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NEWS FROM THE FIELDNovember 1999 - March 2000
Contents
Staff Changes: We Win Some, We Lose SomeAt the end of 1999, we were sorry to bid farewell to Zareen Niazi, who had worked with us for a year as a volunteer and eventually proved so useful that when she left us she was a paid consultant. Zareen performed stirling service in helping organize exhibitions and other events, and was also responsible for the layout and design of our very well received Violence Against Women "roadmap" kits. When she left, she was also responsible for the initial organization of the March 2000 Women Parliamentarians Conference as the CAPWIP consultant based in Bangkok. We can blame Zareen’s departure on Coca Cola, which transferred her husband to Nairobi in Kenya where, we here, she is volunteering to assist the local UNIFEM office. We thank Zareen very sincerely for her support, and wish her well in her new location. As Zareen left, we were delighted to find a replacement volunteer in the person of Meenu Bohara. Meenu is a young graduate student working with Marge Suryamongol, our Consultant on VAW who teaches at Thammasat University. Like Zareen, Meenu soon proved herself to be so capable that we contracted her to replace Zareen as the CAPWIP consultant in Bangkok for the Women Parliamentarians Conference. Meenu’s cool, calm efficiency and pleasant manner negotiated all the mine fields that inevitably emerged in organizing a meeting of more than 70 women parliamentarians from all over the Asia-Pacific region. Meenu has now returned to her studies full time to write her graduate thesis. Getting a little in front of the timespan for this newsletter, our more permanent staff are also expanding. In May, we were very pleased to welcome our new Finance and Office Manager, Pornnipa Buddee. Pornnipa is taking over the financial management, allowing Evelyn to concentrate on Programme Management. In June we were pleased to welcome Jean De Cunha, our new Senior Programme Specialist, who will assist Lorraine and Evelyn in programme development and programme management. November 1999A Commitment by the Government of Indonesia to a National Plan of Action to Eliminate Violence Against WomenUntil recently, domestic violence by men against women members of their families was considered in Indonesia, as in many other countries, to be a purely private matter in which the police and courts would not interfere. Domestic violence was not a crime under the Indonesian Criminal Code. The issue of male violence against women (VAW) rose to public prominence following Indonesia’s political turmoil, escalating in May 1998 when women were particularly targeted during the ethnic violence in Jakarta. Information about violence against women in other provinces, particularly in Aceh, Papua and the then province of East Timor also began to emerge. With communal violence continuing in Indonesia and evidence that the economic crisis has contributed to an increase in domestic violence in general, the situation for women is increasingly urgent. UNFPA and UNIFEM E&SEARO developed a project Strengthening Partnerships between the Government and NGOs in prevention and management of VAW. By strengthening the partnership between the State Ministry for the Role of Women (now the Ministry for Women’s Empowerment) and women’s NGOs the projects seeks to eliminate violence against women, and to provide services for survivors of violence. The Project involves:
Assessing the Needs of East Timor for ReconstructionIn November, Lorraine travelled to Darwin to attend the debriefing of the UN-World Bank Joint Assessment Mission on the reconstruction needs of East Timor. Lorraine also travelled to Dili, where she found herself staying overnight on a the Polar Bird, a polar exploration ship that was the only accommodation available for international visitors at that time. [The Filipino crew were delighted to be sitting at rest in Dili harbour, sunbathing and fishing, rather than at their usual occupation of ploughing through raging and freezing Arctic and Antarctic seas!] Lorraine was able to attend a meeting of a local women’s NGO, Fokupers, which was preparing to document recent abuses of women’s rights and to provide counselling and support to survivors. Despite the lack of basic facilities and transport, the enthusiasm and commitment of the women - some of whom are themselves survivors - was impressive. UNIFEM E&SEARO is now considering the most effective ways in which UNIFEM can support this important work. As part of this effort, we are planning our own assessment of the needs and capacities of women’s groups in particular, and NGOs in general, to mainstream gender and provide leadership on gender issues in the emerging institutions of government and civil society in East Timor. The regional human rights NGO ASCENT will undertake this assessment together with local partners in East Timor. Lorraine has recommended to UNIFEM New York that UNIFEM place a staff member in East Timor as soon as possible to help build the capacity of women in East Timor to mainstream gender and women’s issues in the reconstruction process and in the future governance of their country. In the meantime, a young Italian volunteer, Gilda Esposito, who is currently working as a Gender Focal Point and District Officer for the UN Temporary Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in Er Meru is doing great work in keeping the Bangkok office well informed on developments in East Timor. We are also linking up with Australian Sherrill Whittington, the recently appointed head of the Gender Advisory Bureau in UNTAET and with other colleagues in East Timor. We were delighted when the former UNIFEM RPD in Zimbabwe, Gita Welch, was appointed to head the Human Rights Unit in UNTAET. Women and Men March Against VAW in ThailandOn 24th November 1999, women’s organizations from across Thailand marched through the streets of Bangkok to the Prime Minister’s office to mark the beginning of the 16 days of activism and the first official International Day to Eliminate Gender Violence. The march, organised by the Friends for Women Foundation and sponsored by UNIFEM E&SEARO, began with a ceremony at the United Nations Building. UN commitment to the event was symbolised in a speech by Thelma Kay, Chief of the ESCAP Women in Development Section, who handed over a banner proclaiming the theme of the march Communities Free from Violence Against Women and Children to an NGO representative. Some 4 - 500 women and some men, many wearing UNIFEM T-shirts, carried the banner behind the march leader who used a microphone from a truck to call for an end to violence against women, and for more community involvement against gender-based violence. The march was featured on the evening news on several local Television stations and in the Thai and English language press. The banner carried in the march was displayed at the front of the UN building during the 16 day period. Viet Nam Television profiles a world free from violence for womenVietnam Women’s Union and Viet Nam television (VTV) collaborated to edit and translate a 15 minute segment from the UNIFEM videoconference "World Free from Violence for Women" which was broadcast on Vietnam Television on 25th November. The video, sponsored by UNIFEM E&SEARO as part of the follow-up to the UNIFEM global videoconference, was launched at a special forum on 25 November co-sponsored by UNIFEM E&SEARO, World Bank, and Vietnam Women’s Union. Copies of the video were sent to all 61 provinces. Seminar on Studies on Women and Children in China, ShanghaiLorraine and Lanyan both attended this national seminar in Shanghai 28 November - 1 December, where Lorraine made a presentation on UNIFEM Support for Women’s Economic Empowerment in East & Southeast Asia. December 1999Seminar on Paid and Unpaid Work, Ahmedebad, IndiaTogether with colleagues from the Statistics Division of ESCAP and the UNDP Asia-Pacific Gender in Development Project (APGEN) based in Manila, Lorraine attended this meeting 6 - 11 December. The seminar focused on the use of time use studies as an input to policies aimed at achieving gender equity. At present, the unequal sharing of work between men and women is not reflected in conventional statistics, and women's work is unrecognized or inadequately considered in policymaking. An interesting aside to the meeting was the process by which Lorraine was transformed from a 5'4" Australian into a 6'4" Canadian! Inaccurate advice from Bangkok resulted in her arriving in Ahmedabad on a visa which was due to expire before the date of her planned departure from India. In Southeast Asia, this would not be a problem because the expiry date refers to the date by which you must ENTER the country. Unfortunately, India turns out to follow the European practice - it was the date by which she had to LEAVE, and that was two days before the end of the seminar. After much fuss and numerous phone calls, the organizers discovered that the Chief of Police in the State could issue a temporary extension. They took Lorraine’s UN Laisser Passez travel document and later came back very relieved with copies of the necessary documents to be signed in 15-tuplicate. The only minor difficulty had been that her LP did not indicate her eye colour, height, nationality or place of birth. No problem: Lorraine became a blue-eyed, 6' 4" (only one foot out!) Canadian born in Canada (where else?)! For someone who has never set foot in Canada, this was quite an achievement. Fortunately, the immigration officer for the outbound flight from Mumbai had a sense of humour! ACC Inter-agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality Workshop on Women's Empowerment in the Context of Human Security, ESCAP BangkokWhile Lorraine was on Chandni’s territory in Ahmedabad, Chandni was representing UNIFEM Asia-Pacific at the third annual joint workshop of the UN Interagency Committee on Women and Gender Equality and the OECD-DAC Working Party on Gender Equality. Joanne Sandler from UNIFEM New York also attended. Two earlier joint meetings had been held in Geneva in 1997 (on Gender Mainstreaming) and in Rome in 1998 (on the Rights-Based Approach to Gender Equality). The Bangkok meeting was to identify concrete actions to promote the inter-linked issues of women’s empowerment, gender equality and human security. The emerging concept of human security is shifting the emphasis from the security of states to the security of people, re-emphasizing the obligations of states to ensure the security of citizens, recognizing the role of non-state actors and the cross-border dimension of the problem and the need for multi-faceted responses, and demanding accountability for violations of human rights and humanitarian law. However, an understanding of the fundamental differences and inequalities between women’s and men’s security has been largely missing from the debate. Thus the workshop called for the incorporation into human security discussions of the issue of violence against women and girls, recognition of gender inequalities in control over resources and in power and decision-making, women’s human rights and women as actors rather than just as victims. This may sound like just so many words. However, it has very practical implications for women caught in situations of conflict who may face the daily threat of rape and other forms of violence as they try to feed and support their families, while their very specific needs are overlooked by the men and international officials who talk peace. It is therefore especially exciting for us to now see in June 2000, UNIFEM being officially invited to join the peacekeeping negotiations in Burundi. UNIFEM is now working with its many partners to find ways to support the women of East Timor to play an active role in determining the future of their new nation. Meeting of UN Heads of Agencies with Ms Angela King, Special Adviser to the Secretary GeneralFollowing her participation in the OECD-DAC meeting, Ms Angela King, Special Adviser to the Secretary General of the UN on gender, met informally with the Heads of UN agencies in Bangkok. Evelyn represented UNIFEM Bangkok and reported to Ms King on preparations in the region for Beijing +5. January 2000We are happy to report that, like most of the rest of the world, we all survived the close of the nineties and the opening of the new millennium without incident and without any Y2K problems. 9-12 Evelyn Travels to India to meet UNIFEM colleagues on economic empowermentWhile Lorraine was on home leave, Evelyn flew to New Delhi to join our Chief of Asia-Pacific, Kunzang Changyalpa from New York, and UNIFEM colleagues from South Asia at a meeting to discuss two regional economic empowerment proposals. The group also met with Renana Jhabala of the well-known Indian women’s NGO SEWA, a partner for the proposed project from the regional NGO Homenet, which works specifically for women homeworkers. The mission also provided Evelyn with an opportunity to meet the UNIFEM team in South Asia, attend a staff meeting of UNIFEM New Delhi, and identify areas where the New Delhi and Bangkok offices might collaborate more closely. February 2000Secretary General Kofi and Ms Nane Annan’s visit to BangkokLike the rest of the UN system, UNIFEM was involved in the arrangements for the first official visit of the UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan and Ms Nane Annan. UNIFEM was asked to assist UNDP in arranging a programme for Ms Annan on 10 February. With the assistance of St John’s College, Bangkok, we organized a performance by the Thai youth drama group Mai Kit Fai on Violence Against Women, a Gender Roundtable on Violence Against Women and a lunch at the College for Ms Annan. We also facilitated a meeting of the Gender Women and Development (GWAD) Working Group which prepared a submission on gender issues in the UN System that Lorraine presented to Mr Annan on behalf of the GWAD at the UN Heads of Agencies Meeting with the Secretary General. Noeleen’s Mission to Bangkok to attend UNCTAD XFebruary was a particularly busy month as Bangkok hosted the tenth meeting of UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X). UNIFEM E&SEARO was privileged to have our Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer with us for almost a week to participate in UNCTAD. Her arrival was rather exciting as we learned at only the last minute that UNIFEM was to participate in the Heads of Agencies panel on the first day, and at the ASEAN Roundtable between the Heads of Agencies and the ASEAN Heads of Government. Our Programme Secretary Penparn managed to get Noeleen, who had been spending a few days with her family in Phuket, a last minute booking on the early morning flight from Phuket to Bangkok. However, this still left limited time to get to the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre so Penparn also managed to arrange a police motorcycle escort for Noeleen from the airport. A UNFPA staff member kindly delivered Noeleen’s luggage to the hotel while Lorraine and Noeleen went straight to the Convention Centre, arriving in good time for the ASEAN Roundtable. Noeleen spoke on the Heads of Agencies panel and also gave an address from the floor during a plenary session during the week: the addresses were titled "Decent Work in the Global Economy", and "Globalization and Trade through Women's Eyes". Although gender and women in trade issues did not feature very high on the UNCTAD agenda, a number of country delegates, particularly the Philippines, highlighted the impact of trade on women and Noeleen’s input was well received. Noeleen was also interviewed by CNBCAsia, which featured the interview on their weekly progamme Working Women in Asia. She also appeared on Thai Channel 9 in an interview arranged by our Thai NGO partner Hotline Foundation. While in Bangkok, Noeleen paid courtesy calls on Mr Robert England, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Khunying Supatra Masdit, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and Deputy Prime Minister Bhichai Rattakul. She also had a working meeting with Mr Michael Calvano, Head of the Bangkok office of the International Telegraphic Union (ITU) on collaboration between UNIFEM and ITU to promote women’s access to new and emerging technologies. UNIFEM Exhibition at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Reception for the Alternative UNCTAD meetingNoting that UNIFEM had
been unsuccessful in their approach to UNCTAD for exhibition space in
the Queen Sirikit Centre, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs very kindly
invited UNIFEM E&SEARO to stage an exhibition on gender and women’s
issues in trade at a reception for NGOs, the Press and others attending
the
Kellie had strategically located the UNIFEM display in the four corners of the foyer, as well on both sides of the front of the dining room, and Geoff’s rolling computer display was also conveniently located for those with a few minutes spare. The TV cameras filming the MC introducing the Minister for his speech were focused right on one of the UNIFEM displays! Meenu handed out our Briefing Kits and other materials and she, Kellie and Lorraine were on hand to answer the many inquiries. One very positive result of the evening was strengthened linkages with staff in the Ministry. February 20-25 Missions to Vietnam and IndonesiaNo sooner had Noeleen left than Lorraine was packing her bags for short missions to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City in Vietnam and Jakarta. Lorraine flew to HCM to participate in a meeting organized by former UNIFEM Intern Lisa Fancott, who is now working with Oxfam Quebec in Hanoi. Lisa was organizing the first Inter-Provincial Meeting of Women’s Business Clubs from all over Vietnam and had invited Lorraine as the Keynote Speaker. Lorraine spoke on The Rationale and Roles of Women’s Business Groups, referring to UNIFEM’s experience in supporting women’s business groups elsewhere in the region. The meeting was held in the Union of Associations of Industry and Commerce in HCM. Other speakers included Ms Lee Baker, the Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam and the Chair of the Garment Association of HCM. From HCM, Lorraine travelled to Jakarta via Singapore. Unfortunately, Air France was a little confused and Lorraine’s bags went from Singapore to Japan rather than Jakarta! Fortunately, Singapore Airlines delivered them safely after a delay of a day. Lorraine was in Jakarta to meet the new staff in UNIFEM’s VAW project to strengthen Government-NGO partnerships (mentioned earlier), and to sort out the inevitable management issues that emerge with staff changes. It was her first mission to the Project for the new millennium, so there were many nitty gritty matters to be sorted out. Fortunately, during the changeover period, UNIFEM and the Project had the support of UNIFEM Management Consultant Ms Kim Do. With many years of experience in managing UNFPA funded projects in the Centre for Population and Manpower Studies in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Kim was a great source of support for Ira, our Project Secretary and Finance Assistant during the period between the departure of the previous Project Manager and the appointment of Endah Nurdiana and Livia Iskandar Dharmawan as Project Consultant and Project Manager respectively. February 28 Gender and Indochina Conference, WARI WE-TRAIN, Rangsit, PathumthaniAlthough she missed the first few days of this Conference, Lorraine was able to accept the invitation of Dr Darunee TantiwiramAnnand of WARI to give a presentation on Gender and Women’s Labour Force Participation in Indo-China. The Conference was attended by women from research groups and NGOs from Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Thailand, as well as by international researchers from Canada and Australia. March 2000March 1-4 Another Mission to VietnamLorraine was back in Vietnam during the first week of March, this time in Hanoi to attend the final regional meeting of the CanASIAN Business Women’s Association in the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where she had been invited to give a presentation on Policy Advocacy and Lobbying during a session with Andrina Lever, Member of the APEC Business Advisory Council. During the mission, Lorraine also discussed UNIFEM technical support for the UNDP Project VIE/96/011 Mainstreaming Gender in Public Policy: Capacity Development for the Implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women with both UNDP and M Else Klinkert of the Netherlands Embassy, which is supporting the Project. While in Hanoi, Lorraine met Judge Patrick Mahoney of the New Zealand Family Court and Ms Brenda Pilott, General Manager, Policy and Development, Child, Youth and Family Services, New Zealand to discuss various aspects of the New Zealand experience in dealing with violence against women. Judge Mahoney has headed the NZ Family Court since 1985, and has been travelling throughout the Southeast Asian Region meeting with officials from the judicial system, the police and NGOs to share NZ’s experience in dealing with this difficult issue. Lorraine also attended a dinner for Judge Mahoney and Ms Pilott held by the Ambassador for New Zealand, Mr Yan Flint. March 6-8 Regional Meeting on Women in Cooperatives in BangkokUNIFEM has long been associated with the Regional NGO Asian Women in Cooperative Development Forum (AWCF) which, under the leadership of Lota Bertulfo, has been working to promote the participation of women in the Cooperative Movement, particularly in leadership. This meeting indicated the level of commitment of women to the cooperative movement: it was attended by more than 160 women from around the region, almost all of whom provided their own travel and accommodation. Lorraine was again invited to make a presentation, this time on Globalization: the Impact on Women in Cooperatives. International Women's Day 8th March 2000 "Women Building Peace"International Women's Day highlights the achievements and struggles of women in achieving equality, development and peace. The theme for this year, Women building peace, focuses on the achievements of women who are working to create peace in their communities, countries and regions. It highlights the need for further progress in involving women in peace negotiations. To celebrate this important day, the Gender, Women and Development (GWAD) Working Group under the United Nations Resident Co-ordinator System of Thailand and ESCAP organized a day of activities at the United Nations Convention Centre in Bangkok. The celebration was launched with a ceremony on the morning of the 8th of March, which was well attended by representatives from Government, Embassies, UN agencies, NGOs, and members of the public. The opening ceremony was followed by performances from three student theatre groups, Maykeit Fai, Makhompom, and a school group ASPnet. Although the enthusiastic performances were predominately in Thai, the actions made the meaning clear for all, whether or not they could understand the language. All three performances focused on issues relating to peace and gender. The closing songs of the students from ASPnet, ranging in age from kindergarten to senior secondary level, were especially popular. In the afternoon a panel discussion discussed the roles of women in building peace in the family, in the community, and among refugees and ethnic minorities. Presentations by two experts on each of the topics were followed by an interactive discussion with the audience. The panelists included the Thai poet Khun Chamnongsri Hanchanlash; Khun Tuenjai Deetes, who had just been newly elected to the Thai senate; and Naw Mu Si a young Karen woman originally from Burma. For those with time to spare and/or money to spend, an exhibition by UN agencies and women's NGOs and a bazaar run by Thai NGOs offered interesting attractions on both IWD itself and for the two days that followed. An art exhibition of the works of several Thai women artists included paintings, photography, and sculpture focused on the theme of women and peace. This also attracted much interest and tempted some enthusiasts to take out their wallets, as the artwork was for sale. The day was voted a success and UNIFEM and the GWAD would like to thank all those involved. In association with the celebration of International Women’s Day, the Lorraine did a live interview on the evening news of Star TV Hong Kong and a radio interview for the BBC. 19 March Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and DevelopmentThe RPD was invited to give a presentation on Beijing +5: Progress, Constraints & Issues in Asia at the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development. This Forum was held one week before the CAPWIP-UNIFEM Conference of Women Members of Parliament, and it was interesting to see the contrast between the two meetings. The Population Forum dealt with matters that are intimately related to the lives of women and often regarded as women’s issues, but the meeting itself was dominated by men and primarily attended by men parliamentarians. The second, attended only by women parliamentarians, focused on globalization and peace, which are issues not usually associated with women although of course they greatly affect women’s lives. At least one woman parliamentarian from New Zealand, the Hon Anne Tolley, attending the FPPD Forum also stayed on in Bangkok to attend the UNIFEM meeting. The RPD attended a lunch held in her honour by the New Zealand Embassy during the week prior to the UNIFEM-CAPWIP Conference. March 24-25 Conference of Asia-Pacific Women Members of Parliament on Transformative LeadershipEighty women parliamentarians from 22 countries across the Asia-Pacific region attended the Asia-Pacific Women's Parliamentarians Conference on Transformative Leadership for Good Governance in the 21st Century, held from 24-25th March in Bangkok. Organised by the Centre for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics, the conference was sponsored by the UNIFEM East & Southeast, South Asia and Pacific Regional Offices, UNDP, ESCAP, and ADB. We were delighted to welcome our colleague Chandni Joshi, the Regional Programme Director from South Asia to the Conference. Both Lorraine and Chandni acted as facilitators for the closed sessions on the Second Day. Thailand's Prime Minister Mr Chuan Leekpai, opened the Conference. Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, Vice-President of Vietnam, who was one of the negotiators of the peace agreement to end the Vietnam War, gave the keynote address. The Conference was attended by more than 160 people on the first day, which was open to the public. The Conference examined such issues as Transformative Leadership in the 21st Century; Reframing Development Policies for Managing Globalisation; and Reframing Development Policies for Transforming Approaches to Conflict Resolution. The speakers included Hon. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament, Malaysia, who spoke on becoming an "accidental politician"; Hon. Sochua Mu, Minister for Women's and Veterans' Affairs, Camodia, who focused on women transforming politics in Cambodia; Dr Rounaq Jahan, Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Hon. Akiko Yamanaka, Member, House of Representatives, Japan; Hon. Chitralekha Yadav, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Nepal; and Hon. Atu 'o Hakautapu Margaret Emberson-Bain, Senator, Fiji. The second day was a closed session in which the women parliamentarians discussed how they might work to transform the traditional politics of the region, and how current policies on globalization and conflict resolution may need to be reviewed and reframed to reflect women's perspectives and interests. Small group discussions gave them the opportunity to freely express their views and experiences and facilitated networking, thus laying a foundation for future collaboration among women parliamentarians throughout the region. For example, a meeting during the Conference of the 21 women parliamentarians attending from South Asia resolved to form a South Asian Forum of Women Parliamentarians. Nepal offered to host the first meeting of the new Forum later this year. Other groups also plan to continue meeting at the national, sub-regional and regional levels. On the first day of the Conference, a number of UN agencies (UNIFEM, ESCAP, ILO) and NGOs (Global Alliance Against Trafficking of Women -GAATW, and Women for Tomorrows Politics - WTP) exhibited materials on women's issues, globalization, conflict and peace, and transformative politics. The UNIFEM exhibition focused on two areas (1) the impact of globalisation on women in trade, and (2) Women, conflict and peace. Those interested in further information on the impact of globalisation on women, and women in trade may like to check out the UNIFEM E&SEARO briefing kits Women in a Global Economy and Globalisation, Gender, and Markets. Information on women, conflict and peace can be found in the UNIFEM publication Women at the Peace Table. The Conference received good media coverage, including interviews by CNBC, BBC, Reuters, Prew magazine, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. There is a full report of the Conference proceedings on the CAPWIP web site. March 27-31 Lorraine attends ARIAT Trafficking Meeting ManilaFollowing the Women Perliamentarians’ Conference, Lorraine and Chandni travelled to Manila to attend the Asian Regional Initiative on Trafficking Meeting organized by the Government of the Philippines and USAID. The meeting produced a Regional Plan of Action to eliminate Trafficking that included a variety of recommended activities to be undertaken by governments, NGOs and others at the local, national and regional levels. This was very relevant to UNIFEM’s role in the UN Working Group on Trafficking in Bangkok which manages a Project on Trafficking in Women and Children in the Mekong Sub-region funded by UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), a fund established by the Turner Foundation. It also links up with a new UNIFEM initiative on Trafficking in Women and Children in South Asia that Chandni is managing with support from USAID. Apart from its substantive content, the meeting provided a great opportunity for Lorraine and Chandni to "talk shop" all day and most of the night, since they shared a room. Lorraine managed to fit in meetings with many UNIFEM partners in Manila, including: a breakfast with Marian Nash, the UNIFEM Marketing Consultant on Project DRK92WO1 Rationalizing Cottage Industry in Pyongyang (North Korea); another breakfast meeting with Linda Miranda and Sylvia Ordonez of CAPWIP; a telephone meeting with Indai Sajor of the regional human rights NGO ASCENT (Indai was leaving on one of her frequent missions throughout the region); an evening with Jurgette Honculada and Rina David, author and editor respectively of an almost published study of the history of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW); a meeting with Susanna George of Isis International; and discussions on gender budgeting with Debbie Budlender and Lisa VeneKlasen of Asia Foundation, Jeanne Illo and Ermie Valdeavilla, Executive Director of NCRFW. On the first day of her mission, Lorraine also visited the TIPS Network in the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss management of the UNIFEM global project Women into the New Network for Entrepreneurial Reinforcement. [The reason for the contorted title is to be found in the initials - the project is known as WINNER!] The project funded by the Government of Italy is supporting the development of a CD-ROM for e-commerce for women in micro enterprise. While Lorraine was in TIPS, an MOU was signed between the Project and representatives of six NGOs working with women’s enterprises. Women from these and other NGO networks will be trained under the project in the use of computers for e-mail and on the use of the WINNER CD-ROM for e-commerce. One of NGOs in the group was PATAMABA, a network of women homeworkers that is also involved in the UNIFEM regional project mentioned at the beginning of these notes in relation to Evelyn’s visit to New Delhi in December. In the afternoon, Lorraine was taken to visit one of the PATAMABA groups in Balintawak, Quezon City. The group serves approximately 85 members who produce retazzo (leftover) products from scrap materials purchased from upholstery firms and t-shirt manufacturers. They purchase the upholstery scraps for 25 Pesos (about US 60 cents) per bag, out of which they are able to produce 3 doz pairs of slippers which they sell for 35 Pesos each, and an undetermined number of mats which sell at Pesos 15 each. Left-over leftovers are cut into small squares, sewn together in long pleated strips and used to make pillows and pot holders. The t-shirt retazzo is purchased for Pesos 15 per bag, from which they make 12 mats that sell for Pesos 12 per piece (in bulk). The mats are used in wet markets and in industry to soak up water, oil etc, as well as for domestic use. The group also make small back packs for school children, but only to order, and they purchase the material after the orders have been placed. Members also sew decorative pleated net ribbon which is apparently very popular for wedding and other festive occasions and for making decorative items such as umbrellas (made by the group). The ribbon earns them 6 Pesos per yard to make, comprising 1 Peso for the organization, 2 Pesos for the member who purchased the raw materials, 1 Peso for the member sewing the ribbon and 2 Pesos for the member pleating the net. The final product retails in the market for Pesos 10 per yard. The manager of the unit seemed very well informed on the pricing of all the products. She claimed that members made, on average, 1000 Pesos per week for an 8-hour 5-day working week, which compares very favourably with factory employment which would yield a monthly wage of around 3000 - 3500 Pesos for a 6-day week that would probably include overtime. This particular group export their products through a rather unique process: they sell all that they can produce in bulk to Philippines Overseas Workers who take the products back with them for re-sale in the countries in which they work. [Many Overseas Workers from the Philippines are seamen, and ships are one of the major industrial markets for the retazzo mats.] With repeat and regular customers, they have sufficient demand. With a well developed and reliable transportation system, it might be possible for them to communicate with their customers by e-mail and increase sales in that way (although at present they do not seem to need this).
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preliminary
"Alternative UNCTAD" Meeting at the UN Convention Centre. At very short
notice, Geoff and Kellie, ably assisted by Meenu, put on an impressive
exhibition that raised much interest among the guests as they gathered
in the grand foyer of the Ministry’s new building for the dinner. Apart
from a small display by the Thai UN Association, UNIFEM were the sole
exhibitors, and with around 400 guests waiting for the Minister to
arrive before they could move to the dining room, we had a more or less
captive audience.