Entries For: 2007

The activity was very well attended. Participants were very interested in the presentations and in the activities of the FTF.

The launch of the plan started with a video clip prepared by the support team of GCAP. It's about the mobilisation of women in 2007 around the GCAP demands.

Pam Rajput made the presentation of the tribunal in India. Previously we showed a video that you can all access following the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyy1tMi2-k

Lysa John, though not present at the CSW, was very present through her voice in the video and the hard work she did for the tribunal.

Martha Rico presented the tribunal in Peru explaining how cases were selected and the whole process that led to the verdict. And Josephine Kamel introduced the plans for the tribunal in Egypt that will take place on 14 March.

All presentations generated great interest. And it became clear that we need to share with the list and beyond the process of the tribunals as this was particularly appreciated by participants as a way to organise their own tribunals back home.

We then launched the mobilisation plan for 8 March and distributed all documents with the demands resulting from the tribunals and others, like the ones related to the Gender Equality Architecture Reform and the financing for gender equality.

We also distributed post cards for sending to the UN General Secretary and others that can be sent to the policy makers or others that women believe should receive them as they are in a position to act. These cards are available for download from the internet and we will also be sending you copies by e-mail.

As I write this I cannot but remember the participation of a Masai woman from Kenya who, during the debate, said that poverty tends to be defined in terms of having one or two dollars a day, but that lacked all significance for her culture, as what is important for the Masai is having cattle, not dollars. She went on saying that she knew that at the end of the meeting, like in all meetings, it would be said that more information could be download from www and that she and so many other women in the world had no way to get to that www wherever it was! Hers was a strong statement reminding us about the diversity of cultures, of realities, of world views, of possibilities, and of ways to construct wealth and happiness. It is certainly part of what we, at the FTF want to send as a message in terms of unveiling different ways women have to confront poverty and build livelihoods.

Ana Agostino, GCAP IFT Co-Chair

In October 2006, GCAP Philippines launched the ‘36 Pesos is Not Enough!’ campaign in which ten individuals were challenged to pursue their daily vocations powered only by PhP36, equaled to US$0.73, per person. This was the Philippine government’s official poverty threshold, assuming that this amount can cover the basic food and non-food needs of a Filipino per day. Not one among the participants managed to last the day, confirming 36 Pesos is not enough. This campaign attracted wide public attention, stirred up debates about how the low standard masked the reality of poverty and demanded for improvement in accuracy and reliability of the official poverty statistics. Several video documentaries were broadcasted on this, including one by the mainstream TV station in the Philippines. GCAP Philippines was invited to talk shows and debates, raising the visibility of GCAP Philippines as the representative of civil society on poverty issue. Towards the end of 2006, the government increased the poverty threshold to PhP39, and then to PhP41 in 2007, admitting the greater number of poor people in the country.