October 20th-October
25th, 2009 | Seoul, Korea
The Huairou
Commission is bringing together a delegation of approximately 15 grassroots,
NGO and professional women from 7 countries and four networks, Women and
Cities International, Women and Habitat Network of Latin America, GROOTS
International, and Information Center of the Independent Women's Forum
(ICIWF), in partnership with UN-Habitat, to Seoul Korea to participate in the
second Metropolis Women International Network Forum, "Dynamic Cities
Need Women: Visions and Challenges for a Women Friendly City," from
October 21st to 24th, 2009. The event is co-hosted by the
Metropolis-Women International Network and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The Huairou Commission's participation in this event will position grassroots
women at the center of a global movement of making cities safer for women, by
legitimizing grassroots women's priorities and highlighting the important
work grassroots women's groups are doing to make their communities safer.
Furthermore, the Huairou Commission and its network members, who work to
collectively partner with their local government and organize around the
city's built environment and its effect on women, will demonstrate the
importance of building and maintaining strategic partnerships with city
machineries. These partnerships support women's groups ability to advocate
for pro-poor, gender equitable planning, decision-making and dispute
resolution mechanisms.
The 2nd Women International Network Forum in Seoul will continue to promote
the network's initiative, Dynamic Cities Need Women, with a new strategic
approach for the realization of the goal. The forum will gather
representatives from central and local governments, NGO activists, and
scholars to share the visions for a women-friendly city, which will
ultimately lead to the discussion on the new vision of the sustainable cities
for all.
The Second Forum has
4 Objectives:
1.
To affirm and promote the spirit of the forum
- Dynamic Cities Need Women:"More women in
decision making positions"
- Women Friendly City Building: "Reframing city
issues and policies with women's eyes"
2.
To develop a collective gender mainstreaming
strategy
3. To share
best cases of policies and actions for women's empowerment
- Economic activities particularly in the
period of economic crisis
- Political representations
- Public policy implementation and practices
- Community development and environmental
activities
- Work-life conciliation and care work parity
4.
To provide networking opportunities for future collaborations
The Huairou
Commission delegation includes network members (and their representatives)
from Women and Cities International (Jagori India), Women Habitat Network of
Latin America (CISCA Argentina), GROOTS Jamaica and GROOTS Philippines of
GROOTS International, ICIWF of Russia, and local Korean groups Korean Center
for Community Organization and LOCOA.
Our delegation at
Dynamic Cities will assemble to:
- Bring together organized groups of grassroots, NGO
and professional women seeking to solve problems around violence against
women to share and create tools, skills and follow-up plans for
organizing and advocacy;
- Transfer a globally-respected safety tool,
spearheaded by Women and Cities International, in partnership with
UN-Habitat, between and among professional and grassroots groups,
through our pre-event, the Safety Audit Training priorto the Dynamic
Cities Conference, on October 20th
- Effectively highlight and legitimize the important
work women's groups (grassroots, NGO and professional) are doing to make
their communities safer, through their participation and contribution to
the Dynamic Cities Sessions; October 21st-October 24th. These
sessions include "Measures to Stop Violence against Women" and
"The Right to the Safe City for Women."
- Transfer successful practices and strategies between
and among grassroots groups through the Peer Exchange, October 24th-25th
following the Dynamic Cities Conference. The delegation will collaborate
with local Korean women's groups, such as the Seoul Foundation for Women
and Family, in a grassroots women's best safety practice Peer Exchange.
Our participation at
this event will amplify current grassroots, NGO and professional safety initiatives
and scale-up successful strategies through the peer learning opportunities
that will focus on women-led advocacy and organizing strategies around making
their cities safer.
Our delegation will also build and strengthen partnerships between grassroots
groups and professional, institutional and academic partners working in their
cities to make them safer for women. Safer cities for women are safer cities
for everyone, and the Huairou Commission's delegation will demonstrate this
throughout this exciting five-day multi-stakeholder event.
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