IWD in Egypt, Nepal and India

Egyptian women hold panel discussion

 
On March 9, 2007 commemorating the women's day, a panel discussion was arranged  by the Women's Union, Synod of the Nile. Nearly 75 NGO representatives, religious leaders, women leaders, private sector representatives gathered for a policy panel discussion around the Theme of GCAP/FTF "Gender Equality to End Poverty". The discussion was widely covered by the media, including satelite TV channels.
 
Six prominent speakers addressed the issue under the following sub-themes.
 
1)  Poverty Eradication - A theological framework
2)  The Role of NGOs in poverty eradication and women empowerment
3)  Working together to eradicate poverty
4)  Caritas, Egypt - Experience sharing and a long history of poverty eradication
5)  Gender Equality, a human rights framework
6)  Gender Equality to End Poverty

The panel shared valuable information on the MDGs, which generated an enthusiastic response from the audience. A lot of comments, questions and answers were put to the panel especially relating to poverty and women.

The audience agreed that women poverty was not only the lack of basic material needs, but also the lack of opportunities, lack of appropriate choices, lack of dignity, unequal distribution of wealth, limited chances in the labor market and limited access to resources.  (In Egypt about 20% of the population lives under poverty line).
 
Pledges were made by audience to work for poverty eradication in their constituencies.  Recommendations included the following:
 
1) Hold another meeting to set a work plan identifying the roles and activities for poverty eradication especially for women and design the way forward.
2) Involve Youth and make good use of their energy in poverty eradication activities, encourage voluntarism (this task has been already taken by a University professor)
3) Conduct raising awareness sessions for policy makers, decision makers, stakeholders on the importance of the inclusion of women on the decision making levels
4) Train women on small project management to create employment opportunities
5) Yes, there is a government role in poverty eradication, but government cannot work alone, there should be joint or multi-dimension efforts by the government, NGOs and the private sector/businessmen
6) Innovative, non-traditional methods/projects/programs for helping the poor
7) Networking among the different agencies and institutions present at the panel for exchange of experience and knowledge
8) A change in the Egypt Constitution is currently taking place, therefore, we have got to seize this opportunity to enforce a change that strengthen women political participation (Women political participation in Egypt is one of the least in the world - 2% membership in the parliament)

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Women in Nepal celebrate 97th International Women’s Day

Thousands of women speak out for proportional representation at all levels in Nepal. Demand Centrality “End Impunity on Violence against Women”

On the occasion of 97th International Women's Day, thousands of women across Nepal have been spoken for proportional representation at all levels and to remind the government of its promise to end impunity on violence against women & Social Exclusion, and reinforce that this change will not be possible unless women's participation in decision making process and policy level is guaranteed and concerns and rights of women are mainstreamed in policy level.

In keeping with this objective, Jagaran Nepal enthusiastically celebrated the International Workers Women’s Day across the country.

As scheduled events and programs for International Workers Women’s Day, Jagaran Nepal has organized some programs and actively taken part in other different programs, jointly organized and initiated across the country by our network organizations, human/women rights organizations, inter party alliances, political women forum, political youth/women wings and other alliances. 

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Indian women speak out against poverty

On the occasion of the International Women's Day, over 5,000 women across India have been linked by partners of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan to remind the government of it promise to end Poverty & Social Exclusion, and reinforce that this change will not be possible unless women's concerns and rights are mainstreamed in governance.

In keeping with this objective, the release of a Perspective Report titled Gender & Governance: Reviewing the Women's Agenda in the National Common Minimum Programme has been co-ordinated through 40 events across 10 states in India - of which 27 were held on March 8, 2007 alone , and 13 more are being organized across the month.  A total of 12,145 people, primarily women, are being linked through this effort.*

The Report draws attention to the outcomes for women in relation to the National Common Minimum Program and its 3 flagship programs, namely the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA).

Authored by eminent activists and experts, the report draws attention to the need for additional efforts to be made to ensure that women are able to benefit from and participate in the national initiatives for livelihood, health and education.

In this report, Amarjeet Kaur (All India Trade Union Congress) points out that although that although 96% of working women in India belong to the informal sector, the country still lacks social security legislation that can ensure fair wages and safe working conditions for millions of women.

Annie Raja (National Federation of Indian Women) notes that despite the provision for 33% preference for women workers in NREGA, field audits show that women are prevented from taking up work through the scheme, and paid lower wages for their work.

Abhijit Das (Centre for Health & Social Justice) and Jashodhara Dasgupta (Sahayog) adjudge that for the NRHM to achieve its intended objective, the explicit recognition of gender disparity as a determinant of health status and access to health care is imperative.

Malini Ghose (Nirantar) draws attention to the adverse impact of privatization of education on women and girls, particularly from socially disadvantaged sections, and strongly recommends that the state should arrest its withdrawal from the education sector and the formal education system should be strengthened not downsized.

These and other recommendations to strengthen the women's agenda in the National Common Minimum Programme have informed the discussions with women from village self-help groups, village panchayats, urban poor settlements, representatives of government, women's organizations, social activists and the media.

Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (Keep Your Promise campaign) is a network of over 900 organizations, active in 15+ states of India. The campaign works to hold the government accountable to its promise to End Poverty & Social Exclusion – as promised in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the National Development Goals and the National Common Minimum Program.

For further information:
visit www.wadanatodo.net
Call (91) -11-46082371