WUNRN
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DISASTER REDUCTION
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
The Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics
(CAPWIP) in partnership with the United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) are pleased
to invite you to the Third Global
Congress of Women in Politics and Governance which will be held on October 19-22, 2008 at the Dusit Hotel,
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The theme of the congress is “Gender in
Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.”
Women and
environment experts have raised concern over the absence of women in the
discourse and debate on climate change and disaster risk reduction, both of
which are global mainstream issues that are currently impacting the entire
world. The involvement of women in areas of environmental management and
governance should not be perceived as an afterthought. Women’s roles are of
considerable importance in the promotion of environmental ethics.
The
current imperative is for women to understand the phenomenon of climate
change and disaster risk reduction and their impacts and implications at the
individual, household, community and national levels. Studies show that women
have a definite information deficit on climate politics, climate protection,
and preparedness through disaster risk reduction. Only with this information can women take
their proper, significant and strategic role in the issues of climate change
and disaster risk reduction.
Invited to
this congress are parliamentarians, decision – makers in national
governments, environment organizations, youth leaders, media practitioners,
funding/donor agencies/organizations. (Female and male participants are
welcome).
The
Congress will have the following objectives:
Overall Purpose: To provide a forum for legislators and
decision-makers in national governments and leaders at all levels in
formulating gender-responsive legislation and programs related to gender in
climate change and disaster risk reduction.
Specific Objectives:
a)
to understand the phenomenon of climate change, its impacts, and its
implications and study the appropriate risk reduction strategy;
b)
to review and examine the gender aspects in climate change and disaster risk
reduction and formulate appropriate actions to address these;
c)
to define the roles women can play in addressing the impacts of climate change
and disaster risk reduction programs and policies at the global, national and sub-national
levels; and
d)
to identify and define the action agenda for parliamentarians, policy
advocates, and women leaders to support global and national actions to adapt
gender responsive legislation and programs related to gender in climate change
and disaster risk reduction.
Congress Proceedings:
The
discussion on gender in climate and disaster risk reduction change will be
organized around identifying the challenges to action as well as defining the
appropriate responses to effectively address the impacts of climate change and
disaster risk reduction. Inputs to the discussion will be collected and
organized around: 1) geographic location and 2) types of actions: i.e.
preparedness, risk reduction: building community resilience; adaptation; and mitigation.
Cross cutting these discussions will be the identification of technologies in
aid of responding to climate change and preparedness thru disaster risk
reduction.
The
focus of the discussions will revolve around defining and elaborating actions
(i.e. preparedness, disaster risk reduction, adaptation, and mitigation) to
cope with climate change and its impacts and preparedness and disaster risk
reduction.
Preparedness
and disaster risk reduction
is about building individual and community capacities to position themselves
and their communities so that the likelihood of climate change-induced
disasters is reduced; the intensity or adverse impacts of disasters are
cushioned and that inhabitants are able to respond promptly, expeditiously and
effectively. Adaptation entails actions that moderate harm, or exploit
benefits, of climate change. Mitigation
entails actions that minimizes or cushions the adverse impacts of climate
change.
In
all of these actions, special attention will be given to defining how women and
gender could be mainstreamed. In other words, the Congress should define how
women can be given the social space to participate, influence, and benefit
from global and local responses to climate change.
The
registration fee for the four day congress is One thousand five hundred fifty
US Dollars (US$ 1,550.) per person for twin room sharing accommodations (two
persons in one room) and one thousand nine hundred fifty US Dollars (US$
1,950.) per person for single room accommodations (one person in one room).
The congress
will be held on
Importance of the Congress
Today, on the
average, one person out of nineteen in a developing country will be hit by a
climate disaster, compared to 1 out of 1,500 in an OECD country. Climate change
creates life time traps: in
We hope that
your organization can send participants to the Third Global Congress of Women
in Politics and Governance. The Theme of “Gender in Climate Change and Disaster
Risk Reduction” is the first time this will be discussed in a forum whose
objective is to formulate gender responsive legislation and policies for
national governments and parliaments.
We truly hope
that the environment organizations will find this forum a good opportunity to
advocate gender and climate change policies and programs through gender
responsive legislation to the women parliamentarians, decision makers, the
youth leaders, media and the funding agencies/organizations. Let us join hands
in promoting gender responsive governance through transformative leadership and
citizenship. We are looking forward to your participation.
Please
download the full information sheet and registration form for this Third Global
Congress of Women in Politics and Governance from our website,
http://www.capwip.org/3rdglobalcongress.htm
Dr. Jung Sook Kim
President
Center for
in Politics (CAPWIP)
Center for
Tel. (632) 8516934 (632) 8516954; Tele Fax: mobile
phone +639184596603
E-mail: globalcongress2008@gmail.com; globalcongress2008@capwip.org;
capwip@capwip.org
Web: www.capwip.org; www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org
International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)
International Environment House II, 7-9 Chemin de Balexert, CH 1219 Chatelaine,
Geneva 10, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 917 8908/8907 Fax: +41 22 917 8964, isdr@un.org
Postal Address: UN/ISDR Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland