Subject: [fem-women2000 679] Women's GlobalNet #173: "Gender, Science and Technology"
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 22:01:56 +0000
Seq: 679
IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #173 Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide By Anne S. Walker, Jennifer Sly and Vicki J. Semler July 24, 2001 NEWS AND RESOURCES IN GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 1. MEETING CONVENED BY OFAN AND RADCLIFFE ON "GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY: CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE ACTION:" Many of you may remember the Once and Future Pavilion at the NGO Forum in Beijing (Huairou) 1995, where women asked questions, searched for solutions, shared ideas, demonstrated their knowledge of science and technology and showed how they made it work for them. The work has continued and one of the more recent happenings was a meeting convened by the Once and Future Action Network (OFAN) and the Radcliffe Center for Public Policy Center April 30 through May 1, 2001. Possibilities for closer collaboration among the global gender, science, and technology (GST) networks were discussed and plans outlined for future activities. Among the global GST networks present in addition to OFAN were Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT), the Global Alliance for Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce, the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS), and the regional focal points (Southeast Asia and Pacific, Africa, and Latin America) of the Gender Advisory Board (GAB) of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development. Decisions reached at the two-day meeting included: 1. the rotation of the OFAN global secretariat from India to Fiji 2. a renewal of OFAN痴 role as a policy monitoring and advocacy network on gender, science and technology issues with an immediate focus on Rio+10 and the annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to review implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, and 3. an agreement to explore a global collaborative project on information and communication technologies (ICTs). For further information contact the new global secretariat at: ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office, FIJI, South Pacific or email <ecowoman@is.com.fj>. 2. FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: The Third World Organization of Women in Science (TWOWS) has fellowships available for women scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries at Centres of Excellence in the Global South. It is a programme for female students to promote their effective participation in the scientific and technological development of their countries. The deadline is October 31, 2001. You can get more information, including the application, online at: <http://www.twows.org/> or please contact Leena Mungapen, TWOWS, at e-mail: <info@twows.org>. 3. NEW UNESCO REGIONAL CHAIR ON WOMEN, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY FOR LATIN AMERICA: As a follow-up to the 1999 World Conference on Science, UNESCO has appointed Gloria Bonder as the new Coordinator of the UNESCO Regional Chair on Women, Science, and Technology for Latin America, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A two-year plan of action for Latin America will be presented at a meeting to be held December 4, 2001 prior to the II Global Congress of Citizens Network 2001 (GCN2001) "Renewing Communities in the Digital Era." For more information contact Gloria Bonder at Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (CEM) <cem@mujer.org.ar>. 4. NEW UN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) 2001 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT "MAKING NEW TECHNOLOGIES WORK FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT" RELEASED: The 2001 UNDP Human Development Report (HDR), focusing on "Making New Technologies Work for Human Development," looks at the role of biotechnology and information communication technologies in reducing world poverty through analysis, statistics and graphs. Statistics include the Gender Empowerment Index (GEM) and the Gender-related Development Index (GDI), plus, a new Technology Achievement Index (TAI). The TAI composite index is based on eight indicators in four dimensions: technology creation, diffusion of recent innovations, diffusion of old innovations and human skills. The 2001 UNDP HDR, released July 10, 2001, has provoked a strong reaction from more than 290 grassroots groups around the world. The controversy relates mainly to UNDP痴 support for genetically modified (GM) organisms in eradicating hunger and malnutrition. Critics state that the report "panders to the GM industry" and diverts attention from alternatives to biotechnology. Responding to the critics, Sakiko Fukado-Parr, the primary author of the report, states, "I think the first-world environmentalists should put on the shoes of a farmer in Mali faced with crop failures every other year and think what technological development could do for his harvest." The UNDP Human Development Report is available through Women, Ink. for a cost of US $22.95 (See below for ordering information) and is available electronically at <http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/>. Check out the following websites for more critical analysis of the report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,519721,00.html. "UN agency backs GM food crops," by John Vidal, and John Aglionby, South-East Asia correspondents for the London Guardian: <http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july13/top.htm> "UNDP痴 Human Development Report 2001: Biotech will bypass the hungry," by Devinder Sharma, a New Delhi based food and trade policy analyst: <http://www.timesofindia.com/today/11hlth2.htm> "UNDP go-ahead to GM foods dismays opponents," by the Times of India News Service: <http://www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/biotech/belgium-gmo.html> "Genetic Engineering of Food Crops for the Third World: An Appropriate Response to Poverty, Hunger and Lagging Productivity?" by Peter Rosset, Institute for Food and Development Policy: <http://www.greenpeace.org/> The Greenpeace Website. 5. RESOURCES IN GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY: ONCE AND FUTURE ACTION NETWORK (OFAN) NEWSLETTER REVIVED: The Once and Future Action Network (OFAN), a coalition of more than 100 organizations working on gender, science and technology, has reinstituted its newsletter on Women in Science and Technology. The current issue gives an overview of global GST networks as well as the activities of the OFAN regional focal points. The next issue will have an environmental focus. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send a request to the new global secretariat, ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office, FIJI or email <ecowoman@is.com.fj>. A NEW THEME FOR AWID TO BE "GENDER AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES": The Association for Women痴 Rights in Development (AWID) has announced in their most recent newsletter that one of their four new themes is "Gender and New Technologies." These themes provide a basis for the AWID website. Also on their website, get information on their upcoming 9th International Forum to be held October 2-7, 2002 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Their website is <http://www.awid.org/>. NEW TOOLKIT ON GENDER INDICATORS FOR ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE ONLINE: UNESCO has developed a toolkit to promote the collection of gender disaggregated data in scientific and technological activities for national and international policy. It also presents a method to ensure systematic collection of gender-dissagregated data in science and technology. This toolkit is available online at <http://www.unesco.org/unispar/>. NEW ISSUE OF GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY FOCUSES ON GENDER RELATIONS IN FOREST SOCIETIES: A new issue of the journal Gender, Technology, and Development on the topic of Gender Relations in Forest Societies is now available. You can read more about this journal, including article titles and authors at: <http://gendevtech.ait.ac.th/gtd/gtd.htm>. To purchase copies, contact Sage Publications, Inc at <info@sagepub.co.uk> in North and South America; <market@sagepub.co.uk> in Europe, Africa and Australia, and <sageindia@sagepub.com> in Asia. ELECTRONIC JOURNAL ON INTERNATIONAL GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY: The International Gender, Science and Technology Digest is a bimonthly electronic newsletter that is useful for keeping current on events, resources, announcements and publications in gender, science and technology for development. To subscribe to this email list directly, send a message to <WIGSAT-L@list.wigsat.org> with the message "subscribe" in the subject line or subscribe online at <http://www.wigsat.org/it/wigsatl.html>. 6. BOOKS ON GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY A SELECTION FROM WOMEN, INK: Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply 2000. 140 pages. ISBN 089608-607-0. WE547. US $14.00 Vandana Shiva In this book, the renowned environmentalist and activist charts how corporate control of food and the globalization of agriculture are robbing millions of their livelihoods and their right to food, and the related impact this has on the environment and the quality and healthfulness of the foods we eat. Topics covered include genetically engineered seeds, patents on life, mad cows and sacred cows and the debate on shrimp farming. This inspiring book will possibly lead the debate about genetic engineering and commercial agriculture for some time to come. Gender and Technology 1998. 88 pages. ISBN 0-85598-422-8. WE481. Cost: US $12.95 Caroline Sweetman (Ed.) The contributors to this lively collection of essays and articles consider the effects of technology on development, with varying conclusions. Some authors hail the new communication technologies as vital to economic and social progress in developing countries, noting that they have led to significant advancements for the women in the areas of health, agriculture and labour. Others argue that these advances末for the privileged few末only further the imbalance of power. List of resources. Gender and Technology: Empowering Women; Engendering Development 1998. 171 pages. WE416. Cost: US $17.50 Saskia Everts Everts demonstrates why gender awareness needs to be integrated into technology transfer, explores the technology needs of women and looks at how technology itself can empower--and disempower. Included are an overview of the gender and technology debate, a model training programme for successful technology transfer, and a list of issues to consider when introducing technology to women痴 enterprises. Case studies; bibliography. Is Science Multicultural?: Postcolonialisms, Feminisms and Epistemologies 1998. 242 pages. ISBN 1-85649-658-9. WE371. Cost: US $14.95 Sandra Harding This original and scholarly book explores what practitioners of Euro-American, feminist, and postcolonial science and technology studies can learn from each other. It suggests new directions for thinking about objectivity, method, and reflexivity in the new and future world of science and technology. Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge 1997. 148 pages. ISBN 0-89608-555-4. WE333. US $13.00 Vandana Shiva Biopiracy exposes the "new colonies" in the North痴 assault on the South痴 biological resources: the interior spaces of the bodies of women, plants and animals. Shiva convincingly argues that international agreements enable Northern capital to appropriate biodiversity from its original owners by defining as "non-science" the seeds, medicinal plants, and indigenous knowledge of the South. 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> PLEASE NOTE: For back issues of IWTC Women's GlobalNet, go to our website at <www.iwtc.org> and click on Women's GlobalNet under IWTC Resources. 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. For quality, cutting-edge publications on women and development by, for and about women worldwide, see Women, Ink's 2001 catalogue at : <http://www.womenink.org>. Or contact Women, Ink. at 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA. Tel: Yasna Uberoi (1-212) 687-8633 ext 212 or Mary Wong (1-212) 687-8633 ext 204. Fax: (1-212) 661-2704. 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