DAWN Research Project The Women's Movement

Over the last decade, many women from all over the world have debated, struggled and searched for new solutions to development problems from the perspective of women - especially those in poverty groups. Much of this rethinking process, and the mobilization and organization of women in the Third World, has not been documented. Yet this is an urgent area of work. Knowledge of their past roles and potential is essential for Third World women to interpret their history. It will help them formulate Third World feminist visions that aim to achieve dignity of women, control over their lives and bodies, and development of a just and more participatory social, economic and political order nationally and internationally.

A project designed by Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), will document the emergence of women, their struggle, methodology, consciousness, solidarity, visions and divisions, as they try to create new structures, alternatives and culture and deal with subordination and emancipation. It aims to:

• identify the comparative strengths and weaknesses of women's movements in Third World countries as members battle such major social problems as racism, class structure, patriarchy, ideology, religious fundamentalism;
• outline alternative development projects which question not only the traditional positions of women but also traditional views of development;
• examine strategies, ideology and methodologies of the women's movement for shaping a more equitable, participatory and viable future;
• provide an analytical format to allow the women's movement to reach beyond the micro-level to the macro-level and build alternative structures.

For more information, contact:

Noeleen Heyzer
Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC)
Pesiaran Duta PO Box 12224 50770 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DAWN Project On Crises

Many Third World countries are facing unmanageable debt burdens and balance of payments deficits - symptoms of a larger crisis in the post-war world financial and monetary system. Attempts to solve the debt crisis through structural adjustment programs have meant cuts or shifts in social services subsidies for items like food and fuel. These structural adjustment programs have been quite recent, so there has been little systematic assessment of their effects on the poor, and on women in particular.

But informed guesses at the impact of cutbacks on nutrition, morbidity, mortality, child survival, sanitation, transport, education, employment and income suggest they will be largely negative. It is likely women will provide these services as they shift from the public to the private domain or as they are abolished. Women's employment in the "informal sector" of the economy is also likely to increase, but under harsh conditions and at low pay.

Third World countries have adopted various debt management packages, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The effect of these programs on women's access to services, income employment, and education need to be carefully documented.

There is literature to show that in many parts of the Third World, women are important and often the main producers of food crops and they are almost universally the main food processors and cooks. Women are usually also responsible for water and fuel collection and much time is spent when these resources are scarce. National surveys show that poorer women perform these tasks in disproportionate numbers.

The DAWN reject will identify the effects of specific policies on different groups of women and classes and attempt to set up a conceptual framework for an alternative development model.

For more information, contact:

Carmen Barroso
Fundacao Carlos Chagas
Av. Prof. Francisco Morato, 1.565
05513 - Sao Paulo - BP
Brazil

Women and Media in Development Workshop, India

The South Asian region shares many common cultural and socioeconomic patterns. As part of the developing world South Asia is at the receiving end of communication. Most news flows from the industrialized to the developing world and carries with it all the biases and stereotypes of this world. Most communication also flows from urban to rural and from men to women. .

The images resulting from these biases to a large extent determine people's lives.

The India-based Center for the Development Of Instructional Technology (CENDIT) is a non-profit society which works to make communication aids accessible to a wider group of people. With the Freedom from Hunger Campaign/Action for Development (FFHC/AD) projects, it organized the South Asian Regional Workshop on Women and Media in Development in March 1986.

As a precursor to the workshop, FFHC/AD commissioned a study on women and media in the region, carried out by Purnima Rao, a designer who works with the media. She visited five South Asian countries and found very few women have been trained either to understand or to have access to the media. Her report "Towards Breaking the Silence" analyzed women's portrayal in the media and suggested how distorted perceptions of reality could be changed if different images were presented. She suggested a series of video training workshops be organized for women in the region.

The workshop gave 24 women activists, working in grassroots organizations in several countries the opportunity to get some hands-on experience of video techniques. The purpose was not to create experts but to help participants understand the "buzzwords" of production so that activists do not get overwhelmed by professionals. It was decided to spend much time analyzing portrayals of women in the media and looking at possible alternative images. The workshop also set out to create a successful networking of information between the various organizations.

Aruna Roy was invited to speak about rural communication modes. She stressed that the mode of communication should be the dominant one, not the minority mode. Why should urban women decide and articulate the needs and problems of their rural counterparts, for example? Why should we presume that rural women are backward and in need of guidance? She reported how in order to understand the reality of rural India and create some kind of effective communication between different groups it was decided to organize in October 1985, the first-ever national Mahila Mela, or Women's Fair for rural women in Rajasthan. Though they came from different cultural backgrounds, spoke different languages, these women were nevertheless able to evolve their own unique methods of communication. They discussed employment, wages for women, health, dowry, their fight against corrupt government officials often acting these issues out through drama, music or dance, Aruna Roy told the media workshop.

Many women felt this workshop was too short to handle both discussions and training but found it a productive period of self-evaluation, analysis, sharing, achievement and learning.

The Report is available from:

CENDIT
D-1, Soami Nagar
New Delhi HQ 017, India

Empowering Women Through Communications

Workshops

The 1986 annual general meeting of Match, a Canadian development agency which concentrates its support on women, featured workshops on the theme "Empowering Women Through Communications Strategies."

Nancy Marcotte, from Group d' Intervention Video Montreal, outlined the basic steps involved in producing a video in a developing country. Participants in the workshop were also introduced to the many ways video empowers women. A workshop animated by Barb Emmanuel, of the film department of the Development Education Center in Toronto, focused on the usefulness of audiovisuals in women's education and organizing work.

An active workshop provided participants with an excellent introduction to popular theater and demonstrated its effectiveness in communicating information in an entertaining way.

For more information, contact:

MATCH International Center
401-171 Nepean Street Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K2P OB4

Rape Crisis Center, Philippines

Now victims of rape in the Philippines need not agonize alone. That is the message from WOMB, a middle class women's organization which has recently opened the Crisis Intervention Center in Manila.

The center offers a 24 hour hotline service so rape victims can talk anytime with another woman who sympathizes with her situation and is willing to help her cope with her fears and frustrations. Talking with another woman is a "powerful therapy," says the center's executive director, Atty. Venus Lucero. Without this help, many women would keep their frustrations and confusions to themselves because of fear, shame or guilt.

She has already handled many rape cases and is familiar with the emotional pain they go through. "There is no agency - private or public - that tackles this problem, so where can the women turn for support?"

With the establishment of this center, there is now an answer to that question. It has enlisted the voluntary assistance of some medical missionaries, a group of lawyers and other concerned women to contribute in the best way they can.

Also planned is publication of a primer on rape and a symposium on the issue.

For more information contact:

GABRIELA
PO Box 4386
Manila 2800, Philippines

Women's Feature Service (WFS)

The two most significant trends in the last several decades have been the growth of women's movements and the efforts of planned development. While the two movements have a good deal in common, they have not appreciably worked together. In reality, planned development has often displaced women from their work, their communities and homes, while presenting enormous challenges through this displacement.

These changes have prompted women to come together, organize, analyze and articulate their needs and experiences. Yet these events are hardly reported in the mainstream media, or if they are, it is done in a sensational manner, highlighting the superficial and perpetuating stereotypes.

To try to counteract this, a women's feature service has been established by the Inter Press Service to promote the views and analysis of women and their perceptions of national and international development.

The Inter Press Service (IPS), is a Third World news agency committed to reporting on issues in a style that increases the flow of information between nations of the world South South and South-North.

The WFS provides features for the news media written by Third World women journalists, from women's perspective, with a special focus on development issues. It is distributed to IPS subscribers - news agencies, print media, broadcasting networks. United Nations agencies, governments and various non-governmental organizations. Future plans are to make the WFS available also to a wide number of women's organizations and to eventually develop into a self-sufficient, autonomous agency.

For more information, contact:

Anita Anand, Coordinator
Women, Communication and Development Project
Inter Press Service Via Panisperna 207
00184 Rome, Italy

Doing Theology From The Third World Women's Perspective

Doing theology has long been a monopoly of western male theologians or men trained in the western tradition. In recent years, however, there have been efforts to promote a more comprehensive dimension to theology. The Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) launched a program two years ago to encourage doing theology from the Third World women's perspective. It includes women theologians from Africa, Asia and Latin America and is conducted nationally by continents and together intercontinentally.

The Intercontinental Conference " Doing Theology from the Third World Women's Perspective" was held in Oaxtepec, Mexico, December 1-5, 1986 and 23 women theologians from the three continents attended. They were asked to discuss The Reality of Oppression and Struggle of Women; Women and the Bible; Women and the Church; Women and Christology.

Participants affirmed that in all three continents the oppression of women is a hard and abiding reality of life though this varies in degree from place to place. But there is also awareness that women's struggles are part and parcel of the liberation of all the poor and oppressed. They held that compassion is a main element of spirituality promoted by women and that spiritual experience for women of the Third World means being in communion with all those who fight for life.

There are innumerable biblical texts which are cited to remind all that women are created inferior to men. But the women at this conference have discovered that the Bible is full of texts which appreciate the dignity of womanhood. They affirmed that "the Bible plays a vital role in the lives of women and in their struggle for liberation."

It was agreed that in all three continents "women constitute a vital and dynamic force within the church, yet they are powerless and voiceless and in most churches are excluded from leadership roles and ordained ministries."

For more information, contact:

Asia Link
Center for The Progress of People
48 Princess Margaret Road
Kowloon, Hong Kong

March 8 Celebrations

Zimbabwe

A symposium on the housing needs of Zimbabwean women was an important part of the celebrations of March 8 in that country. The symposium was sponsored by Rudo Chitiga, a spokesperson for the government's Ministry of Community Development and Women's Affairs.

There is a serious housing shortage in the country and women suffer most from it according to Chitiga. "In municipal housing, the male is considered the breadwinner and the head of the household. It is the single woman who cannot find accommodation because priority is given to males," Chitiga said.

The women's movement manifests itself in Zimbabwe by trying to provide basic needs such as housing.

The Zimbabwe government is seen as supportive of women's efforts to advance themselves. Several women's action groups are assisting the government to explain to women new laws which give them increased property rights.

(Source: Women's Feature Service, IPS, Rome, Italy) 

Chile

More than 450 women were involved in organizing events throughout Chile to celebrate International Women's Day. Their demonstrations were the first to take to the streets of Santiago since the military government lifted the state of siege early in the year.

 The organizing committee represented groups as diverse as Women For Life, Women for Socialism, The Feminist Movement, Chile's Women's Emancipation Movement and others. The slogans of the May 8 marches were "If Women are not involved, democracy will not evolve" and "united hand-in-hand, women against the tyranny." The women not only celebrated that day but declared an "International Women's Month" for all of May.

(Source: Women's Feature Service, IPS, Rome, Italy)

Brazil

Despite the local government's decision to ban International Women's Day celebrations, women of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous city went ahead with their organizing anyway.

Apart from a meeting in the town's central plaza - roped off by police - the women sponsored a film and video festival with the help of the paper "Mulherio". The theme of the festival was "Man and Woman - Desires." The state owned cultural television station also programmed a mini-series called "plural feminism" focusing on the problems of women in Brazil.

In Brasilia, the South American country's capital city. International Women's Day was celebrated without government- imposed restrictions and the government's national council of women's rights directed a special televised message to all Brazilian women.

(Source: Women's Feature Service, PS, Rome, Italy)

Women's Alternative Economic Summit

The following announcement of a Women's Alternative Economic Summit was recently received by Isis International:

During the past decade, women have experienced increasing responsibilities and burdens in all areas of their lives. Much of this is linked to the global economic crisis and, particularly, to the debt crisis. A group of women in the USA proposes convening a WOMEN'S ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC SUMMIT (WAES), a project that is one step in a long term campaign to further women's understanding of international and national economic policies and to connect women's realities to these policies. When gender is considered, statistics repeatedly show that women are the poorest of the poor. More than any sector of society, their voices are not heard. Those who are powerless and often the most exploited are excluded from nearly all spheres of public policy and most certainly, removed from international economic negotiations. Women have carried the national debt on their backs and borne the brunt of cutbacks in all social and educational services. It is time to say no more. Since women worldwide are tackling the effects of economic policies and conditions in formal and informal activities - as groups or as individuals, we need to mobilize those most affected by the economic crisis.

The WOMEN'S ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC SUMMIT seeks to bring together activists, researchers, planners and policymakers from many fields who are committed to a new analysis and formulation of economic policies which reflects the reality of women's lives. The Summit may be convened at the same time as the western Economic Summit which brings seven nations together to discuss and agree on economic priorities of mutual concern or on the occasion of meetings of the non-aligned movement.

As yet, we do not have a defined structure, program and agenda for the WAES. This inquiry letter is part of our effort to build a participatory process for women's organizations around the world to be able to react and contribute to the actual formulation of the WAES. We are proposing that the international WAES would serve as the focal point to assemble data, testimonies and policy recommendations from all regions of the world. An international women's economic agenda may be one of the outcomes of the WAES. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to present different experiences and assessments of the current economic crisis. From this, we will be able to understand more clearly the common bond and common fate that women share.

Some suggested topics for research and action for the Summit include:

• Debt Crisis and impact of national adjustment policies
• Low wages
• Unpaid work
• Export-oriented development
• Export processing zones
• Centrally planned economies
• Multinationals and Global Assembly Line
• Privatization - State vs. Private Sector
• Women workers - organized and unorganized
• Informal and formal sector
• Redefining women's work
• Land ownership
• Appropriate technology
• Food security
• Militarism in economy
• Role of international financial organizations
• Working conditions.

We envision the WAES to be an organic process out of existing work and experience - providing a platform for women's voices. Information/data from local and national organizations could be shared in preparation for the WAES.

But before convening a Summit, we need to hear what each other is doing on economic justice issues. Most importantly, we ask if you are willing to become a member of an international task force/network on the WAES with the following responsibilities :

• Assembling and collecting information and data relevant to the region;
• Identifying experts and activities in your region who are involved with economic issues;
• Promoting and sharing information on the Summit with other interested persons and groups;
• Organizing and preparing a statement or position paper reflecting the needs of region.

This letter is our first inquiry to women's groups worldwide and we welcome your sharing this with other people whom you feel should be included in this process. Please feel free to suggest other programs/projects to bring international attention to economic policies which your group would work on.

For more information, contact:

Joyce Yu
UN-Nongovernmental Liaison Service
DC 2- 1103
New York, NY 10017, USA

WISAP Meeting In The Philippines

About 40 women from different countries and continents met in Manila February 25 - March 10 for a conference called Women's International Solidarity Affair in the Philippines (WISAP).

The conference was organized by the Filipino women's organization GABRIELA. Its theme was "In The Post-Marcos Era - Unite With Filipino Women in Solidarity with The Philippines for Peace, Equality, Development and National Determination." During the conference the participants went in small groups to various places in the Philippines and met with local groups to better appreciate the living conditions of women in different social sectors. On the basis of these meetings, they later formulated plans for future action of solidarity with Filipino women to be carried in their various countries.

For more information, contact:

GABRIELA
PO Box 4386
Manila, Philippines

International Year of Shelter For The Homeless (INSTRAW)

This year, designated International Year of Shelter for the Homeless by the United Nations, it is particularly opportune to consider the issue of homeless women and how a distinct policy regarding this issue can be included in national political agendas.

Are the housing needs of women different from those of men? Is it mainly a problem of women's difficult access to shelter, or is there a complex web of social and economic issues determining the fact that there is, quite simply, less shelter for women?

These are issues raised by the UN International Research and 'Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), in the belief that collective efforts can bring the issue of homeless women into the limelight and thus secure prompt action. As the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies demanded: "Women and women's groups should be participants in and equal beneficiaries of housing and infrastructure construction projects."

Every day and every night, in squatter settlements, in refugee camps and urban ghettos, women and their families fight for their survival. Living in squalor and filth and lacking basic housing facilities, they suffer drastic consequences for their health, nutrition, education and employment. For all these reasons, shelter is a basic component of development - yet one often overlooked, where little funds are allocated.

INSTRAW hopes that individuals, organizations and governments will find the lYSH is a time for thought and action, a time for research and training and networking. Because basic shelter is a woman's right.

For more information, contact:

INSTRAW
102-A, Box 21747
Santo Domingo Dominican Republic