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Amplifying civic voice: a discussion on gender and climate change

Posted on by Vijay Krishnarayan

Vijay Krishnarayan, Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, discusses how the Foundation took a step towards achieving its goal, of mainstreaming gender equality into its mission to advance participatory governance, through  a discussion with civil society on the intersection between gender and climate change in the Caribbean.

As the Caribbean hurricane season rolls around, memories of last year’s devastation stir throughout the region. Living with recovery is a harsh reality in Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands and Dominica in particular. The costs of hurricanes Irma and Maria are estimated to be in the range of between 7 and 15 billion US dollars. Every Caribbean person felt the events of September 2017, because we all have memories of a storm over the past 30 years that has touched our lives. From hurricane Gilbert in 1988 onwards, living with category 4 and 5 storms has become a new normal.

What we talk about less is the way that those storms impact us differently. There is undoubtedly a strong sense of coming together and pride in people’s stoic ability to deal with devastation. This narrative of community resilience raises several questions though. While we all might be at risk, are some not at greater risk than others? While we all have to clean up afterwards, are some not called on to clean up more than others? While we all have something to gain from effective climate advocacy, might some not have more to gain than others?

Above: Participants in the discussion on the intersection between gender and climate change in the Caribbean.

These are questions that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had not engaged with until relatively recently. When it was established in 1992 it was the only one of the conventions agreed at the Earth Summit in Rio that did not explicitly make reference to gender. The Conferences of the Parties (COP) that have convened annually since 1995 to take commitments further have attempted to retrieve this situation – albeit incrementally. The establishment of a Gender Action Plan at COP 23 in Berlin last year sent an encouraging signal but since then there’s been less agreement about how this space might be used.

‘There is undoubtedly a strong sense of coming together and pride in people’s stoic ability to deal with devastation.’

The Commonwealth Foundation’s current strategic plan places greater emphasis than before on mainstreaming gender equality in our mission to advance participatory governance. In practice this means identifying the ways that gender intersects with societal disadvantage. In global climate change discussions, small states and the Caribbean in particular can be marginalised. Gender equality considerations doubly so.

Having taken soundings from civil society organisations and others in the region we convened an exploratory Caribbean discussion on the intersection between gender and climate. This set out to understand what the region’s needs might be and determine how we might add value to civil society’s policy advocacy in this area.  In partnership with the UNDP Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme in Barbados, we invited more than 40 civil society colleagues from each Commonwealth Caribbean country to focus on the issue.

The group that convened had many strengths – not least its diversity. There were established civil society advocates like Sandra Ferguson from Grenada’s Agency for Rural Transformation and Renwick Rose from the Winward Islands Farmers Association in St Vincent and the Grenadines as well as emerging leaders like Cordelia Shal from the Toledo Maya Women’s Council in Belize. There were colleagues from the environment movement like Suzanne Stanley from the Jamaica Environment Trust and those who were not like Chelsee Merchant and Bernard Warner from the Association of Persons with Disabilities in Antigua and Barbuda. The Foundation’s own focus on creativity as a catalyst for social change saw cultural practitioners like Kendel Hippolyte and Oonya Kempadoo also participating.

The three days of discussion were expertly facilitated by Janice Cumberbatch of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies in Barbados. It benefited from an introduction to gender by Kimberly Carr Tobias from UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies in Jamaica. Dizzanne Billy of Climate Trackers in Trinidad and Tobago relayed key messages via social media throughout: ‘Gender is not just about men and women, it’s about correcting the power imbalance’; ‘Gender power dynamics determine who has what rights and what access to resources to deal with the impacts of climate change’ she tweeted.

Above: Participants in the discussion on the intersection between gender and climate change in the Caribbean.

Colleagues also made the connection between governance and effective action on climate change. Some called for transparency in the institutions vested with responsibility for addressing the issue. Others cited what they called ‘transactional governance’ (governance based on incentives and disincentives) as a barrier to broader engagement with the development challenges facing the region. The need for new language to communicate the issues of climate change and gender to a wider audience was called for – not least by the writers that were present.

The meeting closed concluding that while there were opportunities for training and workshops there were not enough spaces for civic voices to gather and consider the big issues facing the region. It was agreed that this gathering had enabled colleagues to learn from each other and so improve their understanding of the issues. While there was value in having civil society talking to each other it was also recognised that there was a need for engagement with policy makers to shape a regional agenda. The Commonwealth Foundation took this message to CARICOM colleagues in Georgetown afterwards and it was warmly received. There’s an emerging area of work for the Foundation here, which could resonate across the Commonwealth.

Vijay Krishnarayan is Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation. 

 

The value of a thousand narratives: reflections on the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018

Posted on by Ian Mangenga

There I was, pacing the streets of one of the most impressive cities in the world. I was running late for an 8am meeting with a half-filled stomach, and my only concern was making sure I was well prepared.

For what? One of the most important political events on the Commonwealth calendar. More than 350 delegates from Commonwealth nations representing civil society were about to convene at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in central London for the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018.

Civil society is one of the biggest pillars of democracy. Through civil society those who have been repressed, violated, silenced and erased find a channel where they can tell their side of the story and hold governments to account for their commitments or lack thereof. Civil society is all about creating an enabling space for dissent which encourages multiple voices to be involved in policy-making processes. The governments may have the power, but the people collectively have a voice and policies that can be used to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing development problems. Therefore, it’s very important that as many people as possible can be involved in creating solutions and as the saying goes ‘if you’re not around the table, you’re on the menu’.

A delegate asks a question during a panel on Legislative Reform in the Commonwealth
Photo©vickicouchman

For as far as I can remember I’ve always been an advocate for inclusion. When I’m not fighting for women’s rights to be recognized and a space to be created for them in political and economic processes, I’m challenging a system that has seen many young people being locked out of politics and other decision-making processes. So as per my self-appointed role, I was ready to scan the room and make notes on who had been left behind at this auspicious event.

‘The governments may have the power, but the people collectively have a voice and policies that can be used to develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing development problems.’

The opening could not have been more perfect. Ben Okri offered a satiating talk that allowed us to clean the palettes of our minds and hearts in preparation for the forum ahead. I say this because most of the time, especially when you have been to similar settings numerous times you start to feel that they are all the same. We start to look forward to the mistakes and what could have been done better instead of opening up ourselves to the possibility of having life and nation changing conversations.

Acclaimed author and poet Ben Okri opened the forum with a keynote on ending exclusion in the Commonwealth
Photo©vickicouchman

Many of us have struggled with the idea of a Commonwealth. The name suggests a common and shared wealth but this can be misleading considering that many of the citizens within these nations live below the poverty line. So what then is common amongst us? Mr Okri made me realise that what is common is our history and history has an invaluable amount of wealth, because of this we share a common story of how our nations came into being. We share a common language and also share similar future prospects.

‘The Commonwealth People’s Forum represented a dinner where everyone I could think of could be found at the table and for once instead of having the poor and marginalized on the menu, we had issues of corruption, sexism, racism and gender inequality to discuss.’

The Commonwealth People’s Forum was filled with people from all spectrums of life. Those who have attended many forums and those who were attending it for the first time. Like myself. Those who cared about the wellbeing of the elderly to those who were defending LGBTQI rights. Listening in on every session I got to walk in the shoes of the panelists as they shared their stories. This gave me a valuable insight on the challenges of inclusion and injustice others were facing across the Indian and Pacific Ocean.

From left to right: Patrick Younge, Rod Little, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera and Marchu Girma
Photo©vickicouchman

I always say the personal is political. Politics is not a choice. Often we use ourselves as the point of reference for our activism but this narcissistic approach to dissent can be reckless. The Commonwealth People’s Forum made me appreciate the value of a thousand narratives.

I come as one but stood for thousands that are unemployed in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). I speak for women that are violated and marginalised culturally, economically and politically. Making sure that the experiences and voices of all the ten thousand people and more that I represent are acknowledged is important to me. This made me notice another magical thing about the Commonwealth. We are a kaleidoscope of different hues, views, cultures and beliefs that are in conversation with one another. The Commonwealth People’s Forum represented a dinner where everyone I could think of could be found at the table and for once instead of having the poor and marginalised on the menu, we had issues of corruption, sexism, racism and gender inequality to discuss. Together we created solutions that have the power to drive the Commonwealth nations in the direction that the rest of the world should be going in.

Ian Mangenga is a youth activist and member of the South African chapter of the Southern African Alliance for Youth Unemployment. 

The spirit of solidarity at the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018

Posted on by Shobha Das

Ben Okri, renowned writer and poet, calls on citizens to ‘Wake up. Unveil your eyes, ask questions, use your power.’

Citizens are, he says, living units of democracy, ‘a living force for all the possibilities of this world. Of all the qualities, the one I most value in the citizen is not political savvy, or high education, but awareness.’

Mr Okri will kick off three days of the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018 (CPF 2018) deliberations, debates, and dialogues in just this vein with his keynote address. Over 16, 17 and 18 April 2018, the importance of ‘awareness’ and the power of civic voice in the Commonwealth will be examined in panels on various current issues.

All debates at CPF 2018 will amplify less heard voices. Narratives of people in the margins from around the world will be spoken, shown, seen and heard. Action will be demanded to address marginalization, and delegates will remember that they do not walk alone in their struggles to create a better world.

Other speakers of note include:

  • Miriam Coronel Ferrer and Olga Amparo from the Philippines and Colombia, respectively, talking about their lived experiences and exploring the challenges for women involved in peace processes in Women Negotiating Peace
  • Kim Barrow, the First Lady of Belize and Caleb Orozco an LGBT activist for many years, will discuss Belize’s successful legislative reform around same-sex relationships in Legislative Reform in the Commonwealth
  • David Archambault, former tribal Chairman of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota and Daniel Kobei from Kenya’s Ogiek indigenous minority debate the systemic discrimination to the rights of self-determination for indigenous people in Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination
  • Faiza Shaheen, Director the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, named Observer Rising Star for Campaigning in 2017 and P. Sainath, former Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu debate how we can make the global economy more just in Just Economies
  • Priyamvada Gopal, deeply involved in the campaign to decolonize the university curriculum in the UK, talks in Persistent Resistance

CPF 2018’s main theme is: Inclusive Governance: Can the institutions of the Commonwealth renew themselves to be inclusive, just, and accountable? Each day will explore three subthemes: exclusion, justice and accountability.

We hope that delegates at CPF 2018 will feel the embrace of solidarity in full measure as we ask difficult questions of ourselves and as we engage in technical chatter and substantive discussions. We say to all our delegates what speaker Felogene Anumo says to young feminists: ‘The future belongs to us.’

These questions would have found direct and brave answers in the voice of Asma Jehangir, the stalwart lawyer-activist from Pakistan, had she been able to attend CPF 2018 as planned. Instead however, we will mourn her recent untimely death, and pay tribute to her indefatigable spirit which persisted in the face of arrest, death threats, court cases, and assaults. She said a few years ago: ‘There have been times I have been scared. There have been times that I have cried. But does that mean you give up …? No, never!’ Asma truly embodied Ben Okri’s idea that ‘We can redream this world and make the dream come real. Human beings are gods hidden from themselves.’

Shobha Das is Project Manager at Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018. Photo credit: Find My Feet

Citizen-generated data for a change

Posted on by Gillian Cooper

‘Citizen-generated and evidence-based data’ are terms we hear more and more about in the discourse around monitoring and accountability of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I joined Mansuriah alongside other colleagues from the Foundation and EASSI on the learning visit to Gender Links earlier this month and thought the Gender Barometer they have developed was an excellent example of citizen-generated data. It was clear the barometer had become a powerful accountability tool in Southern Africa, influencing discourse and provoking change across the region around gender equality.

‘It was clear the barometer had become a powerful accountability tool in Southern Africa’

After South Africa, I continued to East Africa where I met with Foundation grant partners KELIN and the Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) who work with some of Kenya’s most marginalised communities. What approaches to citizen-generated data did they find effective?

Citizen-generated data is defined as ‘data that people or their organisations produce to directly monitor, demand or drive change on issues that affect them’ . Here are a few of the approaches to citizen-generated data that our partners are using to ensure inclusion of marginalised people in holding duty-bearers to account.

Mixed methods approaches that harness different knowledge sources

The SADC Gender Protocol barometer effectively pulls together and ‘houses’ data from a variety of monitoring and evidence measures. Referred to as an ‘omnibus’, it uses two main measures: An Index and the Citizen Score Card.

  • The Index draws on data from readily available statistics, an attitude survey and a media monitor tool.
  • The Index is complimented and compared with data collected from a Citizen Score Card – a perceptions measure administered to a representative sample of women and men in each of the 15 SADC countries.
  • Each of the organisations also use a variety of participatory methods to harness data and knowledge from communities to bring evidence and voice into decision-making spaces:
    Providing testimony on the lived experience and challenges faced by service-users and marginalised communities, if presented in a participatory decision-making space, such evidence can be a powerful stimulus for change and strengthens voices at the grassroots.
  • multistakeholder dialogues that bring together service-users with service providers and other governmental decision-making bodies into a participatory space where voices can be heard and progress towards change and solutions can be discussed.
  • case studies are used to capture more in-depth analysis of experiences.

Choosing indicators that really question the change

In March 2017, the Gender Protocol Alliance revamped its index so that it would result in ‘better data for better decisions’. Rather than using indicators that relied on data which was readily available, indicators were revised to really get at the nub of the issue and to ask difficult questions on gender equality. Gender Links’ Executive Director, Colleen Lowe, explained that indicators have been chosen for their potential to provide critical evidence; not simply about monitoring for the sake of data capture but about demonstrating the change that needs to happen.

‘Rather than using indicators that relied on data which was readily available, indicators were revised to really get at the nub of the issue’

Examples of indicators aimed at measuring some of the more hard-to-measure areas around women’s voice and gender-based violence, which have remained intractable and hidden issues for women, are:

• % who say if a woman works she should give her money to her husband
• % who say if a man beats a woman it shows that he loves her
• % who say a woman has a right to insist on a man using a condom
• % women sources on economic topics

Aligning with policy and validating data

The SADC gender barometer is aligned to an existing policy. It follows the nine sectors of the Gender Protocol: constitutional and legal rights, governance, education and training, the economy, gender violence, health HIV and AIDS, the media and climate change. Aligning the protocol to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) has given additional leverage for government to sign up to the protocol and meet the targets. Joan De Klerk, Head of Public Education and Information at South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality confirmed that the Commission uses data from the barometer to cite in their own reports.

Validation of data with government has been critical for buy in and credibility of the evidence presented by civil society. APSP have validated data that showed that the people in need were not accessing the cash transfers, thus compromising its impact, by bringing government officers into the field to see the reality. Partnering with academic bodies to help in determining what is statistically acceptable is also another way to avoid data being discredited by government.

Popularizing the accountability tools, the results and building rights awareness

Each of the three organisations have gone to great lengths to popularise and breakdown technical policy documents and assessment criteria into simple language. This approach is critical to creating interest around the accountability process as it helps to build rights awareness and demonstrate how individual and community-based issues fit into a wider rights-based policy framework.

KELIN’s publication, Monitoring the Implementation of the Right to Health Under the Constitution of Kenya, outlines the constitutional provisions on Kenya’s right to health. As Allan Maleche, KELIN’s Executive Director noted, people living with HIV ‘must be able to know how to plug into questioning the broader rights to health issues. Unless they understand how the right to health and the health system works then the advocacy [and accountability measures] will be useless’.

The use of infographics and data visuals has also been a powerful way in which Gender Links has communicated the results of the barometer. These can be more easily shared via social media and to tell the story in accessible yet powerful ways that can build interest to engage.

Strong networks to capture perceptions in the margins and support advocacy

The Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance has been a critical vehicle for advocacy. Gender Links has sought to embed the protocol provisions in the work of each of its Alliance members. Gender Links’ networks also include working relationships with 430 local government councils who play a critical role in data capture.

‘[KELIN] is also building its network to include journalists who […] can also act as advocates to provide further evidence.’

KELIN is working to identify community champions and strong CSOs in each of the counties where its project operates. It is also building its network to include journalists who are passionate on community issues and who, with some additional training on health rights, can also act as advocates to provide further evidence.

Looking ahead

It’s not yet clear what strictly is or isn’t citizen-generated data but the visit and discussions showed that evidence and data used for accountability needs to have credible data and information that ask difficult questions, ideally using measures validated by duty-bearers but backed by a strong rights awareness among affected communities. Those affected need to see how their experiences fit into a wider policy and rights-based framework so that evidence collected is accountable to them.

A challenge that always exists is negotiating and judging how best to use the data and evidence in the accountability space. Describing the challenges of complimenting government interests while also advocating for change, Samuel Obara, of APSP said: ‘this [advocacy] space is fragile because [our work relies] on political will and this is a will that we are trying to protect’. Colleen Lowe from Gender Links described the relationship between government and civil society as ‘creative tension’. I would like to thank our partners in South Africa and Kenya for hosting rich discussions and sharing experiences.

Gillian Cooper is Programme Manager for Knowledge, Learning and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation.

Improving the advocacy landscape for gender equality in East Africa

Posted on by Manisurah Aheebwa

I had always heard about Gender Links but had never had close interaction with the organization or staff.

My organisation, The Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) and Gender Links have shared details on our work and collaborated from a distance on matters of gender equality and equity. However, I was particularly interested in learning about the Gender Barometer – a monitoring and accountability tool coordinated by Gender Links that is used to track progress towards gender equality in all Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States. So when this chance of a learning visit presented itself, it was a dream come true!

Gender Links is the coordinating NGO of the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance based in South Africa which has presence in all 15 SADC countries. Gender Links is one of the leading gender justice organisations in the SADC region just as EASSI is for the East African region (EAC).

As individuals are created differently, with varying capabilities, so too are organizations; there is beauty in difference. And as we are exposed to different learning experiences, there is growth whether physical, emotional or intellectual. I was joined in this process of growth and development by EASSI’s Acting Director, representatives of EASSI’s focal point organizations in Kenya and Tanzania and members of staff from the Commonwealth Foundation.

The EAC Gender Equality and Development Pilot Barometer 2017

Over the last 10 years, EASSI has spearheaded advocacy efforts at the East African Community (EAC) level, for the East Africa Gender Equality and Development Act. It has not been an easy journey! Until 2017 there was a lack of harmonized policies and legislation to deal with gender inequality across the region. But in March 2017, the EAC Gender Equality and Development Act was passed by the East Africa Legislative Assembly.

‘Women are affected by rampant gender based violence and within decision making spaces the numbers of women are very low.’

Problems of gender inequality in the region are manifest at all levels: in the social spheres, at the domestic level, and in public institutions. Women are affected by rampant gender based violence and within decision making spaces the numbers of women are very low.

While the Act awaits to be assented to by the Heads of States and to take effect nationally, there is a clear need for a harmonised framework for action and to track success, and the Barometer was deemed as a necessary participatory measurement tool for making cross-national comparisons.

Progressing the advocacy from regional to national and local

An inclusive process nurtures ownership of development tools. EASSI is still advocating mostly at a regional level and yet this work needs to happen at the grassroots in order to reach development practitioners at all levels. This is where we could learn from Gender Links, which has made big strides with advocacy around the SADC barometer at local level.

I wanted to understand how Gender Links was able to galvanize much of the SADC region to commit to peer reviews of indicators laid out in the barometer, which were important to gathering reliable data. I also wanted to find out how to effectively collaborate with governments on gender equality, in order to get government agencies, departments and other local NGOs to adopt a gender equality model and nurture a community that is committed to practicing gender equity.

‘The visit taught me to keep an open mind, to learn, and to not keep learning to myself.’

The learning visit entailed sharing Gender Links’ work around data collection methods; datasets; managing the Alliance; and, organizing Summits to bring together women’s organisations, other civil society, and local and national government representatives. The learning visit also included a visit to the District Municipality Centre of Excellence on Gender and a community home based care centre.

Where the learning should take us

The visit gave me the necessary knowledge and skills to enter into spaces that are often perceived as closed, to engage government stakeholders and perhaps above all to connect with the grassroots in order to harness popular support.

The visit taught me to keep an open mind, to learn, and to not keep learning to myself. I am certainly sharing the Gender Links’ method of advocacy work with the EASSI network so we can change the advocacy landscape in the region.

One of the things I would most like EASSI to institutionalise is a positive relationship with government: one that enables us to work together with policy makers on gender equality. I would like to see the barometer adopted as a tool in policy reviews and to ensure implementation of the Protocol by local government councils where the largest population in the EAC is based. Finally, I would like to build a forum where all stakeholders come to take stock of progress, share strategies and good practices and ultimately advance gender equality in the region.

Read further details on the powerful approaches shared between Foundation partners on this learning visit.

Manisurah Aheebwa is Policy Officer, Peace and Security, at EASSI. 

Catalayah by Wendy Hara

Posted on by Commonwealth Foundation

I memorised the rhythm of your heart, almost inaudible but I heard you, a beating body inside a body being beaten.

Growing within me

Growing with me

The tiny footprints you made on the home we shared, I could never erase them, and you had me wrapped around your finger while his fingers were wrapped around my neck.

My daughter, you never felt the sun kiss your brown skin

My daughter, you never felt the sand tickle your tiny feet

My daughter, you never felt the river flow through you

My daughter, you never heard the love song the birds sing for you

My daughter, you never knew the love of your mother through the world she would show you

Because of a man who knew only of planting his seed inside me but could never tend to the flower that was to grow

Throwing fists

Throwing knives

Throwing me.

And one day I hit the ground

And you shattered

And I bled

And you bled too

And you died

And I died too.

Read on adda…

Breaking circles through youth employment

Posted on by Irene Garoës

Irene Garoës is a feminist youth activist and a member the The Southern African Alliance for Youth Employment (SAAYE) working group, representing young women, LGBTI issues and youth-led civil society in Namibia. SAAYE, an advocacy network, was formally established in February 2016 with support from the Commonwealth Foundation. SAAYE’s vision is a Southern Africa where young people have access to gainful and productive employment that enables them and their communities to be lifted out of poverty. 

As a young black lesbian woman living in a developing country, the challenges one faces are interlinked. As a young women growing up in a society that is rooted in religious and traditional believes, my voice is often silenced. Due to the apartheid element in the history of Namibia, being black can also put you in an economically disadvantageous position. I am lucky enough to grow up in a family where education for girls is encouraged but the issue is affordability. If you cannot afford quality education, you do not have access to a good paying job which in turn means you cannot afford access to health, education and good housing. Not only for yourself but for your family members. And the circle keeps going. Likewise if you are a young entrepreneur, you cannot access finances because you don’t have collateral even if you have the skills to start a business. That is why access to information is such an important aspect of living in this world for me, especially for young women who don’t know about their basic human rights or how to empower themselves and others, economically or otherwise.

“If you cannot afford quality education, you do not have access to a good paying job which in turn means you cannot afford access to health, education and good housing.”

If one takes time to listen to what’s happening in other African countries you get the sense that Namibia is in a better situation. It often is. But this view does not account for the fact that 39.2% of youth who can work are still unemployed. The women’s movement in Namibia has done a lot, evident today in the fact that 47% of parliament is female However, during the liberation struggle women in general suffered from torture, imprisonment, rape, social and economic hardship as their rights did not matter compared to the common good of the people – which was to fight for the independence of the country first. This and other factors such as religion and cultural practices has translated into a post-independent Namibia where women remain marginalised.

“How can you bring about change if your approach is not gender sensitive or gendered?”

It is therefore important that any struggle that we as young people develop and get involved with today is informed and shaped through gender lenses. Women make up more than half of our population and yet they are the ones that are most disadvantaged, so how can you bring about change if your approach is not gender sensitive or gendered? These are exciting times, young people of Africa are rising and demanding spaces in political and economic spheres, the time to rise and act is now, for the future of our continent and the world. Access to information is on the agenda, youth issues are on the agenda, women’s issues are on the agenda. And SAAYE is here to drive that. We need to be conscious of what is happening around us, develop those around us, and march on!

About Women’s Leadership Centre
Established in Windhoek in 2004, the Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC) is a Namibian-based feminist organisation that envisions a society in which all women actively engage in shaping the politics, practices and values of both public and private spaces. The WLC facilitates the voice and expression of Namibian women through information sharing, education, research, writing, photography, and the publishing of critical feminist texts that we distribute within Namibian society.

We still have options: co-creating feminist futures & reflections on AWID 2016

Posted on by Gloria Kiconco

I was recently in a poetry workshop. In the mornings as we, the participants, waited for the facilitator and the camera crew to set up we would engage in spirited debates about feminism. By which I mean arguments that nearly rose into brawls. During one of these arguments, an exasperated man exclaimed, “Feminists want to take over the world!”

In Brazil, when I shared this anecdote, someone replied, “well, what’s wrong with that?” What’s wrong with feminist’s taking over the world?

At my day job I’m a content developer. I spend hours demystifying valuable information and simplifying it for low-literacy audiences. It’s simple to me. Knowledge is power. Binding power in complex vocabulary is a way of warding off the masses.

The first feminist text I ever read was Bell Hooks’ “Feminism is for Everybody.” Her writing was clear and concise. It didn’t make me feel like an idiot and she explained feminism with no gimmicks.

The word feminism is a word that translates differently in every culture and country. In Uganda, thousands are not familiar with this word. Many who do know it, regardless of gender, interpret it as a lifestyle/philosophy/belief that intends to disrupt and corrupt culture. I also believe feminism intends to disrupt culture, but only to free me from it. Since culture is something created by humans, it can also be rewritten.

Maybe we need new words, a feminist vocabulary, a way to rename ourselves on our terms.

But perhaps, first we need to be careful with our use of the words we already have. I think we need to first make feminist discourse available in the simplest form to everyone in every language possible. Is that too ambitious?

On the first day of the conference, I attended a young feminist session led by two young women from Egypt who started a platform called Ikhtyar, which means choice. Their session was titled, “Egypt: Why we choose to utilize feminist non-conventional knowledge production as a tool of resistance”. This session spoke to me more than any other because it centred on two ideas that are central to my personal feminism: feminist knowledge production and choice.

Now I will write from my context as a Ugandan. I believe the decisions we make are based off the knowledge we have, which informs us of the choices we have. The information that comes to us is very selective because of the patriarchal powerhouses that control our media and the remnants of colonialist knowledge that are flooding our schools and bookstores with European and American textbooks, self-help books, and an excess of Christian literature deeply based in prosperity gospel. So as a country, we don’t imagine we have any choices beyond capitalism, religious fundamentalism, superstitions about western homosexuality infiltrating African soil, and subscribing to tyrannical governments.

There’s a part of me that imagines a lot of Ugandans think of feminists the same way Americans used to regard witches in Salem or how they regarded communists in the 60s. They simply don’t know what it’s about and believe what the available media has told them.

The way he phrased his fear told me he knew nothing of what feminism can be. Taking over the world is a very patriarchal approach to change. The feminists I encountered in Brazil spoke more of decentralized decision making. Feminists cannot change the world if we use the same path to power as patriarchy.

The second day of the conference, I participated in one of the co-creation sessions led by the organisation, Frida. We were imagining our feminist future through co-creation. While I’m not a big fan of the caravans suggested by multiple (European) participants, I fully got behind the idea of co-creating the feminist future. It’s taken me nearly a month to crystalise the ideas in my mind, but I want to resubmit my contribution.

What does a feminist future look like for me?

It looks like distributing feminist knowledge produced in the global south by citizens of the global south representing the full spectrum of gender. It looks like policy that supports more women artists and writers of colour to take their work to larger platforms, because art is one way of creating access to universal experiences. It looks like development from a feminist perspective, preferably with an intersectional approach. It looks like informed choices because we all have the choice not to continue living in oppressive systems, some of us just don’t know it yet.

One of the tools I often use in co-creation is reversing approach. I think in striving for this feminist future, we have to take a hard look at the systems we are using now and ask if they are working. If they are not working, we have to not only ask, what can we do different? Also, what if we try the opposite of this? Instead of trying to write gender equality into the system, what if we create a system with decentralised power that actually represents the spectrum of gender and the interests of the population?  If we have consistently approached change through systems from the global north, why not try systems from the south?

I don’t know much about politics, but I do know that we wrote the existing systems and we have the power to rewrite them. In other words, we still have a choice. Ikhtyar. It’s never too late to co-create a feminist future.

Gloria Kiconco is a poet, journalist and author and attended the Association for Women’s Rights and Development Forum (AWID) in Bahia, Brazil, as a part of the Commonwealth Foundation delegation in 2016.

Feminist futures: diversity, vitality and boldness in Bahia

Posted on by Nana Afadzinu

The theme of the 13th AWID International Forum, held in Costa do Sauipe in Bahia, Brazil from September 8-11, 2016, was ‘Building collective power for rights and justice’.

It offered a forward looking perspective, of demanding boldness and embracing diversity: and the forum imbibed that spirit. The colour, beauty, diversity, vitality and boldness was evident in everything. From the sheer number and variety of participants, to the rich programme content, and even the living and working spaces.

I attended this AWID Forum, my first, with great anticipation and my objectives for the meeting were mostly external to myself. I looked forward to finding out more about the future of the women’s movement and exploring how my organization, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) could play a significant role in strengthening the capacity of West African women and women in West Africa to face this future. I was concerned about how WACSI’s work would benefit more women’s and women-led organisations in West Africa, and how we could find more innovative ways of mobilizing resources to do this.  The forum also offered the opportunity to connect with other organisations; especially other Commonwealth Foundation partners that were going to be a part of the delegation, to find common strands and strengthen our partnerships for greater impact.

The forum provided those opportunities…and many more. It offered a space for deep self-reflection. And I underestimated the depth of knowledge that could be shared, in less than ten days, between a motley group of women from Colombia, Canada, Barbados, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana, that made up the Commonwealth Foundation delegation. A truly amazing outcome was the bond formed between these women, who had different but in many ways shared experience.

The AWID Forum sessions were interesting, but perhaps even more enlightening and engaging were the times my delegation met; over breakfast, lunch, dinner, in meetings and between meetings, as we walked together to different sessions and congregated after them to debrief. It was in those spaces that I learnt the most. It was in those spaces that I shared the most. It was in those spaces that I got the answers to questions that had bugged me for years, and some that had even arisen during the AWID Forum sessions that I had not been able to get answers to.

I learnt for the first time about the place of women in the Afro-Brazilian struggle and why having the conference in Bahia was itself a statement of solidarity. I was challenged to think more broadly and innovatively about what strengthening civil society meant; going beyond organisations, and embracing other forms of organizing within civil society and thinking of ways in which to strengthen that. I had sometimes questioned my own identity as a feminist; and my tussle with whether I could be a Christian and still be a feminist was firmly resolved as one of us shared why that was not a contradiction ‘Feminism is about choice’ she said, and fighting power and structures that hinder that choice. My own understanding of feminism was broadened to embrace it as a more holistic philosophy rather than a narrow one of women’s rights. My journey as an African woman executive and its challenges were not peculiar to me, and I listened with admiration as my sisters described how they had faced the same issues, and how they had dealt with them in turn.

I left Bahia not only having met the objectives I had set for the meeting but with much more; I left with a better consciousness of self, and how I could and should engage in building collective power for rights and justice. I owe that to the interesting AWID Forum sessions I attended but mostly to those other six women who shared that space and time in Bahia with me. It is to them, and to the Commonwealth Foundation that made this opportunity possible, that I am eternally grateful.

Nana Asantewa is Executive Director West Africa Civil Society Institute and a friend and partner of the Commonwealth Foundation. 

Suspending disbelief to imagine feminist futures

Posted on by Reineira Arguello Sanjuan

In times when the collective power, enhanced by social media, has echoed an increased public skepticism of politicians and institutions, would you suspend your disbelief?

Would you suspend your disbelief despite the fact that in the 21st century as a woman and a representative of the world’s majority population, you still have to fight for equal pay and create a movement such as Say Her Name?  #SayHerName, which campaigns against police brutality and violence against black women, challenges the Afro-feminisation of poverty as is the case for Afro-Brazilian women. This is a world where we still have to advocate for sexual health, reproductive rights and gendered budgets.

With this defiant invitation the organisers of the 13th Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum brought together more than 1,800 feminists and female human rights defenders from around the world. The Forum included grassroots activists, human rights advocates, representatives from multilaterals such as the Commonwealth Foundation and policy makers.

It was four days of intensive discussions in the form of plenaries, side events, caucuses, small gatherings, story-telling sessions, dance and cabarets, in which representatives of multiple feminisms accepted one of the challenges presented to the Forum: to design ways to govern our own village.

Governing our village

In response, Forum participants envisioned a village in which policies finally work for the realization of women’s rights, and all women’s choices. A village in which diversity would be valued and the fluidity of our identities on gender, sexuality, and more would be recognised. Religious fundamentalism would not have any say in the definition of policies in this village, as its governance would be secular. 

Representatives from the black feminist forum brought to the village epistemological analysis that challenged colonialist notions of history, and the passivity and lack of agency with which African women are depicted. They presented art and story-telling as a political act able to reaffirm different notions of identity where blackness would be celebrated, a village in which all life matters.

With a feminist internet, and perspectives from indigenous knowledge, the village would improve the interaction between humans and planet, and a deeper sense of gender justice would have the final say on the distribution of resources.

With a firm rejection of militarized responses to 21st century global challenges a feminist village would seek alternative ways of conflict resolution salvaging fundamental principles of participatory democracy to redesign the functioning of political systems and institutions, which have to be better able to address systemic dynamics that perpetuate power imbalances and reinforce discrimination.

Increase solidarity amongst movements as a democratic response to reach the envisioned feminist futures

With the complexity of the current reality, it is no longer possible to pretend that a recipe for change is in the realm of a political actor, an institution or a movement. There are multidimensional issues affecting women’s lives and a multidimensional response is required to make a reality of the envisioned feminist futures.

While the  women’s movement recognized the significant role played by global frameworks in amplifying demands of the women’s movement, for example: the Commission on the Status of Women established to promote the advancement of women throughout the world; the historic Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, it is still clear that women’s demands are being left behind and women’s rights continue to be ignored.

AWID showed that women are not waiting for change to happen passively. With a call for an increased solidarity amongst movements, feminists are working actively to make change happen. The suspension of our disbelief led us to imagine a feminist future, however a consistent element of reality during this exercise was the strength and clarity of women’s voices, and the certainty that working better together as a movement is central to achieving the transformation envisioned by feminist futures. 

Reinera is an expert on women’s rights and gender, with more than 20 years of work experience in international development.