March 1, 2011

“100 Days → 100 Ways” for UN Women e-camp@ign launched!

The official launch of UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment, took place on Thursday, February 24th, marking a new era for women not only at the UN but around the world. The event, “Honouring the Past:  Envisioning the Future for Women and Girls,” was an historic occasion. The new women’s entity is now in the midst of its first 100 days and in the process of developing its strategic plan. Now is the time to provide inputs and suggestions to UN Women on how it can best serve the needs of women and girls around the world. What type of new UN Women are you envisioning? What concrete suggestions can you provide to Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the new Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women? 

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day this year on March 8th, and the first 100 days of the new UN women’s entity, the “100 Days → 100 Ways” for UN Women e-camp@ign is being launched to collect over 100 contributions from around the world on how the UN Women can better serve women, promote women’s human rights and be a champion for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. These contributions will be directed to, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, and delivered to the UN Women.  March 8th will be a day of action for the “100 Days → 100 Ways” e-camp@ign.  

At the UN Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters in New York, the Feminist Task Force of the Global Call to Action against Poverty, organizers of the “100 Days → 100 Ways” e-camp@ign is being formally announce the “100 Days → 100 Ways” e-camp@ign at the Grassroots Women’s Speakout on UN Women event on Wednesday, March 2nd which Ms. Bachelet will attend.  The final compilation of the 100 Days -> 100 Ways e-camp@ign will be delivered at the end of the 100 Days in April.  

Read about the focus areas of UN Women, and make concrete suggestions based on these focus areas:  Violence against Women; Peace and Security; Leadership and Participation; Economic Empowerment; National Planning & Budgeting; Human Rights; Millennium Development Goals.  Share your ideas and recommendations on this blog or by email.

  For more information on UN Women, click here.
→  For more information on the civil society campaign which helped catapult the creation of UN Women, click here:  Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign
→  For more information on the Feminist Task Force and the launch of UN Women.

9 comments:

  1. Please give your inputs and recommendations in the comment section here, and make sure to put one entry per recommendation.

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  2. Deeper analyses on capacity of women leaders for change; challenges, solutions given belief that even where women’s leadership and participation have increased, there has not been concurrent impact on their spheres of leadership. As primary transmitters of culture, knowledge, education, women have not been changing, but replicating and transferring habits, beliefs and practices that promote inequalities to the boys as much as girls. Address perceived lack of impact women leaders have been making in their spheres beyond the victims’ veil/as recipients to shapers and molders of modes/models of governance to direct targeted programmes/actions and meet targets for gender equity.

    Dr Kris Rampersad,
    Media, Cultural and Literary Consultant
    Author: Through the Political Glass Ceiling & Finding a Place
    International Relations Director, Network of NGOs of Trinidad & Tobago for the Advancement of Women

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  3. UN WOMEN an its role as a Coordinating Key institution on Gender Disaster Risk Reduction, Emergency Preparedness and Climate Change Disasters, emergencies and the negative impacts of climate change affect women and girls differently from men and boys and often in situations of natural disasters they lose the capacity to sustain their family’s livelihood. This results from the combined factors of natural hazards and people’s vulnerabilities that can take several expressions such as physical exposure, socioeconomic vulnerability, and limited capacity to reduce vulnerability and disaster risk. Moreover where gender inequalities are enshrined in cultural practices and/or national or customary laws, resistance to change may be strong exacerbated by fears that gains of power, prestige and benefits by women may signify their loss by men.
    Women are often more vulnerable in disaster, emergencies and under the negative impacts of climate change due to their subordinate social and economic status, situations where they increase the gender-specific physical insecurity and suffer additional abuse especially in remote rural areas. Therefore identification of gender roles are of key importance among vulnerable people specially when dealing with development initiatives which aspire sustainable results.

    UNWOMEN should look into this area and be the coordinating agency that addresses gender issues in Disaster Risk Situation, Emergency Preparedness and Climate Change.

    UNWOMEN Coordinating role among UN Agencies, Private Donors and CSO is key and crucial for the promoting and the adoption of gender equity to empower women in vulnerable situation.

    Marcela Ballara, Alt. Coordinator, Feminist Task Force (Chile)

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  4. UN WOMEN and its role on Rural and Indigenous Women Situation Rural women are one of the powerful forces behind the economy of rural territories and share equal respon¬sibility for the development, stability and survival of their families. This dual role makes them strategically important for rural development and well-being, and an analysis of their multifaceted contributions reveals their potential. Regardless of what the family’s main agricultural activity is, women participate actively in all the stages of the value chain (from planting season to harvest), agro-industrial processes and marketing. It also includes the production of small livestock and responsibly of some tasks in large-scale livestock farming, The income they generate helps to meet basic needs not covered by the income generated from sub-sistence agriculture. In households, improvements in the family’s nutrition are linked to decisions they take regarding the use and distribution of income.

    Rural women produce between 60% and 80% of the food consumed in developing countries but despite their substantial contribution, they suffer from exclusion, as seen in the agricultural labor market, where they receive lower wages than men in similar positions. In addition, their work is not accurately reflected in sta¬tistics, which affects the formulation of public policies that are in line with reality and address existing gaps in terms of equity.

    Being Rural and indigenous women one of the driving forces in many of the economies of poor countries and the most affected by climate change and natural disasters, it is of key importance that UN WOMEN addresses their concerns and be the main coordinating agency for projects, programs and policies that guarantee that gender issues support o their human rights for their empowerment and economic autonomy.

    Marcela Ballara, Alternate Coordinator, Feminist Task Force (Chile)

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  5. A la Dra. Bachelet, (English below)

    Nosotras mujeres rurales, e indigenas de El Salvador, le felicitamos pro su nombramiento.. le urgimos que haga todo lo necesario para asegurar que la reunion de la ONU de CSW 56, sobre la mujer rural, tome como base las metas del milenio, necesitamos que se bregue el cuidado del medio ambiente, la erradicacion de la pobreza y el hambre, ya que este es un problema centenario en nuestro pais y la region de Centro America.. URGE HAYAN MECANISMO QUE ASEGUREN NOS ESCUCHEN, TANTO A NIVEL NACIONAL COMO A NIVEL GLOBAL..

    ELIZA CLARA.. ANCIANA ELECTA DEL PUEBLO DE NAHUIZALCO, SONSONATE, EL SALVADOR, C.A.

    To Dr. Bachelet,
    We rural and indigenous women of El Salvador congratulate you on your new post.

    We urge you to do all that is necesary to ensure that at next year's UN CSW56 the focus is on Rural Women, and recommend that you take the MDGs as a base. We need to tackle the issue of care of the environmnet, eradication of poverty and hunger, since these are problems of over 100 years in my country and region of Central America.

    It is urgent that there is a mechanism which ensure we are heard, at the national as well as the global level.

    ELIZA CLARA, elderly women elected to represent the Town of Nahuizalco, Sonsonate, El Salvador, Central America

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  6. Dra. Bachelet, (English below)

    Felicitaciones por su nueva posicion.. sabemos que estara muy ocupada, desde El Salvador, le instamos a crear los procesos necearios para que se nos escuche a las mujeres, somos aqui la mayoria, y hemos sido las mujeres que con nuestro esfuerzo hemos en realidad sacado al pais adelante y lo seguimos haciendo.

    Urge trabajar de manera efectiva el problema de la violencia en nuestra region y en nuestro pais, las mujeres en general la sufrimos, y en particular las jovenes.. agradecemos su pronta y efectiva atencion.

    Ana Rooney, grupo de trabajo para el desarrollo cultural de Santa Ana, El Salvador
    http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Aja.

    Dr. Bachelet,
    Congratulations on your new position. We know you must be very busy, but from El Salvador we implore you to create the necessary processes so that you can hear from us women. We women here are the majority, and it is the women who with pure effort have pulled our country ahead, and we continue to do it.

    It is urgent that we work effectively on the issue of VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN in our region and in our country. Women in general suffer from VAW, and in particular the young women. We would appreciate your prompt and effective attention.

    Ana Rooney, Working Group on Cultural Development, Santa Ana, El Salvador
    http://www.museoaja.org
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siglo_XXIII
    ON OUR CULTURE OF PEACE http://nopppculturadepaz.blogspot.com

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  7. Dra. Bachelet,

    Our best to you. We have held a meeting with rural and urban women in El Salvador, C.A.

    We see the UN as an advocate for real peace, real security and real development. We see the new UN women unit that you serve as a means to strengthen these processes in favor of the most impoverished, those who suffer all kinds of violence, and who are mostly the women, the rural peoples, the indigenous, the older adults, the youth.

    We see that the Rights of Mother Earth are at the heart of this work. All of these constituencies are part of the people your entity must serve. Please do listen to us first, and not those who say they represent us. Listen to the call of those movements, such as GCAP, that call for the MDGs to be met as planned.

    Best,

    Marta Benavides for SERR-Siglo XXIII
    El Salvador, C.A. , Feminist Task Force of GCAP

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  8. Dra. Bachelet greetings; as the vision of UN Women moves forward we truly believe in the need to listen to and stay in tune with the grassroots movements in order to ensure that the United Nations truly sets forth a vision for peace and development for all. As vice-chair of the Student Christian Movement-U SA, a student-led movement that actively seeks justice and peace, I believe that UN Women can and should play an active role in increasing the participation of women, specifically young women and girls in the work ahead. We know that young people and women are the ones most affected by the current economic, financial, climate, and food crisis and therefore need to be included as governments find ways to achieve the MDGs. We ask that UN Women ensure that the UN Secretary General publish a World Youth Report in 2013, focusing on how young people are contributing to the achievement of the MDGs, in order to prepare for a youth‐friendly and participatory post‐2015 development agenda.

    Thank you,

    Kristen Kane-Osorto, Vice-Chair, Student Christian Movement-USA
    USA, Member of SERR-Siglo XXIII

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