Subject: [fem-women2000 674] Women's Globalnet #171: UNGASS on Habitat II +5
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 23:25:06 +0000
Seq: 674
IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #171 Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide By Anne S. Walker and Jennifer Sly June 29, 2001 ISTANBUL + 5: "ADEQUATE SHELTER FOR ALL" REVISITED WITH A FOCUS ON GENDER AND OTHER NGO ACTIVITIES BACKGROUND: Istanbul + 5, a Special Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly held in New York from 6 8 June 2001, was called to review and appraise implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the major policy document to come out of Habitat II held in Istanbul, 1996. Member States of the UN were invited to prepare reports on national and local implementation of the Agenda, all of which can be viewed at http://www.unchs.org/istanbul+5/. The major policy document to come out of the Special Session is entitled "Declaration on cities and other human settlements in the new millennium", and contains 68 paragraphs outlining commitments made by governments to implement the Agenda. The Declaration welcomes some progress but recognizes serious gaps and obstacles that have hampered implementation, most notably widespread poverty and environmental conditions. Further actions are outlined. The full Declaration can be found at: http://www.unchs.org/istanbul+5/declaration_cities.htm NGO STATEMENT: Following the Special Session, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) issued a press statement "to strongly protest both the process and the outcome". Notable among the objections expressed by the NGO coalition was the exclusion of NGOs from effective deliberation and the weakening of the language of the principal conference document. GRASSROOTS WOMEN担 INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY (GWIA): 1. SHARING BEST PRACTICES: The member networks of the Huairou Commission, representing more than 1,000 women痴 groups in poor communities, and Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS International) met as a Grassroots Women痴 international Academy (GWIA) from May 29 June 4, 2001 to examine best practices of grassroots women痴 groups and to gather momentum for Istanbul+5. Sixteen grassroots women痴 groups presented practices on topics including Engendering Local Governance, Security of Tenure, Education from the Bottom Up, From Disaster and Conflict to Empowerment, and Safety in Cities. Organizations recognized for their best practices included: Mother Centres from Germany/Czech Republic/Bosnia, GROOTS/Kenya, National Congress of Neighborhood Women/USA, Community Women痴 Education Initiative/Ireland, Living Learning Centers Initiative/USA, Public Housing LeadersNetwork/USA, Construction Resource Development Center/Jamaica, Sistren Theatre/Jamaica, Comite de Emergencia Garifuna/Honduras, Swayam Shikshan Prayog/India, Foundation for the Support of Women痴 Work/Turkey, Comite d但ction Femmes et Securite Urbaine/Canada, Fundacion de Guatemala, and Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres/India. 2. DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ISTANBUL + 5: The GWIA also created a list of recommendations for Member States to support during the proceedings at Istanbul+5. The six recommendations included: 百upport grassroots women痴 abilities to collect and disseminate information in their role as mediators between the state and impoverished communities. 髭nable participation of those women痴 groups who have been excluded. 紐elate to grassroots women痴 groups as problem-solvers and not only as clients or beneficiaries. 百upport grassroots group痴 abilities to consolidate their collective knowledge and expertise and provide formal advisement to achieve the full implementation of the Habitat Agenda. 稗uild Institutional Capacity. 紐eformulate the goals, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policy by engaging the knowledge and skills of grassroots women and their communities. For more information visit the Huairou Commission痴 website at: <http://www.huairou.org or e-mail them at: Huairou@earthlink.net. THE WOMEN担 CAUCUS: This met daily at Istanbul+5 to monitor the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, discuss issues surrounding the deliberations of the principal conference document and to share information. GENDER MAINSTREAMING REPORT CARD: As part of Istanbul + 5, UNCHS selected 16 "Best Practices" from each of the UN regions. The two proposals submitted by the Huairou Commission were rejected. However, the Huairou Commission was assured that although their projects were rejected, the 16 carefully selected best practices demonstrated gender-mainstreamed approaches. The Huairou Commission then decided to grade each project for their level of gender mainstreaming and to present the results in the form of a Gender Mainstreaming Report Card. The results gave projects from South Africa, Senegal, India, and Tanzania an A or A+. Others however received B痴, C痴 and D痴, with a project from Spain entitled Sustainable Economic Transformation and Decentralization in Barcelona, Spain, receiving an F. Comments regarding this project included "No mention of gender at all or participation of the grassroots. It was also an entirely top-down strategy." The full Report Card is available at <http://www.huairou.org/calendar.htm > or contact the Huairou Commission at e-mail: Huairou@earthlink.net. UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV/AIDS: IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet #172 will feature follow up to the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS held June 25 - 27, 2001, with a special emphasis on gender issues. For the final outcome of this session, see Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS "Global Crisis - Global Action", at the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS website: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/. UPCOMING UN/CEDAW SESSION: The 25th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) will meet from 2 - 20 July 2001 in New York at UN Headquarters. Those countries reporting will be: Andorra, Guinea, Guyana, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Singapore, Sweden and Viet Nam. The CEDAW website can be found at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/25sess.htm. IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet plans to do a special issue on the outcomes of this session. IWTC Women's GlobalNet is a production of: International Women's Tribune Centre 777 United Nations Plaza 3rd Floor New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: (1-212) 687-8633 Fax: (1-212) 661-2704 Email: <iwtc@iwtc.org> Web: <http://www.iwtc.org> You can subscribe to this list at any time by sending a blank message to: <iwtc-womensglobalnet-subscribe@igc.topica.com> You can unsubscribe to this list at any time by sending a blank message to: <iwtc-womensglobalnet-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com> WOMEN, INK. 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