Editorial

The cards were laid out from the start. This meeting, the CSW and PrepCom, does not offer NGOs an opportunity for direct discussions with governments. We are allocated only a few hours. It will be worse in June. All the work was done upstream. Since Beijing we have stepped onto a more visible stage, including being recognized as a interlocutor of choice at the United Nations. We cannot leave it at that. A few rushed minutes to speak during a meeting do not replace all the grassroots networking NGOs undertake.

The role of WomenAction 2000 is to disseminate these practices, to transmit them outside, to cut the road to all forms of illusions which would lead grassroots NGOs to believe that the UN system authorizes a real political negotiation. WomenAction is at your disposal to publish information, diffuse it using a multi-facetted Internet-based strategy and to make your information known to the press and the public at large. Our visibility is our power.
WomenAction 2000

Interview - When women bear the weight of development

Sissel Ekaas, director of the Women and Population Division of the FAO is responsible for developing methodologies and analytical tools for the integration of demographics and a gendered perspective into the agricultural programs of member nations. Although women play a critical role in rural regions, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, ‘their contribution is not included in the statistics.’ Training programs and services developed by different authorities in the agricultural domain fail to integrate a gender perspective, with the result that they are not adapted to women's realities. For example, tools are developed without taking into account physical differences. All of them are designed for the (male) head of the household, even if he is on the battlefield or has disappeared. There is no communication between the men who decide and the women who work. Even women do not recognize themselves as economic actors, because they are not paid -- for the simple reason that they do not own the land. The FAO is trying to identify the respective roles of women and men at all levels, throughout the food chain from production to commercialization to within families. The FAO is also studying the impact of AIDS in rural regions, especially on young girls 'Girls are taken out of school to care for their parents and to work in the fields', explains Sissel Ekaas. 'Women are starving for time,' she adds. This affects not only their nutrition but that their entourage. They don't have access to credit even if it is they who carry the weight of development, both locally and nationally. In a period of globalization, of AIDS and of civil war, stereotypes break down at lightning speed. Governments have to keep up. In the meantime, women take up the challenge and make common cause to find makeshift solutions. In the end, 'despite the constraints, they innovate.'
Joelle Palmieri, WomenAction 2000

NGO Caucus

UNDAW, NGO CSW Committee and CONGO are working to make NGO meeting space and information available. (1) Caucus announcements: complete the form drop it in boxs either in conference room B or in 2nd Floor Church Center. Deadline 3:30 PM the day before. (2) Meeting space booking of UN bldg: contact Koh Miyaoi (find her at registration area, UN Visitor's Lobby); for Church Center, submit forms in boxes in Conf Room B or at the NGO Hospitality Center (2nd Floor Church Center). Deadline 3:30 the preceeding day. For emergency situation, mark it URGENT and handcarry to NGO Hospitality Center.

Appropriate ICTs - The right to communicate?

The relevance of placing the issue of communications within the priorities of Beijing +5 is now more pressing than ever before. This is because, on one hand, the process of globalisation has been possible through the development of the largest communications infrastructure in history and, on the other hand, social, political, cultural and economic interactions are defined through the influence that the media has.

It is for this reason that the Media Caucus is making recommendations, to the CSW, to prioritise women’s right to communication and is highlighting the urgency of assigning resources and implementing programs to increase the women’s access to communications systems and knowledge, especially to new communications technologies.

Sentimos no poder presentarles el boletin noticias completo ya que tuvimos problemas tecnicos. Manana les entregaremos el boletin con mas informaciones. / Suite à des problèmes techniques, nous ne sommes pas en mesure de publier notre journal dans sa formule orginale. Nous vous promettons de diffuser au plus vite ce quotidien dans sa version integrale en trois langues. / Due to technical problems, we were unable to provide you with full version of our Daily News. Please look out for our news tomorrow!