Picturing Progress

photographs of art works courtesy of Isa Brito and the International Museum of Women

"AgiaTalassini" (bronze sculpture) by Oxana Narozniak, Brazil

"At the beginning of the 21st century, we will mount an exhibition which demonstrates that women are accomplished as artists, thinkers and presenters of alternative policies for the health of the planet."

These are the words of Anne B. Zill, curator of "Progress of the World's Women," an exhibit co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the San Francisco, U.S.A.-based International Museum of Women (IMOW). The exhibit, which features more than 70 works from 62 women artists from around the world, was launched at the United Nations on June 5th, when its General Assembly began a special review of the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference. The works will commemorate the publication of a biennal report from UNIFEM entitled "Progress of the World's Women." The exhibit will be on view in the Visitor's Lobby of the U.N. until June 25, 2000. The IMOW website will also launch a special web edition of the exhibit on June 5th.

"The Dancers" (painting) by Aseen Jumabekov of Kyrgyzstan

As long-time women's rights advocates gather at the U.N., the exhibit promises to be a visual and emotional feast. Sculptures, paintings, photographs, multimedia works as well as crafts make up this groundbreaking exhibit. As curator, Zill and a team of approximately eight fellow activists from UNIFEM and IMOW have focused on quality over quantity. They've assembled works from women who are up and coming, well known in their native country or firmly established in international art circles. The resulting artist's roster is a smorgasboard of talent and progress from Ethiopia, Cuba, Vietnam, Finland, India, Kyrgysztan, Peru, Oman, the Ivory Coast, Mongolia, Brazil, Iran, Haiti and China, among others.

CLICK HERE FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF SOME WORKS FROM THE EXHIBIT AND THE INSIDE SCOOP ON HOW A SMALL TEAM OF ACTIVISTS PUT TOGETHER A WORLD CLASS EXHIBIT IN JUST THREE MONTHS.

NGOs RESPOND TO BEIJING PLUS FIVE OUTCOME DOCUMENT

New York, June 10--After an all-night negotiation session, United Nations delegates from 180 countries reached agreement on the Outcome Document which culminated a week's worth of meetings reviewing governmental implementation of the Platform for Action, adopted at the 1995 U.N. women's conference in Beijing, China.

The following is a statement by leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as issued from the Linkage Caucus, an NGO coordinating group.

NGO Statement

As women from around the world who have been active in the "Beijing +5" review process nationally, regionally, and internationallly, we re-commit ourselves to working for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and for the advancement of the human rights of all women. While there have been positive aspects to this review process, we want to register our disappointment with the Outcome Document agreed to by the governments at the United Nations today. We appreciate the hard work that many have put into this process and applaud those delegations that have fought to defend and advance commitments to women. However, we regret that there was not enough political will on the part of some governments and the U.N. system to agree on a stronger document with more concrete benchmarks, numerical goals, time-bound targets, indicators, and resources aimed at implementing the Beijing Platform.

Still, some important steps were taken. First and foremost, the Political Declaration reaffirms that governments have the responsibility to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, and thus, the Platform remains the reference point for governmental commitment to women's rights in all 12 critical areas of concern.

We will continue to utilize the Beijing Platform as well as other world conference documents and reviews in our work for women's empowerment and rights. We will also work to hold governments accountable to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (which 165 countries have ratified), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all other human rights treaties and standards. These instruments entail binding obligations on government signatories to respect, promote, protect and fulfill the human rights of women and girls. Many of these rights are elaborated in the Platform for Action. The commitments contained in all these documents are universal, inalienable and indivisible.

The Beijing +5 review provided both the opportunity and space for public assessment and discussion of the critical areas of concern outlined in the Platform. As a result, we have been able to air important issues locally and globally. Many governments have made reports on what they are doing to implement the Platform, and women's NGOs have produced over 100 alternative reports engaging in public debate about what still needs to be done.

Some of the regional meetings for this review resulted in documents which women can use to advance women's rights nationally and regionally. Even the obstacles that we have encountered in this review have taught us what we need to do to improve the current political climate in the world and to counter the intransigent minority who still oppose women's rights. And as always, women have taken this space to network and share experiences and strategies across cultural, racial, national and other boundaries.

It is women's movements that have placed women's empowerment and rights on the world's agenda over the past 25 years. Once more women have come to this rview in record numbers as we did fo the World Conference in Beijing. And it is women who will continue to take the leadership in working for these goals. We will not be turned back. We welcome support and partnership with men, with governments, the United Nations and other institutions as we continue the struggle to realize economic justice and all human rights for all women in all our diversity in the next decade.

Some of the issues strengthened in the Beijing Plus Five Outcome Document:

HEALTH

* Maternal Mortality is now a health sector priority (Paragraph 107 a)

* Education Programs now include clauses that enable men to practice safer sex (Pargraph 107 g)

* Diseases such as malaria are now being surveyed through a gender lens (Paragraph 107 a)

* The goals of the International Conference on Population and Development Plus Five have been affirmed

* Health sector reform includes a clause highlighting the impact of women's access to health services (Paragraph 115 d)

VIOLENCE

* Honor killings and forced marriages have been addressed for the first time in an international consensus document (Paragraphs 103 d and 130 a)

* Language calling on governments to take comprehensive steps to eliminate dowry related violence has been strengthened (Paragraph 130 a)

* Marital rape: Legislation and stronger mechanisms have been invoked to address all forms of domestic violence (Paragraph 103 c)

GLOBALIZATION

* Recognition of negative impacts on women and gender differences, ensuring equal access to social protection (Paragraphs 110 a & 118 k)

* Equal participation of women in macroeconomic decision making (125 g)

ECONOMY

* Rights to inheritance and property (Paragraph 102 k)

* Access to housing (Paragraph 135 d)

* Gender budgets (Paragraph 30 & 109 a)

* International Labor Organzation's Declaration on women's rights at work (Paragraph 127 b)

HUMAN RIGHTS

* Ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (Paragraph 102 g)

* Gender Related Asylum (Paragraph 102)

* Equality between men and women migrants (Paragraph 132 b)

* Increased recognition of specific needs and rights of indigenous women (Paragraphs 103 e and g & 128 h)

POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

* Quotas and other measures to increase women's participation in political parties and parliaments (Paragraphs 117 a)

For a complete copy of the outcome document, log on to www.women2000newsroom.org and click on the "Documents" file under the "U.N. press kit" button.

KEEPING GIRLS' RIGHTS IN THE MIX

Youth Advise the World Bank

By Erin Hosier

June 8, 2000 - New York - Today’s Youth Caucus panel on the World Bank surprised some. "I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to ask me why the Youth Caucus was planning a panel on the World Bank," said Shireen Lee, an organizer. "Youth are focusing on globalization and economy, now. These are the issues that really effect our lives. We haven’t been attending rallies because they’re fashionable - we've been concentrating on starting a real dialogue." MORE

Early Marriage: Whose Right to Choose?

June 7, 1999, New York--At a panel organized by UNICEF and a network of NGOs, activists discussed the effect of early marriage on girls and women worldwide. Georgina Ashworth, founder of CHANGE (UK) began the panel with background information on the forum and introduced the panel which included Purna Sen of CHANGE, Judith Bruce of the Population Council, Marilyn Thomson of Save the Children (UK), Naana Otoo-Oyortey of FORWARD and International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) and Gladys Acosta of UNICEF's Regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean. MORE

Young Women's Realities and Reccommendations Worldwide

By Erin Hosier

June 7, 1999, New York - Today’s panel entitled, "International Dialogue: Young Women’s Realities & Recommendations," organized by CSW's Youth Caucus, brought together 6 young women, several of whom were teenagers, to tell their stories of struggle and triumph. Panelists came from Argentina, Australia, Sierra Leone, Palestine, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Moderator Mariana Nasser, 19, of Brazil began by explaining the reason for the panel - to unite young women across the world in the knowledge that they are not alone. "We all have similar problems. We’re all looking for similar things - love, peace, fulfillment of our dreams. But the obstacles we face can seem insurmountable."MORE

Stopping the Sale of Innocents

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 6 - In a UNICEF-sponsored panel today, speakers discussed strategies to end trafficking of children, young girls and women, focusing on the realities that exist today in West Africa, Nepal, India, Thailand, Eastern Europe, Costa Rica and the United States. Panelists included Diara Afoussatou Thiero, Minister of Women's Affairs, Children and the Family in Mali, Valdet Sala, Program Director of the Soros Foundation in Albania, Anita Botti, Chair of the Working Group on Trafficking in President Clinton's Interagency Council on Women, Milena Grillo, an activist from PANIAMOR in Costa Rica, and filmmakers Ruchira Gupta and Frode Hojer Pederson, both of whom have made award-winning documentaries on the sexual exploitation of girls.

The picture they painted was at times a bleak one.

Conservative statistics estimate that 1 million persons are trafficked each year. Most of these are women and young girls, who are sold into prostitution. ActionAid, a UK-based NGO which works at the grassroots level throught South Asia defines trafficking as "the international trade of persons," where abduction, coercion, violence and exploitation take place both in sexual and economic ways. Since the Beijing Platform for Action, there has been an increased awareness about violence against women as a matter for governmental and international action. Within this domain, there has been an increased and concerted effort to bring trafficking to the attention of national bodies of power.

"Trafficking is the buying and selling of human beings, of boys and girls, of men and women," said Botti. "It is about human rights, migration, the economy. It is about corruption." The crossborder exchange of boys and girls does not occur in a vaccum. In fact, in many cases, border police are complicit actors in these crimes, accepting payoffs from procurers. What has become clear through the research conducted over the past five years is that trafficking is a global phenomenon and that it is an issue of universal human rights. MORE

Ending Female Genital Mutilation: What Can We Measure and How?

By Fatma Khafagy

New York, June 6--At the U.N. Secretariat, activists sponsored a lively panel discussion on ending female genital mutilation (FGM). It was organised by UNICEF, WHO, DfiD and the World Bank. The participation of the first lady of Burkina Faso, Madame Chantal Compare, demonstrated governmental willingness to end the practice. MORE

After Dakar: Educating the Next Generation of Girls

By Vigdis Cristofoli

New York, June 6--Just a few months ago, the World Education Forum (WEF) finished up its annual conference in Dakar, Senegal with a key list of results and recommendations. On Tuesday, at the Beijing Plus Five Special Session at the U.N., UNICEF organized panel as a follow-up to Dakar. The session was moderated by Mr. Kul Gautam, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. There were four panelists: Mrs. Nane Annan, wife of Secretary General Kofi Annan; Dr. Penina Mlama, Executive Director of Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE); Dr. Hoda Badran, Chair of the Alliance for Arab Women; and Dr. Sarah Tirmazi, Country Director of ActionAid-Pakistan. MORE

Girls as their own Advocates

By Sara Ann Friedman

In October 1995, the dream of 13- year-old Ugandan schoolgirl "Margaret" to become a doctor was brutally shattered. Abducted by the rebel force, known as the Lords Resistance Army, Margaret, along with 30 other children from her village, was trained as a soldier, survived on weeds and boiled sorghum, forced to drink her own urine, and taken as a "wife" of rebel soldiers. After nearly three years, she escaped and found her way to World Vision International, an NGO that has helped her to return to school and restore her dreams - addressing her impaired health, including STDs, and enormous guilt at her own survival while she watched her friends murdered, starving to death or dying in childbirth.

Margaret was one of several girls and young women, aged 12-18, whose powerful stories dominated the daylong symposium on Sunday June 4, "Girls as Advocates". But the power of their personal stories took a backseat to the power of their role as social activists and change agents in their own lives. MORE

Speaking Across Generations

By Erin Hosier

June 6, 2000, New York - It was standing room only in this afternoon’s panel on mentoring within the NGO community, sponsored by the Intergenerational Youth Caucus. Women (and a few men) representatives from all over the world came together to talk about the concept of cross-generational mentoring and collaboration. Roundtable remarks were opened by Jeanne Smith, a UN Representative on International Activities, who recognized that even though traditional mentoring is changing, women must continue to take responsibility as advocates for their sisters. She encouraged audience members to share their experiences with mentoring.

A representative from Zambia reported that mentoring traditions were being lost in the country's growing women’s movement. The young women resent the older women for what they perceive to be selfishness - only thinking of their traditions, not the political and personal needs of the new generation. Another representative from Uganda added to her statements: "Women’s experiences have not been documented. That’s the way we tell our story, by passing our experience on to the younger generation. We need a herstory. We need the new generation to tell our story, as well as their own stories." Several women added that there is still a problem with elitism within organizations, and young women get lost in the shuffle. MORE

Today's Girls, Today's Women

Building Bridges to a New Future

June 6, New York--Today, UNICEF organized a panel to focus on strengthening the convergence of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for activists in the field.

Panelists included Dr. Charlotte Abaka, an expert member of the CEDAW Committee from Ghana, Ms Mariela Sanderberg, an expert member of the CRC Committee from Brazil, Njoki Ndungu, an Advocate in the High Court of Kenya, who represented Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), and Gladys Acosta, UNICEF Gender Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean. MORE

WIDOW RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SEEK INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 8 -- When Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi first began to research the conditions of widows in Southeast Nigeria, she was the target of skepticism and discouragement. In a country, where a widow is accused of being her "husband's murderer" and often is subject to harrassment, neglect, and abuse following her spouse's death, it isn't easy to challenge the status quo. So, Nwadinobi didn't find it surprising when people told her, "You are not meant to ask questions. You are not meant to talk about this." In fact, when her husband got into a car accident some time later, she even heard some people suggest that the accident may have occurred because of her involvement in such a "horrific project." MORE

Beijing Plus Five or Minus Five: Outcome a Mixed Bag

by Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 9 - Take a walk in the corridors of the UN and you will see a veritable bee-hive of activity. Women hunched over papers, gathered in groups, faces stamped with passion, energy and in many cases, frustration. On this, the fifth and final day of the Beijing + 5 review, there is tension in the air. A tension that has nothing to do with what has gone on in the panel discussions and lectures all week, but everything to do with anticipation over what will and will not be included in the final outcome document that is released later today.The outcome document is meant to be a statement outlining further actions and initiatives to implement the Platform for Action which was adopted at the 1995 Conference for Women in Beijing, China.

Why the controversy? Over the past week, fervent negotiations have ensued over the exact language in the outcome document, language that is stuck on issues such as reproductive rights, abduction of girls, gay and lesbian rights, child soldiers, the feminization of poverty, and globalization. Fingers are being pointed at a group composed of the Holy Sea, Nicaragua, Iran, Algeria, Nicaragua, Sudan and Libya and sometimes Iraq. Amnesty International termed these countries an "unholy alliance" bent on undermining the human rights of women. Talk about the "bracketing" of particular language has made participants in Beijing +5 fearful that they will end the week with Beijing Minus Five. Since Monday, NGO representatives have been lobbying frantically to get their country delegates to listen to them, to support their causes and to stand up for their issues. The Outcome Document has been drafted and redrafted.

On Thursday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan stepped into the ring and urged Member States to ensure that the gains made by women in Beijing were "consolidated, protected and advanced further." Delegates were up till the wee-hours rewriting what seems to be the almost-final draft of the document, which was released at 3 am on Friday morning. It is hoped that the final report will be out by the end of the day. By reaffirming that governments have the responsibility to implement the Beijing Platform, the document holds governments to their commitment to the 12 areas of critical concern for women. NGOs of the Linkage Caucus released a statement near the end of the day on Friday, while the General Assembly continued its session which is expected to last past midnight. Their statement expressed disappointment with the Outcomes document and with the lack of political will on the "part of some governments and the UN system to agree on a document with stronger benchmarks, numerical goals, time-bound targets, indicators, and resources."

While the outcome document as it stands strengthens certain issues in the sphere of health, violence against women, globlization, economy, and human rights, still under discussion in the pending agreement are access to abortion, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and adolescent's access to services. "It has been a sobering experience for all of us to take part in this process. We thought that we had come here to review and formulate plans to move forward, but it hasn't been that," said Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights today. She warned women leaders and activists, "We are not necessarily making progress here. What this shows is that we are going to have to fight every step of the way." Whatever the final outcome of Beijing +5, this week - with all its programs, dialogues, and debates, formal and informal - has certainly re-energized women from around the world to keep working and keep speaking out.

Women Leading UN Agencies: Progressive Forces

by Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 9 - While country representatives to the UN took a lunch break from the last morning session of the General Assembly of Beijing + 5 today, women leaders of several UN agencies came together to discuss the challenges and successes of their leadership. In a panel discussion, the five directors of key UN humanitarian programs - Gro Harlem Brundtland of the World Health Organization (WHO), Nafis Sadik of the UN Population Fund (UNPF), Catherine Bertini of the World Food Programme (WFP), Carol Bellamy of UNICEF, and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR)- engaged in an intimate, forthcoming and honest dialogue with their audience and with one another. MORE

Indigenous Women Formalize an International Movement

by R. Erica Doyle

Indigenous women from the South Pacific, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Europe are using the Beijing+5 conference as a starting point to launch an international Indigenous Women's Movement. During a historic forum on June 1st and 2nd they formalized a previous working committee into an "Indigenous Women's Forum" to coordinate international organizing and ensure that the rights and voices of indigenous women are specifically included not only in the Platform for Action, but in upcoming conferences on racism and economic justice. The women see their international presence as directly complimenting the local work they do in indigenous rights, domestic violence, economic justice, sexual assault and abuse, HIV education, and cultural preservation.

According to Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie, coordinator of the Indigenous Women's Forum (IWF), though indigenous women have been a presence at other international conferences, including those on Indigenous Rights, this is the first time that their organizing will focus on international agreements.

There is an increasing gap in the levels of impoverishment between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. According to MacKenzie, Canada ranks first in human development indicators, but the indicators for the indigenous population put it in the 63rd position. "When we look at other indigenous groups, we see similar statistics," says MacKenzie. "We have the same higher rates of HIV infection --twice that of the non-indigenous population -- as aboriginal women in Australia. There has been tremendous suffering, and despite our diversity, the similarity in our experiences due to colonization and imperialism is remarkably similar."

The bond between women who are smuggling for cultural survival is strong, and it is this bond, along with similar philosophies of equal participation and spiritual connection that enables them to support and teach each other. Indigenous women in the Phillippines and Thailand, for example, are much more vulnerable to the ills of sex trafficking as they leave impoverished villages to seek employment. Indigenous women in war zones face increased decimation. And some countries, such as China, refuse to acknowledge the existence of indigenous peoples, only referring to them as "ethnic minorities." In countries like the U.S. and Canada, governments regularly decide what tribes can still exist in the official record books.

To ensure that the Platform for Action is responsive to the needs of indigenous peoples, the IWF has produced an Indigenous Women's Declaration and introduced terminology to address their specific concerns. High on the list of concerns is the deep poverty of these communities, the lack of culturally appropriate educational opportunities and health care, forced and coerced adoption of indigenous children by members of the country's ruling class. Other concerns include economic and environmental devastation suffered as a result of forced removal from ancestral lands, broken treaties, wars and "land development policies." The final issue is that of corporate claims on the natural resources of indigenous socieities.

Some of these sensitivities have been incorporated into the Platform for Action, but MacKenzie finds the refusal to include a call for governments to adopt "without further delay" the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples particularly disheartening. "They are unwilling to include anything that would acknowledge our rights as sovereign peoples to self-determination," says MacKenzie. "This would force them to revisit on an international level the dishonoring of treaties that, ironically, were signed because they recognized us as sovereign nations in the first place!"

Even long-standing NGOs seemed at first reluctant to acknowledge the specific issues of indigenous women. After intense lobbying and coalition building, the Indigenous Women's Caucus was offered a seat on the Council of NGOs (CONGO). In the future, indigenous women hope to use the experience they are gaining in the international arena to further challenge national governments to honor their human rights as both indigenous people and as women. Their work at Beijing+5 is only the beginning.

Women Can't Wait

by Pamela Grossman

Can the hearts of eight women from eight different nations be conveyed with one body? To ringing applause and a standing ovation, performance artist Sarah Jones showed her audience at the U.N. General Assembly building that the answer is yes. MORE

BREAKING NEWS

Amnesty International Expresses Concern, Promises to Continue to Demand Full Implementation

The gains from the last five years are still being challenged by some government in the final hours of the Beijing+5 review process, Amnesty International said. In a press release, Amnesty identified the following conerns:

- all references to the need for governments to ratify and implement international and regional human rights treaties for the fullfillment of women's human rights have been removed from the draft

- the current draft asks government to "consider the establishment of " rather than "create or strengthen" independent national insitutions for the protection of women's human rights

- the Beijing Platform for Action called on governments to "ensure" the protection of women human rights defenders; the current draft only calls on governments to "take necessary measures."

A representative of Amnesty International from an official delegation also said that governments were currently threatening to "just drop" all bracketed language from the document.

A Monotheistic Jamboree

By Cristina Ruggiero

New York, June 8- In what was perhaps one of the more peripheral events at Beijing+5, approximately 40 women gathered for a session entitled "Religion as Liberation," held in the Church Center at 777 U.N. Plaza. The session, co-sponsored by the Ecumenical Women 2000+ coalition, united Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, women from around the globe to comment on the dialogue about women's rights being addressed at the review. Formal presentations were mixed with various religious songs and dances in which the audience avidly participated. In contrast to the explicitly anti-feminist activities of conservative religious groups in the run-up to the meetings this week, the rhetoric at this event affirmed the rights of women within a religious context. MORE

Gender Equality in Cyberspace: A Challenge for the 21st Century

By R. Erica Doyle

New York, June 8--UNIFEM held a panel this afternoon on new information and communications technologies (ICTs) and building partnerships for women’s education and training. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM focused on the importance of partnerships, especially since UNIFEM is the smallest fund in the United Nations. Panelists included the First Ladies of Brazil and Ghana, Dr. Ruth Cardoso and Dr. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, respectively, and Christine Hemrick, Vice President of Cisco Systems, an identified partner. Aside from the usual handouts, Cisco Systems presented panel attendees with free pens, t-shirts and bandanas. Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of UNDP, also spoke briefly, highlighting the statistics in relation to poverty, gender and technology. MORE

Reviewing the Beijing+5 Outcome for Reproductive Rights

By R. Erica Doyle

New York, June 8--NGOs at the UN have become increasingly watchful--and wary -- of the negotiations towards an outcome document. As awareness grows of diluted provisions for women's reproductive rights, women have begun murmuring in the hallways. "This is not Beijing+5 -- this is Beijing MINUS five!" quipped one activist. The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy sponsored a panel today on the outcome of Beijing+5 and how that will affect women’s rights worldwide. And, despite the concerns of some NGOs, the panelists expressed optimism over past and future progress. "This entire debate," said Bene Madinagu of Nigeria, "is based on the misguided notion that Western countries are forcing the South to accept its values. This is disrespectful to the delegates from the South. We have come here representing the realities of the lives of our citizens. There are no separate sets of rights -- one for the South and one for Western countries!" MORE

Women: Peace-Wagers in the Battle for International Security

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 8 - Addressing a panel of government officials and women activists from war-torn areas, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordon called upon world governments to recognize women for their role as "guardians of peace" and to include them in the global peace process. "For too long, the doors of negotiation rooms have been slammed shut on women," said Queen Noor. "At the dawn of the new century, it is time for those waging war to be told - once and for all - time is up."

MORE

Lesbian Activists Dismayed By Setback of 1995 Gains

by R. Erica Doyle

New York, June 7--Lesbian activists were dismayed today at the news: item 102J of the Platform for Action calling for the repeal of all laws criminalizing homosexuality was stricken from the document after intense lobbying by a coalition of religious groups, who effectively blocked the consensus process. The Lesbian Caucus immediately mobilized to hold a press conference and generate a declaration affirming sexual choice as a human right, and insisting on the right to live free from violence and persecution.

At a "Sexualities as Human Rights Panel" panelists from Costa Rica, South African, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Canada insisted that sexual choice was part of a continuum that included not only same-sex relationships, but women's choice to be unmarried, reproductive choice, and the right to consensual sexual relations. "If we do not have the freedom to control our bodies," said Epsy Campbell Barr of the The Network of AfroCaribbean and AfroLatinamerican Women, "then what good is our freedom in other areas?"

After an audience member from the Nigerian delegation commented that "we do not have time for this; it is irrelevant. People cannot eat, and that is more important than supporting the corrupting influence of Western culture." "I am an African woman," replied Phumi Mtetwa of South Africa. "I am also a lesbian. I have fought for the human rights of all people. Why must I be forced to choose when I should have my human rights?"

Women: Silent Heroes in Emergencies and Conflicts

NEW YORK, June 7 -- A panel of humanitarian policy-makers and activists working in areas of war and conflict came together at the United Nations today to pay tribute to women living and surviving in areas of emergency and to discuss ways in which humanitarian assistance can strengthen and promote the role of women in emergency and post-emergency phases.

The panel, aptly titled, "Emergencies Impacting on Women - Women Impacting on Emergencies," featured Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP), Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator of OCHA, Leena Atmar, Aghan activist at Norwegian Church Aid, Adiatu Deigh, practitioner from Sierra Leone's Empowerment Organization, and Pilar Rueda from Colombia's Maria Va. Alongside presentations on the crucial role that women play in areas of conflict, short videos were shown to illustrate the real-life plight and strength of women on the ground.

Panelists all agreed that women are the primary victims of war and conflict. At the same time, they are also the ones who take on the role of education, providing health care and supporting the family in times of conflict. "Women are the silent heroes in emergencies," said UNICEF's Bellamy. "In times of conflict, they are the ones who retain the dignity and help rebuild shattered societies despite the violence." Her colleague from WFP agreed. "Men wage war and women face the consequences," said Bertini. "Women are the basic social fabric that hold families together."

Knowing this, these policy makers concurred that it is imperative for governments and humanitarian agencies to develop policies that make women the primary recipients of assistance. This woman-friendly approach to humanitarian aid over the past decade may have something to do with the fact that all the major UN humanitarian agencies - the UN Human Rights Commission, the World Health Organization, the UN Population Fund and the World Food Program - as well as UNICEF and UNIFEM, are headed by women.

What can humanitarian institutions do to help women in dire circumstances? WFP's experience at the 1995 Conference on Women in Beijing influenced it to change the focus of the organization. "WFP learned in Beijing that food aid is better operated by getting the food to women because they are the ones who are most likely to get the food to the children," said Bertini. This recognition has led to a number of policy changes that WFP believes has enabled them to be more effective in war-torn areas. Bertini shared this approach with the audience:

>> Giving women a lead role in targeting and distributing aid and in educational activities

>> Ensuring equitable participation of women in the decision-making process regarding aid supplies.

>> Empowering women to register in their own right to receive aid.

>> Recognizing and reducing security risks to women.

>> Collecting data to influence future policies.

In Sierra Leone, where war has led to the displacement of 600,000 women - many of whom have been forced into the sex industry and prostitution - and in Afghanistan, where 70 to 80 percent of women are affected by Tuberculosis, humanitarian aid goes beyond the provision of food. Here, healthcare, education, trauma counseling and economic assistance in the form of microcredit loans or jobs are equally important. "In Afghanistan, education is not the only problem," said Atmar. "If you are hungry or ill, how will you go to school?"

"While women have exhibited transitional leadership in times of emergency, they still cannot go beyond traditional roles outside this framerwork," said Pilar Rueda, speaking about the experience of women in Colombia. "This means that they still don't garner political power." She stressed the need for programs that can help displaced women reintegrate into society and that can provide them with political leverage and human rights. Policy-makers and activists agreed that the predicament of women in areas of political instability and violence necessitates that future approaches to humanitarian assistance be holistic ones. "We need to take into consideration links between reproductive health, AIDS, domestic violence and service provision and women in emergencies," said Judie Benjamin of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, also a member of the audience.

BREAKING NEWS

Global Campaign to Ratify the Optional Protocol to Launch

by R. Erica Doyle

Thursday night women's NGOs will gather to celebrate the launch of an international campaign to ratify the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The campaign will take place on a national level in the 163 countries that ratified CEDAW, and is intended to focus local efforts on persuading governments to ratify the Protocol.

"This is the first time that women's NGOs have campaigned locally on such a scale with a concrete goal in mind," says Ilana Landsburg-Lewis of UNIFEM. "The Optional Protocol allows women of signatory countries whose rights have been violated under CEDAW to seek justice from the Committe on CEDAW, much as they would in any international court."

Currently, the Committee on CEDAW oversees the reporting by governments on the steps they have taken to enforce the convention, and has no judicial power. Twenty-three women from twenty-three countries sit on the panel, which operates independently. The Optional Protocol must be ratified by at least ten countries for it to come into effect; three countries have ratified it so far: Denmark, Senegal, and Namibia.

Momentum Grows to Combat Violence Against Women in South Asia

by Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 7 - Facts and figures documenting the poor state of women in South Asia pervade our media. Over and over again, we hear about the cases of dowry deaths, the abortions of female fetuses, the honor killings, the early marriage of girls, the high incidence of domestic violence in the region. We are told that this is the area of the world where women's life expectancy is least favorable compared to that of men. We are told that discriminatory child-care practices have resulted in 60 million "missing women" in South Asia. But, how often do we have the opportunity to look at these statistics in their rightful political, cultural and economic context? How often do we hear about the efforts of grassroots activists to fight against such forms of gender-based violence?

During her tenure as Regional Director of the UNICEF South Asia regional officein Kathmandu, Ruth Finney Hayward became aware of the growing movement to end violence against women in South Asia. Her inspiring nteractions with activists, both men and women, led to a UNICEF initiative to document the stories of their initiatives and to undertake a study of gender-based violence in the region. Five years and 180 interviews later, UNICEF has published "Breaking the Earthenware Jar: Lessons from South Asia to End Violence Against Women and Girls," a book that was launched yesterday. The book's release coincided with the Beijing +5 review, bringing together practitioners from South Asia who are working to eliminate gender violence for a panel discussion.

MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE

Written by Hayward, this 400 page volume is a comprehensive look at efforts to end violence against women and girls in a region identified as having one of the highest rates in the world. Through profiles and interviews with South Asian activists from rural and urban areas in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan, "Breaking the Earthenware Jar" seeks to draw lessons that can be shared in the region and beyond. It forms links between gender-based violence in families to children, brings to light the voices of rural and isolated activists and stresses the need for NGOs to link up with the state to enforce legislation. Most importantly, perhaps, it sends a message of hope and encouragement to those working on the ground throughout the world to fight violence against women. Hayward's hope is that by focusing attention of methods of prevention, especially against violence in the family, the book will also "provide a basis for a comprehensive movement"against violence within South Asia.

"An important lesson in this research has been the importance of breaking the silence and of forming partnerships with men to do so," said Hayward. It is an interesting footnote that forty percent of the interviews conducted with activists for this book were with men who are working to end violence against women. The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action identified violence against women as one of the 12 critical areas of concern for follow-up by governments, civil society and the international community. At the same time, it expanded the understanding of gender violence.

As Hayward writes, "Gender-based violence means, in the broadest sense 'any act of commission or omission by individuals or the State, in private or public life, which brings harm, suffering or threat to girls and women, and reflects systematic discrimination - including harmful traditional practices and denial of human rights because of gender.' " With this definition of violence against women and girls, based on UN documents drafted over the past 25 years, Hayward's book addresses honor killings, female infantacide, dowry deaths, rape, trafficking and other forms of violence such as physical battering and emotional abuse that affect women both in the private and public spheres.

The momentum in South Asia to combat such violence has been growing since Beijing. At a regional meeting in Kathmandu in 1997, over 100 men and women gathered to discuss means and methods to end violence against women in their respective countries. The conference resulted in the "Kathmandu Commitment on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in South Asia," a document in which these individuals and groups pledged themselves to "break the silence" about acts of violence, including incest, child-abuse, wife-battering and all forms of emotional and psychological abuse of women and girls.

REGIONAL CHALLENGES

Panelists at the book launch identified the low social status of women, regressive socio-cultural practices, economic dependence, a lack of legislation and religious extremism as causes for such manifestations of violence in their socieites. "In Nepal, our legal system is based on the Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu text that sees woman as dependent and having no identity," said Anjana Shakya, a human rights activist. The Manusmriti says in effect that a woman is dependent on her father, husband and son in the various phases of her life. "Because of this, women have to tolerate violence in the domestic sphere," said Shakya. A fear of social stigma or the lack of enforcement of existing legislation is also to blame for women's predicament. Kirti Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer from India, criticizes pitfalls of the existing legal framework in her country. "The written law lags behind what is required by women's experiences," she said. "And in places where laws are amended, apart from implementation and interpretation, social custom continues to validate practices such as dowry payments."

In India, the act of incest remains absent from law books. And the definition in that country is also limited; for example, any decision about rape is based on the past sexual history of the woman. All this is in spite of data that documents how widespread violence against women is in the Subcontinent. India's National Commission of Women shows that in 1997, every six hours a woman was killed in a dowry-related death. Another report by the National Crime Research Bureau of the Ministry of the Home Government of India reports that more than 30,000 complaints of torture and harrassment are filed by women each year and 25 percent of the victims of the 15,000 rape cases each year are under the age of 16. "The National Commission recognizes civil laws on domestic violence and sexual assault but unless governments sit up and change the laws, nothing will happen," said Singh. "What we need to do is build a campaign that will create awareness about these laws and that defines such violence as a crime."

Mufti Ziauddin, a human rights lawyer from the tribal province of Swat, Pakistan, agreed. Working in an area ruled under "customary law," what he has found is that all too often, culture and tradition are used as excuses for violence against women, particularly in the home. In a research study carried out for UNICEF over the period of 7 months in an area of 1.2 million people, Ziauddin was able to record 27 registered and 2 unregistered murder cases of women. 19 of the registered murders occurred within the homes. "We have to challenge early marriages, promote education, deal with inheritance rights and polygamy," said Ziauddin. "We need institutional reform."

In spite of the problems cited, panelists expressed optimism in their presentations. The very fact that people are talking about violence against women - especially domestic violence - is cause for celebration, they said. Coming from societies where "family honor" and "pride" have often been stumbling blocks for a public discussion of these issues, breaking the silence is a crucial first step toward change. Publications such as "Breaking the Earthenware Jar," they agreed, legitimize their efforts and will help further the movement to end gender-based violence.

The Fight For Women's Economic Justice

by R. Erica Doyle

New York, June 10--Several economics activists, working both on the policy and grassroots levels, spoke on a panel late Tuesday night about creating linkages between Beijing+5 and The World Summit for Social Development. They raised concerns about shortsighted policies that support gender inequality while creating macroeconomic policies that ignore the realities of women's lives. Pam Rajput of South Asia Watch stressed, "Poverty is not only less income. Poverty is a social as well an economic concept. It entails the denial of entitlements, choices and opportunities." The interests of transational corporations and the demands of structural adjustment policies established by the World Bank supercede the governments' regard for the well-being of their citizens; this is demonstrated by the increasing privatization of basic resources, such as health, education, and even water, placing these even further out of the reach of poor women. So-called free trade and open markets, she continued, lead to the emergence of "crony capitalism," where political elites reap the benefits of natural resources and low-wage labor pools through cutbacks and bribes received from transnational corporations. "We must ask ourselves the question," she ended. "How do we engage the state when it becomes too weak to protect the poor? How can the presence of women in government lead to a true concern for women's rights?"

Njoki Njeri of Kenya's "50 Years is Enough/Jubillee 2000" stressed the need for a gender analysis of debt that includes concrete action. "Macroeconmic policy has been better researched and spoken about over the past forty years than even before, but what has happened in the past forty years of the World Bank? One gets statistic fatigue -- and little or no results for women." Globalization depends on women's reproductive, paid and unpaid labor, but the terms for the so-called Asian bailout during the crash of Pacific Rim economies excluded small and medium enterprises -- most of which are run by women. The World Bank has renamed one of its divisions the Center for Poverty Reduction -- an appropriation of economic justice terminology that gives Njeri no comfort. "Even after experiencing devastating hurricanes and floods, countries like Honduras, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe were servicing thier debt to the tune of one million dollars a week!" exclaimed Njeri incredulously. "What is the legitimacy of such debt? Who owes whom? The wealth of these nations was built on the resources -- both human and environmental -- of many of the indebted countries. The industrial North continues to owe an ecological debt to the South."

After the panelists spoke, women from Fiji and Guyana shared stories about the effects of macroeconomic policies and globalization in their countries. In a country like Guyana, where 85% of the economy was state owned, there was no private sector to take its place when it was forced to privatize by the World Bank. Immediately, the private sector was filled up with the same transnational corporations that had been forced out in the post-colonial period. Furthermore, the pension system was affected by the devaluation of the currency; pensioners, many of whom were older women, found that their fixed-incomes had half the buying power as before. "Even if you do all that you should, for good governance and good social policies," said the woman from Fiji, "You can still be overthrown by business interests." She maintained that the recent coup in Fiji was run and organized not by individuals working for the rights of indigenous peoples, who according to the pre-coup constitution owned 89% of the land, but by business elites who stood to benefit from overthrowing the protectionist, pro-environment government. "Our rights were enshrined in a constitution that in 1997 was developed following a collabroative process. 70% of our women work in the informal sector. The establishment of free trade zones and open markets are leaving them open to exploitation." She also added that the main orchestrator of the coup stood to gain from the exploitation of a mahogany forest estimated to be worth $600M.

All panelists agreed that debt servicing increases poverty, and that debt relief creates a "treadmill" where governments still owe billions of dollars. They emphasized a need for fiscal policy that was pro-poor and that incorporated gender. "Small scattered interventions that are disconnected from fiscal policies do not help women or the poor, who are also mostly women," concluded Rajput. "We must be part of policy making and develop alternate strategies of development." Though none of the panelists offered concrete solutions, they raised questions and revisited issues examined by the Economic Justice Caucus at the PrepCom in March 2000. The caucus at the time issued a "Declaration for Economic Justice and Women's Empowerment" which called for moving forward. Specifically, the suggestios included:

>>increased participation of women in policy-making processes

>>counting women's work

>> taking into account environmental degradation and human costs (increased violence and deteriorating health) in calcualting cost effectiveness

>>regulation of markets in the public interest and establishment of an acceptable minimum wage

>> taxation of resource use, production of toxic products, international speculative profit and international financial transations; and implementation of debt cancellation.

HIV/AIDS Through a Gender Lens

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 7 -- Approximately 46 percent of the 33.6 million adults living with HIV/AIDS today are women and 50 percent of the 16,000 HIV/AIDS people diagnosed daily worldwide are women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for every 10 men, 12 or 13 women are infected with HIV/AIDS. The prevalence of somber data like this has brought women to the center of ongoing international dialogues about AIDS over the past decade. And, what has become transparent in all of these studies and statistics is that AIDS does not occur in a vacuum. Highlighting their collaborative efforts to tackle this problem, today several UN agencies sponsored "Gender, HIV/AIDS and Young People: Interactive Tools for Change," an interactive workshop that focused on a gendered understanding of the AIDS epidemic. The workshop presented startling data on the effects of HIV/AIDS on women, while providing participants with the opportunity to engage in role-plays and discussions. It also provided UNAIDS to share creative tools for AIDS education with its audience.

GENDERED PERSPECTIVE ON AIDS

The impact of AIDS, recent studies have shown, reaches far beyond the individual level. In one area of Uganda, 76 percent of girls were pulled out of school to help out on the home front. In this case, there is a clear connection between illiteracy or lack of education and AIDS. Meanwhile, in Laos, studies have shown that women are beginning to grow potatoes instead of rice because they do not have enough time to spend in the fields. As the primary caregivers, these women are responsible for income-generation as well as tending to the ill. Apart from increasing duties in the home, young girls and women in rural areas have been made to fill in the gaps in food production caused by illness in their families. In countries where AIDS is growing at a rapid scale - take Kenya or India for example - potent myths, cultural stereotypes and taboos can increase the risk of AIDS in young girls and boys and can prevent people from seeking help. For example, the belief that having sex with a virgin can help cure AIDS not only reduces the age of AIDS-infected girls, but also results in trafficking and child prostitution, increasing the incidence of violence against girls.

EDUCATION ON THE GROUND

In Kenya, which has the highest rate of AIDS in Africa, young men and women conduct outreach and educational programs on AIDS in schools through an organization called "True Love Waits." By asking students, especially young men, to take pledges of abstinence, True Love Waits seeks to "teach boys to respect the dignity of women" and believes that it is providing them with a "positive guarantee that they won't get AIDS." Not all programs provide such a black and white answer for youth. One of the popular strategies being implemented in AIDS education on a global scale is life skills education in schools. There is a slew of HIV/AIDS materials written from a gendered perspective that is currently being circulated. However, according to UNAIDS representatives, these existing materials have significant shortcomings. First, they have imbued an inadequate understanding of the impact of gender issues on AIDS. Second, they use "talk and chalk" methodology instead of participatory and interactive methods. Third, they target behavior changes in girls and women, not boys and men. In the cases where materials do recognize gender issues, no actions are recommended. As a result, AIDS educational materials often end up reinforcing gender roles and stereotypes and do not focus on the human rights of girls. Thus, the problem with these materials is "not what they contain, in many cases, but what they don't contain." UNAIDS, a joint UN program on HIV/AIDS between UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Health Organization and other UN agencies, has put out a series of "School Health Education to Prevent AIDS and STD" curriculum guides and tools for teachers and activists. In conjunction with UNIFEM, it has also developed a number of interactive tools and resources for use at various levels in countries worldwide.

UN RESPONSES

Madhu Bala Nath, UNAIDS/UNIFEM Gender and HIV Adviser, presented several of these tools in today's workshop. "These are information-giving as well as tools for dissonance," she said. "They are also culturally neutral because they show the internalization of stereotypes and can clear up perceptions." Indeed, the facts, figures and patterns that UNAIDS materials present illustrated the commonalities in the HIV/AIDS experience worldwide. Nath has worked hands-on with the "Gendered Focused Responses to Address the Challenges of HIV/AIDS" program of UNIFEM/UNAIDS and the UN Fund for Population. Over the past 18 months, this program has launched pilot initiatives in the Bahamas, India, Mexico, Senegal and 5 other Asian and African countries. Through workshops coordinated through local UNICEF branches, it is developing community-based research and action strategies to build on an understanding of the gender implication in addressing HIV/AIDS. And, to make women central to the solutions being developed. Indeed, a recent study indicated that the burden of caring for the present 10 million AIDS orphans is likely to be borne by women.

"We now have to move from the concept of the triple burden to the quadruple burden when talking about women," said Nath. The triple burden of production, reproduction and managerial, as defined in Nairobi, according to her, has expanded because the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS is forcing women to take on increased responsibilities in their communities. "Women also have to address the situation of the orphans next door," said Nath. What all of this this means is that the spread of AIDS is not just an issue of health, but also a matter of social, economic, cultural and political concern. Such a recognition has rightly prompted UNICEF to ask, "If the world embraced gender equality as a basic reality, would the HIV/AIDS epidemic have reached such uncontrollable proportions?"

Right-Wing Forces Mobilize to Challenge Beijing Platform

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 5 - Outside the US Customs House at Bowling Green, Alice Turley hands out literature advocating "family friendly public policy" to passerbys. She represents the Salt Lake City-based organization, Worldwide Organization for Women (WOW), which is part of a multi-denominational coalition working to "oppose the efforts by some radical NGOs to promote immoral public policy at Beijing +5." In other words, these activists are working hard to challenge diverse forms of families and women's self-autonomy over reproductive and sexual matters. These are all provisions agreed upon in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

AT STAKE NOW

For those who have worked tirelessly to secure the rights of women worldwide over the past 25 years, the presence of groups such as WOW is a chilling one. Allied with Vatican-based groups such as the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) and Human Life International, they are a threat to the stated goals and rights that are written into UN human rights documents, particularly in the sphere of reproductive healthcare. By forming coalitions between Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim and Jewish groups around issues such as "family" and "tradition," right-wing groups over the past few years have worked tirelessly to alter the international dialogue on human rights.

Because UN agreements are drawn up by consensus and not by votes, the presence of these strong and unified right-wing voices is of great concern to human rights activists monitoring Beijing +5. Referring to the coalition of the Vatican and pro-choice NGOs within the UN as "an unholy alliance," Peter Sane, Executive Director of Amnesty International, warned women's activists to be vigilant in the coming week. "In the preparatory sessions, some governments have been challenging the very basis of what was reaffirmed in Beijing: that women's rights are human rights," says Amnesty International. "The unholy alliance formed by the Holy See, Iran, Algeria, Nicaragua, Syria, Libya, Morocco and Pakistan has attempted to hold women's rights ransom." What's most vulnerable right now is the language of the outcome document for the Beijing+5 review. MORE

Microcredit: Much More Than Money

by R. Erica Doyle

New York, June 5--In a conference room filled to capacity with members of the press and representatives of women's NGOs from around the globe, panelists shared the triumphs and challenges of programs designed to finance the dreams of the world's poorest women. Seated on the panel were Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States; Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM; Dr. Muhammed Yunus, Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh; Ela Bhatt, General Secretary of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India; Sam Daley-Harris, Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, United States; Chief Bisi Ogunleye, founder and national coordinator of Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN), and a representative from the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP).

A rousing standing ovation from all the participants greeted Hillary Rodham Clinton as she stood to give the keynote. (A wry sociology professor from Malaysia seated next to me smiled, "She is more popular here than she is in her own country, eh?") The First Lady first shared her personal efforts and that of the United States government to raise awareness to the issues of women's rights as human rights, and called her attendance at the 1995 Beijing Conference one of the most moving experiences of her life. Although there have been some gains, she noted, "our work is far from done" as long as the scourges of female infanticide, devaluing of women's work, sex trafficking, honor killing and dowry deaths, violence against women, and lack of choice in family planning methods, continues. She underscored that the global response has been no match for the scope of the HIV epidemic, and that it is an international, not national problem. And, she added, the benefits of increasing globalization have not reached everyone, including women "in my country," she said. "Women must be made a priority and microcredit is one of the most effective tools for change." MORE

MOBILIZING MEN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 6 - United Nations officials and NGO delegates to Beijing + 5 took a break from the morning meeting of the United Nations General Assembly's special session on women to discuss the role of men and boys in ending gender-based violence. The forum was hosted by UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women and other UN-based organizations. The discussion featured panelists Dr. Michael Kaufman, Director of the White Ribbon Campaign, Judy Lawrence,Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Ministry of Women's Affairs and Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM.

"Violence against women is everybody's problem," said Heyzer. "To end it, we have to deal with violence in school, at home and in the streets." Heyzer is the leading light behind UNIFEM's Trust Fund In Support Of Actions To Eliminate Violence Against Women which was established in 1996 by a UN General Assembly resolution. Growing out of the calls for action on violence in the Beijing Platform for Action, the Trust Fund has lent financial support to initiatives to prevent and eliminate violence against women at all levels worldwide.

UNIFEM has supported four campaigns - the prevalence, excuses, justice and respect campaigns - which have formed "synergetic partnerships" with various segments of political and civil society. For example, 40,000 posters in local languages have been distributed and displayed in police stations all around India. This has helped to inform police officers who are often perpetrators of violence against women. UNIFEM has also funded projects that develop links between police and women's counseling centers and that form networks of judges who use regional and international conventions, along with local laws, to address cases of violence against women. The agency is also forging alliances with the media and with the private sector.

Momentum for such programs around the world has grown significantly over the past decade during which there has been the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) and the Platform for Action (1995). By defining violence against women as a violation of human rights, these instruments have recognized that violence destroys the lives of women and girls, harms communities and impedes development in nations. Still, much work remains to be done, especially when it comes to the implementation and allocation of resources dedicated to combating violence.

According to Judy Lawrence, moral suasion alone will not allow for higher budgets in the violence prevention sphere. Lawrence encouraged countries to undertake cost studies on family violence, arguing that by showing the costs of family violence on individuals and governments, it is possible to demonstrate that "costs to women are costs to the whole society." A recent study has shown that by increasing spending on each case, there is a much greater likelihood that women can get out of situations of battery. Specifically, at present, government spending in New Zealand covers one-fifth of the true costs of family violence services. With the current levels of service provision, 8,000 women in New Zealand can be violence-free over the next 20 years. If government funding were to be doubled, 20,000 women could be violence-free within the same time-frame.

Lawrence defined cost studies as a "tool to influence the policy debate." Several male activists also presented involvement in men's mobilization efforts to end violence in the lives of women. Philip Thigo, a delegate to the Youth Caucus and a Member of the Kenya Delegation to Beijing + 5 spoke of the need to involve young men in the movement to end violence against women. Mufti Ziauddin, a human rights lawyer from Pakistan proposed that instead of challenging customary practices that condone violence against women, efforts should be made to challenge the legal system.

"Without understanding the motivation for violence against women, we cannot change things," said Michael Kauffman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, a Canada-based educational organization that encourages men to talk about and acknowledge the existence of gender-based acts of violence. In his research and organizing, Kauffman has concluded that men's historical and collective silence around issues of violence has allowed violence to continue. Members wear white ribbons as a public pledge not to remain silent, hereby challenging other men to speak out and be part of the solution. "In our world wide campaign, we are working as allies with women to end the longest lasting epidemic against women," said Kauffman.

The White Ribbon Campaign has been adopted in many countries around the world, including Namibia where this February, the first ever National Conference on Men Against Violence Against Women was held. Norman Tjombe, conference chair and a member of the Legal Assistance Center of Namibia, shared his experience with mobilizing men in Namibia to contest accepted violent behaviors. The men's conference brought together 250 men, both individual representatives and members of grassroots organizations, to discuss and debate the issue and to develop common goals and objectives. One week later, a large group of men held a demonstration in front of a court where a rapist was filing a bail application and since then, every week, there have been demonstrations in towns and villages around the country, according to Tjombe. A national steering group has been set up to coordinate the efforts of male activists. "There's certainly a light at the end of the tunnel," said Tjombe. "And, I am pretty sure there's not a coming train."

Activists Affirm Platform for Women's Human Rights

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 4 - On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly's week long Special Session on Women, hundreds of women's human rights activists convened at Columbia University to celebrate their achievements over the past decade. Women gathered to share innovative and successful outreach efforts, and map out a strategy for holding governments accountable to their commitment to the Platform for Action. Organized by Rutger's University's Center for Women's Global Leadership, "Women 2000: A Symposium on Future Directions for Human Rights" was modeled after the center's human rights tribunals and featured a panel of prominent human rights players from around the world, as well as testimonials from grassroots activists and women artists. Among the day's speakers were Mary Robinson, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights and Pierre Sane, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

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USING TECHNOLOGY TO FURTHER WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Conference Addresses Challenges Facing Muslim Women

By Sandhya Nankani

NEW YORK, June 1 -- In the wake of the upcoming UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Women, women activists and policy-makers gathered at New York University for a daylong conference to discuss the effects that this revolutionary medium is having on the women’s movement. Organized by the Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP), a Maryland-based international NGO, and NYU’s Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, "Cultural Boundaries and Cyber Spaces" focused on innovative technological tools and strategies for strengthening women’s leadership, particularly in Muslim societies.

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