NAIROBI

See You in Nairobi Kenya —July 1985: the place and time of the next World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women and of the Non-Governmental (NGO) Forum.

Stop Press! The dates of the Forum are now July 10-19, 1985. The Non-Governmental (NGO) Forum has entered into its final phase of preparation. All the planning is now in full swing. The dates of this nine day world event changed several times, from the 8th-17th to the 15th-26th, and finally to July 10-19, 1985.

Women in Action receives reports and announcements from groups and organisations worldwide sharing with us their efforts and ideas on what they would like to see and do in Nairobi. Frustrations as well as encouraging enthusiasm reach us as time slips by. Complaints on the lack of information, financial difficulties, etc. accompany initiatives from grass-root women's groups and development planners to ensure that women's experiences are shared and voices are heard. These initiatives reflect our determination and show exactly how we, as women want to change the world. Women in Action gives here some more Forum news and updates.

The NGO Forum is an open conference, a parallel meeting to the Governmental World Conference to be held 15-26 July 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya to review and appraise progress achieved and obstacles encountered in attaining the goals and objectives of the Decade for Women.

A Planning Committee of representatives of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ESOSOC) coordinates requests from organisations and groups worldwide for time and space in the NGO Forum, workshops and other activities most of which will be facilitated by the participants.

The Planning Committee will organise plenary sessions on: Development, Peace, Equality, Women Refugees and Migrants, Young Women and Girls, Older Women, Women and Employment, Women and Education, Women and Health, Women and Media, and Women in Emergency Situations.

Working languages will be English, French and Spanish. Simultaneous translation is only available in major plenaries. A full schedule of workshops and activities in the Forum is expected to be ready only on the first day, in the Forum newspaper.

The Planning Committee has negotiated with the Kenya Government to use the University of Nairobi as the Forum site in which the majority of the workshops, exhibits and plenaries will take place.

Make sure that you will not be refused to get into Nairobi, Kenya

1. Registration:
   Submit your personal registration form with a US$10 non-refundable registration fee to:
   NGO Planning Committee, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA.
   
   Payment can be made by an International Money Order or a check drawn on a US or Swiss bank account made out to: NGO Planning Committee.
2. Accommodations:
   All individuals must make their own accommodations arrangements through completing an Accommodation Form prepared by the Kenya Government available at Kenyan Diplomatic Missions and Consulates or (where there is no Kenyan Mission) at a UK Diplomatic Mission. Forms may also be obtained by writing to the NGO Planning Committee in New York.
3. Visas
   You have to present:
   - confirmation of hotel accommodation
   - proof of round-trip ticket
   - a valid passport
   to obtain a visa from:
   - Kenyan Diplomatic Missions and Consulates or the UK Diplomatic Mission or Consulates where there is no Kenyan representative.
   
   Visas are required for all visitors except citizens of British Commonwealth countries (other than Asian countries).
4. Check health customs regulations of Kenya
   For further information on the NGO Forum, contact:
   NGO Planning Committee, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. USA. Tel. (212) .S99-8()82.
   
   Cable: NGO FORUM. Telex: 144568.
   NGO Planning Committee. CP. 50, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Tel. 98-84-00 ext. 483
   NGO Organizing Committee. P.O. Box 54562. Nairobi, Kenya. Tel. 332-383. Telex: 22035.
   
   For information on the Governmental World Conference, contact:
   UN Conference Secretariat, UN/ CSDHA. P.O. Box 500, Vienna International Centre A-14(K) Vienna, Austria.

Before the Forum

Women's Decade Consultation in Soutliern Africa

260 women of South Africa and Namibia gathered in Hammanskraal to review the status of African women in a conference on «Women for Change.» This three-day Women's Decade Consultation was organised by the South African Council of Churches' Home and Family Life Division on 30 November to 2 December 1984.

The consultation concluded with a statement to the churches emphasising that sexist, racist and classist attitudes were still blocking the progress of women and that liberation would not be complete without the liberation of women. There was an open letter to all African men expressing their anger at the discrimination against women.

The women came mainly from church organisations. There were also representatives from political and other women's groups. They were all black women except three.

For more information, contact:
South African Council of Churches, Home and Family Life, Women's Desk, P.O. Box 4921. Johannesburg 2000, Republic of South Africa.

Regional Forum of NGO's in Havana, Cuba.

Between 17 and 19 November 1984 the Regional Forum of Latin American NGO's was held in Havana. Cuba, with the participation of 39 countries from Latin America, the Caribbean and the USA. 358 women participated in the evaluation of the accomplishments, obstacles and difficulties encountered in these past few years. They also designed future strategies for the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The Forum was especially important because it brought together women from different organisations from all over the continent in an effort to demonstrate the strength and importance of the women's movement.

The results are a very important contribution to the discussions to be held in Nairobi in July 1985. Some of the subjects discussed in the Forum were:

• Equality in work and education: The participants, while recognising the efforts which have been made to overcome discrimination against women here, emphasised the necessity of exercising more pressure to overcome the unjust situations which still prevail. A long list of detailed suggestions was presented.
• Rural women: This workshop pointed out the specific situation that affects peasants in the continent as a direct effect of their isolation, and how women's situation is doubly difficult.
• Young women: This workshop recognised that in the last few years there has been an important increase in the participation of women, especially in political and social activities. But it pointed out the numerous problems which limit a full and equal participation because of sexual discrimination based on the «machista» tradition that considers women only as wives and mothers. In addition it emphasised the moral and sexual prejudice, which, together with inadequate sexual education and the lack of contraceptives and information limit the social, physical and mental development of young women.
• Women and health, reproductive rights, sexuality and equality: According to this group, the Decade has not produced substantial modifications which permit Latin American and Caribbean women access to the health system. There is a great difference between the health services offered to women in urban or rural areas. This situation is worsened by the persisfent problems related to accessible drinking water, and sanitary environmental conditions. Physical and mental abuse were also denounced together with medical and pharmacological experimentation carried out by transnational companies.
• Mass media and its influence on women: There was general consensus that the mass media presents an image of women that corresponds to the interests of the dominant classes in order to perpetuate social injustice. The necessity of strengthening networks in the region was emphasised.
• Women and Development: The workshop felt it was necessary to define the politics and ethics of development, a New International Economic Order to resolve the economic crisis and deteriorating situation of the dependent countries. This new international order must take into account women's needs and make available resources and working opportunities to all women. Democratisation of the power structures is essential for the real participation of women. The capacity of these organisations to influence the state at decisionmaking levels must also be strengthened.
• Peace and Central American and Caribbean Women - the threat of intervention: As its last declaration, the Regional Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations produced a document expressing the aspirations of peace of all the people of the continent and denouncing the bellicose policy of the U.S. government in Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba.

Information taken from:

Quehaceres. 26 January 1985, CIPAF, Benigno Filomeno Rojas No. 307. Santo Domingo. D.N., Dominican Republic. Maria, Liberacion del Pueblo. No. 2. February 1985. Apartado 158-B, 62190 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Before and At the Forum

Communique from the Bangalore Group

An ever-widening group of activists, organisers, and researchers who are committed to the search for alternative, more equitable development processes has launched a participatory project to synthesise and evaluate women's experience with development across the globe. The group is preparing an overview paper drawing on available documentation about women's experiences with development, the impact of the global economic, political, and cultural crisis on women, and proposing an alternative vision and strategies based on this analysis. A related set of panels and workshops is being scheduled for the NGO Forum of the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women in Nairobi in July 1985. The paper is intended to stimulate focused debate among Nairobi conference participants and point to new strategies. The panels will include organisers, activists, and researchers and will attempt to develop innovative approaches based on the richness of women's experiences.

The project was launched as an initiative from the Third World in August 1984 in Bangalore. India after wide consultation with a number of people and institutions. Members of the groujj come mainly from Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Institutions involved in the effort include: the African Association of Women for Research and Development (AAWORD), the Women and Development Unit (WAND) of the University of the West Indies, the Pacific and Asian Women's Forum, the Asian Women's Research and Action Network in Southeast Asia, and the Institute of Social Studies Trust in India.

Our goal is to encourage an integrative process of dialogue prior to Nairobi so that the document truly reflects our collective experiences and inputs. We also hope to develop unified themes for an action-oriented agenda beyond 1985, by drawing individuals and organisations working at the grassroots and community level, researchers and policy implementers, into the process. Please join us by:

• sending references and copies of papers, studies, and regional/sectoral data on women's experience with development, the impact of the crisis on women, and alternative visions;
• sending names of women who could be resources for or contribute to the panels we are scheduling for Nairobi;
• helping to publicise our project through your networks and organisations prior to Nairobi.

Responses, materials, and requests for the draft outline of our paper/more information on the project can be sent to either:

Dr. Devaki Jain
Institute of Social Studies Trust*
S.M.M. Theatre Crafts Bldg. 5, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg New Delhi 110 002 INDIA

Dr. Gita Sen
Dept. of Economics
Graduate Faculty
New School for Social Research
65 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10003

Asian Women Speak Out!

Its a real big effort to bring so many Asian women, representing such diversified political, economic, cultural and religious backgrounds together and talk. They brought forth fifteen country reports which are meant to be alternatives to those prepared by the official UN delegates to be presented in Nairobi this July. Notwithstanding their diversities, they came out as one in the Asian Report, a consolidation of all the country reports.

Organised by the Asian Women's Research and Action Network (AWRAN), the Asian Women's Conference held on 23-27 April in Davao City in the Philippines was attended by thirty-four women from fifteen countries in Asia and the Pacific to assess the impact of the Women's Decade on Asian women. They claimed in one collective voice that governments in this region are only subscribing to the aims of the decade without making a real commitment. Asian women still suffer from commodification, pauperisation and domestication.; Some Asian countries are strongly and unconsciously bound by the deep-rooted colonial mentality. The phenomenon of religious revivalism and fundamentalism victimises women at large. However, the decade has witnessed an increase of women's organisations in most Asian countries in one form or another. However minimal, women's issues have been brought to the fore and in some Asian countries like the Philippines, South Korea, India etc. the feminist movement works hand-in-hand with the struggle for structural transformation.

Both the individual country reports and the Asian Report will be presented in a one-day plenary in the Nairobi Forum.

For more information, please contact:
AWRAN. c/o Pilipina, PO Box 208. Davao City 9501, the Philippines.

At the Forum

Women and Audiovisuals

Isis International is planning a series of workshops at the Nairobi Forum on Audiovisuals. Women's groups from Third World countries will share their experiences of making and using audiovisuals through slideshow and video presentations. We will present the Isis International Resource Guide on Audiovisuals for Women which includes articles sharing the experiences of women's groups, annotated listings of audiovisual resources produced by women, and of distributors and groups.

The Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network

Isis International is also planning a series of activities on the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, which is coordinated from our Santiago office. These will include discussions on the experiences of women's health groups in the region and on strengthening the network's exchange of information and experiences.

Women in Development: From Grassroots Action to Policy Making

A series of workshops are being planned by the participants in the joint Isis International and ICDA (International Coalition for Development Action) Workshop on Women in Development. Discussions will center around practical strategies for increasing the influence of grassroots women's groups on development policies.

For more information, contact:
Isis International, via Santa Maria dell Anima 30,00186 Rome, Italy or Casilla 2067, Correo Central, Santiago, Chile.

Women and Equality: Managing Home and Work Responsibilities

The International Child Resource Institute is planning four panel discussions:

1. Employment, Housework and Child Care: Burying Archaic Tenets and Building New Arrangements
2. The Challenge for Men in Support of Equal Status
3. The Dilemma of Working Women: Stresses and Solutions
4. The Burden of Absent Fathers on Family: The Single Parent Dilemma. For more information, contact: Jeanne M. Nelson, International Child Resource Institute, 2955 Claremont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705, USA.

Young Women leaders meet in Nairobi

25-30 young women will meet in Nairobi July 7-17. The World YWCA is bringing together these young women from all over the world to discuss in an initial two-day meeting 7-8 July, such issues as development, peace, the international economic order, women's role today and in the future. After this and during the days of the NGO Forum, the group will be free to attend meetings and workshops at the Forum, but will meet daily to share what they have learned. They will also have a one-day summary session to work out actions on issues that affect youth and youth leadership of the YWCA.

For more information, contact:
World YWCA, 37 Quai Wilson, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland.

Field Trips to Village Projects
Kenyan women are organising field trips to village projects to meet with rural women.

For more information, contact:
Jane Kiano, Kenya NGO Organising Committee, P.O. Box .54562, Nairobi, Kenya.

Tech & Tools: an Appropriate Technology Event for Women

Women's groups, appropriate technology groups and a scientific association are coordinating activities and programmes on women's access to and uses of technologies worldwide.

For more information, contact:
International Women's Tribune Centre, 777 United Nations Plaza, NY, NY 10017, USA.

Nairobi Film Forum

There will be workshops for filmmakers and film users and an ongoing series of films and videos by and about women worldwide.

For more information, contact:
Hannah Fisher, 371 Queens Quay W., Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1A2, Canada.

Resources for Decade

NGO Perspectives on the Decade of Action

This paper summarises the responses of 65 international and 72 national NGOs to a questionnaire distributed by the NGO Planning Committee for the 1985 World Conference on the Women's Decade. It focuses on the effects of the Decade of Action on the situations of women in diverse contexts, on areas of continuing concerns of NGOs, and on NGO suggestions for areas of future action.

NGOs showed that the greatest achievements of the Decade have been in areas of attitudinal change. The majority of international and national NGOs mentioned an increased awareness of women's needs, an increased recognition of women's contributions to society and a more positive view of women in general. The questionnaires demonstrate that NGOs are particularly concerned with strategies that emphasise educational activities such as workshops and training programmes, the dissemination of information, with organising for collective action, and the fostering of international exchanges among women.

For more information, contact:
NGO Planning Committee.