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[ Access le texte en Francais ] [ Download the document in pdf format / in txt format ] International
Conference Berlin, 10-12 January 2001 Co-Chairs' Summary of the
Discussions Substantive
coordination: UNED Forum, London Conference Co-Chairs: Minu
Hemmati, UNED Forum; and Barbara Schaefer, German Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety 55 participants from 12 countries, including
13 representatives from Developing Countries and Countries in Transition,
brought together a wealth of knowledge and expertise from various backgrounds
– women's organisations, grass roots activists, professionals, academics,
policy-makers. The
conference was part of the preparatory process towards CSD-9 and the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in
2002 (Earth Summit 2002). It focused on ·
Three of the CSD-9 topics – energy, transport, information for decision
making – as regards their gender aspects (see background papers at the
workshop website); ·
Preparations for Earth Summit 2002 with regard to women’s priorities
and activities. The
conference was opened by high-level representatives: Gila Altmann, Parliamentary
State Secretary from the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature
Protection and Nuclear Safety; Dr Uschi Eid, Parliamentary State Secretary from
the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development; and Dr.
Renate Augstein from the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senor
Citizens, Women and Youth. The
present co-chairs’ summary will serve as an input to both these UN processes.
A full report will be made available in February 2001. Over-arching ThemesSeveral fundamental questions and challenges
were brought into the fore at various points: There
is a need to develop a concrete and lively
common vision of sustainable development and gender justice, based on a
shared set of values; an issue which is also concerning the relationship between
the three pillars of sustainability. Arguing
on the basis of various theoretical approaches as well as concerns about
uncontrolled globalisation, participants expressed the need for developing new
economic models which would serve to overcome women's poverty, where women
would not be marginalised and social and environmental costs would not be
externalised. Many
participants expressed the need to contribute their expertise in an enlarged
framework of policy-making. Current policy-making is based within
the dominating paradigm of neoclassical economics – “all that counts is what
can be counted in monetary terms” -, and the prevalence of analytic rather
than holistic approaches to policy. This paradigm is seen to have significantly
contributed to the current environmental, social and economic crises all over
the world. However, a dual approach seems
to be prudent: arguing for a different framework as well as working for change
within the present framework. Building
the institutional capacities for gender
justice and sustainability was also perceived as an important tool towards
change: Gender mainstreaming policies and procedural rules need to be integrated
into the work of all government departments, and adequate monitoring mechanisms
should be established. Gender
mainstreaming and gender justice is an integral
part of all dimensions of sustainable development – ecology, economy,
society and institutional structures. Therefore, policy-making within all these
areas need to explicitly reflect gender issues. As
laid down in numerous international agreements - declarations of political as
well as legally binding instruments – women need to be increasingly involved
in decision-making processes in sustainable development. Creating
opportunities for meaningful
participation and increasing the
effectiveness of women's involvement is an important goal. Participants
raised the need to learn from the various strategies of advocacy to identify
more clearly what can work toward change. EnergyParticipants
raised a number of key issues, which were reflected in their recommendations for
future action: ·
Develop a gender analysis of all
international energy-related processes and develop a gender analysis for the
Climate Change Convention process, G8 and world energy reports. Immediate steps
are to organize a Women and Climate Change Forum at COP-6 (resumed) and at
subsequent COPs as well as a workshop on women and energy politics during the
NGO forum parallel to the G8 meeting in Genoa, July 2001; ·
Develop a North South critique of
the energy industry, analysing distorting influences of the Northern-dominated
energy industry on energy development in the South, based on work currently
being done by NGOs and a comprehensive sustainability perspective. ·
Develop guidelines for investment
policies in the energy sector from a gender perspective; ·
Seek commitment from shareholders
of all Multilateral Development Banks to ensure gender mainstreaming in
energy policies, programmes and projects so as to achieve sustainable energy
development; ·
Analyse the missing gender
analysis in NGOs and campaigns on energy and develop strategies to promote
them; ·
Ensure that all energy-related
research includes a gender and sustainable development analysis produced by
gender-balanced teams, for example: o
testing assumptions on gender differences regarding energy needs, use,
planning and policy; o
analysing cultural differences towards energy issues; o
developing gender specific strategies towards behavioural changes in
energy use; o
Analysing current energy production and consumption models; o
Analysing impacts of energy-related projects on women's and local
communities' control over their land and water resources; o
Analysing effectiveness of renewable energy policies and projects in the
South; ·
Develop advocacy tools to link
poverty, energy and gender; ·
The idea of an international
tribunal at the Summit in 2002, organised by Women's groups and NGOs, was
discussed, providing testimonies from victims of large energy projects and
showcasing successful gender and sustainable development projects; ·
Request additional resources for
national and regional processes to implement the above recommendations; TransportParticipants raised a number of key issues: Equity vs. environmental protection: Does creating gender equity
mean to create the same mobility conditions for women as there are for men? Does
global equity mean to close the gaps between developing and developed countries
by increasing mobility in the South through introducing 'traditional', developed
countries systems? The number of cars in the developed countries is increasing
at a higher rate than population in the developing countries. Therefore,
addressing problems of mobility will require not only to ask how to increase
access for the under-privileged but how to decrease
consumption of the over-privileged. It
will also mean to significantly reduce
the need to travel. Sustainable development of transport and mobility
requires developing pro-active policies towards reintegration
of space / time / caring work. This requires policy shifts within all
government departments at national and local levels, a shift away from the
dominating technological paradigms of development and of mobility which
corresponds to men's rationality and men's values. Gender
mainstreaming should mean not only to bring a gender perspective into the
mainstream and fit women in or adjust them to the mainstream, but imply questioning
of the mainstream from a gender perspective. Addressing
gender dimensions within the framework of mobility is particularly important
with regard to economic policy: the
'caring economy' needs to be integrated into economic analysis and policy-making
as a core component, not an add-on. Women's unpaid caring activities form a
crucial basis of what is currently regarded as 'economic activities proper', yet
they need to be a starting point of analysis. Women
have different (part-time, less paid) and fewer employment options. This is
largely due to the sexual division of labour at the household level which affects their
economic position and thus their access to transport. Participants
suggested the following recommendations for CSD-9: ·
The definition and understanding
of mobility needs to be revised aiming to reflect women's lives and
responsibilities – i.e. diverse patterns of a multitude of tasks and related
trips such as transporting loads for sale; accompanying children and elderly,
etc. - and enable authorities to design appropriate transport systems; ·
In general, measures are necessary which reduce transport burdens and transport expenditures of women and men
while creating equitable access and ensuring women's increased opportunities and
participation; ·
All transport system development should be informed by the lived
experience of women; governments should
integrate experts on gender-sensitive transport system planning and
decision-making in their planning structures; ·
Gender Impact Assessments (GIA) should be integrated
into EIAs which would contribute to
creating Sustainability Impact Assessments. Sustainability Audits should include
Gender Audits addressing the androcentric perspectives reflected in current
policies (prioritising men's lives and needs) and Caring Economy Audits; ·
Gender budget analyses are an important tool of
engendering macro-economic analysis; they should be conducted to provide
information about how much women- & men-power, institutional and financial
resources, and research funding goes into furthering women’s vs. men's
interests regarding transport; · Investigate changes in transport infrastructure for all countries with a gender perspective; ·
Governments should introduce
participatory, inclusive transport planning methodologies in order to be able to
incorporate the social / gender divide of transport and travel needs; ·
Governments should commit themselves to
guarantee sustainable, gender-sensitive transport systems. If privatisation is
an option, governments have to define appropriate conditions; ·
Governments, donor agencies and International Financial Institutions (GEF,
World Bank, UNDP) should support: o
research on women’s
strategies to cope with transport needs, incl. e-commerce / virtual shopping;
community taxis; etc; o
infra-structure for non-motorised
transport and pedestrians; o
initiatives providing more
bicycles for women, especially in developing countries; o
sustainable, local,
small-scale transport development; ·
Governments and relevant
agencies should conduct improved transport surveys, including gender relevant research and gender
sensitive methodologies, including gender sensitive interviewing; analysing
daily realities of female transport users, women's latent demands and their
willingness to pay for better transport; documenting transport sharing models at
local levels; gender sensitive stakeholder consultation; ·
Governments, relevant
agencies and research institutions should provide statistics on gender
differentiated mobility, including data differentiated by length of trip rather than number of
trips; by reasons to travel (men have more choice than women); car drivers vs.
passengers; accounting for journeys on foot which are women's; accounting for
typical times of travel (rush hours, i.e. men's travel, vs. non-rush hours, i.e.
school run); providing figures on health issues, e.g. transport poverty (being
marooned in rural areas links with increased use of anti-depressants); · Governments and donor agencies should support networks addressing working on gender and sustainable transport to develop concrete strategies towards integrating sustainable, gender-equitable development into transport systems development, particularly as part of the preparations towards the Summit in 2002; ·
NGOs and women's
organisations should o
Create a formalised
dialogue amongst gender & environment researchers, women’s organisations
and transport NGOs; o
Create a West/East European
network on gender & transport issues, e.g. as a component of the global NGO
transport network of the CSD NGO Transport Caucus. Information For Decision-Making and Participation, incl. IndicatorsParticipants
identified three priority areas which need further work with regard to gender
considerations: 1. Science and information for decision making: ·
Due to the global digital divide there
are significant knowledge gaps, particularly between North and South and between
women and men. The UNDP Human Development Report 1999, for example, is outlining
strategies designed to bridge these gaps. Governments and donor agencies should
support projects related to these strategies; ·
Gender expertise needs to be integrated into
research; scientific advisory bodies; and environmental impact assessments (EIAs);
for example:
·
The dominating world-view is comparably science-based and
technology-oriented. While this paradigm provides an important tool in order to
understand environmental, economic and social inter-linkages, it was felt that
this needs to be complemented by the 'human
factor', reflecting the diversity of human experiences, e.g. through using
quantitative as well as qualitative indicators. 2. Linking information to people and politics ·
Equal access by women to information
technology and its application in interactive
decision-making for sustainable development need to be ensured; ·
Public interest groups need to be empowered by funding and capacity
building to serve as intermediaries of
relevant information on gender and sustainable development policies; 3. Developing indicators and indicator systems ·
Gender disaggregated data need to be generated on
all levels; ·
A gender perspective should be integrated
into all indicators within the CSD indicator system, where appropriate; ·
The CSD indicator system needs to take
into account the research done by UNIFEM and other relevant organisations; ·
To achieve the above, the CSD should, in consultation with the Women's
caucus, conduct a gender review of the
current CSD set of indicators and produce a revised version. This should
build on existing analysis (see workshop background paper) and existing gender
sensitive indicators designed for various areas of sustainable development; ·
Apart from gender sensitive indicators with regard to issues such as
freshwater, human settlements, etc., key issues that need to be integrated
into sustainability indicator systems are : o
proportion and participation of
women in decision-making bodies related to sustainable development; o
the gender division of labour
(including paid and unpaid work); o
budget allocation to gender
related issues in the field of sustainable development; o
women's health and the
environment; ·
It was suggested to hold a side
event at CSD-9 on gender aspects of sustainable development indicators. Strategies Towards Earth Summit 2002Participants
were presented with a list of thoughts and ideas on how to organize the future
work before the Summit which had been collected in conversations with
organisations and individuals beforehand, within the CSD Women's Caucus and at
the Berlin Conference itself. Topics ranged from the need for an overall global
vision as well as ensuring representation of different views from the regions;
learning from previous experiences to identify successful strategies; women's
involvement in government (and NGO?) reporting reviewing implementation of
Agenda 21; involvement in multi-stakeholder processes towards the Summit; media
work; and activities in the host country and region. Options
for developing the initial collection of ideas and thoughts into a structured
strategy were discussed aiming to cluster the ideas so that responsibilities can
be assigned. Women's strategies towards Earth Summit 2002 could be facilitated
by a small coordinating team of experienced organisations, including the CSD NGO
Women's Caucus, with a broader forum of all interested groups around the
coordinating team to facilitate effective communication and concerted efforts.
Task Forces for certain areas should be formed. The meeting agreed to continue
discussions on the basis of the following initial structure of task forces and
their proposed activities: Advocacy task force: developing concrete,
action-oriented recommendations for policy makers; ensuring that decisions
include time-bound targets and monitoring mechanisms; considering women's
involvement in government and NGO reporting; working on the Women's Action
Agenda for a Healthy Planet (REDEH / WEDO with a small co-ordinating team);
forming issue task forces as teams with expertise on the issues, tapping into
existing issue specific networks; ensuring women's involvement in
multi-stakeholder processes towards the Summit; introducing a multi-stakeholder
approach to selected areas of our work; disseminating information &
networking. Parallel event task force: working on the Women's Action Agenda for a Healthy Planet; presenting work on women & Local Agenda 21 (WEDO with ICLEI); disseminating information & networking. Host country task force: possibly to be created by
host country women's networks (discussions underway); organisations outside
South Africa to support women's organisations in SA & the region in their
preparations upon request; ensuring that women in the host country & region
benefit from the Summit being held in SA; lobbying Northern governments to
support South Africa, other African countries and developing countries in
general in their efforts to prepare for the Summit, incl. women's organisations
& NGOs. Media
& communication task force: developing an effective media strategy to ensure clear
communication and increased understanding of gender issues; sharing media
activities & products; using women's media to provide information &
skills training material for women to be effective in the process Resource
task force: sharing
information about possible funding sources; joint fund raising depending on
possible joint efforts Each
of the task forces should look into ways to learn from previous experiences and
successful strategies. Each of the task forces should work to ensure a global
approach, networking and transparency and at the same time ensure appropriate
reflection of regional specifics. The
conference concluded that this initial structure should be further developed by
WEDO and UNED Forum who co-coordinate the women's caucus at this point. Further
developments of the strategy shall include information about who is doing what,
and shall be published via the women's caucus list serve and all conference
participants' networks to ensure
transparency, generate opportunities for collaboration and allow for input and
involvement from all interested organisations. Discussions also addressed the pro's and con's of operating separately as women's groups or focus on working within the NGO activities, including with regard to events being held around the Summit. It
was suggested that the CSD Women's Caucus should convene joint meetings with
other NGO caucuses, such as energy and transport, to ensure gender mainstreaming
of their work. Finally, conference participants agreed to continue their
networking and should aim to become active participants in existing NGO networks
on these issues. Click
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