Congratulations Mavic and others.
Leelangi
At 06:08 PM 9/23/03 +0000, you wrote:
>
>
>Dear everyone,
>
>I am glad to report that at yesterday's plenary, several governments
including
>South Africa, Canada, Finland, US and EU delegations acknowledged and
endorsed
>the language prepared by the GSWG.
>
>The new paragraph 9 now reads exactly as we proposed:
>
>"Women are key actors in the information society. We
>are committed to ensuring that the information society
>enables women's empowerment and their full
>participation on the basis of equality in all spheres
>of society and in all decision-making processes."
>
>Earlier yesterday, the Gender Caucus endorsed the same NGO GSWG language.
>As a result, we distributed it in the afternoon as a joint statement of
the NGO
>GSWG and the GC.
>
>Alice Munyua of FEMNET -Africa read the statement.
>
>I'm copy pasting below the joint statement from the NGO Gender Strategies
>Working Group and the Gender Caucus.
>
>Warm regards,
>
>Mavic
>
>******************
>A Joint Statement from the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group, and the WSIS
>Gender Caucus
>on the current gender paragraph 9 in the Draft Declaration
>[Document WSIS PC-3/DT/1-E]
>22 September 2003
>
>The NGO Gender Strategies Working Group and the WSIS Gender Caucus wish to
>thank the government delegates for drafting specific language about the
need to
>address women empowerment and gender equality in the Information Society.
>
>However we want to propose a reformulation of paragraph 9, to read as
follows:
>
>Women are key actors in the Information Society. We are committed to
ensuring
>that the Information Society enables women$BCT(B empowerment and their full
>participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society and in all
>decision-making processes.
>
>Justifications:
>
>1) We propose the use of language that also recognises women as existing
>vital contributors to the information society, while acknowledging that they
>are not as yet fully integrated. We wish the Declaration to avoid language
that
>couches women as $BEX(Bards” needing protection and guidance from someone in a
>position of power.
>
>2) We need specific language that includes women$BCT(B right to make decisions
>in all spheres of their lives and in all spheres of society.
>
>3) We are concerned that the term $BEP(Bur Information Society” implies that
>the Information Society is already defined or its definition is in the
control
>of only one of the stakeholders and not all stakeholders. The Information
>Society is still being defined and shaped and the term $BEU(Bhe
InformationSociety”
>better reflects this.
>
>4) We feel that the term $BEX(Bomen$BCT(B emancipation” is redundant next
>to $BEX(Bomen$BCT(B empowerment” and $BEF(Bmancipation” seems to imply
somethingconferred
>upon, rather than a right that is ensured or which can be claimed.
>
>5) We have taken language from Article 13 of the Beijing Platform for
>Action, which has been endorsed by all 189 UN Member States, as this
CONTAINS
>key principles of $BEX(Bomen$BCT(B decision-making in all spheres.”
>
>
>We hope that this suggested reformulation and the justifications be
considered
>in constructing the final version of the Declaration.
>
>
>ALAI, Agencia Latino-America del Informacion (Latin America)
>APC WNSP, Association for Progressive Communications Women's Network Support
>Programme (Global)
>Bokk Jang (Senegal)
>ENDA, Environment and Development in the Third World (Senegal)
>Femmes Africa Solidarite (Switzerland)
>FEMNET, African Women's Development and Communications(Africa-wide)
>International Federation of University Women (Switzerland)
>Isis International Manilla (Phillipines)
>Maurifemmes (Mauritania)
>National Alliance of Women's Organisations (United Kingdom)
>Terre des Femmes (Germany)
>Tunisia Mothers' Association (Tunisia)
>
>Contact persons:
>
>For more information on the paragraph and lobbying positions of the gender
>formations:
>
>NGO Gender Strategies Working Group:
>Mavic Cabrera-Balleza (Mobile: 076-527-6081; email: mavic@isiswomen.org; Box
>#268]
>
>WSIS Gender Caucus:
>Sundra Flansburg [Mobile: +41765248239; email: sflansburg@genderwsis.org]
>
>
>
>