Tag: Platforms

Commonwealth civil society roundtable at the 12th Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting

At the 11th Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (11WAMM), held in September 2016 hosted by the Government of Samoa, Kenya was selected to host the 12th Women Affairs Ministers Meeting (12 WAMM).

The meeting will be held on 19-20 September 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya with the theme: ‘From Commitment to Action: Accelerating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development.’

Kenya’s Big Four Agenda is effectively aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, at the continental level with Africa’s Agenda 2063 ‘The Africa We Want’, and at the national level, it is anchored to the Kenya Vision 2030.

In 2020, the global community will mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing +25) and the fifth year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  Moreover, the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) and Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) will be held in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2020.

In consideration of several parallel processes in support of Beijing +25 Platform for Action, amplifying the voices of women’s rights and women-led organisations will be prioritised. In this spirit and as a way to contribute to the advocacy and discourse on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the lead up to 12 WAMM and Beijing +25, the Commonwealth Foundation will organise a civil society roundtable in partnership with the Government of Kenya as the host country for 12WAMM on 16-17 September 2019. The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Kenya) will be the co-convenor of the roundtable.

In consultation with FIDA-Kenya and the Government of the Republic of Kenya, the criteria for the selection of organisations and participants from across the Commonwealth in the civil society roundtable is as follows:

  • Representative networks and organisations working at the regional level which are already members of the women’s major group[1] and/or actively representing civic voices of women throughout the Commonwealth. This includes those that are working on policy and advocacy on the four priorities of the Commonwealth: Women’s economic empowerment, Women in leadership, Ending violence against women and girls, and Gender and climate change  
  • Organisations and/or networks involved in national reviews and regional consultations on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and/or involved in the development of shadow reports of civil society consultations and/ or in annual consultation of Commonwealth National Women’s Machineries
  • Organisations and/or networks showcasing intersectionality in their membership: women from rural areas, young people and elderly generations, less privileged socio-economic backgrounds, among others, and are inclusive of voices in the margins/less heard voices in their internal governance
  • Representatives of women in media and leading feminist thinkers who have participated in critical reviews progress on women’s rights and gender equality, informing the Beijing +20 debate including feminist economists who can support governments with advice on accelerating results.

The Women’s Major Group is self-organised and facilitated by a team of 8 Organising Partners, including WEDO. The WMG has the mandate to facilitate women’s human rights and gender equality perspectives into UN policy processes on sustainable development. In recent years, the WMG program and project has been designed to influence two distinct phases in global sustainable development: (1) finalising a universal Post-2015 Development agenda that is grounded in national and regional realities, in particular realities for women; and (2) ensuring its robust implementation at the national, regional and global levels.

Expected outcomes of the roundtable:

  • Civic voice collectives across the Commonwealth effectively communicate policy priorities and recommendations on accelerating results for the delivery of SDG 5 to governments including recommendations to address the intersectionality of gender
  • Sustained engagement of civic voice collectives across the Commonwealth in the Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting process with the active co-convening role of women’s rights and women-led organisations in the host country.
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‘It taught me to celebrate people’s identities, stories and history’

‘I came to South Africa eager to learn from the young leaders of SAAYE and what I ended up finding out had a huge impact on me.’

I have been working as a community organiser with Citizens UK for 4 years in one of the most diverse boroughs in London – Tower Hamlets, where over 55 languages are spoken.

My colleague, Emmanuel Gotora and I were the main facilitators for the recent Learning Exchange between Citizens UK and SAAYE. I came to South Africa eager to learn from the young leaders of SAAYE and what I ended up finding out had a huge impact on me. I saw politically engaged young people and individuals working together to create social change in the world. They had hope despite the huge challenge of youth unemployment and the slow progress or seeming in-action of their governments to address it. I also saw young people rooted in their history and culture, who readily shared their different identities.

Social change has been a part of their day-to-day lives. It has shaped who they are and made them proud of their country. Music and dance were a regular feature of our workshop energisers. This was a stark difference from the leaders that I work with in the UK. I attribute this difference to the heightened political awareness of the participants and a strong identity shaped by recent history, that of the liberation struggle. Social change has been a part of their day-to-day lives. It has shaped who they are and made them proud of their country.

What was even more remarkable was the speed at which SAAYE members grasped, challenged and understood the concepts, teachings and universals that we were delivering. Their ability to challenge and question what was being presented showed us that they were reflecting upon it within their own contexts. They were definitely the right people for the task. I could see light bulb moments within each one of them.

We adapted the trainings based on the needs and experiences of the participants, but the training proved to me that the universals that we teach in community organising are truly universal. SAAYE members were able to grasp the concept of understanding power and how to build relational power as if it was natural to them. I saw this from the first day, during our Athenian-Melian role play. Irene, who had assumed a lead role, refused to leave the negotiation table when Emmanuel asked her to leave[1]. Instead, she stayed throughout the negotiations acknowledging that what mattered at this moment was the deal on the table because it concerned her future.

As a facilitator, we are trained not only to teach the content of our training but to adapt it according to the context of the room. This can be challenging at times but because SAAYE members were clear on adapting Citizens UK’s experiences to their own, it became natural and easy. One of the main case studies that we shared was Citizens UK’s Good Jobs Campaign that focuses on creating employment opportunities for young people. Based on participant’s reflections and drawing on the experience of Good Jobs Campaign, I introduced an issue based organising model – an adaptation of the broad based organsing model, which also brings together principle partners from the state, market and civil society to meet the needs of people at grassroots levels.

The Learning Exchange with SAAYE provided me with a lot of learning about Southern Africa and for myself as a community organiser. It taught me the value of understanding the context in the room and it made me realise that I need to do more at Citizens UK to celebrate people’s identities, stories and history.

[1] During the Athenian-Melian role play, in order to change the dynamics of the negotiations and get the actors to think on their feet, the facilitators often create an intervening scenario. In Irene’s case, she was called to an important meeting, but then refused to go.

Read the full multimedia story on the learning exchange here

Explainer video: what is the Commonwealth Civil Society Forum?

The Civil Society Forum, supported by the Commonwealth Foundation, takes place annually in Geneva prior to the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting and gives Commonwealth civil society a chance to discuss policy issues raised at the Commonwealth Health Ministerial Meeting (CHMM). This video provides a summary of the process and its potential value to participants.

Find out more 
www.chpa.co
www.commonwealthfoundation.com/project/ccsf

With thanks to our contributors
Hon. John Boyce, Minister of Health, Barbados
Maisha Hutton, Executive Director, Health Caribbean Coalition
Prof. Tony Nelson, Commonwealth Health Professions Alliance

© Commonwealth Foundation 2017. All Rights Reserved.