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.

REVIEWING PROGRESS AND DEMANDING CHANGE

The symposium began by highlighting the contributions of non-governmental organizations and civil society to the women's movement and reaffirmed the demand that governments recognize women's rights as human rights. "In spite of the commitments that the United Nations has made in many areas, there seems to be a great reluctance on the part of many governments to set targets and to allocate resources to carrying out their goals," said Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Global Center at Rutgers. "More than words, we need actions."

The day's program set the stage for the NGO's position in this week's ongoing debate at the United Nations, framing a clear list of demands that will define the lobbying efforts of activists. "Beijing Plus Five must address failings and come up with ways to achive rights of women," said Mary Robinson. ""Our task is to make that happen by using strategies to pin governments to their obligations." Robinson spelled out the desired outcomes clearly:

>>· No dilution of the Beijing Platform. The HR standards of Beijing and Vienna must be maintained.

>> · All states must ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

>>· Social, cultural and religious differences are important, but must never be allowed to infringe on the rights of women.

>>· Gender issues must be mainstreamed not just in rhetoric but through concrete actions.

>>· The diversity of human rights must be respected. Activists, many of whom have risked their lives on the frontline, were forceful in voicing their demands to the participating states in the Beijing review process. They do not want a rewriting of the Beijing Platform for Action. Rather, what they are seeking is a reaffirmation and a reallocation of resources.

"Whatever the governments are going to be doing in the next few days, that is a debt they owe to us," Asma Jahangir, a prominent human rights lawyer in Pakistan and the UN's Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, said. "We want it with interest and not with a restructuring to our disadvantage."

MULTIDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORKS IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS DISCOURSE

Human rights and women's rights are no longer separate spheres of discussion, participants acknowledged in their remarks. "Placing women's concerns within the human rights paradigm has been a conceptual breakthrough and a major achievement of the movement because it has enabled women to work together without glossing over their diversity," said Florence Butegwa, an attorney and activist from Uganda.

Indeed, at the grassroots level, the recognition of the intersection of economics, racism, sex and gender-based discrimination was evident. Representatives from various NGOs gave testimonies of their regional and local activities, many of which have have utilized international human rights instruments to mobilize for economic and social justice. The responses and models used by women have acknowledged the connection between economic, social and political realities.

In the U.S., the Kensington Welfare Rights Union has advocated for the poor and homeless; in the UK, Akina Mama wa Afrika has organized for immigrants' rights and in Nigeria, BAOBAB has launched human rights education campaigns in schools. "Women have become a local and global force for change, said Pierre Sane. "They are using innovative practices to bring international standards to local realities that exist both in the North and the South. The rights of women have advanced despite the governments and thus, it is crucial that women's groups remain ever vigilant of those in power. There is more to ratifying a treaty than putting a signature on a piece of paper."

These examples show the growing importance of political mobilization, through which laws can be monitored and implemented as well as the incorporation of international human rights standards in the ongoing dialogue at local and regional levels. By using legal standards to hold governments accountable, the global human rights framework is also serving the needs of women that are being bypassed by local governments. "Part of what the women's human rights movement has contributed to is a reaffirmation of the indivisibility of human rights," said Sunila Abeyesekara, Executive Director of INFORM, a Sri Lankan based organization.

BEYOND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

The recognition of violence against women - both in the public and private spheres - as a violation of human rights was also evident in the afternoon's presentations. So was the issue of the sexual and reproductive rights, a contentious debate that is the heart of the Beijing Plus Five process. These issues, which in the past, were relegated to the internal lives of women, have been placed on the global agenda over the past few years by NGOs. Several panelists talked about their experiences working on issues that fall within this sphere - gay and lesbian rights, domestic violence, health care and comfort women. At the end of the day, the energy of the non-governmental players was at exuberant and the many voices came together to send a unified message to the states of the world. "The governments have created the platform for action," said Sane. "The only thing we are asking is that they hold to it."

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.

WHY MUSLIM WOMEN?

Of the estimated 300 global Internet users today, less than 50 percent are women. Further, while it is estimated that only 4 percent of the 2 million Internet users in the Muslim world are women, studies predict that this trend is not going to significantly change anytime soon. Participants at Thursday’s conference, representing over 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, expressed concern about these humbling statistics while stressing the need for new and creative uses of technology by and for the growing Muslim women’s movement. At the same time, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) shared ideas and models that have been successful in their work with Muslim women.

"The advent of the age of technology has made it clear that the basis of power is information and knowledge," said Mahnaz Afkhami, President of WLP. "In this context, we need to reach for a new kind of leadership based on common sharing and learning." This leadership, she explained, needs to be based on an increased collaboration between women, NGOs, governments and mainstream human rights organizations. Using the tools of new technologies, a strengthened alliance between Muslim women from around the world can be achieved both in the political and social spheres, thereby leapfrogging traditional obstacles to unity such as geographic distance and the lack of information.

VIRTUAL CHANGE HITS THE GROUND

Welcome to the revised dictionary of the international women’s movement, updated to include terms such as Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), E-government, E-democracy, E-services, E-consult, E-commerce, E-campaigns, and E-inclusion. Over the past few years, the increased use of e-mail and the Internet has served to not only make information more accessible, but also as a valuable networking resource for women’s groups, helping bridge the conventional gap between decision-makers and activists. Examples of this abound. Take the list-serv hosted by UNIFEM’s End Violence Working Group which brought together over 2000 women worldwide to discuss and mobilize around the issue of domestic violence. Participants shared model programs and legislation, helped NGOs lobby for reforms, built morale and generated public support for their activities through this e-mail list, legitimizing the anti-domestic violence movement as a world wide movement. In fact, UNIFEM’s success story is now serving as a role model for women’s groups around the world, as well as for other UN agencies such as UNICEF.

In England, traveling telecommunication centers arrived at the homes of Muslim women who would otherwise not have had the ability to work in public spaces. In Finland, NGOs trained women to use ICTs and created databases on specific issues. In the Phillipines, the Department of Health developed CD-Roms for healthcare providers such as midwives. In South India, the Rainbow Society set up websites enabling women to sell goods through the Internet. In Africa, Women’s Net connected government representatives to local constituencies. In addition to the Internet, the use of video technology in grassroots training and advocacy work has also grown substantially.

Case in point: Arab Women Speak Out creates documentaries featuring testimonials of lower to middle-class Muslim women who have become agents of change within their communities. Through training and advocacy activities conducted by local NGOs, these documentaries reached 20,000 women in 1999, providing them with exposure to role models from their social backgrounds and economic strata. "Empowerment is a multilevel construct that involves people," said Bushra Jabre, the project’s coordinator. "By showing women from a simple background, we send the message to our rural audiences that if these women could change their environments, you can too." Witness, a New York based organization uses the Internet to profile documentaries by and about women, engaging celebrities like Susan Sarandon to draw users to their website. Their site (www.witness.org), which delivers live video streaming, sometimes sees as many as 80,000 hits per day. Still, Witness Director Gillian Caldwell warned, "None of this can substitute for grassroots action and one to one interaction."

INTERNET A MEANS, NOT THE END

A realism and practicality, as was evident in the day’s dialogues, tempered the mood of optimism about the potential of new technologies. Ayisha Imam of Baobab, a Nigerian human rights organization, expressed strong concerns. "It’s not just about access but about what you do with is," she said. "Out of all the information out there, how can we find the useful information? What are the languages that are prevalent? We can waste a lot of time on the Net and not get much information. It is important for the women’s movement to get to know indigenous knowledge." In other words, while the Internet has the power to transform the diverse dialogues within women’s movement into a win-win situation - one where there are no boundaries, where all participants have a chance to express their opinions and share their voices - it will not solve the problems of women. At the end of the day, Internet technology is a tool that can, at best, create awareness and achieve solidarity.

Ayo Obe, President of Nigeria’s Civil Liberties Organization, echoed the consensus of her peers and colleagues. "We should neither demonize nor glorify the Internet. It is as it is," said Obe. "At the same time, we should not neglect this or any of the other media." Najat Rochdi, President of the Morocco Internet Society and a proponent of the boons of ICTs, expressed caution in her optimism about the new knowledge-based economy. "We are kidding ourselves if we think putting computers here and there will solve the problem," she said. "E is not enough. We need vision, strategy, resources and education, education, education." "Society will not come to provide us with rights just because it is human," said Asma Khader, Coordinator for Sisterhood is Global Institute in Jordan. "In the end, it is politics that matter and women’s organizations are going to have to play a political role through lobbying."

BEYOND ACTION PLANS

While there are 120 countries who have adopted action’s plans to further women’s rights since the Beijing Conference, implementation has been a separate story. Without an allocation of resources or an engendering of national budgets, participants said, transformation is all but impossible. Further, the IT revolution, no matter how powerful, cannot alone alter the traditional social and cultural norms that affect the lives of Muslim women. In Jordan, for example, the Minister of Trade and Planning cannot travel without the written permission of her husband, despite her prominent political position. Amina Lamrini, Founder and Member of the Moroccan Human Rights Organization, proposed the creation of a more comprehensive "offensive strategy for NGOs" in the realm of family law. "We need to rectify the dichotomy between UN accords and the regional acceptance of human rights as women’s rights," she said. For change on this level, what is required is "a strong constituency, both in civil society and inside the political circles," said Noeleen Heyzer, Director of UNIFEM.

Sandhya Nankani is a journalist based in New Jersey.