We, the Network Women in Development Europe, the Gender and Development Network, international Southern partners, Central and Eastern European partners, individual members and feminists present, meeting here in London on the occasion of WIDE's 20th anniversary
Recognise...
• The global scale of poverty, inequality and unsustainable levels of environmental damage
• That women and girls experience poverty differently to men and boys and amongst themselves
• That neo-liberalism is creating deep divisions between and within the North and South
• That the new security agenda is dominating global politics
• That human security has been pushed aside by the new narrow focus on military, security, and the war on terror
• That there is a backlash against women's human rights
• That until the imbalance of power between women and men, girls and boys, poor and rich, and between diverse cultures is addressed; we will not achieve women's human rights, economic and social justice nor a sustainable culture of peace.
Note with concern...
• That the critical inter-linkages between poverty, inequality and insecurity are not being made
• That macro-economic trends are undermining women's autonomy including sexual and reproductive health and rights
• That the global trade regime has reinforced the profound inequality between the North and the South, regionally and locally
• That market-led and private-sector models of development are failing citizens
• That fundamentalisms of ethnic, religious and moral right wing groups are dismantling women's livelihoods, economic security and control over their lives and bodies
• That US unilateralism is undermining and threatening global democracy.
Call on world leaders. North and South...
• To recognise and acknowledge the
complex inter-linkages between poverty, inequality and insecurity and its
disproportionate negative impact on women and
girls
• To meet their international obligations under the Cairo Programme of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, to close the gap between policy and practice
• To ensure that foreign policy is not guided solely by economic self-interest of nations
• To recognise the critical role of civil society and social movements in determining good governance
• To be accountable to all citizens.
Demand that...
• Women participate in all levels of political, economic, cultural and social decision making.
Call on women's movements globally...
• To link North and South for a global feminist agenda
• To engage with other social justice movements
• To be more proactive in shaping our priorities and agenda
• To engage young women and recognise their legitimacy, rights and issues
• To revitalise the feminist movement.
Call on other social movements...
• To engage with the feminist agenda
• To ensure that women's and girls' rights and livelihoods are integrated into their economic and social justice agendas.
Signed in London on the 25 June 2005
1. Network Women in Development Europe
2. UK Gender and Development Network
3. One World Action
4. WOMANKIND Worldwide