Feminister från olika delar av Europa samlades före European Social Forums invigning i Malmö den 17 september. I en rad korta framträdanden belystes kvinnors situation samt feminismens framsteg och tillkortakommanden.
Maj-Britt Thorin visade med talande exempel på den manliga dominansen inom försvarspolitiken på alla nivåer. Det är män som definerar vad som ska försvaras. Hon citerade en kommentar hon fått i EU-parlamentet: " Förstår du inte att vi män kämpar för er?" Våldtäkt används fortfarande medvetet som en del i en krigsstrategi. Det är bara några år sedan våldtäkt klassades som krigsförbrytelse och många länder, bland annat USA har inte undertecknat den konventionen.
Att kvinnorna måste förändra politiken var
Paula Melchioris huvudbudskap Med erfarenheter från Italien men också med hänvisning till USA visade hon på hur högerpopulistiska politiker använde resultaten av feministers kamp men vände dem mot kvinnors intressen.
Monica Karbowska från Polen påpekade att situationen för kvinnors mänskliga rättigheter har försämrats i många länder, inte enbart i Polen utan också till exempel i Portugal och för invandrade kvinnor i många länder på grund av religiös fundamentalism. Särskilt gifta kvinnors rättigheter är begränsade och underställda deras män. Religion ska respekteras men inte när den kränker kvinnors rättigheter.
Nelly Martin från Frankrike propagerade för en Kvinnomarsh 2010. De tidigare har framgångsrikt genomförts år 2000 och 2005. Men tyvärr fungerade inte tolkningen, så jag kan inte säga mycket om de franska presentationerna. Det fanns gott om tolkar och alla måste prata i mikrofon, men det var bara för att ESFs tolkar skulle öva sig - några hörlurar fanns inte. Detta samt det faktum att feministernas möte inte fått utrymme inom ESF rönte kritik från flera talare, som "trodde att Sverige var jämställt". De kvinnor som arbetat hårt med såväl detta möte som ESF försökte dock mildra kritiken och, som kvinnor brukar, lade de skulden på sig själva.
Läs Ann Schlyters anförande nedan
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Presentation of Ann Schlyter
There are many networks for European feminists. I represent GADIP "Gender and Development in practice" which is a network for individuals and organisations which are involved in development cooperation mostly outside Europe. Most members in GADIP are not feminist organisations, but by joining the network, they show that they want to improve their awareness in gender issues.
GADIP is a rather new network; it was only established last year, but it works closely with a more established academic network GADNET. Within GADNET/GADIP research results and experiences gained by practitioners and activists are drawn together in efforts to generate new and useful knowldege.
GADIP is also the national Swedish Platform of WIDE – Women in Development Europe, a network of individuals smaller and larger NGOs and Foundations. The secretariat is based in Brussels. Last year, there were national platforms in twelve European countries.
WIDE’s slogan is: Globalising Gender Equality and Social Justice. For women’s economic, cultural and political empowerment it works with networking, lobbying, advocacy, capacity building and awareness raising activities. The focus has been on TRADE and increasingly also on AID – gender issues, of course, and Europe’s role in this.
Development cooperation involves huge transfers of capital intended to support development and erase poverty. Compared to the flows of capital generated by trade, financial transactions, or even remittances sent home by immigrants working in Europe the sums are not so big.
Still big enough to have a huge impact, especially in the poorest countries in Africa. It is also big enough to have a negative impact on women’s position in these countries, if not planned and implemented in a gender-aware way. It is also an activity within the political realm and thereby open for political activism.
Efforts to make development cooperation gender-aware started more than twenty years ago (during the first decades one should rather say women-aware) and there has been some success, albeit too limited. No success is permanent - the struggle have to be repeated again and again. It also has to be renewed as new difficulties are coming up, among them the so called Paris Agenda.
Five years ago the rich OECD countries met in Paris and agreed on an agenda for Aid efficiency. This agenda did only mention gender in a passing.
Aid was seen as something that could be improved by modern management. Efficiency was to be reached by donor cooperation. The experience of joint projects between donors is that the agreements have been on the basis of the smallest denominator. I mean - the least progressive countriy in regard of gender equity sets the standard in terms of gender justice.
We are convinced that no sustainable development is possible without gender justice. A review of the Paris Agenda has just taken place in Accra, and this time in an UN arrangement with wider participation of countries. A WIDE working group was preparing for this conference and for the next one in Doha about finance for development. The group made a good job, although the outcome may be somewhat of a disappointment.
Some improvements are made in the Accra Agenda for Action. Poverty reduction is maintained as the first goal while human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainibility are presented as cornerstones for for achieving enduring impact. Further the AAA states that "developing countries and donors will ensure that their respective development policieis and programmes are designed and implemented in ways consistent with international commitments on gender equality, human rights, disability, and environemntal sustainibility". It also recognises the need to improve access to sex-disaggregated data.
BUT this language is undermined by the lack of new targets. The AAA do not identify work programmes on how committments to gender equality will be implemented. No indicators are identified to measure progress.
It is therefore even more important that the women's movement hold governments accountable to the general committments.
these shuld be translated from policy into operational level.
We feminists know that we have to work together; to network to find strength and encouragment.
Feminism has always gone hand in hand with the peace movement and with international solidarity
Feminists in Europe are networking for another Europe -
- for another Europe in another world.
Would you like to have contact with GADNET/GADIP or WIDE, send a mail to:
GADNET@globalstudies.gu.se info@wide-network.org
Kubas värsta ekonomiska katastrof hittills, en fjärdedel av befolkningen evakuerades, nästan en halv miljon bostäder är skadade, nästan 50.000 totalförstörda, halva sockerskörden slagen till marken, hundratals ton citrusfrukter, över 3.000 tobakslador, 80 procent av elnätet osv, uppräkningen är för bedrövlig för att fortsätta. Den ekonomiska tillväxten förbyts i katastrofal tillbakagång. Kostnaderna för återuppbyggnad och ersättning av förlorade tillgångar uppgår till 10 miljarder US-dollar, över 20 procent av den normala bruttonationalprodukten.
Det svarta hålet på Wall Street tycks bara svälja mer och mer. Det senaste jag såg var att Swedbank hade förlorat 8 miljarder där. Ja, så kan det gå.
