Letter to Our Readers

Dear friends,

        1985 is a year of reflection. It's time when we pool together our efforts, review what we have been doing, and above all get ready and march onward.

         We are glad to be able to report that the NGO Nairobi Forum finally cleared all the uncertainties and is going to commence on 10 July. Although a lot of women, especially women in the Third World countries, will not be able to go there themselves, their voices however will be heard in one way or another. This is made possible by the national, regional and international pre-conference consultations. Women from fifteen Asian and Pacific countries gathered in the Philippines last April to work on an alternative Asian report; 359 women from 39 countries from Latin America, the Caribbean and the USA held their regional Forum in November last year in Cuba; women in Southern Africa, women in India... All of us are trying to assess the impact of the Decade and come up with concrete strategies for the coming years. This issue of Women in Action brings you more reports on how women all over the world are in full swing of preparation, making sure that women's issues are central in all aspects of society before and beyond Nairobi. You will find also a checklist for actually how to get there. Be sure that you won't miss any of them.

         As in the last two issues, there are special columns on women and health, work, » tourism, and peace. This time, we add a special section on 8 March. Through InterPress Service, we received news from Zimbabwe, Uruguay, and Peru. GABRIELA from the Philippines also sent us information on their mass action on International Women's Day. These reports depict how courageous and creative women can be in espousing our rights, and upholding our dignity.

        For us here in Isis International, 85 is indeed a challenging year. We started off with an extraordinarily cold January in Rome and an extremely hot one in Santiago. The whole collective in Italy is now deeply buried in the final preparations of the Isis International Resource Guide on Audiovisuals for Women which is going to be launched in Nairobi. The second phase of this audiovisual project is already off the ground. Some groups in Asia and Latin America have shown immense interest in doing participatory in-depth studies with Isis International. Our counterpart in Chile, in the meantime, is putting the last touch on the first issue of the Isis International Women's Journal 1985. For Nairobi, we are planning three workshops (for details see reports in Decade column), one of which is in collaboration with ICDA. the International Coalition for Development Action. Things do not stop after Nairobi. Isis International is now working on a training program on computerisation and documentation. We hope to give you more information next time.

         Please, do remember, it is your input that makes Isis International. Keep sending us your news and information, your ideas and comments about our work as well.

Women in Isis International