these different by nature.

From SPERI understanding, the common issue which suffering our minority indigenous women is "Lacking of Opportunity and Rights"

"Lacking of Opportunity and Rights" in :

1. Education and langguages; 2. Access to Land and Natural Resourses; 3. Participation in to any decision making for their present, future dreaming; 4. There are "around 30.000.000" minority indigenous women in Mekong River in Southeast Asian, They are footing and alonging with their surrounding environment which are very rich and diverse characteristic entities and identities alonging Mekong watershed.

Of which - 30 millions women, there are "about 15 millions women at the age of from 16 to 34, who are really the one to lead their society and their identity by their own. Why? The women only by nature can bearing the biological future of human being and exist??!!! isnit"?

What happenned with them, when the Hydropower - Mining - Industrial Plantation Companies - coming and bring money to buy their landscape, their natural capital and their spiritual values for economical - financial purposes. Moving them out from their Ancestral Communities and bargaining with them for the future's Job employment committement?!.

Then they become slavery and victims for the COMPANIES?!

Solution will be how to linking these women from different across border, strengthening them by sharing, networking, building up the pilots action at communities level? Linking them with PRESS MEDIA in different reprensentative location in elsewhere. That is all SPERI have been, doing and going to action

What about your opinions ?!

That is for now and seeing you later

Good week online to all

Warmest Regards

Dear Leonida,

The idea to post all guilty action to abuse women and girls in to global public media is very wise solution.

From SPERI perspective, we are fully support your opinion. And this is the public tribunal via internet forum.

Peace and Love

Dear Friends,

Our SPERI working and approaching the three levels:

At local Grassroot action on rights to natural resourses and environmental issues

At Governaning processes: Policy Analysis regarding the landless and livelihood which affected by Hydropower - Mining and Commercial Plantation Across Border of Mekong Regions via case studies;

At Intellectual power: Lobbying the opportunities and degree for minority indigenous women and Young Farmers via Farmer Field School

Who we are working with:

All vulnerability minority indigenous community such Hmong, Dzao, Thai, Tay, Nung, Khomu, Malieng, EDE, Mnong, Giarai, Bana, Laolum in the border of Yunnan - China, Laos PDR, Cambodia, Thailands

Which is the key issue we are dealing:

Their local situated knowledge towards using, managing and developing their own resourses; Their customary laws towards their criteria of using and designing their future life; Their belief norm towards their ethical regulations; Customary law based Land Allocation towards individual houseshold based, women groups based, youth groups based, ecological farmer groups based and community as whole based approaches; Ethical and social impact assessment of any Hydropower - Mining and Commercial Plantation development program which topdown resettlement minority indigenous people out from their ancestral lands Traditional social political impact assessement of those above program and compensation languages

How we are working with such abvove concerned:

We facilitate the sharing and network among people, strengthening and promoting their own processes in order to building up community organization among themselves and lobby local authority, local media, local parliarmentarians to support their action towards natural resourses and environmental protection between regions.

Supporting any local youth initiative in order to develop a young future leadership of women via Herbal Association, Handicraft textitle and traditional farming manners.

What for the local grassroot long term visionary planning:

By above ways of working, we would like to see what is democritization and what is peacebuilding from the grassroot perspective and indicators

Where we are now:

SPERI now we are following different 5 network committees;

1. Customary Law and Natural Resourse Management: Engaging Elders Female and Male from Thailands, Lao, Yunnan - Vietnam working together in order to recording, writing stories among their identities in order to public their none - written customary laws and engaging the document in to primary school and SPERI's Farmer Field School for learning and practicing;

2. Herbal Cultural Network and Biodiversity Protection across borders: Engaging Elder Female and Male and inter linking with younger farmers via Farmer Field School in order to transfer their traditional wisdom to young

3. Traditional Agricultural System of minority indigenous network- Elders are teaching, younger are learning and together practicing in Farmer Field School

4. Networking between Farmer Field School from different geographical and local conditions in order to share and exchange;

5.Handicraft textitle network and natural cotton and coloring training courses

All above fives are contribute in to the future rights and environmental justice among grassroot minority indigenous people in Mekong rivers

What exactly SPERI indicators in above action:

There are around 37,000 hecta of the forest and land have been allocated to around 10,000 individual households in Lao PDR and Vietnam which female and male are equity to access to the official rights of usage rights for 50 year official certificate;

There are arounds 10,000 key farmer membership who are confident to lobby local government on doing good things;

There are around 60 females are engaging and becoming official members of the different authority at the locals;

Hmong customary law in Long lan community, Luangphrabang province have been approved such the official law in the forest protection and land use planning by locals

What SPERI want to do next:

To network with African, Latin American, and Asian Women who are focussing on Ancestral Land Issues and Minority Indigenous Religion Concerns via this online internet; Seeking the rights women in order to develop an internet forum, scheduling the time to develop a skype system in order to promoting more comfortable dialogue among themselves;

Outcomes of the Skype will help NGOs and Civil Society Activist to findings ways of how to connect them with Media, Scholars, Authority, Researchers, student working together in order to help them to finding ways to organize their own problem in the next WSF 2009 to be come effectiveness

From SPERI, we are always warm welcoming any of you who really want to connect with our above networking

Looking forwards to hearing from you and we wishes english - genderequity flatform is inspiring and making change for our women in the world, especially the women of the third worlds

Regards

Aseprola, an NGO based in Costa Rica.**
 * Here a summary into English of interesting information posted by

Regional campaign against labour flexibility (information by Aseprola, Costa Rica)

This campaign is a Central American initiative, which unites labour unions, NGOs, women's organisations and others related to labour issues.

Goal of the campaign is to alert the labour world and the public in general on the tendencies to make labour relations in Central America 'flexible' and on the impact this has on work conditions and the lifes of the working population. Also, the campaign hopes to help initiate strategies by labour organzaionts to confront this situation. More information on www.laboralred.net

As part of the WSF 2008 activities, the Campaign is planning to organize a video conference on January 25 at 10.00 AM Costa Rican time (16.00 GMT), in order to discuss the rights of female and male workers within the framework of free trade, labour flexibility and the deterioration of the social conquests.

In the video conference, organizations from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica will be participating, as well as Colombian women representing the Campaign Trade with Justice "My rights are Non-negotiable".

Another upcoming event is the Centroamerican Women's Court "Against patriarchal capitalist discrimination within labour human rights". This is an initiative of GALFISA, which tries to follow-up on the Court which took place during the WSF 2006 in Venezuela. Central American women will be participating in this event, which is planned in anticipation of the Women's Court during the next Central American Social Forum that will take place in Guatemala in October 2008. Women will give testimony of repressing situations.

Dear friends,
 * From Faridul Alam**

Warm greetings from Chittagong, Bangladesh!

Promoting Human Rights and Education in Bangladesh (PHREB) is a Chittagong based Human Rights organization that aims at empowering young women and girls and youth to prevent and end all forms of human rights abuses especially against women and children to promote all human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.

Since its inception in 2004, PHREB has been striving to prevent and end all forms of violence against women and promote gender equality in a country where women have very little human values.

Women in Bangladesh regardless of age, religion or socio-economic status and educational qualifications, have limited scope for voice, agency and access. Social constructions of class, gender and normative values create an environment with limited scope for change. In the country, where an estimated 60% of the population is illiterate, where economic growth is limited, where corruption is rife, where inadequate educational, health and welfare services exist, life for the overwhelming majority takes the form of a difficult struggle. In such circumstances, along with imbued cultural conservatism, the role of young women in particular lacks independent agency. The role of the female in society remains restrained under the gaze of their male counterparts. A substantial proportion of women remain in the domestic, non-monetary sphere, unrecognised as significant contributors to the economic realm. The male remains the powerful, authoritive figurehead. Women are rarely seen ! in the public domain, on the street, in shops, using public transport. Women rarely participate in leadership positions in the public office or elsewhere. This inherent discrimination against women has established a need for human rights and gender equality education in schools both primary and high schools to educate youth on the rights of women.

In 2005, PHREB started a project titled Youth for Human Rights and Gender Equality. Under the financial support of ICCO the Netherlands PHREB has engaged school age children in human rights and gender equality education so that they become valuable advocates for peace, justice and human rights. From 2005 to December 2007 PHREB has reached more than 15000 students of 35 high schools in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Hill tracts.

PHREB belives that if we can change the mindset of todays' youth and children we can break the silence of gender based violence against women.

Young women and girls in Chittagong and around the country are at high risk to various forms of sexual coercion and abuse, including rape, sexual assault, incest, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual slavery. PHREB has been organizing the victims of gender based violence to transform them into leaders for change. WE have developed a strong organization run by and for adolescent girls to aware adolescent girls, communities and advocacy to stop all forms of violence against women.

Many young girls in Bangladesh face physical and sexual abuse within the family in all social groups. Sexual abuse of girls by family members, especially incest, often remains a closely guarded family secret. The family is the basic social unit, where children are protected and nurtured, yet girls are exposed to abuse within that unit, exploiting their trust and vulnerability. Such abuse is impossible to obstruct by any external unit. These crimes go undetected and unpunished. In Bangladeshi culture and society, the abused girls have to take the blame, are disowned by their families and many leave their homes. Without any means of livelihood, they often turn to commercial prostitution and some commit suicide.

Sexual abuse and harassment also stems from groups of miscreants that are rampant in the Chittagong region. Gangs often lurk in shadows, open fields, in front of schools, colleges, university, workplaces and homes, waiting to humiliate young women and girls. Stories of young girls killing themselves after being subject to such psychological torture and sexual harassment are becoming more and more common. These deaths provide evidence of how Bangladesh has become a fertile land for rape, humiliation and social injustice. The crime of harassing young women to the point of suicide continues unabated because the victims and their families are not influential. There is no social justice for repressed young women and girls in Bangladesh. Law enforcers can be bribed or politically pressured. In general, society is not supportive of the victims. Many stories are not even reported, for fear of being pursued by the culprits, or to protect the families’ reputation.

The victims of acid attacks, a rising problem in the region, are primarily adolescent girls who have rejected sexual advances or marriage or love approaches. Throwing of sulphuric acid on the face and body of young females has become an increasingly popular way of expressing anger or frustration by males, from jilted lovers, ex-husbands or others.

Domestic violence, which is not recognised as a crime, remains the biggest threat to women’s security. Over 70% of the reported domestic violence cases concerning 13-18 year old women involved the murder of wives by their husbands. The most common causes of violence are the inability to meet dowry demands, tension in polygamous marriages, non-payment of dower, financial stress, custody of children and suspicion of adultery. Physical punishment is also used to discipline unmarried adolescents in the parental home.

Discrimination on the basis of sex is prevalent in all societies and often starts at the earliest stages of life. A woman’s worth and status is considered to be lower than a man’s. As a result, a female child is devalued. Preference for sons operates at all levels of society – rich or poor, urban or rural. The female child more often than not comes into the world unwelcome and becomes neglected.

PHREB seeks cooperation from all organizations and individuals to continue its efforts for the promotion of gender equality, women rights, peace and justice.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Regards

Faridul Alam Founder & Managing Director House NO. A/13, 3rd Floor, Road 1 Block A, Chandgaon R/A, Chittagong 4212 Bangladesh

www.phreb.org

Leonida, based on the unrest in Kenya, what do you see as the current and most pressing issues/needed action for women? What kinds of support or responses from outside of Kenya (like from this community) might be useful?
 * From Nancy**

Dear Ms. Tran Thi Lanh

Thanks for this terrific overview of your work. I uploaded your document to the full genderequity group so it is available to everyone.

It is great that you noted what SPERI wants to do next. Perhaps this event will give you and others a chance to see how you might do some of this in common? We might want to repost this in the Spanish language group to connect with the Latin American women (I can do that if you wish).

Do you plan to do your Skype calls in different languages? Or in sub groups like we are doing here? When is the first one scheduled?


 * Update on Kenya from Ebony Initiative (I made this its own page as there is quite a bit)**