CAW UPDATE
EVENTS
ADVOCACY
UPDATE ON 2003 UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
CONFERENCES/MEETINGS
TRAINING, WORKSHOPS, AND COURSES
RESOURCESAWARDS

CAW UPDATE

CAW Highlights
Upcoming CAW Events

INTERACTION MEMBER AND PARTNER ORGANIZATION EVENTS

Request for Nominations: Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children       Voices of Courage Awards Luncheon 2003

ADVOCACY

AWID'S Globalize THIS! Campaign
Take Action on Women's Human Rights Treaty
Urgent Appeal: Woman Re-Arrested, Following Escape from Stoning
Briefing on the Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

UPDATE ON 2003 UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
Overview of March 3-14 CSW Session
Expert Group Meeting & Paper: Participation and Access of Women to the Media and Their Impact on and Use as an Instrument for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women
Expert Group Meeting & Paper: Information and Communication Technologies and their Impact on and Use as an Instrument for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women
Update on the WIDE Discussion Forum on a 5th Women's Conference

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Islamic Leader Urges End to Dowry (by Nation Reporter, Africa News)
The Importance of Grandma (By Natalie Angier, New York Times)

CONFERENCES/MEETINGS

African Women's Health Conference 2003 (Feb 4-7, 2003)
11th GASAT International Conference on Gender and Science And Technology (Jul 6-11, 2003)
World Summit on Information Society (Dec 10-12, 2003)

 EVENTS, TRAINING, WORKSHOPS, AND COURSES

Making Globalization Work for the Poor (Dec 6, 2002)
Linking Health, Environment and Community Development (Dec 11, 2002)
Maternal Nutrition and the Outcome of Pregnancy Training Course (Jan 5-26, 2003)
HIV/AIDS: An International Development Turning Point Seminar (Jan 15-17, 2003)
Gender Mainstreaming: Practical Skills and Critical Analysis Course (Jul 7 - Aug 1, 2003)
Gender Mainstreaming: Training the Trainer Course (Aug 4-8, 2003)

RESOURCES

BOOKS, REPORTS, & OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS
World Report on Violence and Health
Passport to Dignity
Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on
Women and Women's Role in Peace-building
Supporting Women's Livelihoods: Microfinance that Works for the Majority
Black Women, Globalization and Economic Justice
Institutionalizing Gender Equality: Commitment Policy and Practice
Feminist Futures: Re-Imagining Women, Culture and Development
If Hope Were Enough Video

Online Materials

WomenWatch Resource Center Materials
Gender Equality and Peacebuilding: An Operational Framework
If Not Now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-
Conflict Settings, A Global Overview
Men's Involvement in Gender and Development
New Electronic Journal: Feminist Africa

Websites & Listservs

Gender Information Exchange (genie) Consultants' Database
New Discussion Forum: Re-Inventing Trade: Challenging Norms of Gender, Law and Development
New Website: Gender and Women's Studies for Africa's Transformation
Web Pages: Gender Aspects of Conflict and Peace

AWARDS & CALL FOR PAPERS

Call for Papers: Trafficking & Trade: The Impact of Globalization on Women
Call for Papers: Re-searching Research Agendas: Women, Research and Publication in Higher
Education
Call for Abstracts: Women, Science and Sustainability: 20th Pacific Science Congress
Digital Freedom Network Is Soliciting Nominations for 2003 Women's Day Profiles
Call for Papers: Gender and War
Call for papers: Gender and Globalism

Contact: Julie Montgomery
(202) 667-8227 X152
jmontgom@interaction.org

CAW UPDATE

CAW Highlights

Upcoming CAW Events

PRSPs and Gender Workshop: The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW); InterAction's Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW) and Committee on Development Policy and Practice (CDPP); and Gender Action invite you to participate in a Brown Bag lunch workshop on "PRSPs and Gender" a presentation by Elaine Zuckerman, Wednesday, January 15, 12 noon - 2 pm at ICRW, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 301. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), introduced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1999, have become critical elements in Bank and Fund lending processes. The Bank and Fund introduced PRSPs for highly indebted poor countries receiving debt relief, but require them of all countries receiving concessional lending from these institutions. Several other assistance agencies also require PRSPs before providing aid. Moreover, PRSPs have become de facto national plans. Despite PRSPs' important role in the development process, most PRSPs have paid little attention to gender gaps and have not promoted women's rights. Since poverty has been increasingly feminizing, PRSPs and their lending offshoots - such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Credits and investment projects -- must promote gender equality and women's rights to achieve their central poverty reduction goal. Mainstreaming gender into PRSPs is an important element in the work of Gender Action, a new advocacy campaign promoting women's rights and gender equality in large international investments in developing and transition countries. Elaine Zuckerman is Gender Action's founder and President. Elaine has worked for 25 years in international development including inside the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. She worked for many years in China, for several in Latin America and occasionally in Africa. She studied political economy at McGill University, the University of Toronto and the University of Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, and business at Georgetown University. RSVPs are requested, and should go to Suzan Atwood at ICRW, at satwood@icrw.org or 202-797-0007, ext. 156.

CAW Breakfast: Forum 2003: Mark your calendars now for the annual CAW breakfast on Monday May 19. The topic will be "Gender, Poverty, and the MDGs," and Unifem Director Noeleen Heyzer has been invited to keynote. The CAW is pleased to co-sponsor this event with InterAction's Committee for Development Policy and Practice.

Request for Nominations: Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children Voices of Courage Awards Luncheon 2003

Each year the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children holds a luncheon to honor individual refugee women and young people who are working on behalf of other refugees. The commission is now seeking candidates for their May 2003 luncheon. The theme of the luncheon is, "From Fear to Freedom". The Commission will highlight refugee protection in the context of asylum and detention policies and practices internationally. They will honor individuals and organizations in the United States and overseas who work on behalf of refugee women and children fleeing conflict and abuse and seeking safe haven. Some of the criteria are: Candidates should be refugee or internally displaced women or youth who work or have worked to assist refugee women and children fleeing conflict and abuse and seeking safe haven. Candidates should be passionate advocates for the right to asylum. To nominate a candidate for a Voices of Courage award, please send a letter of nomination and CV, résumé or biography of the nominee, as well as the names and email/phone/fax of at least three references, by December 31, 2002 to: Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Attn: Luncheon nominees, 122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10168-1289, or by fax: (212) 551-3180 or email to: diana@womenscommission.org. For more information on the May luncheon, please contact the Commission at the above address.

ADVOCACY

AWID'S Globalize THIS! Campaign

An introduction to the Globalize THIS! Women's Rights in Development Campaign was launched at the 9th International AWID Forum in Guadalajara, Mexico in October. Envision a world without poverty, without violence, without discrimination; a world where everyone's needs are met and their human rights are protected; a world where women's rights are both a means and an end of development. Envision it, now GLOBALIZE IT! The road to real equality is long and bumpy, requiring major changes in attitudes, laws, policies, economic systems, social and political structures, and core values. Currently, the processes of globalization represent the most significant challenge on the road to gender equality. AWID proposes, to use women's collective creativity and energies to bring our vision of equality to life by re-inventing globalization. To read the campaign platform in full visit the AWID Forum website http://www.awid.org/index.pl?section=forum. AWID welcomes your input or feedback on the campaign. Please send comments to awid@awid.org.

Take Action on Women's Human Rights Treaty

The Treaty for the Rights of Women is the only international legal instrument that comprehensively addresses women's rights within political, cultural, economic, and social spheres at the local, national, and international levels. Although the United States played a defining role in drafting the Convention and signed the treaty in July 1980, it has never ratified it. A two-thirds majority in the Senate of those present and voting is required for approval. As the most authoritative document of its kind, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) establishes a universal definition for discrimination against women and provides a forum for countries to address women's rights issues. In the last several months, the world has seen an even greater struggle for freedom and the promotion of fundamental human rights principles. We see the protection of women's rights as vital to the success of these efforts. To learn more, please visit: www.womenstreaty.org.

Urgent Appeal: Woman Re-Arrested, Following Escape from Stoning

A woman by the name of Nosrat Abouii, who was stoned in Yazd prison in recent weeks, managed to escape while she was being stoned but she was arrested immediately by the suppressive agents of the regime and put in jail. She is still in prison. Nosrat Abouii is the eighteenth woman known to have been condemned to stoning during Khatami's presidency. According to mullahs' laws, which recognize gender apartheid even in punishments like stoning, women are buried up to their armpits for stoning, while men are buried up to their waist. Earlier, on September 25, Goli Nik-Khou was stoned to death after serving her 15 -year sentence in the town of Naqadeh, western Iran. The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls on human rights fora and organizations throughout the world, in particular women's rights organizations, to condemn decisively these crimes and demand the release of Nosrat Abouii from prison. At the moment there are four women - Ferdows, Ashraf, Sima and Shahnaz - in prison waiting to be stoned to death. Source: Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, 23.10.02, email: womenscommittee@iranncr.org.

Briefing on the Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

December 4, 2002, 2:00 - 5:00 PM at the AFL-CIO's offices: 815 16th Street, NW, Room 7012, Washington, DC. The 108th Congress will address a number of key legislative issues that will affect women's and girls' access to education, job training and employment. Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) will be hosting a briefing to discuss the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to inform this national debate and to consider the impact WIA will have on the ability of women and girls to achieve economic independence. The briefing will include: 1) Political perspective from Capitol Hill; 2) Overview of the issues from the experts; 3) Discussion of the alliances and coalitions that will be working at the national, state and local levels-both within and outside of the women's community. Presenting organizations include the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Workforce Alliance, Women Employed, Women Work!, NOW/LDEF, the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education and the AFL-CIO. RSVP to Vivian Staples at 202-464-1596 by Monday, December 2, 2002.

UPDATE ON 2003 UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Overview of March 3-14 CSW Session

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will hold its forty-seventh session from 3 to 14 March 2003, at New York Headquarters. The Commission will focus on two thematic issues:

1. participation and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women; and

2. women's human rights and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls as defined in the Beijing Platform of Action and the outcome document of the Special Session for the General Assembly entitled "Women: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century".

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which are accredited to, and in good standing with, the Economic and Social Council are eligible to designate representatives to attend the session. Invitation letters to ECOSOC accredited NGOs have already been sent out. These NGOs are asked to provide the pre-registration form listing their representatives to the Division no later than Friday, 13 December 2002. Please note that a NGO may not forward additional representatives after this date and that the substitution of names of representatives after Tuesday, 31 December 2002 will not be allowed.

As has been the practice of prior years, there will be a room designated for use by NGOs. NGOs will be permitted to participate in the session by providing written statements relating to the two thematic issues. For guidelines relating to these statements, please link to the NGO ECOSOC website: http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo. NGOs that are interested in providing a statement may do so no later than 15 January 2003. Please keep in mind that there is much processing that needs to be done to prepare these statements as official United Nations documents before the Commission begins. Kindly submit these statements directly to Ms. Kate Starr Newell in the Secretariat (room 2950D.) NGOs will, time permitting, be permitted to provide input into the session by presenting an oral intervention during the general debate and the expert panels time permitting. Details will be posted on a later date. NGOs will also be permitted to organized side events during the session. In order to request space for such an event, please contact Ms.Tsu-Wei Chang via e.mail at csw47@un.org for further information. Information regarding the NGO Committee's annual consultation will be posted on a later date.

Expert Group Meeting: Participation and Access of Women to the Media and Their Impact on and Use as an Instrument for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women

Women media experts and journalists converged on the UN House in Beirut on November 12 for an expert group meeting on women and the media. The objective of the four day meeting was to assess how the media can play a pivotal role in improving the image of women worldwide and in empowering women at the local, regional and international levels. The meeting also tackled the participation and access of women to the media. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), as part of its multi-year programme of work for 2002-2006, decided to consider the topic as a priority theme at its up-coming session in 2003. The Commission's deliberations should also serve as a contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva (2003) and Tunisia (2005)). It was organized by the UN's Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) in collaboration with the UN's Department of Public Information (DPI), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). For more information about the meeting visit, www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/media2002/index.html.

Expert Group Meeting: Information and Communication Technologies and their Impact on and Use as an Instrument for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women

The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force Secretariat convened an expert group meeting on information and communication technologies and women in the Republic of Korea from 11 to 14 November. As the title of the meeting suggests, the meeting addressed challenges and benefits women encounter with regard to ICT and explored ways to close the gender-based digital divide. In particular, the expert group meeting addressed the following areas: national ICT policies and gender equality; ICT as an instrument for participation; ICT as an instrument for enhancing women's capabilities; and ICT as an instrument for women's economic empowerment. The findings and conclusions of the expert group meeting will also provide the basis for a report of the Secretary-General on this theme to the forty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (4 to 15 March 2003). The outcome of the Commission's consideration of this theme will be a contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva, 2003 and Tunis, 2005). For more information about the meeting refer to, www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/ict2002/index.html.

Update on the WIDE Discussion Forum on a 5th Women's Conference

In June 2000, at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Beijing +5, governments unanimously agreed to assess the implementation of the Beijing platform of action in 2005. A decision on what this assessment event might look like has not yet been made: it could be a high-level, adequately resourced UN- conference, a global summit, a special session of the General Assembly or be processed within the regular functions of the UN decision making organs. Also from the women's movement there is no clear consensus supporting another world conference in 2005. Many activists, who have been involved in UN conferences in the past, and especially those who have been involved recently, have expressed concern about the current backlash against women that could lead to an erosion of position. They further argue that money and resources should be spent on implementation and not on another conference. At the AWID Conference in October 2002 another perspective was formulated: Yes, we want to have a conference - but not at this very moment, we should postpone it until better global conditions for women are in place. This position implies that we should urge governments to affirm and plan for a fifth world conference on women, but it should be convened only by the end of the decade. At http://www.eurosur.org/wide/UN/WCW.htm you will find more contributions about a possible conference and a place to enter the discussion and post your position.

Islamic Leader Urges End to Dowry (by Nation Reporter)

Published in the Africa News, 10/30/02

Nairobi, Kenya - "It undermines effort to promote the status of women, says Shee."

Africans and Arabs have been asked to scrap dowry in marriage as it has been commercialised.

Sheikh Ali Shee, the chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, said the practice hinders efforts to raise the status of women.

Traditionally, he said, dowry was meant to strengthen the bond between families but had become a price tag on women. Sheikh Shee said Kenyans were selling women instead of using dowry to build a strong bond between the brides' and the bridegrooms' families.

He said: "Many Western countries have scrapped dowry or bride price during marriage. Asia, which has been rigid in relinquishing the practice, is slowly softening and may soon follow the example of the West."

He called on the Muslim community to stick to the teachings of the Koran that a bride should only receive gifts from the bridegroom with no money or valuables being given to her family.

The Islamic leader was addressing a conference on Women's Status and Rights in Islam at Mombasa's Reef Beach Hotel yesterday.

The four-day meeting, which brought together delegates from all over the country, was organised by the council and the United Nations Population Fund.

Sheikh Shee said dowry contributed to gender inequality and subjected women to suffering because some men treated their wives like their servants.

"Women's prices are being discussed before marriage as if they are chattels. This turns them into servants and slaves." He called for a campaign to discourage the practice and challenged the media and gender activists to set the pace.

The Islamic leader said the Koran did not sanction mistreatment of women and expressed regret that Muslims were hiding behind the holy book to violate the rights of women. He said Islamic scriptures guaranteed women's rights.

Another imam, Sheikh Nassor Khamis, said female circumcision was against the teachings of the Koran but some Muslims practised it as part of their customs.

To view this article, go to: http://allafrica.com/stories/200210290719.html

The Importance of Grandma (By Natalie Angier)
Published in the New York Times, 11/05/02.

Grandma, what a big and fickle metaphor you can be! For children, the name translates as "the magnificent one with presents in her suitcase who thinks I'm a genius if I put my shoes on the right feet, and who stuffs me with cookies the moment my parents' backs are turned."

In news reports, to call a woman "grandmotherly" is shorthand for "kindly, frail, harmless, keeper of the family antimacassars, and operationally past tense."

For anthropologists and ethnographers of yore, grandmothers were crones, an impediment to "real" research. The renowned ethnographer Charles William Merton Hart, who in the 1920's studied the Tiwi hunter-gatherers of Australia, described the elder females there as "a terrible nuisance" and "physically quite revolting" and in whose company he was distressed to find himself on occasion, yet whose activities did not merit recording or analyzing with anything like the attention he paid the men, the young women, even the children.

But for a growing number of evolutionary biologists and cultural anthropologists, grandmothers represent a key to understanding human prehistory, and the particulars of why we are as we are - slow to grow up and start breeding but remarkably fruitful once we get there, empathetic and generous as animals go, and family-focused to a degree hardly seen elsewhere in the primate order.

As a result, biologists, evolutionary anthropologists, sociologists and demographers are starting to pay more attention to grandmothers: what they did in the past, whether and how they made a difference to their families' welfare, and what they are up to now in a sampling of cultures around the world.

At a recent international conference - the first devoted to grandmothers - researchers concluded with something approaching a consensus that grandmothers in particular, and elder female kin in general, have been an underrated source of power and sway in our evolutionary heritage. Grandmothers, they said, are in a distinctive evolutionary category. They are no longer reproductively active themselves, as older males may struggle to be, but they often have many hale years ahead of them; and as the existence of substantial proportions of older adults among even the most "primitive" cultures indicates, such durability is nothing new.

If, over the span of human evolution, postmenopausal women have not been using their stalwart bodies for bearing babies, they very likely have been directing their considerable energies elsewhere.

Say, over the river and through the woods. It turns out that there is a reason children are perpetually yearning for the flour-dusted, mythical figure called grandma or granny or oma or abuelita. As a number of participants at the conference demonstrated, the presence or absence of a grandmother often spelled the difference in traditional subsistence cultures between life or death for the grandchildren. In fact, having a grandmother around sometimes improved a child's prospects to a far greater extent than did the presence of a father.

Dr. Ruth Mace and Dr. Rebecca Sear of the department of anthropology at University College in London, for example, analyzed demographic information from rural Gambia that was collected from 1950 to 1974, when child mortality rates in the area were so high that even minor discrepancies in care could be all too readily tallied. The anthropologists found that for Gambian toddlers, weaned from the protective balm of breast milk but not yet possessing strength and immune vigor of their own, the presence of a grandmother cut their chances of dying in half. "The surprising result to us was that if the father was alive or dead didn't matter," Dr. Mace said in a telephone interview. "If the grandmother dies, you notice it; if the father does, you don't." Importantly, this beneficent granny effect derived only from maternal grandmothers - the mother of one's mother. The paternal grandmothers made no difference to a child's outcome.

Dr. Donna Leonetti, an anthropologist at the University of Washington and her colleague Dr. Dilip C. Nath presented similar results from their study of two contemporary ethnic groups in northeast India, one Bengali, the other Khasi. The two groups share certain fundamental characteristics, notably a heavy workload of manual labor, low income and scant access to modern birth control methods.

But they differ in marital arrangements structure. Bengali wives move into their husbands' households, where they are supervised by their mothers-in-law. Khasi women, by contrast, stay in their natal homes, and their husbands join them.

The researchers discovered that for Bengali and Khasi families alike, having a grandmother around increased a young woman's overall fertility rate as compared with having no senior female on board. But the groups parted ways in the fate of the resulting offspring.

For the Bengali women, the paternal grandmother had no effect on the mortality rates of her grandchildren, with some 86 percent of children making it to age 6 whether the elder woman was there or not; while among the Khasi, 96 percent of children endured to age 6 if their maternal grandmothers were alive, compared with only 83 percent if the grandmother had died.

The researchers cannot explain what, exactly, these grand old doyennes are doing. One presumed measure of viability, a child's growth rate, does not differ significantly between Khasi children with living grandmothers and those without.

Indeed, a number of researchers at the conference admitted to being flummoxed by the nature of grandma's goodness.

"This was a constant refrain: what is the mechanism?" said Dr. Patricia C. Draper, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nebraska. "We can see that grandmothers are doing something, but what? What buttons are they pushing that end up making the difference to their families?" Perhaps, she suggested, they exerted as much of a psychological as a practical effect - for example, by encouraging family cohesion or stifling extreme sibling rivalry.

In a couple of studies, the divergent effects of the two grandmother species is so pronounced that the son's mother appears not merely a neutral influence on her grandchildren, but a negative one. Dr. Cheryl Jamison, an anthropologist at Indiana University in Bloomington, and her colleagues combed through an exceptionally complete population register from a village in central Japan. The records covered a period from 1671 to 1871, when officials sought to battle the encroachment of Christianity and thus kept track of everybody's birth, death and whereabouts, the better to interrogate citizens each year on their religious allegiance. As in the Gambian study, the overall mortality rate for children was substantial, with 27.5 children dying by age 16.

Dr. Jamison and her co-workers determined that when a maternal grandmother lived in the household, boys were 52 percent less likely to die in childhood than if there was no grandmother present. Conversely, when the father's mother lived in the house, boys were 62 percent more likely to die than were those without a resident grandma. For girls, no statistically significant benefit or decrement could be seen from grandmothers of either bloodline.

Dr. Jamison cautioned that not too much could be made of the results, for, in a patrilineal culture like that of premodern Japan, where sons were the ones who took in their aging parents, the sample size for maternal grandmothers living with their grandchildren was extremely small compared with that of co-residing paternal grandparents and young children. Nevertheless, she said, she was startled by her results….

For a copy of the complete article go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/05/health/aging/05GRAN.html?
ex=1037597862&ei=1&en=aabf68c7b98dd5bf

CONFERENCES/MEETING

African Women's Health Conference 2003

February 4-7 2003, Johannesburg, South Africa. African health rights activists and researchers from all sub-regions of the continent will meet to discuss issues with policy makers and health service providers - bringing a forum for debate on some of the most critical issues of Gender and Health in Africa. Contact conference@amanitare.org or http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2003/1116-event.html.

11th GASAT International Conference on Gender and Science And Technology

July 6-11, 2003, Reduit, Mauritius. The Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT) Association is an international association of people concerned with issues arising from interactions between gender and science and technology. GASAT 11 will be organized by the Mauritius Institute of Education. The theme of the conference is STEPS: Gender Steps Technology and Economic Paradigm Shifts. Themes of the conference are: recognizing and promoting the contribution and relevance of indigenous knowledge in improving the quality of life; encouraging scientists, technologists an mathematicians to develop integrated strategies to attain overall sustainability; and considering gender dimensions of Citizenship Education. GASAT international conferences are held every two-three years and have been central in establishing strong and influential networks of individuals and organizations that are engaged in research and grassroots activities with a view to promoting gender equity in science and technology. For information contact: Dr. Yashwant Ramma, Conference Secretariat Mauritius Institute of Education, Le Reduit, Mauritius, Tel: 230 4661940; Fax: 230 4674378, Email: yashramma@hotmail.com, yash_mie@yahoo.com, osmie@intnet.mu.

World Summit on Information Society

December 10-12, 2003, Geneva, and 2005, Tunis, Tunisia. In 2001, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) decided to hold a Summit in two phases with the first phase to be held in Geneva, Switzerland and the second in 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia. The World Summit on the Information Society will provide an opportunity for all key stakeholders to assemble at a high-level gathering and to develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community. It aims to bring together Heads of State, Executive Heads of United Nations agencies, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations, media representatives and civil society in a single high-level event. The roles of the various partners (Member States, UN specialized agencies, private sector and civil society) in ensuring smooth coordination of the practical establishment of the information society around the globe will also be at the heart of the Summit and its preparation. The anticipated outcome of the Summit is to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information Society, while fully reflecting all the different interests at stake. The scope and nature of this ambitious project will require partnerships with public and private entities, and such partnerships will be actively sought in the coming months. For more information go to: www.itu.int/wsis/.

TRAINING, WORKSHOPS, AND COURSES

Making Globalization Work for the Poor

December 6, 2002. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) symposium in honor of the former Director General of IFPRI, Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen. The symposium will not limit its scope to narrowly defined food issues of globalization but address issues of globalization and poverty reduction more broadly from different angles. For more information about the conference contact IFPRI, 2033 K Street, NW, Washington DC 20006, Tel (202) 862-5600, Fax (202) 467-4439, ifpri@cigar.org.

Linking Health, Environment and Community Development: Lessons from the Thai Experience

December 11, 2002, 4 pm - 5:30 pm (reception to follow), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars event featuring Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Chairman of Thailand's Population and Community Development Association. Mechai Viravaidya is known worldwide for his groundbreaking work in family planning and AIDS prevention in Thailand. Khun Mechai will discuss his unconventional yet common sense approach to povery prevention as reflected in his diverse array of interests and programs, including family planning, refugee relief, environmental protection, AIDS prevention and care, enterprise development and grassroots empowerment. For more information contact the Environmental Change and Security Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania, NW, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 691-4130, www.ecsp.si.edu.

Maternal Nutrition and the Outcome of Pregnancy Training Course

January 5-16 2003, Matlab and Dhaka, Bangladesh. This course, organised by the Public Health Sciences Division and the Training and Education Unit, ICDDR,B in collaboration with the Program in International Nutrition at Cornell University, aims to provide knowledge and skills in assessing nutrition deficiencies of pregnant woman, her fetus and the newborn baby, and to design and analyse nutrition interventions to improve maternal and fetal nutrition. Contact Head, Training & Education Unit analam@icddrb.org or http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2003/1525-event.html.

HIV/AIDS: An International Development Turning Point Seminar

January 15-17, 2003, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 203, Washington, DC. Sponsored by the International Development Program of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) this three-day seminar explores the multiple levels of HIV/AIDS's impact on international development outcomes, focusing both on the current situation and looking forward to 2010. The seminar is designed for practitioners, donors, faculty, and students of international development who have or will work in HIV/AIDS-affected countries. SAIS International Development adjunct professor Joan Parker will lead the seminar, complemented by guest speakers from academia, government, and the international development community. Participants will participate in discussions, learning exercises, and a case study. The course is designed for up to 40 individuals. Thirty spaces will be held for SAIS students and faculty, and ten spaces reserved for non-SAIS participants. Participants should have at least one year of experience working in a developing country. For more information or to sign up, contact Pamela Maslen, DAI, 301-492-5101, email pamela_maslen@dai.com.

Gender Mainstreaming: Practical Skills and Critical Analysis Course

July 7- August 01, 2003, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. For course details, please see:
http://www.odg.uea.ac.uk/pages/course_gender.html. This workshop is designed for women and men in governments, donor agencies and NGOs as well as individual consultants and trainers, who have the responsibility of mainstreaming gender in development organizations and in national policy processes. The course focuses on analyzing and addressing gender inequality in the staffing, procedures and culture of development organizations as well as in their development programmes. It covers practical strategies and skills for mainstreaming gender - including the use of gender planning frameworks; addressing gender issues in Logical Frameworks and developing gender policies. Critical analysis of current theory and practice is encouraged throughout the course. The cost is £4,200 per person (including accommodation). For more information, contact: Sarah Armstrong, Assistant Training Manager
Training Office, Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK,
Tel: +44 1603 592340, Fax: +44 1603 591170, ODG web site http://www.odg.uea.ac.uk.

Gender Mainstreaming: Training the Trainer Course

August 4-8, 2003, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. For course details, please see: http://www.odg.uea.ac.uk/pages/course_gender.html. This course is for those who will be responsible for conducting gender training, but have limited or no training experience. The week will take participants through the practical steps involved in gender training - from assessing learning needs and course planning to the uses and limitations of different training methods, and approaches to monitoring and evaluation. We will discuss the pitfalls involved in gender training, as well as provide guidance on good practice. The course will be highly participatory and practical. Participants will have the opportunity to think through and try out the gender training they will be responsible for conducting. This course is only available to previous and current participants of the 4-week Gender Mainstreaming course. The cost is £1,500 per person (including accommodation) For more information, contact: Sarah Armstrong, Assistant Training Manager, Assistant Training Manager Training Office, Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK, Tel: +44 1603 592340, Fax: +44 1603 591170, ODG web site http://www.odg.uea.ac.uk.

RESOURCES

BOOKS, REPORTS, & OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS

World Report on Violence and Health

The World Report on Violence and Health is the first comprehensive report of its kind to address violence as a global public health problem. Violence kills more than 1.6 million people every year. Public health experts say these statistics are just the tip of the iceberg with the majority of violent acts being committed behind closed doors and going largely unreported. This report aims to shed light on these acts. In addition to the deaths, millions of people are left injured as a result of violence and suffer from physical, sexual, reproductive and mental health problems, says the first comprehensive World report on violence and health released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Report says violence accounts for approximately 7 per cent of all deaths among women aged 15 to 44 worldwide. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives destroyed, the report shows that violence against women has been linked to a number of immediate and long-term conditions, including physical injury, chronic pain syndromes, depression and suicidal behaviour. Partner violence can also affect a woman's earning, job performance and her ability to stay employed. The report also shows that, in some countries, up to 69 per cent of women report having been physically assaulted and nearly half, 47 per cent, say that their first sexual intercourse was forced. For information on the report, visit www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention. To order a copy of the report, contact bookorders@who.int.

Passport to Dignity

The People's Movement for Human Rights Education Announces the long awaited publication of Passport to Dignity connecting the 12 areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA)
to the human rights framework for the fulfillment of human rights of women of all ages, worldwide.
The guide and workbook uses the comprehensive framework of the BPFA to demonstrate the holistic nature of human rights as a powerful tool for action in the achievement of full equality, well being, and participation in the decisions that determine women's lives. The book recounts particular examples of women's initiatives throughout the world along the lines of the BPFA. It is meant as a dynamic and interactive process whereby readers and users can adopt the human rights framework in their actions. Throughout the chapters exercises guide users through a path of personal and group reflection and preparation for action enabling women to use human rights as a tool for systemic analysis and for social and economic transformation. Copies are available for the cost $35 plus shipping costs. Please send orders to pdhre@igc.org.

Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women's Role in Peace-building

By Elisabeth Rehn & Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The voices of women, their experiences during war and their struggles to build peace are at the heart of this report by independent experts Elisabeth Rehn (Finland) and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia). Because of the specific way in which women are targeted during conflict and because Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security called for further study. UNIFEM appointed the two women, both politicians and government officials in their home countries to travel to conflict areas, interview women and bring their concerns to the attention of the United Nations and the world. The report covers many areas of concern, from the gender dimensions of violence and displacement during conflict to the role of peacekeepers and the need for women to play a central part during peace negotiations and reconstruction. Key recommendations focus on finding ways to protect and empower women. To view the report go to: www.unifem.undp.org/resources/assessment/index.html

Supporting Women's Livelihoods: Microfinance that Works for the Majority

By Deena Burjorjee, Rani Desphande and C. Jean Weidemann. This guidebook documents best practices and innovations from the United Nation's Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as well as other donors, a variety of microfinance institutions, and practitioners. This technical guide provides advice for microenterprise donors and practioners who are targeting female clients in all regions of the world. The first part explains the rationale for taking gender into account, for example, by delineating potential benefits for women, their families and communities. Part II examines the relationship of women's productive role to microfinance, including constraints and implications for best practices. The third part addresses ways that microfinance can enhance women's effectiveness as household risk managers, while the fourth section highlights proven methods enabling microfinance institutions to reach women. It also outlines best practices in outreach service delivery. Part five reviews nonfinancial services. The concluding section considers the role of donors in supporting research, expansion, and innovation in the field. The publication can be obtained at no cost from: adam.rogers@undp.org.

Gender Equality and Peacebuilding: An Operational Framework

By Woroniuk, Beth. This document published by Candadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is designed to provide guidance to organisations working in the field of conflict management (which includes prevention, containment, resolution, reconciliation and reconstruction). It is an attempt to draw operational lessons from our increasing understanding of the inter-relationship of gender equality issues, conflict and peacebuilding. It is based on a review of reports and published sources and sets out questions to be asked and issues to explore. http://www.genie.ids.ac.uk/static/woroniuk_gender.htm.

Black Women, Globalization and Economic Justice

By Filomina Cioma Steady, PhD. Black Women, Globalization and Economic Justice: Studies from Africa and the African Diaspora discusses how gender and racial disparities are worsening with globalization through the subordinate position of women of color in the international division of labor and the negative effects of multiple discriminations. The author also illustrates that women have been active in resisting the negative effects of globalization. To order the book contact: Schenkman Books, Inc., 118 Main Street, Rochester, VT 05767, schenkma@sover.net.

Institutionalizing Gender Equality: Commitment Policy and Practice

Edited by Sarah Cummings, Minke Valk and Henk van Dam. This title reflects increasing interest in the experiences of organizations that have begun to incorporate women and gender considerations into their policies, not only for projects and programs but also within their own organizations. Contributions from an agricultural research organization, a cotton development board and a rural development organization in Mali, Kenya, and Nepal illustrate approaches and strategies being used to integrate women and gender issues into activities and organizational structure. Ordering information: http://www.kit.nl/publishers/html/book.asp?BookID=389.

Feminist Futures: Re-Imagining Women, Culture and Development
Edited by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, John Foran, and Priya Kurian. The contributors to this volume work at the intersection of cultural studies, feminist studies, and critical development studies to articulate a new framework that they call Women, Culture, and Development. The result is a fresh vantage point on pressing issues of Third World Development and a new paradigm for scholars and activits to consider. To order contact, Zed Books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N19JF, TEL: +44(0)20-7837-4014, FAX: +44(0)20 7833-3960, www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk.

If Hope Were Enough Video
The Women's Caucus for Gender Justice, in association with WITNESS, recently produced a video for the purposes of education, advocacy and capacity building as part of the organization's outreach efforts to promote the International Criminal Court. The video, If Hope Were Enough, captures the historic importance of how women have come together to impact the structure and substance of the International Criminal Court in order to have it be a mechanism at an international level to address violations of women's human rights. Through the voices of women survivors of historic and on-going violence in both armed-conflict situations and peacetime, the video documents the inspiring struggle towards justice and the end of impunity for violence against women. For more info: www.iccwomen.org or www.witness.org.

ONLINE MATERIALS

WomenWatch Resource Center Materials

WomenWatch is a gateway to the information and resources on the promotion of gender equality throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programs, and specialized agencies. It is a joint United Nations project which was created in March 1997 to provide internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. Since 1997 the intergovernmental mandate has expanded, for example through the outcome document of the Twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in June 2000 and Security Council resolution 1325 of October 2000. The website also now provides information on the outcomes of, as well as efforts to incorporate gender perspectives and follow-up to global conferences, such as the International Conference on Financing for Development, the World Summit on Ageing, the Children's Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. WomenWatch is an inter-agency website. It was founded by the Division for the Advancement of Women, UNIFEM and INSTRAW. To view resources go to: www.un.org/womenwatch.

If Not Now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-Conflict Settings, A Global Overview

Throughout history, gender-based violence has been an integral component of armed conflict. A new report by the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium (RHRC) provides a narrative account of some of the major issues and programming efforts, as well as gaps in programming, related to the prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV) among conflict-affected populations worldwide. "If Not Now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-conflict Settings" attests to such violence against women and girls (and to a lesser extent men and boys). To view the report go to, http://www.rhrc.org/resources/gbv/wc_gbvcontents.html.

Men's Involvement in Gender and Development

By Caroline Sweetman. This report consists of edited papers from a seminar hosted by Oxfam GB with the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women at the University of Oxford. It considers the following issues:

· In what sectors of development should gender and development work involve men as beneficiaries?
· In what contexts of development should gender and development work involve men as beneficiaries?
· What issues face men working in development projects that have a commitment to gender equality?
An introductory essay proposes a framework for thinking about this important new topic in gender and development. To view or order report go to, http://www.oxfam.org.uk/publish/meninvolve.htm.

New Electronic Journal: Feminist Africa

Gender and Women's Studies for Africa's Transformation. To view the journal, please see: www.feministafrica.org. In October 2002, GWS Africa announced the launch of a new electronic journal -Feminist Africa (FA). Feminist Africa is a publication which has grown out of the African Gender Institute's many years of commitment to capacity-building, research, networking and teaching in an environment in which market-oriented approaches now threaten to undermine progressive African gender initiatives.

WEBSITES

Gender Information Exchange (genie) Consultants' Database

Looking for work in Gender and Development? Register on the gender consultants' database at
www.genie.ids.ac.uk, a popular space for donors and others looking for gender expertise.

New Discussion Forum: Re-Inventing Trade: Challenging Norms of Gender, Law and Development AWID and the UBC Faculty of Law.

Please see: http://www.islandnet.com/~mko/clients/law/. The purpose of this site is for participants of the AWID forum to be able to talk to each other about the impact of trade led development on women. In AWID and UBC's work on re-thinking the role of law in the context of globalisation, they recognize the need to consider the experiences of women who are challenging international trade law from the grass roots. These narratives are a valuable addition to legal analysis, and help to deepen understandings of how these transnational laws and institutions affect local women and communities.

The forum is interested in questions such as:

· How do the imposition of trade laws affect local issues?
· Do they affect the outcomes of local struggles?
· How are women affected by these transformations?
AWID and UBC's research is only the beginning of the project. Your contributions will help to strengthen their collective analysis and understanding of these issues.

New Website: Gender and Women's Studies for Africa's Transformation

Please see: www.gwsafrica.org. The Strengthening Gender & Women's Studies for Africa's Transformation (GWS Africa) project web site is the first ever site, wholly dedicated to the promotion and development of Gender and Women's Studies on the African continent. The vision of the AGI's Strengthening Gender and Women Studies for Africa's Transformation (GWS Africa) Project, is of an African continent enriched by a robust and dynamic intellectual environment which supports African teaching and research in the field of gender and women's studies and contributes to democratisation and gender justice. The mission of the AGI's GWS Africa Project is to strengthen African teaching and research in gender and women's studies by bringing teachers and researchers based in African universities together in a series of carefully designed training, research and publishing activities, and a combination of online communications and workshops. The African Gender Institute has established www.gwsafrica.org in collaboration with the community of scholars currently engaged in gender studies all over the continent, and we invite ongoing dialogue and networking.

Web Pages: Gender Aspects of Conflict and Peace

In preparation for the forthcoming session of the United Nations Security Council (25 October) in which the issue of "Women, Peace and Security" will be considered, INSTRAW has prepared special webpages focussing on Gender Aspects of Conflict and Peace. These pages include:

· Special Collection of Resources - searchable database of relevant
sources of knowledge and information with abstracts and links to on-line
publications
· Relevant Links - to relevant sites and organizations
· UN Official documents - links to relevant official UN documents
· INSTRAW paper - theoretical framework on gender aspects of conflict
and peace.

Browse through these webpages at: www.un-instraw.org/en/research/gacp/index.html and www.un-instraw.org/en/research/gacp/index.html.

AWARDS

Call for Papers: Trafficking & Trade: The Impact of Globalization on Women

Call for Papers & Presentations: One-page abstracts due December 1, 2002. Contact Karen Beeks, Global Partnerships for Humanity, at 303-470-7810, fax 303-791-0993, email: wkbeeks@compuserve.com for more information or a copy of the abstract guidelines. March 14-15, 2003, Denver, Colorado. Colorado serves as a corridor for migration, which includes illegal immigration and trafficking of persons. Most individuals in this Region of the United States have never heard of trafficking of persons. To raise awareness regarding this human rights violation, Global Partnerships for Humanity is coordinating a conference on "Trafficking & Trade: The Impact of Globalization on Women at the Auraria College Campus of Denver, Colorado. Goals of the conference are, not only, to raise awareness of the trafficking of persons, but also, to provide a forum for those who work with immigration issues, academians, researchers, law enforcement agencies, human rights advocates, government and nongovernmental organizations and interested individuals to share their expertise; create a Regional network with links to national and international organizations already providing services for the victims of trafficking; and to look for alternative economic options for trafficked persons and those at-risk of being trafficked. For information contact: Karen Beeks: wkbeeks@compuserve.com, Tel: (303) 470-7810, Fax: (303) 791-0993.

Call for Papers: Re-searching Research Agendas: Women, Research and Publication in Higher Education

Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, 25-27 June 2003. For more information and an application form please see: http://www.uts.edu.au/oth/wexdev. Topics to be covered include: strategic issues in higher education research and development; gender and research; personal reflections on careers in research and publication; change and transformation; upgrading processes of research and publication; research and consultancies; exploring Research Partnerships; and feminist pedagogies. The call for papers and application form are downloadable from the web-site: Colleen Chesterman, National Director, ATN WEXDEV Program, University of Technology, Sydney, P O Box 123, SYDNEY NSW 2007 Australia, Tel: 61 2 9514 2931, Fax: 61 2 9514 1327, colleen.chesterman@uts.edu.au.

Call for Abstracts: Women, Science and Sustainability: 20th Pacific Science Congress

Bangkok, Thailand, 17-20 March 2003, submission deadline: 30 November 2002. Continuing a tradition of symposia at Pacific Science Congresses and Inter-congresses the PSA Taskforce on Human Resources for the Future is organizing a symposium, "Women Science and Sustainability" at the 20th Pacific Science Congress. As the congress acknowledge the increasing interconnectedness of peoples and places, the scientific community is grappling with defining a "science of sustainability" (International Initiative on Science and Technology for Sustainability) that meets fundamental needs while preserving the earth's life-support systems and alleviating hunger and poverty. At this juncture, in addition to equity concerns, it is critical that all human resources and all perspectives be brought to bear on the critical challenges facing humanity as the congresses attempt to define sustainable development based on the three pillars of environmental, social and economic sustainability. This symposium invites papers on a wide-range of topics related to gender and science including the emerging arena of sustainability science and,because of a focus on extreme events in several of the other Congress symposia, gender and disasters. Information: National Research Council of Thailand, 196 Phaholyothin Rd., Chatuchak, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand, Tel: +66 2 579 2690, +66 2 940 6369, Fax: +66 2 561 3049, +66 2 579 2285, email: wanasri@20pscbangkok.com, www.20pscbangkok.com.

Digital Freedom Network Is Soliciting Nominations for 2003 Women's Day Profiles

In March, the Digital Freedom Network (DFN) will celebrate International Women's Day (March 8, 2003), by profiling the work and lives of five women human rights activists from around the world. The network will feature a story on each of these women on their website along with information on how people can help in their causes. One way people can become involved is to nominate a woman whose work has made a significant contribution to promoting human rights. To nominate someone, use the Web form at http://www.dfn.org/volunteer/womens-form.htm or send an email to women@dfn.org that includes your and nominee's name, your and nominee's organization, your and nominee's contact information (telephone or email), your and nominee's address information and an explanation why your nominee should be profiled. Last year's profiles can be read at www.dfn.org/focus/women/index.htm. For more information about the DFN, a non-profit organization that uses the Internet to promote human rights education and activism, go to: http://dfn.org.

Call for Papers: Gender and War

(in Russian or in English), Kharkov Centre for Gender Studies, submission deadline: January 1, 2003. For more information, please contact: majordomo@gender.univer.kharkov.ua. Kharkov Center for Gender Studies is planning to publish a book on gender aspects of war, conflicts and violence. The region of study includes the countries of the former USSR. Topics of the articles may include:

· Theorization of war and violence in feminist theory
· Gender stereotypes as the resource of war
· Gender effect of nationalism and new patriotism
· Gender constructions of terrorism and anti-terrorism
· Gender impact of war and feminist response to war
· War trauma: gender aspects
· War and sexuality politics
· Gender, war and history
· Gender in the narrative of war and peace (mass media, cinema and literature)
· War in women's and men's literature

Call for papers: Gender and Globalism

Michigan Feminist Studies, submission deadline: January 10, 2003. For further information contact: mfseditors@umich.edu or visit: www.umich.edu/~mfsed. Topics may include: the meaning of globalism, cosmopolitanism, nationalism; global feminisms; historical perspectives on globalization; political geographies of globalization; globalization and its impact on women; interaction among global feminisms; international feminist movements; migration, immigration, exile Imperialism and neo-Imperialism; media and the global public sphere; international law, the United Nations, NGOs; war, terrorism, peace activism, war crime tribunals; water and land usage; environmental racism; access to healthcare; reproductive health and technology; AIDS; the global in literature; politics of ethnic literature; publishing in the international marketplace; access to education; and teaching from global perspectives. Manuscripts should be 4000-6000 words, and double-spaced. Submit three single-sided copies, and include a 150-200 word abstract, brief biographical note, institutional and departmental affiliation, address, telephone number, and email address. Papers may be submitted in the accepted format of your academic discipline (e.g., MLA, APA). Mail submissions to: Michigan Feminist Studies, 1122 Lane Hall, 204 South State Street, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290.