Subject: [fem-women2000 445] Report of CEDAW Training of Trainers Workshops
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2000 20:47:04 +0900
Seq: 445
Forwarded by lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
---------------- Original message follows ----------------
From: Shulamith Koenig <pdhre@igc.org>
To: hr-education@hrea.org
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 22:37:54 -0700
Subject: [hr-education] Report of CEDAW Training of Trainers Workshops
--
[***Moderator's Note: Below is a report on a recent training of trainers
workshop held during the Beijing +5 review session at the UN General
Assembly, which was announced on this list earlier. The workshop's
innovative methodology is based on drama-videos intended to generate both
qualitative learning of human rights as well social transformation.***]
REPORT OF CEDAW TRAINING OF TRAINERS WORKSHOPS
6 - 7 JUNE 2000, NEW YORK
PDHRE/ CLADEM/ INSGENAR
On June 7th, 2000, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly's Session
2000, the People's Decade for Human Rights Education (PDHRE), in
collaboration with the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the
Defense of Women's rights (CLADEM) and the Institute of Gender, Law and
Development of Argentina (INSGENAR) organized and carried out two one-day
training of trainers (TOT) on CEDAW, one in Spanish and one in English. It
is important to note that this would not have been possible without the
kind support of the Austrian and German Missions to the UN and the various
women's E-mail list serves that posted calls for registration of trainers.
These workshops, like many other activities being held by PDHRE around the
world, were designed to further the goals of the UN Decade of Human Rights
Education seeking to build capacities for training in human rights from a
gender perspective. At the same time, another important objective was to
develop a strong commitment of trainers to train at the community level on
the Women's Convention. The training introduced a specific methodology
developed by PDHRE, which includes eight drama-videos and manual intended
to generate qualitative learning of human rights as well social
transformation.
119 women from 86 countries (44 women from 20 Latin American countries and
75 women from 66 developing countries in other regions), representing
organizations from virtually all continents of the world, participated. A
group of expert speakers lead discussions in the plenary while a team of
five facilitators organized smaller group discussions following the
projection of three videos of the series. Women of different nationalities
and backgrounds collaborated in this project making it as rich and as
diverse as possible.
It is essential to note that the methodology of the training is based on a
series of 8 short video dramas on women's human rights. Together with the
manual, these eight videos bring the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women "CEDAW" alive. These engaging stories,
"emotional teasers", are rendered in short narrative dramas that celebrate
the complexity, strength and vibrant determination of women living in a
globalized, patriarchal world. All cover different articles of the
women's convention and place rights in real, daily, settings. Our
experience has shown that all videos make observers engage, by triggering
emotions as well as reactions. Although all are based in real life
situations, they are not meant to present an analytical view of gender
stereotypes or to depict situations lived in specific countries, but
rather to mobilize feelings and ideas. The stories provide for the
starting point of discussions in eight workshops that translate these
stories into our realities and help us formulate subsequent action.
The manual was prepared as a set of guidelines for the training of
trainers to adapt to their own national and local needs, and to introduce
CEDAW across their societies. Even though the video series and the Manual
are about CEDAW, the producers of the series feel they can be used as
excellent education tools for learning about the human rights framework
>from a gender perspective as it relates to all people's daily lives. The
series is the fruition of a first-ever solidarity effort by human rights
educators and filmmakers in the US, Latin America and Africa. Four NGO's
acted as producers: Instituto de Genero, Derecho y Desarrollo, Rosario,
Argentina; NGO Resource Center, Zanzibar, Tanzania; TOSTAN of Senegal and
PDHRE.
The methodology is based on our conviction that a meaningful understanding
of human rights can be built through the sharing of peoples' experiences.
Due to the intensive one day workshop and to familiarize the participants
with the training methodology, only three "dramas" of the eight were
chosen and reviewed as a "starting point", in workshops of 15
participants each. At the first phase, discussion were held of how to
adapt the documents and how to share realities and seek to inter-connect
understanding with action: raising awareness and sensitivity; followed by
analysis and comprehension by connecting the narratives of the dramas and
the realities to the Women's Convention and the human rights framework,
making the women's convention three dimensional and real. Finally, we
formulated strategies together, trying to make the trainers comfortable to
share experiences and understand the uses of coalition building across
barriers of gender, class, race, age, etc.
At the second phase, we followed the same format but letting the
participants see themselves as trainers using these resources and explain
how would they use and prioritize the information shared.
Maria Herminia Graterol from Venezuela, who was one of the facilitators,
related to us the following: "At a very personal level, the experience as
facilitator was inspiring. On one hand, having been able to grasp and
relate to the issues raised by the videos and translating them into the
language of women's convention as a starting point to formulate action,
was quite challenging and a learning experience for all of us. In my group
there were women from Afghanistan, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Indonesia.
Kosova, Russia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland and Thailand. All
participated considered the manual and videos very useful and felt that it
could be adapted to their context in order to carry out grassroots
education and tackle women's issues in a way that would be relevant to
all, men and women. They showed endless enthusiasm to learn and employ the
skills shared on during the sessions in their work and renewed their
commitment to improve the status of women in their countries by knowing
that it is possible to extend human rights learning at the grassroots
level. It is one of the rare times, I have witnessed the actual
multiplying effect of human rights education in one day. However, if we
had more time and resources we could achieve our goals in a more
transformative and sustainable way."
WORKSHOP PROGRAMME
PDHRE -- People's Decade for human rights education
CLADEM -- Latin American AND Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women Rights
INSGENAR -- Institute of Gender, Law and Development of Argentina
June, 6th Spanish June 7th English, from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
PROGRAMME
9:00 Registration of participants and distribution of materials.
9:30 Introduction:
Shulamith Koenig - Introduction to Human Rights
Ivanka Corti - CEDAW, as a powerful instrument for women
Betty Reardon - HR and the implementation of the Platform of action
Susana Chiarotti - The Optional Protocol
10:30 Clarifications
10:45 Coffee Break
11.00 Introduction to the training methodology
11.45 Projection of the video "5 pesos". CEDAW articles 5 &10
12.00 Group Training in use of the manual
13.00 Lunch
13 45 Projection of the videos "Women hold up the sky."
CEDAW articles 1,2,3,4,13
"Daily Heroism" CEDAW Articles 7,8
14.15 Group training
15.15 Coffee Break.
15.30 General Discussion - the interconnectedness of the
articles and the methodology.
17.00 Closing remarks of participants and coordinators.
Planning for future trainings.
18.00 Making a pledge
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WORKSHOP EVALUATIONS
1. What did you think about the workshop?
"Of great value. It helped me recognize similarities across the world and
share strategies/solutions"
"A most wholesome, enriching and rewarding experience."
"A very good source of inspiration and opportunity to learn."
"I am a better person after this and I am hopeful that everything I learnt
here will be useful in my work."
"It's excellent. Gives you a new perspective to the importance of CEDAW."
"Very powerful. Very easy to learn."
"Very educating. It brought another dimension, the social one, to my
understanding of CEDAW."
2. Do you feel you learned something? What?
"That human rights conventions can be conveyed in simple language or in
simple movies."
"That we must go past legal rights and recognize that human rights are all
encompassing, whether these are legislated or not."
"That from a cultural point we are all very much the same. For similar
issues, we must work together."
"How to help grassroots women use CEDAW as a tool."
"About the advantages of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW."
"How to use CEDAW to realize women's rights."
3. What activities were most useful and provocative?
All participants agreed:
"The discussions of the videos. Identifying problems, challenges and
strategies."
"The videos and group discussions were very provocative and brought out
very sad and challenging feelings"
4. Do you feel that the video is a good resource for training and
learning?
"Yes. It allows explanation to all, literate or illiterate."
"The videos are very good for putting issues of human rights in context."
"Yes. It captures lived realities which I my case, were very close to
home."
5. Did you read the women's convention before? Do you feel it is an
important document? Why?
"The women's convention is the motherhood of all basic rights of women and
the only document that enshrines them."
"Yes, CEDAW. Very important. Women all over the world can empower
themselves with this UN document."
6. Other comments:
"The most useful event in Beijing +5 for me."
"TOT should be extended to many grassroots activists."
"Longer courses would be great!"
"PDHRE should organize one every year as well as follow-up meetings to
evaluate the success in implementing and adapting the methodology to every
country."
"I hope you can organize a follow-up training for sharing experiences of
trainers later on."
"Thanks to the German mission, the organizers and those who funded the
event."
PDHRE: 526 West 111th Street, NY, NY. 10025, USA
Tel +1-212 749 3156 Fax+1-212-666 6325
Email: pdhre@igc.org. Web Site: http://www.pdhre.org
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