INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE
TO: Those Interested in Women, Food and Agriculture Issues
FROM: Kathy Lawrence, New York Convenor
Women, Food and Agriculture Working Group
NGO Committee on the Status of Women, UN-New York
DATE: 6 February 1994
A group of concerned individuals* recently set up a Women, Food and
Agriculture Working Group to work towards the 1995 Fourth World
Conference on Women and beyond. We are just beginning to get
things moving and welcome the participation of a broad range of
people.
Overall goals of the working group include:
- Ensuring that women's essential roles in achieving food
security and agricultural sustainability are understood, supported
and adequately addressed in the process leading up to the World
Conference on Women. (These issues are not currently high on the
official agenda);
- Promoting women's central role in food and agriculture policy-
making and implementation at all levels (local, national and
international);
- Encouraging and facilitating cross-fertilization among various
groups in all regions (e.g. women's networks, sustainable
agriculture networks, farmers and farm groups, development
practitioners, health/nutrition, hunger/food security,
environmental, labor and human rights organizations, academia,
government and UN agencies); and
- Ensuring that women's perspectives, vital contributions and
needs are represented in fora addressing food and agriculture
policy (e.g. UNDP and FAO agriculture policies and programmes,
Agenda 21 follow up at international and national levels, the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development, etc).
We hope to develop a broad-based and collaborative working group
that can tap into and reinforce ongoing activities and can use the
1995 Conference as an additional channel to broaden access to and
exchange of ideas, information and possible cooperation and action.
We welcome active participation in the Working Group and
suggestions of other people who might be interested in joining in
this effort.
*Initial Core Group:
Linda Elswick, World Sustainable Agriculture Association Ruth Engo,
Advocates for African Food Security
Cornelia Flora, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Thomas Forster, NGO Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture
Timmie Jensen, Chol-Chol Foundation & WSAA
Kathy Lawrence, New York Working Group Convenor
Denise O'Brien, National Family Farm Coalition
Mary Power, Baha'i International Community, and
Convenor of Advocates for African Food Security
BACKGROUND:
In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women - with the
three major themes of Peace, Equality and Development - will be
held in Beijing, China. There will be both an official inter-
governmental conference, where NGO (non-governmental organization)
access will be limited, and a parallel NGO Forum '95, where access
will be open to all interested groups and individuals.
The Conference Secretariat, headed by Conference Secretary-General,
Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania, is located at the United Nations in
New York. The UN Committee on the Status of Women, also in New
York, functions as the Preparatory Committee for the Conference.
The NGO Planning Committee organizing NGO Forum '95 also has its
Secretariat in New York. Supatra Masdit of Thailand is Convenor of
NGO Forum '95.
Most of the work for this conference, both governmental and non-,
will be done over the next year and a half at Regional* Preparatory
Committee meetings, through National Report processes and through
less formal local and national organizing. [*The UN regions are:
Western Asia, Asia/Pacific, Latin America/Caribbean, Africa, and
ECE (Europe, US, Canada, etc.)] A major focus of the Conference
will be on preparing a Platform for Action to implement the Nairobi
Forward-Looking Strategies, formulated at the Third World
Conference on Women in Nairobi, 1985.
Note: For all those who are interested, much more detailed
information is available on the 1995 Conference and NGO activities.
Some of the most comprehensive materials I have seen are in Preview
'95 published by the:
International Women's Tribune Centre Tel: (212) 687-8633
777 UN Plaza Fax: (212) 661-2704
New York, NY 10017 Email: iwtc@igc.apc.org
Fourteen Working Groups have been established under the auspices of
the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York to organize
input into the World Conference on Women and the parallel NGO Forum
'95. Current Working Groups focus on:
1) Equality
2) Development
3) Peace
4) Education and Research
5) Employment, Management and Entrepreneurship
6) Health
7) Refugees/Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons
8) Indigenous Peoples
9) Media and Global Day
10) Women and Men in Equality
11) Women and Spirituality
12) Community Participation & Sustainable Dev't
13) Women, Food and Agriculture
14) Human Rights
I recently proposed the 13th Working Group to address food and
agriculture issues, and offered to serve as New York convenor.
While there is considerable value in having a focal point in New
York, close to the UN and much NGO action, we hope that I will be
just one of several focal points, and that the working group can
have broad national outreach and feedback as well as networking
with other countries and regions building up to '95 and beyond.
For example, in the U.S. alone there are two series of regional
meetings being planned by the Labor Department Women's Bureau/State
Department and by the U.S. Council on INSTRAW. It would be great
to have Working Group participants at all of those meetings!
Issue-specific working groups are active in other regions and
regional NGO meetings are being planned parallel to governmental
meetings in all of the UN regions listed above, providing numerous
opportunities for networking at national, regional and
international levels. As another example, an Asia/Pacific regional
NGO meeting took place in Manila in November 1993 and we hope to
exchange information and ideas with the food and agriculture-
related groups that met there.
Attached are the Working Group Proposal and Participation Form. To
join the Working Group please complete the Participation Form and
send it to me. To comment on this proposal or get further
information, please contact me:
Kathy Lawrence
10 Prospect Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217 USA
Home Tel: 718-622-4314
Work Tel: 212-986-0987
Work Fax: 212-986-0821
Email: klawrence@igc.apc.org
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PROPOSAL FOR
WOMEN, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP
6 February 1994
GOALS
Within an overall framework of integrating gender, environmental,
social and economic aspects of sustainability into agriculture
policies:
Ensure that women's essential roles in achieving food security and
agricultural sustainability are understood, supported and
adequately addressed in the process leading up to the Fourth World
Conference on Women;
Promote women's central role in food and agriculture policy
formulation, decision-making and implementation at all levels
(local, national and international);
Work to reverse the negative social, economic and environmental
impacts of global food and agricultural industrialization and
promote positive alternatives;
Work to ensure that all of these issues are addressed in a holistic
manner and are not marginalized as solely "women's issues";
STRATEGIES
Encourage and facilitate cross-fertilization among various groups
in all regions (e.g. women's networks, sustainable agriculture
networks, farmers and farm groups, development practitioners,
health/nutrition, hunger/food security, environmental, labor and
human rights organizations, academic, government and UN agencies);
Ensure that women's perspectives, vital contributions and needs are
represented in fora addressing agriculture policy (e.g. UNDP and
FAO agriculture policies and programmes, Agenda 21 follow up at
international and national levels, the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development, etc.)
Facilitate collaboration to formulate a Women in Sustainable Food
and Agriculture Systems platform for 1995 (primarily through
regional and national preparatory processes)
Work to ensure that the Fourth World Conference on Women Platform
of Action and the national reports:
a) make specific provision to ensure that women have equitable
access to assets and natural resources, land titles, income,
credit, agricultural extension services, training and education and
new technologies
b) outline specific actions to lessen the burden and reduce the
number of chores undertaken simultaneously by women through
provision of such facilities as safe, potable water within easy
reach; afforestation, fuel-saving stoves and other energy-saving
devices; community child-care facilities; health maternity care and
family planning services; access to adequate health for rural
communities
c) highlight and support the central role of women in interpreting
and implementing relevant provisions of Agenda 21
d) reinforce government commitments in Agenda 21 to work with and
through women's organizations
Advocate for national and international economic plans and
strategies to include and support local and national level food
security and sustainable agriculture as top priority areas
ACTIVITIES
IMMEDIATE TERM (February 1994)
Circulate Working Group proposal to initial list of people,
electronic conferences and networks, add other interested people,
solicit input and commitments to work together
Send out package of background materials to Working Group
participants
Survey and exchange information concerning ongoing Women, Food and
Agriculture efforts, exchanges, communication channels, networking
activities
SHORT TERM (March 1994)
Develop quick and inexpensive means of communications, email is
encouraged where possible!
Refine and elaborate on longer term goals and strategies
Encourage women's self-selection as regional or local working group
focal points to facilitate activities in each region and to help
establish coordination among regions
Drafting process - work out process for identifying key issues,
drafting, reviewing, revising, signing on to and submitting text on
behalf of Working Group
Develop roundtable/caucus during NGO activities at the 7-18 March
meeting of the UN Committee on the Status of Women in New York
Raise funds for Working Group expenses
MEDIUM TERM
Develop concrete plans for regional meetings and 1995 Conference
Compile case studies and statistics, document success stories
Establish and maintain contacts with other regions to ensure that
goals for Platform of Action are mutually reinforcing or at least
not in conflict
Continue to work on drafting process and consensus documents and
positions
Create database of contacts, programs and events
Circulate information on opportunities to participate in local,
regional, national and international meetings
Organize Working Group participation in other fora such as:
Programmes and processes responding to Agenda 21, including
national reports and policy initiatives, FAO and UNDP programmes,
etc;
Policy and programme reform of multilateral development banks and
the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research);
1994 and 1995 meetings of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development;
The 1995 UN World Social Summit;
The emerging Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Watch;
The Dialogue on Participation: Communications Development and
Participation in Sustainable Agriculture.
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FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN
Women, Food and Agriculture Working Group
NGO Committee on the Status of Women, UN-New York
If you are interested in actively participating in the Working
Group, please fill in this form and return it to Kathy Lawrence at
the address below. By ACTIVE participation we mean taking part, to
the greatest extent possible in activities such as:
- Distributing Working Group information to your organization's
members and other people you feel may be interested
- Sending in announcements and information to the Working Group
on food and agriculture activities and organizers in your locality,
country or region
- Contributing to document drafting efforts, reviewing and
commenting on text drafted by the Working Group or members,
submitting suggestions for written materials and other experiences
and resources to draw from
- Reporting on relevant meetings attended and follow up planned
- Sharing success stories
Name:
Organization (if any):
Title (if any):
Street address:
City, State/Province, Zip Code:
Country:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email: (Please give an email address only if you are able to
receive email reliably)
Primary topics of interest:
Activities you and/or your organization are involved in, relevant
to the Working Group:
NETWORKING: The Women, Food and Agriculture Working Group is
currently an all-volunteer effort that will rely heavily on
participants' activities and initiatives. We hope that
participants will be able to circulate information widely. To give
us an idea of what kind of networking might be generated, please
answer the following:
Will you distribute information to your organization(s)?
Yes ___ No ___
If yes, please briefly describe your organization(s), number of
people on mailing list, types of activities, geographic scope...
Are you willing to have your name, address, etc. on a list of
Working Group participants? (This list would be circulated among
all Working Group participants, posted on relevant electronic
conferences, and used to put people with similar interests in touch
with each other.)
Yes ___ No ___
Please send in any comments or suggestions you have for Working
Group goals and activities. Return completed form to:
Kathy Lawrence
10 Prospect Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217 USA
Home Tel: 718-622-4314 Work Tel: 212-986-0987
Work Fax: 212-986-0821 Email: klawrence@igc.apc.org