WUNRN
Global Institutions
Acknowledge that Grassroots Women Are Essential Partners in Development.
But, too often they are still seen as clients and
beneficiaries of public services instead of participants in service delivery
and leaders in government. To reverse these assumptions, the Governance
Campaign enables women to be effective participants in the development of their
communities.
Grassroots women use
their practical knowledge of family and community to contribute to policies and
programs which are both realistic and effective.
Grassroots women participating in the Campaign are
deepening democratic practice at the local, national and international levels.
They do this by organizing community priorities and concerns, monitoring the
effectiveness of local initiatives, discouraging corruption, working in
collaboration and partnership with local authorities and introducing their own
development solutions.
The current global political climate presents
unprecedented opportunities for the inclusion of women's voices in
decision-making processes. However, the harsh reality is that many institutions
and governments remain closed to the formal inclusion of grassroots women's
contributions and experiences.
What we do
The Huairou Commission works with Governance Campaign
members by:
·
Supporting women's groups to build capacity and skills to
participate in and influence decision-making at the local, municipal, national
and global levels
·
Bridging the gap between grassroots women and local
leaders and authorities to sustain women in leadership, increase government
accountability and create platforms for communities to set policy and resource
priorities
·
Creating learning platforms and resources to exchange
lessons and experiences in participating at the local level, negotiating with
local leaders and authorities
·
Supporting grassroots women's leadership and skills
development to influence and hold decision-making positions - both informal and
formal
How We Work
The Governance Campaign is a cross-cutting Campaign of
the Huairou Commission, drawing from experiences and lessons from the AIDS,
Community Resilience and Land and Housing Campaigns.
Specific initiatives of
the Governance Campaign:
Promoting and
Transferring the Local to Local Dialogue process
The Huairou Commission promotes the use of Local to Local
Dialogue methodology among its members in all of its Campaign work.
The Local to Local Dialogue builds the capacity of grassroots women to
collectively participate in local decision making through negotiation and
partnership with local leaders and authorities.
Promoting Women's
Empowerment and Gender Equality through the Millennium Development Goal 3
The Huairou Commission MDG 3 Accountability Initiative was launched
in 2008 through the support of the Dutch MDG 3 FUND. The Initiative has
supported over 35 grassroots women's organizations from 25 countries to develop
and implement initiatives that promote women's empowerment through building
women's leadership, increasing participation in decision-making, and securing
assets, particularly land and housing.
Promoting Safety and
Security
Grassroots women's groups partner with NGOs and local
government officials to monitor the safety of their cities and lead strategies
for safer cities.
Envisaged Impact
The contributions of grassroots women's groups will gain
the recognition of their communities, local governments and the international
development community.
Women will be empowered to act in private and public spaces as political and
social actors able to make decisions at family and institutional levels.
Decision-makers will adopt a position that meaningfully recognizes grassroots
women's lived experiences and promotes their priorities and strategies.
Governments and institutions at the local, national and global levels will
adopt grassroots perspectives and priorities.