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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

 

 

 

 

The efforts put forth by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in their women's policies have advanced women's rights and expanded women's social participation, resulting in the betterment of women's socioeconomic status. However, existing women's policies prove to have difficulties with issues regarding women in various areas such as education, environment, health, culture, transportation and housing policies which all influence women's everyday lives because of a lack of gender-sensitive perspectives. Acknowledging the limitations of the existing policy, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has adopted a new policy approach which, beyond gender equality, incorporates women's perspectives and experiences in a broad range of city policy. We call it the 'Women Friendly City Project' since it is a policy aimed to encourage social participation, establish a woman-friendly sociocultural environment, and ultimately pursue happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

'A Caring Seoul' This aims at strengthening the child-care responsibility of society and supporting social minorities. Various services are provided for women to balance work and family life. The project will realize gender equality and establish society as a care giver by supporting social minorities such as the elderly, single parent and the disabled.

 

 

'An Active Seoul'

 

 

This has a goal of encouraging the economic activities of women and strengthening their stability in society. For this, it is indispensable to develop a female workforce, create decent jobs for women, support their working in and outside the home, and create work places where gender equality is guaranteed.

 

 

'An Abundant Seoul' This focuses on improving women's quality of life by expanding cultural and leisure opportunities for them. Main projects in the abundant Seoul include making women-friendly cultural facilities, establishing small gyms for women and providing cultural programs for women.

 

 

'A Convenient Seoul' This is for improving women's convenience, accessibility to public places and mobility on public transportation to make a womenfriendly city environment. The Convenient Seoul policy focuses on building a city where a women's perspective is well-reflected across the residential environment and public places.

 

 

 

The Women Friendly City Project is in charge of the Women and Family Policy Affairs of the Seoul metropolitan government; the bureau steers the project managing promotion plans and outcomes of the project. The excavation and execution of the project is in the hands of 16 offices, investment institutions and government-funded institutions of the Seoul metropolitan government. Each office chooses projects which need the integration of gender perspective and establishes action plans. Each district government sets up its own Women Friendly City Project suitable for characteristics of the region

 

 

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Metropolis Women International Network Forum

 

 

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.

 

Contact: Erica Reade, Huairou Commission: Erica.reade@huairou.org





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