Subject: [fem-women2000 674] Women's Globalnet #171: UNGASS on Habitat II +5
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 23:25:06 +0000
Seq: 674

IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #171
Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker and Jennifer Sly

June 29, 2001

ISTANBUL + 5: "ADEQUATE SHELTER FOR ALL" REVISITED WITH A FOCUS ON 
GENDER AND OTHER NGO ACTIVITIES

BACKGROUND:  Istanbul + 5, a Special Session of the United Nations (UN) 
General Assembly held in New York from 6 8 June 2001, was called to 
review and appraise implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the major 
policy document to come out of Habitat II held in Istanbul, 1996. Member 
States of the UN were invited to prepare reports on national and local 
implementation of the Agenda, all of which can be viewed at 
http://www.unchs.org/istanbul+5/. The major policy document to come out 
of the Special Session is entitled "Declaration on cities and other 
human settlements in the new millennium", and contains 68 paragraphs 
outlining commitments made by governments to implement the Agenda. The 
Declaration welcomes some progress but recognizes serious gaps and 
obstacles that have hampered implementation, most notably widespread 
poverty and environmental conditions. Further actions are outlined. The 
full Declaration can be found at: 
http://www.unchs.org/istanbul+5/declaration_cities.htm 

NGO STATEMENT: Following the Special Session, a coalition of 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) issued a press statement "to 
strongly protest both the process and the outcome".  Notable among the 
objections expressed by the NGO coalition was the exclusion of NGOs from 
effective deliberation and the weakening of the language of the 
principal conference document. 

GRASSROOTS WOMEN担 INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY (GWIA): 
1. SHARING BEST PRACTICES: The member networks of the Huairou 
Commission, representing more than 1,000 women痴 groups in poor 
communities, and Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in 
Sisterhood (GROOTS International) met as a Grassroots Women痴 
international Academy (GWIA) from May 29 June 4, 2001 to examine best 
practices of grassroots women痴 groups and to gather momentum for  
Istanbul+5.  Sixteen grassroots women痴 groups presented practices on 
topics including Engendering Local Governance, Security of Tenure, 
Education from the Bottom Up, From Disaster and Conflict to Empowerment, 
and Safety in Cities.  Organizations recognized for their best practices 
included: Mother Centres from Germany/Czech Republic/Bosnia, 
GROOTS/Kenya, National Congress of Neighborhood Women/USA, Community 
Women痴 Education Initiative/Ireland, Living Learning Centers 
Initiative/USA, Public Housing LeadersNetwork/USA, Construction 
Resource Development Center/Jamaica, Sistren Theatre/Jamaica, Comite de 
Emergencia Garifuna/Honduras, Swayam Shikshan Prayog/India, Foundation 
for the Support of Women痴 Work/Turkey, Comite d但ction Femmes et 
Securite Urbaine/Canada, Fundacion de Guatemala, and Society for the 
Promotion of Area Resource Centres/India. 

2. DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ISTANBUL + 5: The GWIA also created a 
list of recommendations for Member States to support during the 
proceedings at Istanbul+5.  The six recommendations included: 百upport 
grassroots women痴 abilities to collect and disseminate information in 
their role as mediators between the state and impoverished communities.
 髭nable participation of those women痴 groups who have been excluded. 
紐elate to grassroots women痴 groups as problem-solvers and not only as 
clients or beneficiaries. 百upport grassroots group痴 abilities to 
consolidate their collective knowledge and expertise and provide formal 
advisement to achieve the full implementation of the Habitat Agenda. 
稗uild Institutional Capacity. 紐eformulate the goals, implementation, 
monitoring and evaluation of public policy by engaging the knowledge and 
skills of grassroots women and their communities. For more information 
visit the Huairou Commission痴 website at: <http://www.huairou.org or 
e-mail them at: Huairou@earthlink.net.

THE WOMEN担 CAUCUS: This met daily at Istanbul+5 to monitor the 
implementation of the Habitat Agenda, discuss issues surrounding the 
deliberations of the principal conference document and to share 
information.  

GENDER MAINSTREAMING REPORT CARD: As part of Istanbul + 5, UNCHS 
selected 16 "Best Practices" from each of the UN regions. The two 
proposals submitted by the Huairou Commission were rejected. However, 
the Huairou Commission was assured that although their projects were 
rejected, the 16 carefully selected best practices demonstrated 
gender-mainstreamed approaches. The Huairou Commission then decided to 
grade each project for their level of  gender mainstreaming and to 
present the results in the form of a Gender Mainstreaming Report Card. 

The results gave projects from South Africa, Senegal, India, and 
Tanzania an A or A+.  Others however received B痴, C痴 and D痴, with a 
project from Spain entitled Sustainable Economic Transformation and 
Decentralization in Barcelona, Spain, receiving an F. Comments regarding 
this project included "No mention of gender at all or participation of 
the grassroots. It was also an entirely top-down strategy." The full 
Report Card is available at <http://www.huairou.org/calendar.htm > or 
contact the Huairou Commission at e-mail: Huairou@earthlink.net.

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV/AIDS: IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet 
#172 will feature follow up to the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS held 
June 25 - 27, 2001, with a special emphasis on gender issues.  For the 
final outcome of this session, see Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS 
"Global Crisis - Global Action", at the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS 
website:  http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/.

UPCOMING UN/CEDAW SESSION: The 25th Session of the Committee on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) will 
meet from 2 - 20 July 2001 in New York at UN Headquarters.  Those 
countries reporting will be: Andorra, Guinea, Guyana, Netherlands, 
Nicaragua, Singapore, Sweden and Viet Nam. The CEDAW website can be 
found at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/25sess.htm.  IWTC 
Women痴 GlobalNet plans to do a special issue on the outcomes of this 
session.

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