IWD in Europe

National Mothers day in Tbilisi, 3 March 2007

The national GCAP coalition “Future Without Poverty” marked Mother’s Day in Georgia by handing over a petition of more than 20,000 signatories to the Minister of Health, Labour and Social affairs and other high officials. This was a high number in a small country like Georgia and sent a clear message to the Georgian Government that people wanted a future free from poverty and pain.

“We feel the responsibility to accomplish the millennium development goals in Georgia, cherish our mothers and children and respect the signatories of the petitions,” responded Vano Chipashvili, the minister of health, labour and social affairs who also signed the petition.

The event, which came just days ahead of International Women’s Day, focused on the high rate of maternal and child mortality in Georgia and featured meetings with high officials and a street event with the general public and new mothers. The coalition also handed out little presents with the message: “Say no to Poverty”.

“While child and mother mortality remains high in Georgia it is crucial that these kind of events are held and the government feels responsible for guarantying the rights of normal life to our mothers and children,” said the celebrity and prominent mother Marina Salukvadze at the event. Marina with other celebrities played a key role in visiting new mothers, handing them presents and nurturing hope for better life and future without poverty.

‘Little supporters’ of the campaign concluded the event. The coalition handed out ‘presents’ to the youngest supporters to engage them for active participation in reaching their future without poverty.

For more information, contact:
Keti Nozadze
Oxfam GB Georgia
Media/Campaign Officer

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On international Women’s Day, The Dutch GCAP campaign brought seven excellent women from different sectors of society together in a debate with the new Development minister, Bert Koenders, in a popular café in The Hague. It was Koenders’ first appearance in a public debate. The debate had the format of a popular TV-debate programme and was led by its presenter, Jort Kelder (the chief editor of Quote Magazine).

The women were Agnes Jongerius, de President of the Federation of Dutch Labour Unions FNV, Sylvia Borren, Director Oxfam Novib, Fatima Moreira de Melo, hockey international, Sandra van Beest, Dutch Youth ambassador to the UN, Leonie Sazias, TV programme maker and presenter, Nina Tellegen, Director Wemos, an organization on health policy and development and Melek Usta, Black Female Entrepreneur of 2006 and founder of Colourful People, a recruitment bureau for allochtonous workers.

They questioned the minister on each of their own areas of work in relations to development, the realization of the MDGs, and in particular MDG 3 on equal rights for and empowerment of women and the gender aspects of the other MDGs.

Minister Koenders, minister of the Dutch labour party (PvdA) made various interesting statements. His politically most interesting statement was that the Dutch government wants to play a leading role in achieving the MDGs, also in Europe and with like-minded governments in Europe and in the South.

A concrete political translation of this is that he intends to break with the policy of his predecessor, the Christian Democrat minister Agnes van Ardenne, to further stretch the norms of ODA and be more strict again on what may be counted as development finance and what not.

This implies that expenditures on for instance military training and conflict resolution or financing of cancellation of export credit debt will not be further extended, though it is not clear yet if he will turn such measures back in a proactive way. With this intention he will go to the next session of the OECD/DAC on the Paris Declaration, next month.

Further, Koenders stated that he wants to combine forces at Dutch, European and global level to accelerate the realization of the MDGs, and will focus in particular on like-minded countries in Europe and in the South. This acceleration needs to take place particularly in the area of women’s rights, and therefore he intends to strengthen the role and institutions of the UN on women’s rights. He will take in the next few days a decision whether The Netherlands will have again a special ambassador on women’s rights.

The women triggered him also on interesting statements on (child and girls) labour, the role of sport in emancipation of women and economic independence and credits for women.

Koenders proposed that the debate on International Women’s Day next year should be with men, because they need to change en make changes as well.


For more information, contact:
Ted van Hees,
Campaign leader
En Nu: Armoede de Wereld Uit//Dutch Platform MDGs
www.armoededewerelduit.nl